De Palma a la Mod

Friday, November 20, 2015

GASPAR NOE ON HIS FIVE FAVORITE FILMS
IMPRESSED BY CAMERA WORK IN DE PALMA FILMS, '2001', 'GRAVITY', 'ANGST'

Gaspar Noe, whose new film Love is playing in theaters this month in both 3D and 2D, talked to Rotten Tomatoes' Kerr Lordygan about his five favorite films. Here's what Noe said about one of the five, Gerald Kargl's Angst, from 1983:

"Maybe ten years later [after seeing Salò], I had written some shorts and I was talking with a friend who said, 'Oh, have you seen this Austrian movie that has been banned in France for extreme violence?' That came out in VHS. And the German title was Angst. And the VHS was called Schizophrenia — the French VHS with French subtitles. And I tell you it was weird, it was like the beginning of some kind of new thing — that some movies could be banned for theatrical release but they could still come out on VHS. So I got the VHS. Nowadays there are maybe things that are banned out there, but you can find it with one click on the net. But this time, something that was banned could be found on VHS. I bought that VHS; that was quite hard to find. And I believe that I watched that movie 50 times because each time a friend said, 'Let’s go see a movie,' I said, 'Come to my house. I’ll show you Schizophrenia.' So one by one I was showing that movie to all my friends.

"And it’s got the most amazing camera work in the history of cinema. Not so many movies that really impress when it comes to the camera work. Maybe Brian De Palma’s movies… or 2001. Or, for example, lately, the images of Gravity. But the camera work of this movie is so real. It added to a very violent story of the guy coming out of jail and killing a whole family in order to go back to jail where he felt better, and it’s based on a true story. And it’s got a [unique] voiceover. But the mix of that cruelty, the voiceover and the camera put in positions that you’ve never seen before made me be obsessed with the movie. Now, since three or four months ago, it’s for sale [on DVD here in America]. So if anybody is interested you can go on Amazon.com and buy that movie called Angst."

Posted by Geoff at 11:58 PM CST
Updated: Saturday, November 21, 2015 12:05 AM CST
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Thursday, November 19, 2015

GRAHAM TO ATTEND 'PHANTOM' IN NY DEC 4
POST-SCREENING Q&A W/FANGO'S MICHAEL GINGOLD AT ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE IN YONKERS, 35MM PRINT

Gerrit Graham will be on hand for a Q&A following a screening of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise at 8pm December 4th, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers, New York. The film will be projected from a 35mm print, and the Q&A will be moderated by Fangoria's editor-in-chief, Michael Gingold.

"The ultimate synthesis of horror and rock 'n' roll," begins the Alamo description, "Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise is an explosion of music, madness and the director's trademark camera style, complete with prowling cameras and split screens." Fangoria's staff description of the event concludes, "If you’re in or around NYC, come see Phantom in all its colorful big-screen glory with its most outrageous character in attendance!"

Posted by Geoff at 11:55 PM CST
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

'CARLITO'S WAY' & 'GOODFELLAS' DOUBLE FEATURE
DE PALMA/SCORSESE THIS SUNDAY AT THE CASTRO IN SAN FRANCISCO

Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way will screen from a 35mm print at 4:45pm this Sunday, November 22nd, at The Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The screening is part of a double feature with Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, which screens from DCP in a new 4K restoration before and after Carlito, at 2pm and 7:30pm.

Posted by Geoff at 2:03 AM CST
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'THE FURY' @ THE NEW BEV - MIDNIGHT SATURDAY
IN 35MM

Brian De Palma's The Fury is the midnight film this Saturday, November 21st at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema. The film will screen from what we presume is Tarantino's own personal 35mm print of this De Palma classic.

Posted by Geoff at 1:48 AM CST
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

'BLOW OUT' SCREENS WEDNESDAY IN NEW YORK
AS PART OF "ON SCREEN/SOUND" SERIES AT EMPAC

Brian De Palma's Blow Out will screen Wednesday night as part of EMPAC's On Screen/Sound series. EMPAC is located in Troy, New York.

This week's screening "examines the influence of Foley and sound effects on moving image," according to the website description. "Creeping tension is defused by the banality of production in Deborah Stratman’s Hacked Circuit," the event description continues, "while the hyperactive, fantastical sounds of magic highlight the otherworldliness of an episode of Kou Matsuo's Japanese anime Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta. The feature film of the evening, Brian de Palma’s Blow Out, a sonic response to Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic Blowup, finds a movie sound-effects engineer (John Travolta) in the wrong place at the wrong time as he unwittingly records the sound of a murder and is drawn into a web of intrigue."

Posted by Geoff at 12:11 AM CST
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Sunday, November 15, 2015

JEFF BYRD INSTAGRAM POST FROM LAST WEEK
"HAVING MR. DE PALMA ON BOARD AS THE DIRECTOR IS LIKE DREAMING AWAKE"

Posted by Geoff at 6:21 PM CST
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Friday, November 13, 2015

'LIGHTS OUT' SEEN AS POTENTIAL FRANCHISE-STARTER
SAID HUACE PICTURES HEAD JON CHIEW; FORBES BLOG: DE PALMA HEADING TO CHINA IS START OF A TREND
In a Hollywood Reporter article by Clifford Coonan, posted from the Cannes Film Festival this past May, Jon Chiew, head of international film for Huace Pictures (the company co-producing Lights Out), said, "We believe Lights Out is shaping up to be a Chinese female superhero franchise that the market has never seen and we are happy to be onboard this ride with Arclight Films, a company that has a real understanding of the Chinese marketplace." Coonan's description of the film from that article goes like this: "Lights Out follows the plight of Emma Mitchell, a woman in her 20s forced to fight for her life when her dilapidated, Louisiana, plantation-styled home is inexplicably targeted by a crew of international gangsters."

Meanwhile, in a blog post with a curious typo in its headline (considering that it is for a Forbes blog), Cherry Hong suggests that a big-name director such as Brian De Palma heading to China to make a film is the start of a trend. "China is putting emphasis on rejuvenation and protection of its culture as global force able to hold its own," writes Hong. "Recognizing that the competition with the West is fierce, Xi [Jinping] aims to control the trend of globalization in the film industry within China, and to raise the quality of domestic films for greater competitive power. With these goals on agenda, China is in the forefront of seeking talents for its film industry revolution."

Posted by Geoff at 7:34 AM CST
Updated: Friday, June 10, 2016 6:30 PM CDT
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Thursday, November 12, 2015

TRAVOLTA 'QUICK TO CREDIT DE PALMA'
WILL RECEIVE CAREER AWARD AS GUEST OF HONOR AT NAPA VALLEY FILM FEST THIS WEEK

John Travolta, pictured above by Nancy Allen from the set of Brian De Palma's Carrie, is the guest of honor at the Napa Valley Film Festival this week, and will receive a career award at a Celebrity Tribute on Friday, November 13th, according to The San Francisco Chronicle's G. Allen Johnson. Johnson writes, "Although he became a star with three music-oriented films in quick succession — in addition to Saturday Night Fever, there were Grease and Urban Cowboy — Travolta was also quick to credit director Brian De Palma, who cast him in his first major film role in the Stephen King shocker Carrie. They worked together again in Blow Out, one of Travolta’s best (and most underrated) performances."

On Saturday at the Napa Film Fest, Travolta will be on hand to present the world premiere of David Hackl's Life On The Line, in which Travolta "plays a lineman working with his crew to fix an electrical grid as a powerful storm approaches," according to Johnson.

Posted by Geoff at 2:35 AM CST
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Monday, November 9, 2015

DE PALMA IN PRE-PRODUCTION ON 'LIGHTS OUT'
THRILLER - BLIND CHINESE GIRL CAUGHT IN PLOT TO EXPOSE ASSASSINATION PROGRAM - USES HEIGHTENED SENSES TO FIGHT BACK

Variety's Patrick Frater posted an exclusive this morning, announcing that Brian De Palma is currently in pre-production on a new thriller, Lights Out, which previously had Xavier Gens attached to direct. "The film is the story of a blind Chinese girl unknowingly caught in a plot to expose a top-secret assassination program," writes Frater. "Although blind, she is able to use her other heightened senses to fight back and become a hero." Deadline's Patrick Hipes adds another element to that description, writing that the film "centers on a blind Chinese girl unknowingly caught in a plot to expose a top-secret assassination program, and who raises unsettling questions about government secrecy and what can and can’t be seen." A year ago, when Gens had been attached, The Hollywood Reporter's Clifford Coonan described the film as a "female superhero movie" that "tells of a young blind girl who lives alone with her seeing eye dog in her family’s secluded mansion after the suspicious death of her father during a Secret Service operation. Russian gangsters break in, and she is forced to make use of the fighting skills taught to her by her father."

According to Frater, "Casting is currently underway for top roles, including an A-list Chinese actress to star as the female action hero lead." According to Frater, the film will be "the first to be made by Aurora Alliance Films the joint venture banner between Huace, one of China’s leading TV producers, and Sydney- and Los Angeles-based Arclight. The joint venture company was announced in September with a $300 million slate of high concept action pictures."

Aurora Alliance's Ying Ye is quoted in the Variety article: "De Palma is a proven master of suspense; in the hands of the legendary director, Lights Out promises to be a thriller for the ages, full of empowering messages, harrowing plot turns and great action sequences."

The film was written by Lamont Magee and Jeff W. Byrd. De Palma's Redacted producers, Jennifer Weiss and Simone Urdl of the Film Farm, are listed by Frater as co-producers, along with Huace Media Group; Ye of Aurora Alliance; Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy, and Elliot Tong of Arclight.

Posted by Geoff at 11:38 AM CST
Updated: Monday, November 9, 2015 5:10 PM CST
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DE NIRO TALKS TO VARIETY ABOUT EARLY FILMS
BRIEF INTERVIEW ARTICLE INCLUDES JPG OF 'GREETINGS' REVIEW FROM 1968

In an article posted this past Friday, Variety's Malina Saval talks with Robert De Niro, with a focus on 1968, the year he was first mentioned in Variety, for his role in Brian De Palma's Greetings. That review (ot the first column of it) is included in the article as a separate jpg. Below is an excerpt from the De Niro interview:

Did you audition for “Greetings”?
I auditioned for “The Wedding Party,” which was Brian’s first movie, which he co-directed with Wilford Leach. That was my first movie too. And then he asked me if I wanted to (do “Greetings”) … I don’t think I read for “Greetings.” And then we did “Hi, Mom!” And then we did “The Untouchables.” So we did a big jump.
When you filmed “Greetings,” did you have high hopes, or were you just hoping for distribution?
In those days, I wasn’t even sure how it worked, distribution. I forget who did pick it up, it was so long ago. But I do remember “Greetings” did somewhat well.
Do you remember reading the “Greetings” review?
I was aware of Variety, but it must have been pointed out to me.
You were busy in those days.
I also had done something in-between (the De Palma films) called “Sam’s Song” (directed by Jordan Leondopoulos), which Cannon Prods. took at the time. They sort of twisted it into a kind of quasi-porno film, because I had some nude scenes with a girl; at that time, films would be done with whatever sex or nude scenes. But it was all made with the most … with the highest artistic intent. There was a very genuine, sincere intention of the writer-director.
1968 was a tumultuous time. Do you have any memories that stand out?
Well, the Vietnam War was going on and President Johnson, so that was really … There was a lot going on.

Posted by Geoff at 1:21 AM CST
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