De Palma a la Mod

Billed as part of "Joe Dante's 16mm Spotlight," American Cinematheque will screen Brian De Palma's Murder A La Mod on Saturday, March 7, at Spielberg Theatre at The Egyptian in Hollywood. The 16mm print comes "from the personal film collection of Joe Dante and Jon Davison." Decades ago, Dante and producer Davison teamed up "to amass a collection of hundreds of films, many of which are now available only on 16mm and are preserved at the Academy Film Archive," according to American Cinematheque. Here is the program description of Murder A La Mod:

Rarely seen after its initial release in a single New York theater, Brian De Palma’s feature debut is a stylish murder mystery set in the adult-film business in 1960s New York City. Exhibiting many of the same styles and thematic preoccupations that the auteur would soon be famous for, the film is a thrilling homage to great genre films before it, equal parts Powell’s PEEPING TOM, Kubrick’s THE KILLING and Hitchcock’s PSYCHO. The story begins when seedy filmmaker Christopher (Jared Martin) tries to trick his girlfriend, aspiring actress Karen (Margo Norton), into starring in one of his partner’s skin flicks. Obstructing his plans is the bizarre prankster Otto (William Finley), who stalks the building where they’re shooting. In Hitchcockian fashion, Christopher’s luck runs out when a series of seemingly unconnected events leads to a shocking murder scene.

The program will begin with the cartoon Cuckoo Murder Case from 1930.

Posted by Geoff at 12:01 AM CST
Updated: Thursday, February 27, 2020 2:04 AM CST
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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

50 YEARS AGO TODAY, MURDER A LA MOD
1968 OPENING PARTY WITH BARTEL'S SHORT, 'SECRET CINEMA' AT THE GATE IN NY

Posted by Geoff at 8:17 PM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 10:40 PM CDT
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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Posted by Geoff at 12:48 AM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, May 6, 2014 12:50 AM CDT
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Saturday, January 10, 2009

AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY DRAWS DE PALMA'S "FIRST BLOOD"
WITH SCREENINGS OF EARLY WORKS JAN. 13-Feb. 10

The Austin Film Society is running a program this month called First Blood: The Early Films Of Brian De Palma. The program kicks off this Tuesday, January 13, with a screening of the DVD of Murder a la Mod (the 7pm screening is already sold out, but there are still tickets left for the 9pm screening). The 7pm screening of Greetings (also from a DVD) on January 17th is also sold out, as is the 7pm screening of Dionysus In '69 (from a DVD) on January 24th. The 9pms are still available in both cases. The other films being screened are Hi, Mom! (35mm print from the MGM archive screens January 20th), Sisters (35mm print from the Academy archives screens January 27th), Phantom Of The Paradise (digital version from Criterion Pictures to be screened via DVCam February 3rd), and Carrie (35mm print from the MGM archive screens February 10th). See the website for specific screening locations, but also to read the terrific summaries provided by the Austin Film Society's Guest Curator Bryan Poyser, who writes the following as part of an introduction to the program:

The seven films presented here display a provocative, free-wheeling, politically subversive sensibility, rich with sarcasm and gleeful satire, bent on jolting the audience into thinking about what they’re seeing rather than lulling them with fantasy or romanticism. Undoubtedly, it is this rigorous and contrarian agenda that keeps most audiences and critics from fully embracing De Palma, but perhaps also makes him both the most frustrating and addictively watchable filmmaker of his generation.

Posted by Geoff at 11:19 PM CST
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