Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 9:45 AM CDT

Hello The Mission impossible Soundtrack from Mondo is now available in the Store in Paris 

Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 7:38 PM CDT

This movie is nothing more then a tv movie. Sad.

Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 8:01 PM CDT

this filmmaker is all washed up. Will never be trusted with sizeable budgets for big productions. One of the worst box office records this film-maker is responsible for. 

Monday, June 17, 2019 - 1:47 AM CDT

There is still no German cinema release in sight (and only dubbed releases in the countries around), so I‘ve used an US iTunes account to watch DOMINO yesterday in my home cinema.

And I‘m happy.

It‘s very clearly a De Palma movie, so I can‘t help but love it despite it‘s flaws. The beginning was strong, it had some great scenes, many good or at least interesting moments, I really liked the actors and loved the score. 

Also I had a little time to adjust since PASSION, this time I was very open to watch De Palma directing in sometimes very mundane settings. It worked better for me in DOMINO, seemed to match the content better. 

But all the love for the director and the artists involved doesn‘t help to understand why some shots have to be this ugly. Sometimes it’s the whole look, sometimes the framing, sometimes the lighting, sometimes a camera pan in a wide shot that simply isn’t smooth.  

Is it a matter of taste? Has he changed his visual style that much? Am I on the wrong side? Do I no longer „get“ Brian De Palma? Because it can‘t be simply a question of budget, many low-budget or student films don‘t look that „cheap“. 

I‘m at least sure that he was let down by a botched color grading and the amateurish title design. Even if you don‘t get much money for these jobs in this case – you‘re working on a Brian De Palma film, maybe once in your life. So do your best. Maybe partly unpaid. Why do you even work in this business when this isn‘t a dream job?

You simply don‘t get the feeling that – how hard this shoot may have been – everybody involved believed in this film and gave really the best. 

Monday, June 17, 2019 - 7:30 AM CDT

"sometimes a camera pan in a wide shot that simply isn’t smooth" -- I'm struggling to think of any camera pan that didn't seem smooth.

I think the main thing that has changed in De Palma's visual style is that he no longer feels the need to storyboard. In his more recent films he shoots more by intuition, and whatever visual idea he has in his head.

Monday, June 17, 2019 - 4:15 PM CDT

Monday, June 17, 2019 - 5:20 PM CDT

Well, there are two specific things to note in the framing of that shot inside the cafe: 1) the tomatoes that Christian asks the barista to put on his sandwich, and 2) the art that hangs on the wall, in frame to the left of the barista, has a figure whose pose somewhat mirrors the figure in the final shot of the film. We also might note Lars' consistent grumpiness, which I think is setting us up to be as surprised as Christian is later on when he sees pictures of Lars and Alex aglow with true love.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 12:26 AM CDT

Thanks for the observation of the art on the wall, didn‘t see that.

It‘s great how many things are so clearly communicated visually in DOMINO – and how many layers and thoughts are to discover. 

In the cafe scene we discussed my problems aren‘t with the content, it‘s really only the edit from exterior to interior and the framing / composition.

Lars is positioned very prominently in profile – so we see very clearly that he is not in great shape. It’s – subjectively – just a visually uninteresting, for me even unappealing way to show this. The visual storyteller is there, I just miss the visual stylist.

So many times in the past I was just in awe for his talent to not  only communicate visually, but do it with a unparalleled eye for composition, colors, movement, space, architecture – the whole artform.

But there are so many great directorial choices in this movie that it still makes me happy to watch it. 

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 6:54 PM CDT

The shot choices and composition on the roof-top are well directed and edited. Well sustained suspense.

Also the subtext to the massacre at the film festival can be seen as De Palma playing the film terrorist, orchestrating the bloodbath as a screw you to industry film types for no longer returning his phone calls. 

My only problem with the film was the color timing just didn't seem right. 

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 7:18 PM CDT

Nayman said something like that, as well ("no longer returning his phone calls"), but I don't see it that way at all. I think it's an unfortunate reading, as I do believe we are meant to feel bad for the innocent lives lost, and the overall mayhem involved on both sides. It's tragedy all around.

The film festival setting is a theme of course from FEMME FATALE, with, perhaps, origins in the celebrity-posse opening sequences of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES and SNAKE EYES. And we also know that De Palma would like to film part of PREDATOR at the Toronto Film Fest.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 6:06 PM CDT

At the end of MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE at the outdoor London cafe Luther tells Ethan "I'm flavour of the month again". The subtext to that line is De Palma can get to make more films in Hollywood because he has a box office hit. With DOMINO the massacre at the film premiere subtext can be seen as the opposite to MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE as De Palma has become an outcast with a series of financial flops as the terrorist/De Palma is gunning down industry types for not returning his phone calls. I'm might be wrong but I can't help but see that message within that sequence.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 6:29 PM CDT

More insightful reviews:

https://www.splicetoday.com/moving-pictures/silencing-domino

https://thisislandrod.blogspot.com/2019/06/domino-2019.html

Any chance you could add a sidebar on the main page showing the latest comments?

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 7:36 PM CDT

Yes, I saw these and was going to post about them tonight. Maybe a sidebar, too, yeah-- thanks!