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Not my type of thing. I respect what he's done (and I've seen a good number of clips) but are so many other auteurs who interest me more which I'm still working through.
 
Perfectly reasonable. Just saying, I'd recommend. He's one of my favorite American filmmakers at the very least.
 
I've never seen any Cassavettes. It's not much of a priority.

I did see him in DePalma's The Fury the other day though. A film that was not as good as I was hoping it would be, but shame on me for getting my hopes up with this director.

For me, The Fury is about as disjointed as all of his work outside of Blow Out, really with a couple of notable sequences (the opening shoot-out, Cassavetes' farewell, and Kirk Douglas swinging around lampposts dodging the feds). I think De Palma's always been able to coax strong performances out of naturally charismatic actors, Douglas and Cassavetes being prime examples here, but struggles to construct a complete film because of his focus on set-pieces and individual moments. With this film in particular, I fucking love the last 2 minutes... easily one of my favorite endings ever. Pauline Kael's rave of it is equally as entertaining.

With De Palma though, going back to his set-piece focus, I think it goes back to his true flaw as a filmmaker, he's bound by his two main influences: Hitchcock and Godard. Hitchcock in that he will construct a film based around several well-conceived and exacted sequences, with little focus in-between. With Godard, he's always seeking to make some type of meta-commentary on cinema with his art, but to me, it's much ado about nothing. What does the reflexive sleaze of Body Double or the knowing "pastiche" of Psycho with Dressed to Kill actually say about cinema and the genre that he's working in?

It's why I feel he's a talented, albeit frustrating filmmaker. Again, I think that Blow Out's his most accomplished work in that Travolta's emotional turmoil and paranoia do enough to work toward the goal of a commentary on cinema without De Palma reverting the attention to himself with excessively self-aware filmmaking. The strength of that performance is both due to De Palma's conception and Travolta's execution and it maintains throughout the film, always being the focus. One could argue that Carrie may also follow suit, though I feel like that climax has not only been so overexposed in popular culture, but also fails to hit the emotional satisfaction that the film leads you in beforehand. I can clarify later, but I feel like I'm straying from my main point.

Anyway, I remember your previous thoughts on his work from the time I watched a portion of his work earlier in the year, Laz. This is just the conclusion that I've reached from what I've seen from his filmography thus far.
 
With this film in particular, I fucking love the last 2 minutes... easily one of my favorite endings ever. Pauline Kael's rave of it is equally as entertaining.

Really? I think the ending was way too abrupt. Kaboom and then credits? That's it? I had just watched a Dario Argento film that ended almost the same way, but the last shot had a little more oomph to it. That film was Deep Red, which I've been waiting ages to see, specifically the longer cut. One of his best, for sure.

Did you ever manage to see DePalma's Femme Fatale? Because there are times I think it's his best work. When I think of that part where the film totally switches gears (the rain, Romijn waking up in the bathtub), I get chills. Love that film, even if it has some super cheesy parts (one of them being Banderas, who I don't mind too much to be honest.
 
Really? I think the ending was way too abrupt. Kaboom and then credits? That's it? I had just watched a Dario Argento film that ended almost the same way, but the last shot had a little more oomph to it. That film was Deep Red, which I've been waiting ages to see, specifically the longer cut. One of his best, for sure.

I take it as more of an epilogue, if anything. It's the only ounce of satisfaction that you reach in the whole film. It followed an anti-climax if there ever was one. I'm fine with Douglas' final decision and the direction that his son went in, but if you want to talk about abrupt, a lot of what I would've considered to be the emotional moments to hit were glossed over from what I recall.

My friend was just telling me about Deep Red today! And the one with Donald Pleasance sporting a Scottish accent and leading a pet chimpanzee around with a laser pointer. Phenomenon, I think it was.

Did you ever manage to see DePalma's Femme Fatale? Because there are times I think it's his best work. When I think of that part where the film totally switches gears (the rain, Romijn waking up in the bathtub), I get chills. Love that film, even if it has some super cheesy parts (one of them being Banderas, who I don't mind too much to be honest.

If I were inclined to see one of his films anytime soon, that would be it. Snake Eyes put me off for a while, though it has arguably my favorite insane Nic Cage performance. He is out of control for 90 minutes.
 
Femme Fatale is one of the only De Palma films I can really get behind (insert joke here).
 
Are Quentin Tarantino and I the only ones who would argue for Blow Out?
 
It's actually one I haven't seen, so I could end up on your side. Waiting for the Criterion is all.
 
I think Blow Out is very good, but its direct derivativeness bugs me a bit. Femme Fatale certainly has the usual influences (and pays homage to Blow Up as well), but is a little more unique to me, more personal, more poetic. And Romijn really is great.
 
It's funny, because I feel that the "derivative" tag thrown at Blow Out isn't exactly unjust (It's more like The Conversation than Blow-Up in its construction), but I feel like it forges enough of a unique point-of-view and emotional through-line to be an accomplished work on its own merits.

I'm not disparaging Femme Fatale in any way though. I'd very much like to see it.
 
I can only reiterate Lance's suggestion that Uncle Boonmee should be seen in theaters - if nothing else, because of its sound design.
 
I already have Everyone Else, it's on my to-watch list. Already have a torrent for Secret Sunshine. Am having a VERY hard time finding White Material without Dutch hard subs and it's really pissing me off. I'll probably get the Breillat as well, not sure when I'll get to the others (minus the Fincher, which I'll get to soon, and Mother, which I've already seen).
 
Can you watch MKV files comfortably? Because there seems to be a decent blu-ray rip out there you could go with.
 
Hitch list!

1. Vertigo
2. North by Northwest
3. Rear Window
4. Psycho
5. Notorious
6. Strangers on a Train
7. The Birds
8. Rope
9. To Catch a Thief
10. Marnie (due for a rewatch)

Movies of his that I own but need to see:

Dial 'M' for Murder
I Confess
Lifeboat
The Lodger
The Man Who Knew Too Much
('56)
The Paradine Case
Rebecca
Sabotage
Spellbound
Suspicion
The Wrong Man
Young and Innocent
 
Movies I have rented to watch this weekend:

Badlands
Deliverance
Tootsie*
To Kill a Mockingbird *
Brazil**
North By Northwest * & **

*= Movie I've already seen before
**= Movies I've already hit up this weekend
 
TOP 'COCK

Ashley:
1) Strangers on a Train
2) North By Northwest
3) Psycho
4) The Lady Vanishes
5) Notorious
6) Rear Window
7) Foreign Corespondent
8) Shadow of a Doubt
9) Rope
10) The 39 Steps

PH24:
Vertigo
Rear Window
Rebecca
Strangers on a Train
Psycho
Spellbound
Rope
Notorious
Shadow of a Doubt
Foreign Correspondent
 
And myself:

1. Vertigo
2. Rear Window
3. Shadow of a Doubt
4. Marnie
5. Notorious
6. Under Capricorn
7. North By Northwest
8. The Birds
9. The 39 Steps
10. Sabotage (not Saboteur, which is also great)
 
While I did just post my Hitch list in the review thread, I'll join:

1) Strangers on a Train
2) North By Northwest
3) Pyscho
4) The Lady Vanishes
5) Notorious
6) Rear Window
7) Foreign Corespondent
8) Shadow of a Doubt
9) Rope
10) The 39 Steps

Still need (want) to see:
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Dial M For Murder
I Confess
Spellbound
(though I'm not really expecting much, hope to be surprised)
Lifeboat
Original The Man Who Knew Too Much


Damn, didn't see your post Laz, oh well, I still had something to add at any rate.
 
In a similar vein...

DE PALMA!
Makin' movies that pertain to sex and voyeurism...
DE PALMA!
He likes Nancy Allen but he's the only one...
DE PALMA!
Like Hitchcock and Godard but wo--

DE PALMA!

1. Blow Out
2. Phantom of the Paradise
3. Carlito's Way
4. The Fury
5. Mission: Impossible
6. Sisters
7. Body Double
8. Scarface
9. Carrie
10. Obsession
11. The Untouchables
12. Dressed to Kill
13. Snake Eyes

I just like the idea of comparing De Palma to MacGruber.
 
I don't think there's another director I could do a top ten for, expect maybe Spielberg.

Let the good times roll:

1) The Last Crusade
2) Saving Private Ryan
3) Schindler's List
4) Jaws
5) Raiders of the Lost Ark
6) Jurassic Park
7) Minority Report
8) Hook :)p)
9) The Terminal
10) Catch Me If You Can
 
Also, I highly recommend people hunt down Under Capricorn. It's public domain so there's not a great DVD version of it, but it's one of the few Hitch period pieces, and it's also shot by Jack Cardiff. For that alone it's worth seeing. But it also has a mesmerizing perf by Ingrid Bergman and a long-take approach which is also rare for the director. It's not regarded highly in his filmography by many (and it's probably one of the least-seen of his films), but its champions are very enthusiastic. Here's what esteemed critic Dave Kehr says:

"Easily one of Alfred Hitchcock's half dozen greatest films, Under Capricorn has been senselessly neglected for years just because it isn't a thriller. Set in colonial Australia, at a time when many of the citizens were convicts working off their sentences, the film follows an Irish noblewoman (Ingrid Bergman) and her lower-class husband (Joseph Cotten) through a hellish milieu of guilt and repression. Never has Hitchcock's obsession with death and sexuality seemed so Lawrentian (the comparison, if anything, sometimes seems unfavorable to D.H.). Shot in astonishingly elaborate long takes, this is the kind of film that finds the most brilliant poetry in the slightest movement of the camera—a paradigm of cinematic expression."

Sounds intriguing, huh?

I know I've posted this before, but I'll do it again. There's an online archive that has tons of public domain stuff for free instant download, and UC is still on there. This is how I managed to see it. The mp4 version at 1.3 gigs is the best they have, just right click and it DLs pretty fast.

Enjoy:

Under Capricorn : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

There's also other Hitchcock public domain stuff:

Internet Archive Search: mediatype:movies AND subject:"Alfred Hitchcock"

Young and Innocent is very entertaining.

This one doesn't show up on the list (like Under Capricorn) but they have it:

Jamaica Inn : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

Ironically, it's one of the other period pieces, kind of a pirate/smuggling kind of thing. I thought it was cool.
 
Yeah, I figured that would get your attention. I've been hunting down so many of his films just to see his shit, esp. after watching the documentary about him. Got a copy of The Vikings recently, which turned out to be a very good film.
 
Stanley Kubrick, my favorite director:

#1) 2001: A Space Odyssey
#2) A Clockwork Orange
#3) Eyes Wide Shut
#4) The Shining
#5) Lolita
#6) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
#7) Paths of Glory
#8) The Killing
#9) Full Metal Jacket (I need to watch it again, it's been a long time)
#10) Barry Lyndon (Need to rewatch it too)
#11) Spartacus
#12) Killer's Kiss

Not one single film that's not very very very good, except for Killer's Kiss, which is okay. But it's his first too, so...
 
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