About time someone started this one. The film that in my opinion carries all of his techniques and brings an amazing script is the untouchables. After that really his films are so well composed with his distinct style that i find it hard to pinpoint my favorite but let me give it to you in top ten format:
10. Obsession
9. Blow Out
8. Body Double
7. Casualties Of War
6. Sisters
5. Carlito’s Way
4. Dressed To Kill
3. Scarface
2. Carrie
1. The Untouchables
“The Untouchables” and “Casualties of War” probably are my top, with “Dressed to Kill” – guilty pleasure that it is – in third. And if I had to pick a worst, if only because I so looked forward to seeing what he’d do with it, chalk me up for “The Black Dahlia.”
I personally love all his films good and bad. The black dahlia was a huge disappointment, both for script and the actor’s that he cast. For one i am not a fan of josh harnett and i think hollywood continously throws us these good looking men that carry charm like a badge of honor. He sucks, in my opinion i think someone like billy crudup in that role would’ve saved the film a bit.I mean just picture him match wits with aaron eckhart. Also hikary swank is a fine actress but in this film she really looks out of her element. All in all a vintage de palma film complete with bad script and all. Still fun to watch for all his lovely techniques.
DRESS TO KILL (1980)
How about wise guys guys,a comedic masterpiece with oscar worthy performances from the great joe piscopo and the always reliable harvey keitel. Oh did i forget to mention danny devito he’s never been this good since romancing the stone. Just kidding guys it’s by far one of his worst. This wiil lead me to give y’all my depalma worst top five:
1. Wise Guys
2. The Bonfire Of The Vanities
3. The Fury
4. The Black Dahlia
5. Home Movies
Blow Out is way underrated. I don’t love DePalma, but seeing that made me realize why others do.
It’s much better than I expected a DePalma twist on Antonioni’s Blow Up to be.
Blow Out is way underrated. I don’t love DePalma, but seeing that made me realize why others do.
De Palma… the master-forger, never knowingly underfed with sub-Hitchockisticisms and fetish. His films are like dime-store toffee wrapped in expensive-looking paper, decorated with gold serif writing and quotes from other filmmakers —I chew and chew, but it always ends up tasting of nothing, and the masticated gunk gets stuck in my teeth.
T, didn’t I once post something in another forum topic to the effect of “It’s important to know how to say things, but infinitely more important to have things to say”? It’s the kind of advice I wish DePalma would consider, he who only repeats things said by other people.
Phantom of the Paradise is my fave, Hi Mom! is interesting.
I just started a de palmathon. And started it with femme fatale. Working backwards here!
top 5
Sisters
Blow Out
Body Double
Obsession
Carlito’s Way
My Top Ten
1. Carlito’s way
2. Carrie
3. Phantom of the paradise
4. Sisters
5. Blow out
6. Hi, mom
7. Body Double
8. Dressed to kill
9. The untouchables
10. Scarface
Great trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGttEqkwGBo
Phantom of the Paradise and The Untouchables……great films…great scores
Although i do enjoy the score and the style of the film calls for it, paul williams score is a bit cheesy. But being a sucker for pop songs i like the tunes. Plus who doesn’t love gerrit graham.
1. The Untouchables
2. Scarface
I like most of his other work but I haven’t been able to track down Obsession :( and I haven’t brought myself to watch Mission to Mars :) I want to see Hi, Mom and I think I have seen all the other ones.
1. Scarface
2. Femme Fatale
3. Dressed To Kill
4. Body Double
5. Blow Out
Thumb me if you want but I’ve seen only two of De Palma’s films, Scarface was boring and The Untouchables was not so good IMO…
Scarface boring?? AHAHAHAHAH
Untouchables not so good?? AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
I hope that this is a Jok!!!!!!!
AHAHHAHA
De Palma is not for everyone. That’s what separates us from the animal. We can dislike or not appreciate whomever. I mean i can’t stand Brett Ratner, how he continues to ruin film after film makes me want to cry. Millions of milions of dollars and film wasted away. but hey i’m sure there is someone out there who likes him. YEAH RIGHT:) Up next for me is THe Black Dahlia and outside of a couple of sequences i ain’t expecting much.
Gave my first thumb down ever to Duccio and a thumb up to Luis :p
Oh wait I’ll give you a fucking great occasion to thumb me!: I DON’T LIKE HITCHCOCK, GODARD AND TRUFFAUT!!!!(except the 400 blows,and fahreheit 451 but they could have been better) I don’t like their pseudo-snob-intellectual style…
The Untouchables
Carlito’s Way
Snake Eyes
He’s best working from someone else’s script, marrying a strong eye for the set piece with a solid story. I’m not a huge fan of his early ’80s sexcapades where his penchant for murdering women in inventive ways is a bit too much Argento and not enough Hitchcock for my tastes.
Blow Out has its loopy charms, not least in Lithgow’s deranged assassin.
I’ve been catching up with De Palma gradually. Watched most of his best-known films a while back, but lately I’ve really enjoyed Redacted, Raising Cain and Phantom of the Paradise. Didn’t like The Fury at all – would like to read some justification for that one. Seemed like a cut-rate work-for-hire to me, but I may have missed the subtleties (De Palma not usually being known for subtleties). Looking forward to seeing Obsession, the early comedies, and especially Casualties Of War sometime soon.
I think Snake Eyes so sooooo damn underrated, I have no idea why people hate on that movie so much. Casualties of War is great too. I really like all of his movies except Redacted. Hi Mom! should be seen more too, I got it for 2 dollars on amazon, check it out!
I go on a DePalma binge about once a year, so I’ve just rewatched “Black Dahlia” and “Obsession” (which I hadn’t seen in 30 years) and saw “Murder a la Mod” for the first time. The best: “Sisters”, “Phantom of the Paradise” and “Blow Out”, Then “Carrie” and “Dressed to Kill”. But my personal favorite, despite flaws, may be “Body Double”…
I also found out recently that there’s a French DVD of “Wotan’s Wake” and “Dionysus in ’69” so I’m hoping to track down a copy.
Olivier – Thumbs up for you dude, De Palma is in fact one of the great overrated directors. I mean, yeah he’s good, but to me he is indeed boring, classic hollywood storytelling.
Kifah- I don’t think it was underrated… it does have an interesting opening sequence, but that’s that. The rest is terribly predictable.
Juan- Fair enough, but to me, when today’s Hollywood film making standards have been corrupted by t.v aesthetics and Steven Soderberg, a little classic Hollywood storytelling, with strong old fashioned technique is quite exciting to me actually. I’m quite fond of that visual style.
Kifah – Agreed. But it’s not that I don’t like classic Hollywood. The thing is that classic hollywood, hand in hand with a classic approach, ends up being bo-ring. I like Soferberg. I think he takes a couple of risks here and there. CHE is a good example.
Duccio Brunetti
What are the best Brian De Palma’s films?