^De Palma inspired short film if you’re interested^
De Palma is best when he’s bad.
1. Sisters
2. Dressed to Kill
3. Blow Out
4. Carrie
5. Carlito’s Way
6. Body Double
7. Scarface
8. Mission: Impossible
9. Obsession
10. The Untouchables
11. Redacted
12. Snake Eyes
13. The Fury
14. Femme Fatale
15. Raising Cain
16. The Black Dahlia
The top three are masterpieces. The bottom two are cinematic abortions.
DePalma is heavy into voyeurism and virtually all of his flms feature a protracted sequence of someone watching or following someone else. I used to wonder if he sleeps with a DVD of Rear Window under his pillow.
I mostly agree with Santino’s list, especially his observation about Black Dahlia, which was based on a terrific novel by James Ellroy. my favorite contemporary author. I was bitterly disappointed in that film, coming almost a decade after the terrific neo-noir L.A. Confidential, which showed that Ellroy can be adapted effectively for the screen. Dahlia had a bland cast and an insane script that veered off the narrative spine of the novel for no good reason.
I think I would move Scarface a little higher on the DePalma totem, certainly above Carrie and Body Double. Then push Mission Impossible further down the list.
Also, DePalma’s Mission to Mars, which is missing from Santino’s otherwise fine list, was a goofy (but not wholly unenjoyable) little film. Spoiler alert: Any picture that kills off Tim Robbins in Act II is at least trying to entertain. I think mainstream critics misunderstood the film, which is not to say I am praising it, just offering a different assessment from the generally negative reviews it received. Mission to Mars comes across like a throwback to those silly-earnest science fiction movies of the 1950s, like George Pal’s Destination Moon or Rocketship X-M. Everything in the plot is deadly serious, set against a backdrop of average-to-mediocre special effects and laughable dialog spoken by characters who do inscrutable things. On that level, Mission to Mars is kinda fun.
Whatever you may think of it, Mission to Mars would also seem to be the ideal film for impatient people unencumbered by deep thought who complain that 2001 is too ambiguous. ;-}
Yeah, I still need to see Mission to Mars! And Phantom of the Paradise.
I gotta throw some love for The Fury (1978), perhaps his least appreciated film and for my money his most satisfying. After the success of Carrie (1976) he finally had a proper budget to work with and he pulls out all the stops. Way too much fun (when I saw it on its opening day with a friend we where so blown away we sat through the next showing as well).
Yes, The Fury is a lot of fun! Love the scene in the now torn down Old Chicago Amusement Park where one of the psychics blows up every light bulb as he passes them. Great John Williams score too.
GREAT John Williams score. Agreed!
“we were so blown away…”
So was Cassavettes, as I recall, in a remarkable special effect for its day.
1-Scarface
2-Carlito’s
3-Blow Out
4-Redacted
Terrible movies: Carrie, Dressed to kill, Mission impossible, Untouchables.
Terrible movies: Carrie, Dressed to kill
^ Terrible opinion
I do hope Dressed to kill it’s a comedy, then it may not be considered terrible.
“I do hope Dressed to kill it’s a comedy, then it may not be considered terrible.”
I hope your post is a comedy. ;)
Chris Anthony