De Palma a la Mod

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:26:42 -0600

BILL PANKOW INTERVIEWED BY MOVIE GEEKS

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:21:41 -0600

EDITOR DISCUSSES METHODS OF WORKING WITH DE PALMA & OTHERS
Bill Pankow was interviewed for the latest episode of Movie Geeks United. Pankow talks about the process of editing when working on a film with De Palma, saying that De Palma lets the editors work on their own, then comes back when the assembly is done to sit and watch with them, review, discuss, and then let them work on their own again, etc. Pankow said he found this to be a very productive process. He said if scenes were storyboarded (as they usually were with De Palma), he liked to edit without looking at the storyboards, and then check afterward to see how close he got to them. After a while, he got very good at matching up with the storyboards without using them. This is a very interesting discussion conducted by Jamey DuVall, with Bobbie O'Steen, author of The Invisible Cut. Pankow and Jerry Greenberg, who is discussed in the interview, as well, will take part in a panel with O'Steen as part of an event called "Inside The Cutting Room," at the French Institute in New York City on June 8.

CANNES UPDATE - ONE WEEK IN

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:32:29 -0600

DE PALMA SAW 'THE BASTARDS' YESTERDAY, 'MUHAMMAD ALI'S GREATEST FIGHT' TODAY
Le Monde blogger Isabelle Regnier posted this photo of Brian De Palma after a Cannes screening of Claire Denis' The Bastards yesterday. And it looks like today, De Palma attended a screening of Stephen Frears' Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, to judge by the tweets of Edouard Austin.

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:56:42 -0600

'PASSION' RELEASE DATES CONFIRMED

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:14:56 -0600

iTUNES & ON DEMAND AUGUST 1, IN THEATERS AUGUST 30

In response to multiple queries on its Facebook page asking when Passion will be released, eOne responded yesterday that De Palma's latest will be "available on iTunes and On Demand August 1st and in theatres August 30th." Then, today, they posted an "attention" to De Palma fans with the same information. So it looks like Passion will be available to watch on TV screens prior to its theatrical release, which makes it a good example of a trend that Deadline's Pete Hammond wrote about today, noting that an HBO movie (Steven Soderbergh's Behind The Candelabra) and a VOD movie (Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives) are both competing for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, happening now. Soderbergh's film premieres on HBO this Sunday, while Refn's film will be released on VOD and in theaters at the same time ("day and date") on July 19. It seems likely that Passion will be a limited theater release, similar to other films that have been released On Demand prior to theatrical. But it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Meanwhile, there is a new Passion video, in English, with some extended scenes, at Entania, although it doesn't seem to be available to watch in America. (Thanks to Patrick!)

ARROW TO RELEASE 'PHANTOM' BLU-RAY

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:46:49 -0600

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.

DE PALMA & GUEST AT CANNES PREMIERE MONDAY

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:42:26 -0600

FOR 'A CASTLE IN ITALY', PRODUCED BY SAID BEN SAID

The photo above was taken by Arnaud Brunet, and published at Metro France. It shows Brian De Palma and an unidentified female guest on the red carpet as they attend the premiere yesterday (Monday) of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's A Castle In Italy, which was produced by Said Ben Said, producer of De Palma's Passion. Earlier this year, Ben Said had mentioned that he and De Palma have a new, as-yet-untitled project in development: "This is a film about cinema that is not devoid of humor or cruelty," Ben Said told CineObs' Nicolas Schaller. "It happens on a shoot between a director, an actor and an actress. De Palma wrote it by drawing on things that have happened to him. It is a kind of film testament." With both of them currently at the Cannes Film Festival, it would seem likely that they would be talking that project up to potential financers and buyers.

Anyway, according to Blog Do Bonequinho's Rodrigo Fonseca, De Palma is at the fest to raise funds for Happy Valley, although he is working out his cinephilia by going to see films every chance he gets. A few days ago, Deadline's Pete Hammond reported that another of De Palma's old friends, Martin Scorsese, had also come to Cannes to raise funds for Silence, which he has been trying to get off the ground at one time or another for the past 23 years. According to Hammond, Scorsese said that by coming to Cannes to sell the film project, he was doing something he'd never done before in his entire career. This was undoubtedly said to get across the sense of passion Scorsese has for the project. But with Steven Spielberg heading the Cannes jury this year, it's sort of a partial "movie brats" reunion.

In addition to A Castle In Italy, De Palma has been spotted at screenings of the following movies since Friday:

May 18 - Sophie Torlotin spotted De Palma at a screening of Rebecca Zlotowski's Grand Central.

May 19 - Olivier Joyard took a picture of De Palma at a screening of Serge Bozon's Tip Top, which Hollywood Reporter critic Stephen Dalton describes as a mix of Godard and the Coen Brothers.

May 20 - Several people, including Alejandro G. Calvo and F-X Taboni, spotted De Palma at a screening of Johnnie To's Blind Detective. Taboni said De Palma left before the end.

'PASSION' & CANNES UPDATES

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:56:39 -0600

eONE CONFIRMS AUGUST RELEASE DATE FOR ‘PASSION’
Thanks to Lindsey for tweeting eOne to ask for clarification on the U.S. release date for Passion. They tweeted back that “Passion will be in August.” The distributor has already begun posting Passion teases on its TwitPic page, and have noted the August release date on its Facebook page, but with only generic dates so far (August 1 for VOD and August 31 for theatrical release, neither of which is likely to be the actual date for either).

Meanwhile, a BBC news report this morning has shades of De Palma’s Femme Fatale, which centers around a jewelry heist at the Cannes Film Festival. According to the BBC report, “More than $1m (£650,000; 777,000 euros) worth of jewels have been stolen from a hotel in Cannes, French police say. The jewels were to be loaned to celebrities who have arrived on the French Riviera for the famous annual film festival. They were stolen from a safe in the Novotel Hotel room of an employee of exclusive Swiss jewellers Chopard. Chopard is one of the official sponsors of the festival, which opened on Wednesday.” The theft in De Palma’s film is different, of course, with the jewels being stolen almost in plain sight off of the model’s body. The BBC report also notes a curious resemblance to Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring: “The theft happened on the same day that the festival was shown The Bling Ring, a new film by director Sofia Coppola about some high-school students who find out when celebrities are attending red carpet events in order to break into their homes and steal their designer clothes, bags, and shoes.”

On a final note, several tweets this morning mention that De Palma attended a Cannes screening of Katell Quillevere’s Suzanne.

DE PALMA @ CANNES, DAY TWO

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:17:21 -0600

“THIS IS STILL THE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE FILMS OF THE GREATEST DIRECTORS IN THE WORLD”
Le Soir’s Cannes correspondent Fabienne Bradfer was shocked to find himself sitting next to Brian De Palma at Thursday’s competition screening of François Ozon’s Jeune et jolie, and asked him a few questions before the film started. It was a rainy evening, and Bradfer writes that De Palma was there “incognito, umbrella in his right hand, Yankee cap on his knees.” Eventually, De Palma smiled toward Bradfer, “removed his headphones and muttered that at times like these, he is not eligible for Cannes.”

Bradfer’s blog post continues:

”I nod, trying not to soak with my umbrella. I'm sitting next to one of the greatest American filmmakers. We chat a little, timidly at first. After exchanging a few words on his arrival the day before from the United States, the weather, his refusal to watch movies on an airplane and the irritation of getting up every two seconds to let other spectators pass, he said: ‘What is your name? Mine is Brian,’ and shook my hand. I smiled at him, saying that I know his name is Brian and mine is Fabienne. From there follows a friendly conversation about the ironic pleasure of going to see films at festivals. His average: 5 per day. He tells me: ‘This is still the place where you can see the films of the greatest directors in the world.’ Brian De Palma loves to haunt film festivals. I slip in the name of Hitchcock, his eyes light up. He dedicates his boundless admiration. With mischief in his eyes, he says: ‘And Kim Novak is coming ...’. He can’t find the words. Brian De Palma will be able to relive the great cinematic emotion of his youth: watching Vertigo in a restored version thanks to Cannes Classics."

According to a tweet from Francois Yon, De Palma also attended a screening of Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza’s Salvo. That film is part of Cannes "Critics Week," and one other tweet says that if you want to see De Palma on the Croisette, that is where you will most often find him.

'PASSION' SET PICS, & RELEASE DATE CURIOSITIES

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:10:01 -0600

WITH A BIG THANKS TO MARINA

The picture above from the museum set of Brian De Palma's Passion is one of several that have been posted at Dívány. A big thanks to Marina for finding this gallery!

Meanwhile, something curious is happening with the U.S. release of Passion. First we heard June, then July, and now some tweets and other news are suggesting the date has been moved to August. The tweet below (from Damon Houx, located in Los Angeles) would seem to suggest that Passion will now be released on August 16...

But then a curious thing happened yesterday. The Film Stage tweeted that Passion had been moved to "late August"...

However, the link in the tweet now takes you to an article that begins with the following: "Update: Release date news removed at the request of the distributor." The article then focuses solely on the Daft Punk/De Palma buzz (see post from earlier today), although they did leave in this question at the end of the article: "Are you disappointed that Passion will have to wait a little longer?" (Well, yes, of course.)

Here are two more pics from Dívány: