It kind of taught me one thing, is that, it takes as much energy and as much work to make the best, most successful movie as it does to make the least successful movie. And it's the same sort of dream. It's the same dream. It's the same conviction, that you're doing something that you believe in and that's so amazing. And there's something very touching about that, and very emotional, as you put yourself in that perspective of an artist.

Of all the films that I did for Brian De Palma, that was the one where he sent me a note after seeing the, kind of, rough cut. And he said something along the lines of... you know, because he is a filmmaker that I think has been mostly misunderstood,or never had the kind of recognition that he deserved. And he kind of said something, I'm misquoting, but something along the lines of, "I've never been on time. I've always been either before my time or after my time. But watching your film on the making of my film reminded me why I do what I do. And why I love doing what I do." And that made me feel great, because if there was one person that you always want to be happy, it's the actual director of the original film you're talking about.

Josh Horowitz: What's the one that scarred you for life? What's the one that still haunts your dreams, all these years later?

Stanley Tucci: There were two of them. One was Brian De Palma, who I went in and auditioned for. And my friend Ellen Lewis cast it. So Ellen cast all of my films when I was making them in America. Well, three of them, three of my films. And, um, he, Brian De Palma... I auditioned for The Untouchables.

Horowitz: Yep.

Tucci: To play, like, Frank Nitti, or one of the bad guys.

Horowitz: Okay. That'd be ironic, considering you went on to play Frank.

Tucci: I know. I know. And he... then I did it, and he just sort of sat there and stared at me. It was weird, it was in a conference room, he was sitting at a desk, and I was standing sort of next to him, and the whole thing was weird. And then I did it and he went, "Ooh. Scary." And I was like, I don't know how to react to that. And then there was some minor chit-chat about nothing, and then I left. And I was so depressed. It was just creepy and bad and rude.

The band's second album, The Contino Sessions (1999), marked a slight change in direction with more attention to live instrumentation than their first and the inclusion of guest vocalists (including Dot Allison, Bobby Gillespie, Iggy Pop, and Jim Reid).[1] Although predominantly rock-influenced, the album still retained some electronic elements, in particular the opening track "Dirge" with its drum machine-based rhythm track. "Dirge" was featured on a Levi's jeans commercial, as well as the second instalment of The Blair Witch Project, and was used in the trailer for the 2006 film The Black Dahlia. The song was also used in the trailer for the 2013 film Cheap Thrills and used in the 2002 film 28 Days Later; at the end of the 2009 remake of The Last House on the Left; near the end of the Being Human episode "The Longest Day"; and in the second episode of season two of Misfits. Along with "Aisha" (with vocals from Iggy Pop), "Dirge" helped the band gain more recognition, culminating in a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2000. "Dirge" was the subject of a lawsuit by the band Five or Six, as it borrowed extensively from their song "Another Reason". The matter was settled with Five or Six receiving a writing credit.

The Conversation

Possibly the greatest paranoia film ever. Francis Ford Coppola’s masterful film sees Gene Hackman catch a suggestive conversation from two ‘targets’ he’s been asked to tap. A progressive trail of events unfold and Hackman, still haunted by the collateral damage from some of his previous jobs, believes he’s unwittingly put a young couple in danger.

The nefarious company Hackman deals with make vague threats when he questions them, and then his mental state begins to unravel. For a film that Coppola did as a kind of quickie between his two Godfather epics, The Conversation is stunningly crafted. The offsetting score really adds to this unsettling atmosphere. By the time Hackman has lost his marbles completely, and the film has ended brilliantly, you’ll be left stunned.

Blow Out

Back to a sound man finding himself drawn into a web of murder after recording more than he bargained for. Brian De Palma’s wonderful homage to vintage era Hitchcock (as well as no small nod to Antonioni’s Blow Up, and the aforementioned The Conversation) has everything you’d expect from his peak era work.

Travolta probably gives his best performance. Given how huge a fan Tarantino is of this film in particularly, and the surprising choice to cast Travolta in Pulp Fiction back in the day, it’s likely his work in this contributed heavily to why he ended up dancing with Uma Thurman on screen in 94. Travolta and fellow Carrie alumni, Nancy Allen are both excellent in this and the film is brilliantly shot and expertly paced. De Palma’s trademark style is in full effect, and completely effective for this kind of histrionic thriller. If Coppola dialled it all back for his thriller, De Palma keeps it all out and it contrasts beautifully with The Conversation (rather than battling it for supremacy).

There’s exciting news for film buffs with the announcement that, on February 23 and March 2, famed Hollywood filmmaker Nick McLean will be joined by Naas author and film historian Wayne Byrne for a brace of masterclasses for Dublin Business School.

The lectures with be split into two subjects, the first covering McLean’s career as a camera operator on some of the biggest releases of the New Hollywood era, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Obsession, McCabe & Mrs Miller, The Deer Hunter, Marathon Man, and The Rolling Stones’ concert film, Let’s Spend the Night Together.

The second class will focus on McLean’s acclaimed work as a cinematographer on box office hits and cult classics of the 1980s such as The Goonies, Spaceballs, Staying Alive, Cobra, Willow, City Heat, and the hit 90s TV shows Friends, Cybill, and Evening Shade.

Byrne, a former writer for Hot Press, has authored several highly acclaimed books on cinema, including a film biography of McLean entitled Nick McLean Behind The Camera: The Life and Works of a Hollywood Cinematographer, co-written with the filmmaker and released in March 2020.

Byrne’s other work includes books on American indie auteur Tom DiCillo, Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds, and he is due to release his latest book, a history of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, in the coming months.

These classes will be accessed via Zoom and will give film fans an opportunity to hear McLean discuss his working relationships with directors aged actors such as Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Michael Cimino, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Mel Brooks, George Lucas, John Schlesinger, Sylvester Stallone, and Burt Reynolds, as well as offering an insight into the making of many revered films.

There will be a Q&A at the end of each session for attendees to ask the eminent McLean directly about his work filming these many classics.

Free tickets for these masterclasses are available via Eventbrite, here and here.

Cameraman Nick McLean on Obsession & Family Plot

If you bought two of these, you could connect them and activate "De Palma Mode" - allowing you to play the Prom level with 2 screens.

I was recently a guest on this fun show @deadbeatfilmsociety talking all about one of my favorite films #phantomoftheparadise !! 👻 🎹⚡️ it came out in 1974 and influenced a ton of other movies. And featured TONTO the monster synth that predated the Fairlight (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) best known for this movie and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”.

The Mission To Mars spaceship - the Mars 1. One of the last giant miniatures to have motion control shooting. This model was about 21' or 6.4 meters and was made at Dream Quest Images in Simi Valley California,1999.

Ha! No but the engine section is damaged and blows up in the movie. And I made the damaged engines. 😂

I was doing print work for Vogue. I worked for Diane von Fürstenberg. I was doing print and beauty. And, uh...then... I hated it. I hated it. It was awful. There was all these stupid people and the photographers all had their hands on all the twelve-year-old models. It was disgusting! And so I would only work four days a week. And that was a lot of money. I was making about two-thousand dollars a day back then -- it was in the seventies -- which is a lot of money. For a twenty-seven-year-old, twenty-six-year-old. And one day, I said to... I was like, I only work four days, I can't stand this, I hate it. And then one of my girlfriends said she was doing a movie with Brian De Palma and wanted to know if I wanted to test. To do the make-up. [Shrugging] I was like, yeah, sure. I did the test, I got the job. And that was my first movie. And ever since then, I've been working.

I did... I lived in New York, and I called... I knew The Ramones were doing a movie. So I called up the director for the Ramones movie, and I said, listen, I have to do this movie. And he goes, like, well, send me your book. So I sent him my book, and he calls me back, and he goes, "Your too overqualified. I don't have any money, I can't bring you to California. I would love to have you!" I said, that's okay. I'll get on a plane, I'll find a place to stay, and I did it for two-hundred dollars a week. Rock And Roll High School. And it was AMAZING! [she laughs]

I've just, I've always worked. I did Saturday Night Live. I mean, I've really... I did [the] Tom Ford movie. I've really... I gravitate towards directors. So, I don't like to do personals, really. I don't really like to work with just one actor. I like to do the whole film. I like to work with the directors. When we did A Single Man, Tom Ford came up at the end of the first day, and he said, So what'd you think? And I said, Oh, my God, we made art! He says [mocks seriousness], "Well, I hope we make art every day." And you don't really feel that, when you're working in the film business. A lot. I mean, it's far and few between, I feel very privilidged and lucky and honored that, you know, I've worked with the directors that I've worked with. Because they're not the directors that say, "Yeah, it's fine, let's move on." They're like, "No, let's do it again!"