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De Palma a la Mod

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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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« April 2013 »
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Interviews...

De Palma interviewed
in Paris 2002

De Palma discusses
The Black Dahlia 2006


Enthusiasms...

De Palma Community

The Virtuoso
of the 7th Art

The De Palma Touch

The Swan Archives

Carrie...A Fan's Site

Phantompalooza

No Harm In Charm

Paul Schrader

Alfred Hitchcock
The Master Of Suspense

Alfred Hitchcock Films

Snake Eyes
a la Mod

Mission To Mars
a la Mod

Sergio Leone
and the Infield
Fly Rule

Movie Mags

Directorama

The Filmmaker Who
Came In From The Cold

Jim Emerson on
Greetings & Hi, Mom!

Scarface: Make Way
For The Bad Guy

The Big Dive
(Blow Out)

Carrie: The Movie

Deborah Shelton
Official Web Site

The Phantom Project

Welcome to the
Offices of Death Records

The Carlito's Way
Fan Page

The House Next Door

Kubrick on the
Guillotine

FilmLand Empire

Astigmia Cinema

LOLA

Cultural Weekly

A Lonely Place

The Film Doctor

italkyoubored

Icebox Movies

Medfly Quarantine

Not Just Movies

Hope Lies at
24 Frames Per Second

Motion Pictures Comics

Diary of a
Country Cinephile

So Why This Movie?

Obsessive Movie Nerd

Nothing Is Written

Ferdy on Films

Cashiers De Cinema

This Recording

Mike's Movie Guide

Every '70s Movie

Dangerous Minds

EatSleepLiveFilm

No Time For
Love, Dr. Jones!

The former
De Palma a la Mod
site

Entries by Topic
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.
All topics  «
Ambrose Chapel
Are Snakes Necessary?
BAMcinématek
Bart De Palma
Beaune Thriller Fest
Becoming Visionary
Betty Buckley
Bill Pankow
Black Dahlia
Blow Out
Blue Afternoon
Body Double
Bonfire Of The Vanities
Books
Boston Stranglers
Bruce Springsteen
Cannes
Capone Rising
Carlito's Way
Carrie
Casualties Of War
Catch And Kill
Cinema Studies
Clarksville 1861
Columbia University
Columbo - Shooting Script
Congo
Conversation, The
Cop-Out
Cruising
Daft Punk
Dancing In The Dark
David Koepp
De Niro
De Palma & Donaggio
De Palma (doc)
De Palma Blog-A-Thon
De Palma Discussion
Demolished Man
Dick Vorisek
Dionysus In '69
Domino
Dressed To Kill
Edward R. Pressman
Eric Schwab
Fatal Attraction
Femme Fatale
Film Series
Fire
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Fury, The
Genius of Love
George Litto
Get To Know Your Rabbit
Ghost & The Darkness
Greetings
Happy Valley
Havana Film Fest
Heat
Hi, Mom!
Hitchcock
Home Movies
Inspired by De Palma
Iraq, etc.
Jack Fisk
Jared Martin
Jerry Greenberg
Keith Gordon
Key Man, The
Laurent Bouzereau
Lights Out
Lithgow
Magic Hour
Magnificent Seven
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Mission: Impossible
Mod
Montreal World Film Fest
Morricone
Mr. Hughes
Murder a la Mod
Nancy Allen
Nazi Gold
Newton 1861
Noah Baumbach
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Palmetto
Paranormal Activity 2
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Passion
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Print The Legend
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Raising Cain
Red Shoes, The
Redacted
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Retribution
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Rotwang muß weg!
Sakamoto
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Sisters
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
MR. BEAKS SPEAKS DE PALMA
AS SPECIAL GUEST ON PODCAST "HELL IS FOR HYPHEN-ATES"
From the description at Hell Is For Hyphen-ates: "Film critic and commentator Jeremy Smith (Mr Beaks on Ain’t It Cool News) joins the Hyphenates to debate the films of April 2013, discuss the all-too-brief career of filmmaker Fabián Bielinsky, and explore the expansive and surprising filmography of director Brian De Palma."

Posted by Geoff at 7:00 PM CDT
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DUTCH REVIEW OF 'PASSION'
POWERFUL EMOTIONAL IMAGES, AND "THE BEAUTY OF THE ELONGATED MOMENT"
Film & Leven's Gawie Keyser posted a review of Brian De Palma's Passion yesterday, calling the story "flat as a dime, not to mention implausible, poorly developed and sometimes very badly played by actors who seem like amateurs." But then Keyser goes on to suggest that none of that matters:

"But this is film and not a novel or theater, something that De Palma is well aware of and a point on which he insists in interviews. Film is image, as a matter of fact, and there are few directors better than De Palma at understanding that it is the drama of images, rather than the meaning of the words of characters, that has a psychological impact. That’s why Passion is so powerful: the film does not appeal to rational thought processes, but seems to stimulate the emotions that regulate those parts in your brain. It is a film in which texture predominates: images reflected within images or on shiny surfaces such as mirrors and walls and windows in ultra modern office buildings or in anonymous apartments that cause feelings of alienation rather than homeliness. Everything is extremely stylized, so time is distorted and the essence of an action or event is stretched and accentuated, especially in a fabulous sequence where a bloody murder and a ballet performance are simultaneously visible in split screen...

"...De Palma is a romantic filmmaker par excellence, and that he has in common with his Hong Kong colleague Wong Kar-wai. Perhaps the problem lies in something they both contend with when it comes to the reception of their work: the harsh reality of the current zeitgeist offers little room for the beauty of the elongated moment."


Posted by Geoff at 1:23 AM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:27 AM CDT
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Monday, April 29, 2013



Thanks to Marina for finding some more stills and set photos from Passion, including the one above that shows Brian De Palma and Jose Luis Alcaine on set. There are sets of photos (most we've seen before, but some we have not) at Port, MoziNéző, and on the ADS Facebook page.

Posted by Geoff at 6:06 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, April 29, 2013 6:07 PM CDT
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
ARROW BLU-RAY OF 'DRESSED TO KILL' JULY 29
NEW ART SLEEVE BY NATHANEL MARSH, ESSAY BY MAITLAND MCDONAGH

The British Arrow Video will release a Blu-Ray edition of Brian De Palma's Dressed To Kill July 29th. According to posts at Horror Digital, the set appears to include almost everything from both the American Blu-Ray and the French Blu-Ray editions, aside from the American edition's "Dressed to Kill: An Appreciation by Keith Gordon" (6:06) and the photo gallery, and the French edition's preface by Samuel Blumenfeld. What's new is the cover ("reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanel Marsh," according to the special features list) and a collector's booklet "featuring new writing on the film by critic and author Maitland McDonagh, illustrated with original archive stills and promotional material."

McDonagh is the author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento. In her Terror Trap reflection on seeing Argento's Deep Red for the first time in New York, McDonagh mentions that one 42nd Street theater paired up De Palma's Dressed To Kill with "the totally sleazy Humanoids from the Deep."

Posted by Geoff at 11:33 PM CDT
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ANOTHER GERMAN-DUBBED 'PASSION' CLIP
"WICKED GAME" SHOWS CHRISTINE & DANI IN CONFLICT
I've found yet another video clip, dubbed in German, from Brian De Palma's Passion. Can't wait to hear the real voices and see the full movie, but until then, here's the link to the new clip, followed by some captures. (And by the way, this site also has videos of each of the four Passion interview subjects, with all the smaller interview clips edited together by individual: De Palma, Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, and Karoline Herfurth.)

Passion clip: Böses Spiel


Posted by Geoff at 10:39 PM CDT
Updated: Sunday, April 28, 2013 10:50 PM CDT
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NEW 'PASSION' SET PICS
(Thanks to Patrick!)





Posted by Geoff at 9:51 PM CDT
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
NEW DE PALMA INTERVIEW FROM GERMANY
'PASSION' IS SET "IN THE SURREALISTIC WORLD OF ADVERTISING, WHICH RAISES EVEN MORE QUESTIONS & FEWER GENUINE ANSWERS"
The Weser Kurier's Kerstin Lindemann interviews Brian De Palma about Passion, his career, and computer games. Here is a Google-assisted translation:

Kurier: Mr. De Palma, you recently said that in the last five years it has been difficult for you to make a film. Why is that?

Brian De Palma: I wrote some more political screenplays, but the productions did not get financed. But that's just life in the film industry: You put work into a project that is about to go into production, then it does not work out. Or you get another offer, but maybe you do not want to do it. We work up a new project. So I do not spend the whole day at the beach or on the sofa watching football on TV, but working. This project here I liked, for example.

Kurier: Why?

De Palma: Because "Passion" is a very clever mystery story, where you always keep the audience in doubt as to who is the murderer and who is not. And I set the whole thing in the surrealistic world of advertising, which raises even more questions and fewer genuine answers.

Kurier: Why does Hollywood scarcely make movies like "Passion", aimed at an adult audience?

De Palma: Because many filmmakers, who select the adult themes, are not at all interested in a career in the studio system. The members of the "Sundance generation": their movies cost five to ten million dollars and make 20 million. The development of their projects take years. People in their mid-40s may only have shot four films. At that age, I had already directed 15 films.

Kurier: And with not too bad earnings?

De Palma: I certainly have also earned a lot of money (laughs). But at that time we were all taken up, because we wanted to make a career in the studio system. A few of my friends from back then are now billionaires: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Francis Coppola, for example, have earned very much. This was something new in the history of directing. Directors were previously employed in the old Hollywood. They made one film after another for a studio, putting out 50, 60 or even 100 movies. Today we create maybe 30 our whole life. I'm not a fan of five-year development cycles for film projects. We are directors. We should be filming, not developing. All the directors I admire have filmed a lot. In fact you get better with every film you make.

Kurier: That sounds a little bitter ...

De Palma: Perhaps it may seem that way because I've spent almost my entire professional life trying to defend my movies. I'm not a particular fan of film critics, because very few seem to see what happens on the screen. This is very inconvenient for my visual style. Even with "Scarface" they savaged me, and years later, the film was considered very good and suddenly became a classic.

Kurier: Are you all in all happy with the course of your career?

De Palma: Yes, I would say so. I'm pretty happy because basically everything I made was what I wanted to shoot at the time. Nevertheless, any exciting career has its ups and downs. Also, I'm glad I'm still able to make films. That fact alone is already a great thing.

Kurier: You have completed a physics degree. How much you are still interested in modern technology?

De Palma: Very much. My brother and I were always completely computer crazy. We used pretty much every computer at home, every one that hit the market. We’d have it tested and tried, how powerful it is. And we played computer games, back in the seventies! At that time, I also played with Steven Spielberg, a game called "Pong", during the filming of "Jaws".

Kurier: And what do you play today with Steven?

De Palma: Steven Spielberg is the master of flight simulation. You put in any flight simulator, and he brings the craft down safely, no matter which aircraft. Breathtaking. But whenever I have a new game, no matter what, he comes over and we try it out.

Kurier: Why don’t you develop one yourself, if you are so excited about it?

De Palma: Are you kidding me? That would be as if I wanted to learn a new language at 73. It would be incredibly time-consuming, to familiarize myself with that. And time, as any 73-year-old will confirm, no longer works for me at my age.


Posted by Geoff at 1:11 PM CDT
Updated: Sunday, April 28, 2013 2:14 PM CDT
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Friday, April 26, 2013
'PASSION' FEATURED ON SPIEGEL TV 'MAKING OF'
OPENED YESTERDAY IN HUNGARY, NETHERLANDS, RUSSIA; TODAY IN ICELAND; MAY 2 IN GERMANY


The image above is one of several included in a new episode of Spiegel TV's Making Of, which features Brian De Palma's Passion, as well as Mama and Scary Movie 5. (Thanks to Marina for letting us know about it!) Passion opened yesterday in the Netherlands, and here is another positive review:

Sylvia van de Poll, Film Abides
"The great camera work, in combination with the lighting effects, make for beautiful images that are a true homage to the film noir form. This comes out clearly when Isabelle begins taking sleeping pills. At all times (even if it is logically impossible) there are dark shadows from wide blinds over the scenes which results in a distorted atmosphere. It is difficult to determine what is real and what is not, especially when Isabelle is several times startled awake from (possibly) a dream."

Passion also opened yesterday in Russia and Hungary, and opened today in Iceland. It will open in Germany on Thursday, May 2nd.


Posted by Geoff at 6:36 PM CDT
Updated: Friday, April 26, 2013 6:37 PM CDT
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
'PASSION' OPENS TODAY IN THE NETHERLANDS
AND WITH SOME VERY POSITIVE REVIEWS
Kaj van Zoelen, Film Totaal
"Thankfully Passion sees the return of De Palma the jazz artist who plays beautiful solos on old (known) melodies and is revitalized."

And Alex De Rouck sends along these quotes:

★★★★1/2 "De Palma is weer terug met een exquis vormgegeven thriller zoals alleen hij dat kan"- Filmtotaal.nl
("De Palma is back with an exquisitely crafted thriller as only he can")

★★★★ "Voyeurisme, dubbelganger, splitscreen: een echte De Palma" - NRC Handelsblad
("Voyeurism, double, split screen: a true De Palma")

★★★★ "(...) sensuele mis-en-scène, met elegante camerabewegingen" - NRC Next
("...sensual mis-en-scene, with elegant camera movements")

(Thanks, Alex!)

...AND SOME NOT SO POSITIVE, OF COURSE

M. Kremer, Spits
"Passion should be an old-fashioned steamy film noir, but is little more than a muddled fantasy about how all women are bitches..."

Lianne Koorn, Movie Scene
"A good thriller usually gets under the skin, but Passion is like an annoying mosquito that sits on your skin."

Barend de Voogd, Headlines
"It's all so exaggerated that you actually hope that De Palma wanted to make a parody."


Posted by Geoff at 7:10 AM CDT
Updated: Thursday, April 25, 2013 7:53 PM CDT
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Posted by Geoff at 12:40 AM CDT
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