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Interviews:
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De Palma interviewed
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Scarface: Make Way
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In a separate bit of intriguing news, Kahan will be at the 50th anniversary screening of Phantom Of The Paradise, for which Paul Williams is an already-announced guest, at the theater where Brian De Palma's movie was filmed: The Majestic Theater in Dallas, on Saturday, October 26th. In fact, with Kahan on hand, this promises to "a very special" screening of Phantom Of The Paradise.
Meanwhile, Matt Zoller Seitz re-watched the film last night:
Meanwhile, at Fangoria, Phil Noble Jr. writes:
Until I get off my ass and start a podcast of my own, I’m happy any time I’m invited onto someone else’s. Being invited onto someone else’s podcast to talk Phantom of the Paradise? I’ll do that all day. It’s one of my favorite, most formative movies, and my love for it has, over the years, given back to me more than I can measure.So I was very happy indeed to join Chris Slusarenko’s Revolutions Per Movie podcast (along with with visual artist and musician Perry Shall) to geek out for an hour and change over Brian De Palma’s 1974 film, which has in my lifetime gone from box office dud to secret handshake to out-of-print cult favorite to beloved classic of the canon.
Chris and Perry share my love for the film, so if you wanna hear people argue, this isn’t for you. But if you wanna hear three dudes unabashedly love on a once-forgotten glam rock musical horror epic, head here (or wherever you get your podcasts) to get an earful of it!
On stage in front of the giant screen before the film last night, Paul Williams recalled the days when the film was released in 1974. "What was very good fortune for us, was that it wasn't a small hit, or even a big hit," Williams told the Canneds audience. "It was a film that, the people that loved it, would not walk away from."
Before he gained much deserved acclaim for films like Carrie, Scarface and The Untouchables, Brian De Palma was best known for scrappy experimental films like Hi Mom and Sisters. The Phantom of the Paradise was an apparent attempt at a commercial breakthrough. But some audiences were weirded out by its garish ambience, and some jaded critics considered it a ho-hum satire of the music industry.In retrospect, it’s simply one of the strangest movies we’ve ever seen — and one of the coolest. Music producer Swan (Paul Williams, who also provides much of the haunting music) makes naive songwriter Winslow Leach (William Finley) sell his soul and his songs so that they can be performed by Swan’s pet protege, Phoenix (Jessica Harper). He seeks justice by becoming The Phantom of the Paradise.
The atmospherics are incredible — doomed and portentous, without ever veering fully into camp. It’s also fun to note that Williams would, just a few years after this, co-write “The Rainbow Connection” for Kermit the Frog — and to wonder if, considering that De Palma and George Lucas traveled in the same circles, The Phantom influenced Darth Vader.
MOHAN IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE VOYEURS, IMMACULATE, SAVE THE DATE
Watching this fever dream of a movie, it feels like Brian De Palma learned that he had six weeks left to live and decided to put all of his cinematic ideas in this film, whether or not they fit the story. It’s about an out-of-work actor who is housesitting at the Chemosphere and how he becomes more and more intrigued by a porn star he watches through a telescope. But following the plot is a fool’s errand – it’s the kind of film where you simply need to let the vibe wash over you in order to enjoy the onslaught of baffling maximalist creative decisions. From the sudden switch to rear projection mid-scene, to the abrupt musical number that happens toward the film’s climax; it’s crazy to think this is the blank check movie De Palma wanted to cash after the massive success of Scarface.Body Double also contains one of my favorite set pieces in all of De Palma’s filmography. In a moment of pure visual storytelling, we follow the main character tailing his object of desire, while a stalker is simultaneously tailing her at the same time. It’s the kind of sequence that can only exist in a movie; it would be so challenging to read in a novel and could never work in audio form. The way De Palma carefully lays out the geography and visual design of how his three chess pieces move across the board is remarkable.
I also just love that the killer’s weapon — a giant drill — is a direct homage to Slumber Party Massacre, one of the smartest horror movies ever made, and directed by a woman.
Meanwhile...
Momentarily distracted by the presence of Winslow Leach, the composer, Swan quickly comes up with an idea. "Telephone," he commands to no one in particular, turning and pointing toward the telephone that sits atop a bedside table behind him...
Despite the temptation of stepping away from new movies in favor of the Overlook’s impressive revival slate, which included a 10th anniversary screening of Oculus with Mike Flanagan in attendance followed by Lucio Fulci’s Louisiana-set The Beyond, there was one classic film I could not ignore. I ventured from the Prytania multiplex to the classic New Orleans theater that gave it the Prytania name—an Uptown institution for over a century that can be found in the pages of A Confederacy of Dunces—for a 50th anniversary screening of Brian DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise followed by a Q&A with songwriter/star Paul Williams conducted by John Cameron Mitchell. It was a predictably memorable conversation, filled with behind-the-scenes stories and other tales from the height of Williams’ variety show-era stardom (including an anecdote about visiting New Orleans with Lee Majors while wearing a dog collar). The film remains as thrillingly weird as ever, but it also felt fitting to close out the Overlook’s 2024 incarnation with a film that defied categorization then and now and helped inspire those that followed to do the same.
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