DressedToKill Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: Therapists and Their Nutty Patients
Filed under: Fandom », Cinematical Seven », Lists »
An IMDB search for "therapy" as a plot device in movies will turn up hundreds of titles -- the Woody Allen catalog alone would take weeks to wade through. For some reason, psychological counseling is a well that screenwriters never tire of dipping into, with wildly mixed results. This week's addition to the oeuvre is the Jon Favreau penned Couples Retreat, in which he, Vince Vaughn and their wives take part in a week's vacation that involves time on the couch ... because nothing's funnier than watching bitter, middle-aged people kvetch about how much sex they're not having anymore.
The arguable quality of Couple's Retreat aside, therapy is, when done well, a potentially fascinating hook on which to hang a plot. From asylum-based films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Girl, Interrupted to stories about the unhinged like What About Bob? and Don Juan DeMarco, there's a daunting list of movies that take on the releationship between patient and shrink. The following are merely a drop in that vast bucket.
Agnes of God (1985)
Jane Fonda is the court-appointed psychiatrist sent to a convent to investigate the case of a young novitiate (Meg Tilly, seen above) who appears to have murdered a newborn baby. Based on the successful stage play, Agnes of God is either, depending on who you ask, a provocative look at the battle between faith and reason, or a turgid melodrama that coasts on its sensational premise. Either way, the performances -- which include Anne Bancroft as the Mother Superior, who believes Agnes to be "touched by God" -- are powerful.
The Movies That Will Scare You Chaste
Filed under: Classics », Horror », Thrillers », Fandom », Lists »
At the bloody, pulsating heart of most horror films is sex. Many gorefests revel in nudity and in killing couples mid or post-coitus, and it's such a trademark of the genre that it became one of the infamous "Rules for Surviving a Horror Movie." If you strap on a chastity belt and keep on your sweater set like Jamie Lee Curtis, chances are good that you'll dodge your own mortality. (The deeper implications of that are hotly debated even today, but that's a topic for another time and the Horror Squad.)
But horror has a sexy cousin in the psychological / psychosexual thriller. This genre revels in punishing people who get caught between the sheets just as much as true horror does, but it's like a set of Agent Provocateur lingerie versus Frederick's of Hollywood. They're doing the same thing to your senses, but one does it with a veneer of class and sophistication, and appeals to people who wouldn't be caught dead with a slasher. With that spirit, I've compiled a little list of movies to augment your usual October diet. You might be able to get one or more of them past a girlfriend or boyfriend who loathes horror -- but don't be surprised if both of you feel like wearing a suit of armor to bed just in case.
Brian De Palma's 'Dressed to Kill' To Be Remade
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Deals », MGM », Home Entertainment », Remakes and Sequels »
I guess if you wait long enough, eventually every movie is going to get remade. Variety reports that MGM has partnered with Hyde Park Entertainment for a direct-to-DVD remake of Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill. So far, there has been no mention of a director or cast, but MGM has hired Rick Alexander to write the script. Alexander is also producing the Conan The Barbarian remake with Warner Bros. This is just one of the many projects that MGM has planned for the DVD market; the deal with Hyde Park calls for at least 12 remakes of popular TV and film titles.Like most De Palma films, Dressed to Kill was an ode to Alfred Hitchcock, and Psycho in particular. Right down to an extended shower scene and the somewhat comical transvestism. The film starred Angie Dickinson, Michael Caine, and Nancy Allen with a story that centered on a prostitute (Allen) who is an eye-witness and a prime suspect for the murder of a bored housewife (Dickinson). Throw in Caine as a campy psychiatrist and you have the makings of another over-the-top De Palma classic. Both Caine and De Palma even managed to earn Golden Raspberry nominations, and believe me, there was some pretty tough competition that year. De Palma is reportedly still in talks to direct the prequel to his film The Untouchables; maybe if he's feeling nostalgic enough he could help out on Dressed while he's at it.
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