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Recent Headlines
a la Mod:

Domino is
a "disarmingly
straight-forward"
work that "pushes
us to reexamine our
relationship to images
and their consumption,
not only ethically
but metaphysically"
-Collin Brinkman

De Palma on Domino
"It was not recut.
I was not involved
in the ADR, the
musical recording
sessions, the final
mix or the color
timing of the
final print."

Listen to
Donaggio's full score
for Domino online

De Palma/Lehman
rapport at work
in Snakes

De Palma/Lehman
next novel is Terry

De Palma developing
Catch And Kill,
"a horror movie
based on real things
that have happened
in the news"

Supercut video
of De Palma's films
edited by Carl Rodrigue

Washington Post
review of Keesey book

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Exclusive Passion
Interviews:

Brian De Palma
Karoline Herfurth
Leila Rozario

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AV Club Review
of Dumas book

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De Palma interviewed
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De Palma discusses
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De Palma a la Mod
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A note about topics: Some blog posts have more than one topic, in which case only one main topic can be chosen to represent that post. This means that some topics may have been discussed in posts labeled otherwise. For instance, a post that discusses both The Boston Stranglers and The Demolished Man may only be labeled one or the other. Please keep this in mind as you navigate this list.
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Friday, October 11, 2013
PARADISE CITY-- SLASH SPORTS 'PHANTOM' SHIRT
WHILE DOING PRESS FOR FILM HE PRODUCED & SCORED, 'NOTHING LEFT TO FEAR'


The image above comes from the Winnipeg Free Press, showing Slash (a.k.a. Saul Hudson) wearing a Phantom Of The Paradise T-shirt as he promotes his debut film as producer, Nothing Left To Fear, in Toronto. While Slash produced the film under his production company, Slasher Films, he tells the Winnipeg Free Press' Randall King that he is not interested in making slasher films. "The moniker 'Slasher' just goes along with my name, so it was the easiest thing," Slash tells King. "But it's really the antithesis of the kind of movies I want to make."

Nothing Left To Fear was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD October 8th. Aside from producing the film, Slash also co-composed the score, explaining to Rolling Stone's Steve Baltin that the score is important to him, "because that's the one thing where I actually know what I'm doing. The rest of it is just me using my wits and sensibilities and going to what I think I should do. But with the music, it's something I have a grasp on, and one of the reasons that becoming a producer for horror flicks was enticing was the fact that I could be responsible for the music. So in this film, it was understood from the very get-go that we wanted to do something orchestral. So I wrote a bunch of different music and played it for the director to see which one he thought fit his sort of cinematic vision for this thing. Then he introduced me to an old friend of his, Nicholas O'Toole, who's a scoring composer and sound designer, and so the music that we picked I gave to him and he interpreted it to an orchestral application. Then we just sort of worked hand in hand through the whole movie. It was great. It was really sort of a combination of people, but it was a lot of fun to do and I was really happy with the end result. Then Myles [Kennedy] and I have the theme song at the end."

As far as horror influences, Slash tells the Globe and Mail's Geoff Pevere that he, first-time director Anthony Leonardi III, and co-producer Rob Eric all universally loved Rosemary's Baby, and went for the "slow-burn" effect of Roman Polanski's film. Slash also mentions in two of the above interviews that as a kid, he was creeped out by George Romero's Night Of The Living Dead. In addition, he tells King, "When I was a kid, one of the big ones for me was The Omen, the original. I always thought it was a marriage of great directing, a great story and great actors. It was really well done, and it was made in the fashion of the old feature movie."


Posted by Geoff at 1:14 AM CDT
Updated: Friday, October 11, 2013 1:15 AM CDT
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Friday, October 4, 2013
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S 'SIMPSONS' INTRO
INCLUDES SHOUT-OUT TO 'PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE' AT HALFWAY MARK

Guillermo del Toro directs the intro to this year's "Treehouse Of Horror" episode of The Simpsons, and includes a prominent shout-out to Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise, which del Toro has not been shy about discussing as one of his favorite films. About halfway through the intro, the Phantom of the Paradise, voice-box and all, is at his organ, making music with a choir made up of several other phantoms, but when Lisa begins playing her saxophone, the Winslow-esque character orders her to get out. Behind our Phantom is his Swanage recording studio, lovingly detailed, straight out of De Palma's film. The episode airs on FOX-TV this Sunday (October 6th). UPDATE: UPROXX's Warming Glow has a video showing every single reference in the intro.
(Thanks to Drew!)

Posted by Geoff at 12:28 AM CDT
Updated: Saturday, October 5, 2013 7:05 PM CDT
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Friday, July 12, 2013
DE PALMA SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON DAFT PUNK
WAS NEVER APPROACHED ABOUT DIRECTING A DAFT PUNK VIDEO;
"DAFT PUNK EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN DOING SOMETHING WITH 'PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE'"

In a Twitter conversation last month, Empire magazine reviews editor Nick de Semlyen, who had just interviewed Brian De Palma, mentioned that De Palma was going to direct a music video for "the Paul Williams track" on Daft Punk's latest album, but that "it didn't work out."

Yesterday, The Playlist's Drew Taylor interviewed De Palma, and asked him about it. "I don't know where this rumor got started," De Palma said to Taylor. "Let's try to put an end to it here and now. Daft Punk expressed an interest in doing something with Phantom of the Paradise and when I was in Paris I met with them and we discussed it. They were in the process of finishing up their record." De Palma added, "It was never discussed, me doing a video for them. They expressed their excitement for Phantom of the Paradise and somehow, if we have a stage version, they might consider doing music for it. But that was as far as it went. It was very tentative, very initial discussions."

Taylor pressed on for more details about a stage version of Phantom. "They've tried to do a stage production for 30 years," De Palma told him. "Every once in a while there's a lot of excitement about it and then it fades away. It always seems like a good idea to me."

From 2009 until at least 2010, Paul Williams had been working with De Palma and Edward R. Pressman on a stage version of Phantom, something they have taken stabs at off and on for years. De Palma and Williams had tried to get a stage version going in 1987, and in 2003, Antonio Banderas discussed the possibility of taking on the title character for a stage version. For now, however, we have the incredible film from 1974. And, of course, the Baltimore Rock Opera Society.


Posted by Geoff at 5:22 PM CDT
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Thursday, June 6, 2013


Posted by Geoff at 12:29 AM CDT
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Monday, May 27, 2013




Posted by Geoff at 7:42 PM CDT
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
ARROW TO RELEASE 'PHANTOM' BLU-RAY
WITH SOME SORT OF ASSIST FROM THE PRINCIPAL ARCHIVIST
The Swan Archives posted news today that Arrow Video will release a Blu-Ray edition of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise, targeted for later this year, along with Blu-Ray editions of De Palma's Sisters and The Fury. The best part of the news? The Swan Archives' Principal Archivist is helping out with the Phantom Blu-Ray package. Looking forward to it. We'll also mention here that Twilight Time will release a Blu-Ray edition of De Palma's Body Double on August 13. The edition, which will likely include an isolated score (no specific special features have yet been announced), will be limited to 3000 copies.

Posted by Geoff at 11:46 PM CDT
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Monday, May 13, 2013
SWAN ARCHIVES GETS BRIGHT LIGHTS TREATMENT
ROGER LEATHERWOOD EXAMINES WEBSITE'S COLLECTION OF 'PHANTOM' MATERIALS
At Bright Lights Film Journal, Roger Leatherwood has written a fascinating article about Ari Kahan's The Swan Archives, and its incredible collection of marketing and other materials related to Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise.

Leatherwood, author of the book Mondo Cine: The World of Film Exhibition and Archiving in Revolution, shows a particular interest in how Kahan has made his personal collection public, and how the internet has made it possible to digitally present these personally-owned artifacts to the world at large. In the process, notes Leatherwood, the site produces an historical record of a particular cultural time period. "Kahan revives leftover and obscure material," states Leatherwood, "and enables us to relive the time and context surrounding the film's release, recasting advertising messages and other devalued cultural memories as historical and archival evidence of its cultural positioning at the time of release and of how it was received." Read the full article at the link above-- it will make you want to delve into the archives again right after you're done.

Posted by Geoff at 12:08 AM CDT
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Friday, May 10, 2013
PAUL WILLIAMS ON WORKING WITH DAFT PUNK
"THERE'S A BIT OF A CONNECTION TO 'PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE'"


From Rolling Stone's post about the video by RJ Cubarrubia:
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"There's a bit of a connection based on my conversations with these two wonderful gentlemen to a film called Phantom of the Paradise," Williams said, referring to his starring role in the 1974 movie, "where . . . I think the sense of the mask and working from behind the mask may have been born." Williams said he became addicted to attention when he found success, becoming better at "showing off" than "showing up," and praises Daft Punk for obscuring their identities. "On that level, I love that they choose to be anonymous," he said. "They disconnect who they are to allow you to experience what they create."

Posted by Geoff at 4:40 PM CDT
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Sunday, May 5, 2013
VIDEO: PAUL WILLIAMS ON-STAGE DISCUSSION
FOLLOWING JANUARY 2013 SCREENING OF 'PHANTOM' AT MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE

Posted by Geoff at 6:54 PM CDT
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Monday, April 1, 2013
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS ADDED TO SWAN ARCHIVES
SPACEK'S PURCHASE NOTE FOR PINK SATIN, GRAHAM'S RENTAL RECEIPT FOR GUITAR, ETC.
Ari, the Principal Archivist at The Swan Archives, continues to uncover and present amazing artifacts from the production of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise. He recently added loads of new items, mostly to the Promotion and Production pages, including: De Palma's bill for the Los Angeles hotel he stayed at during the shooting of the film; a handwritten and signed note from Sissy Spacek in which she records that she spent $16.12 "for pink satin for Phoenix's dressing room" (likely at Goodwill, according to the site); Gerrit Graham's rental receipt for Beef's guitar; and so much more.

There is a letter from Edward Pressman to 20th Century Fox highlighting holes in the studio's New York marketing for Phantom just a week prior to its premiere. Pressman presents a laundry list of concerns, from lack of posters in New York, to wondering when the radio promotion will begin in New York (and wondering when the records will get to the DJs), to what celebrities will be coming to the New York opening. "Brian says Kristoferson and Coolidge want to come," Pressman writes. "Bette Midler wants to come, according to Lloyd, and, he said, Jagger and Alice Cooper. Do you want to contact Pat Luce, Paul Williams, etc. to get some more names?"

Have a look around the archives for these and much more.


Posted by Geoff at 11:59 PM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 12:20 AM CDT
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