Filmmaker: Brian DePalma

[tommydski]

CRAP, waffle for Carlito's Way, which was tolerable.

I really don't enjoy any of this man's films at all.

[boilermaker]

but they have no heart, and are occasionally very unpleasant.

You've nailed it with those few words. although occasionally adorned with pretty pictures, de Palma's films for the most part are technical exercises and little more. There is also a nastiness that permeates his films which makes it almost impossible to care about the fate of the characters.

Awful filmaker.

I think with films like Obsession, Carrie and Blow-Out he creates pathos out of the tragedy of the main characters and what happens to their fate. As for "nastiness", do you mean black humor? He isn't Spielberg.

Sorry, I didn't give a fuck about Carrie. I don't find his characters sympathetic at all and am very so what after viewing his films.

I just don't care.

I love black humor that's why I hate Brian's pathetic attempt at it. He's a weak assed filmaker. Why are so many second rate hollywood directors worshipped like this? Brian de Palma is like cheap veneer.

Spielberg....What?????

Like I said before...Crap.

[Earwicker]

I think he can make a decent film. He's made rubbish but he's made a couple of corkers too IMO (Carlito's Way - Untouchables)

However I'm going to say Crap because of how lionised the man is in the film community. The only reason I can see for this is he had the good fortune to hitch on the backs of the 70s new wave of filmmakers who did have a lot of talent and he therefore gets associated with them.

That waffle factor tips the Not Crap to a Crap for me.

And Tarantino I think does steal then make his own. I think De Palma, generally, just steals.

[gjhardwick]

i ping-pong between loving and hating his films depending on what my tolerance for overblown, style over substance schlock is that day.

Michael Caine in a dress = NOT CRAP
Angie Dickinson as a sex symbol = GET FUCKED
The dude from NYPD Blue playing a cop in every BDP film = WTF?!?

WF=5

[Ty Webb]

DePalma is the anti-John Carpenter.


CRAP w/WF 7 for The Untouchables, Carrie, and The Fury. (And even that last one is a very guilty pleasure.)

Huh? Two directors as different as night and day.

Hence the "anti-" part. Jeez.

The only similarities being they made some solid movies in the seventies and eighties before settling into mediocrity.

Carpenter makes relatively low-budget movies with no pretensions to being other than what they are. They are revels in his enthusiasm for B-movie tropes as practiced by his predecessors.

DePalma makes glossy B-grade crap that pretends to be serious and grand in scope. He self-consciously pays homage (read: rips off) the greats but does so with an air of oneupsmanship, pretending he's somehow elevating the aesthetic.

Thus, the anti-Carpenter.

[MWilke]

I just read the book Bonfire of the Vanities, knowing nothing about it. While I struggled with the unjustified sympathy for the social elite and the stereotyping of different sections of New York's have-nots, I did enjoy the story-telling.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when I found out that DePalma made the movie version. I can't stand his overblown style that assumes a minimal amount of intelligence in its audience.

[punch_the_lion]

I recently watched Scarface again after a long time. I think it holds up well. Very prophetic. Not Crap. Curious to see the Howard Hawks original now.

[dabrasha]

Hulu is showing the best Black Dahlia movie, True Confessions, from Ulu Grosbard and starring DeNiro and Duvall.

This will rid your mind of the shit DePalma movie.

[milk]

I have enjoyed Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Blowout. Brian DePalma had it. But he lost it. And he is now crap forever.

[bogusaurus]

I watched Redacted last night. Although it suffers from its budget and some ham-fisted storytelling, it's still one of the better, angrier films about the war.

I liked Dressed To Kill, Carrie, Blow Out and somewhat guiltily, Femme Fatale. Although I haven't seen any of his other films except Mission Impossible (which was a hoot) I can safely say N/C for this much. He's more interesting to me than Tarantino.

[Bernardo]

Come on now, Body Double is Not Crap.

[The Flying Ninja]

I would just like to amend an error made several times in this thread. The Untouchables is not a good movie. Sean Connery's "Irish" accent is hilarious but that's about it. For fuck's sake, it even has Kevin Costner in it.

[Thanasis]

IHowever I'm going to say Crap because of how lionised the man is in the film community. The only reason I can see for this is he had the good fortune to hitch on the backs of the 70s new wave of filmmakers who did have a lot of talent and he therefore gets associated with them.

Agreed. He'd never make a film as good as The Conversation and aside from one or two entertaining diversions most of the rest is crap.

Ergo, Brian De Palma est merda.

[Chromodynamic]

I would just like to amend an error made several times in this thread. The Untouchables is not a good movie. Sean Connery's "Irish" accent is hilarious but that's about it. For fuck's sake, it even has Kevin Costner in it.

The score to that movie makes me cringe.

[scntfc]

I would just like to amend an error made several times in this thread. The Untouchables is not a good movie. Sean Connery's "Irish" accent is hilarious but that's about it. For fuck's sake, it even has Kevin Costner in it.

The score to that movie makes me cringe.

i like it. morricone!. it just suffers from bad production decisions...

de palma sucks, though, pretty much.

[Bernardo]

I never got the memo, I guess. For me his movies range from decent (most) to great (4 or 5 of them, including Carrie, Carlito's Way, Blowout). I find Body Double, The Untouchables, Scarface and a few others pretty good. Never saw Dressed To Kill and some of the others.

[bogusaurus]

IHowever I'm going to say Crap because of how lionised the man is in the film community. The only reason I can see for this is he had the good fortune to hitch on the backs of the 70s new wave of filmmakers who did have a lot of talent and he therefore gets associated with them.

Agreed. He'd never make a film as good as The Conversation and aside from one or two entertaining diversions most of the rest is crap.

Ergo, Brian De Palma est merda.

The reason De Palma is well regarded among critics is because of his mastery of film-making technique and brilliant visual style. Seriously, he is extremely good in this regard, even if his genius is often used in service of stories that are fantastically unbelievable or completely stupid. Ain't nobody who can gussy up trash like De Palma. Tarantino ranks Blow Out in his top three films and completely idolizes him.

De Palma has also done two of the most politically and morally correct war films: Casualties of War and Redacted. Anyone knocking him should consider that.

[scntfc]

De Palma has also done two of the most politically and morally correct war films: Casualties of War and Redacted. Anyone knocking him should consider that.

because my political views are in line with his? doesn't make him a good artist...

i can appreciate some of his filmmaker-ly ways... the unedited tracking shots are awesome, the baby carriage scene from untouchables, some of the split screen stuff works. but as people said, others have done this stuff better. see: children of men for a spectacular long take, the o.g. thomas crown affair for some great split screen, and that untouchables scene was lifted right out of battleship potemkin.

and does anyone remember the end of carlito's way? for the most part a good film, but it ends with a "tropical getaway!" travel poster coming to life. holy shit, so bad. total ewok party.

[Get dog costumes]

Crap. The Untouchables is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

[Bernardo]

Crap. The Untouchables is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Seriously?