"IF I WAS MAKING FILMS, I'D WANT THEM TO LOOK AND FEEL LIKE THIS"
Musician Austin Garrick, who wrote and coproduced the theme song for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, picks his top 10 Criterion releases, posted at Criterion.com, and includes Brian De Palma's Blow Out, which he pairs as a tie at number 5, along with Michael Mann's Thief. Here's what he says about these two films:"Two films from the same year, each the start of my favorite run of movies from its director. Brian De Palma is my favorite director of all time, in the sense that I get more 'if I was making films, I’d want them to look and feel like this' moments watching his movies than anyone else’s. For me, it’s with Dressed to Kill and then Blow Out that De Palma really homed in on the look, feel, and all-around aesthetic that I love from him and it’s something he brought with him to his next two films, Scarface and Body Double (which, along with Carlito’s Way, round out my favorites of his career to date).
"I love Thief for being Michael Mann’s incredible feature film debut as well as a blueprint of sorts for a number of films that came after it. It’s the first of my three favorites from him, rounded out by his next two films, the often panned but visually amazing The Keep (again with a great Tangerine Dream score) and Manhunter."
(Thanks to John!)