brian depalma Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The double-role has been a favorite for movie audiences for a long time. Actors as different as Lon Chaney and Ronald Colman have indulged in the two-actors-for-the-price-of-one roles. In The Dark Knight, Aaron Eckhart will get to do a two-fer, playing a character who didn't get nearly enough to do in that Joel Schumacher fiasco. (Though I did very much enjoy the bifurcated Tommy Lee Jones' use of the pluralis majestatis, the royal "we.") Few double-roles, however, are as roundly a good time as Brian De Palma's Raising Cain, a reviled but rich melodrama derived in equal parts from Psycho and the equally scandalous Peeping Tom. Preposterous, invigoratingly silly, and done to a technical turn by Hitchcock's most devoted fan, this forgotten thriller gives John Lithgow -- kindly actor and easy-going TV star of Third Rock from the Sun --a chance to show his hulking, evil side.

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"This fall, film director Martin Scorsese embarked on a secret experiment in filmmaking. A project which could have bold repercussions on future film preservation. Or maybe not." So begins a fascinating and unusual mocumentary/short film hybrid that is also part Freixenet wine commercial. Confused? Alright, well in the mockumentary portion -- which initially fooled several media outlets (and me) into thinking it was the real deal -- Scorsese has discovered 3 1/2 undated pages from an unmade Alfred Hitchcock project called The Key to Reserva. Scorsese has the nifty idea to make those pages into a Hitchcock-by-way-of-Scorsese short film, done in the style of Hitch. "It's one thing to preserve a film that has been made," says Scorsese. "It's another to preserve a film that has not been made."

This portion of the short is highly entertaining, with Scorsese glowing like a pregnant woman over the prospect of tackling one of his idols. He is such a high-strung dude, and the funniest moment is when the interviewer attempts to put his grubby hands on the script pages and Scorsese flips out. As for The Key to Reserva, boy did Scorsese nail the Hitchcock style. It's the ultimate homage. Scorsese cast classically handsome Simon Baker in the lead, and he uses the North by Northwest score and some super sweet old school effects (dig that balcony fall!) to complete the illusion you're watching an old Hitch classic. It's a bummer we'll never see a feature-length version of The Key to Reserva, but it's cool to have this little taste of Scorcock. (Hitchsese?) If you've got nine minutes, be sure to head here to check out the short (or watch it above). And if you could pick any modern-day filmmaker to do a film in another director's style, whom would you choose? Michael Bay doing Ingmar Bergman?

Starting tonight and running through December 17th, Edgar Wright is taking control of the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is programming a festival of his favorite movies, and it's a wonderful and eclectic bunch. He's calling the fest "The Wright Stuff," (also the name of a universally beloved screenwriting column on this very site), and he will be on hand to introduce several screenings with special guests. As always at the New Beverly, one of Los Angeles' absolute treasures, every screening is a double feature.

I'll just tell you about the screenings with special guests, all of which start at 7:30. But don't forget to check the website for all show dates and times. Tonight, Edgar and songwriter Paul Williams will kick off the event with two musicals -- Bugsy Malone and Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise. December 5th, the first feature is Flash Gordon, with special guest (and ex-Bond) Timothy Dalton. The second feature is Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik, introduced by Edgar and the great Joe Dante. On December 7th, Edgar will introduce The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with one of the finest action screenplay writers of our time -- Shane Black. December 10 is John Landis' An American Werewolf in London and Tremors (which I spouted my love for here). Landis will help Wright introduce his film. December 12th is Top Secret! (almost as funny as Airplane and The Naked Gun, in my opinion) and Woody Allen's Bananas, with David Zucker on hand. December 14th is the Roger Ebert - penned Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and Head, hosted by Wright and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. And on December 16th, Wright will introduce Evil Dead 2 and an all time favorite of mine -- the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona.

Here is a press release from Edgar with his thoughts on the included films. If you live in the Los Angeles area, there's really no excuse to miss this. See you there!

Well he might not have his Capone yet, but Brian DePalma is still determined to bring his Untouchables prequel to the big screen. MTV Movies Blog reports that DePalma will likely make The Untouchables: Capone Rising his next film. DePalma tells MTV that they still have not cast their Capone (played by Robert De Niro in the original film), but that he was looking for an actor with "...that street animal sexuality" -- and this just might be me, but Nicolas Cage is not the first person to come to mind with that particular description (although, I guess it doesn't matter now). Gerard Butler (300) is attached to play Jimmy Malone -- a role made famous by Sean Connery (I can still picture the overacting 20 years later... "You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way"). But, it did get the man his only Oscar, so you can never tell.

DePalma told MTV that the story will focus on "[Jimmy Malone]'s relationship with Capone during Capone's rise". News of a prequel first emerged around this time last year; so here we are a year later, and not all that much has been accomplished. DePalma did make assurances that the film would be keeping as much of the original feel of the 1987 flick as possible, saying, "I would like to use a lot of the original music from 'The Untouchables,' (which means the amazing score from Ennio Morricone will return) and the original locations in Chicago." I wonder if that will include giving the cast some snazzy costumes from Armani again. Until DePalma finds his Capone, though, he probably won't be 'rising' anytime soon.

I miss many things about living in New York -- the people, the restaurants and bars, Central Park, the smell of baked ass that overtakes the city this time of year (OK, not that last one). But what I miss the most has got to be the film "scene." Getting a coffee and taking the subway to a movie on a Sunday morning always filled me with happiness. NYC also puts on one of the best film festivals in the country -- the cleverly named New York Film Festival. Showcasing 28 films, the fest will be held this year at Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center. Screenings are set for September 28 through October 14th, and this year's lineup is a real doozy. It includes new films from Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, with Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman), Catherine Breillat (The Last Mistress, just grabbed by IFC), Todd Haynes (I'm Not There, his Bob Dylan movie), Abel Ferrara (the promisingly titled Go-Go Tales, starring Willem Dafoe), Noah Baumbach (following up the excellent Squid and the Whale with Margot at the Wedding), the ascotted Peter Bogdanovich (profiling one of my favorite bands with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream), and Brian DePalma (an Iraq war drama called Redacted).

Wes Anderson's new film (can't wait!) The Darjeeling Limited will open the NYFF. The Coen Brothers' new one No Country for Old Men (really really can't wait!) will be the "centerpiece" of the festival. And Cannes '07 jury prize-winner Persepolis, an "animated coming-of-age" story directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, will close the fest. Also showcased will be Cannes favorites like Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Julian Schnabel's French-language The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. In addition, there will be five classic films screened, including John Ford's first major film -- The Iron Horse. Probably the most anticipated of that bunch is Ridley Scott's "definitive cut" of Blade Runner, in honor of that film's 25th anniversary. An evening called "The Technicolor Show" should be a major attraction, as it's introduced by Martin Scorsese. Head over to Yahoo Movies for the full roster.

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.

I don't even know where to begin with this one -- I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Nicolas Cage is going to play legendary gangster Al Capone, let alone the fact that he will do so in a prequel to the very awesome Brian De Palma-directed flick The Untouchables. That's right, MTV (and their hot new blog) have confirmed (via Cage's reps) that the actor has officially signed on to star in Capone Rising (horrific working title, by the way). This new film, which will also be helmed by De Palma (based on his recent work, that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better), is an official prequel to the 1987 film that starred Robert De Niro (as Capone), Kevin Costner (as the gutsy Eliot Ness) and Sean Connery (as Ness' partner-in-crime Jim Malone).

Pic, which was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders, Knockaround Guys, Ocean's Thirteen) will reportedly revolve around Capone's early dealings with corrupt cop Jim Malone (who would make a good young Connery?). However, once he's exposed to Capone's violent behavior, Malone vows to turn his life around and, well, we kind of know what happens after that. Personally, I wasn't so hot on this project to begin with; the original is one of those classics that shouldn't be touched, regardless of whether the same director is handling it. And Nic Cage? As Al Capone? That's just wrong. I'm already cringing at the thought of watching Cage's spastic twitching throughout the film as he tries to give his men orders. I asked Cinematical's own Scott Weinberg what he thought of the casting news, to which he replied: "Nicolas Cage playing Al Capone is like William H. Macy playing Hellboy." Yeah, I think we'll leave it at that. Now it's your turn ...

"Lord help the mister/
Who comes between me and my sister/
And Lord help the sister/
Who comes between me and my man."

-- Irving Berlin, "Sisters"

Debuting at the 2007 SXSW Film Festival, Douglas Buck's Sisters looks like yet-another remake -- this time, of Brian De Palma's 1973 thriller of the same name. Something about Sisters caught my eye in this iteration -- possibly the cast, including Chloe Sevigny and Dallas Roberts among others. The curious thing is that I've never seen De Palma's original -- I was going into Sisters blind, and curious if the film would work on its own without memories and recollections laid over it to fill in any blank spots or uneven patches.

And from the jump, Sisters doesn't quite feel like a remake -- to use a musical metaphor (which, for a film that debuting at SXSW, is certainly allowable), Buck's take on Sisters felt less like a cover version than a mash-up. Sisters has De Palma's original story and credits him, but a lot of the film's look, feel and sensibility are on loan from that other avatar of '70s horror, David Cronenberg. You have all of the classic De Palma touches in Sisters -- voyeurism, faux-Hitchcock, cheap and greasy surprises that satisfy -- but you also have many classic Cronenberg elements -- bizarre institutes of medicine, signifying and stomach-churning scars, winter-grey Canadian shades in the cinematography.

It's been many years since the cherubesque '80s Michael J. Fox co-starred with Sean Penn in Brian DePalma's Casualties of War. Dealing with the atrocious realities of the Vietnam War, the film detailed the true story of a girl taken from her village by American troops and kept as a sex slave until she's killed to cover the soldiers' tracks. In step with Fox's hero reputation, his character refuses to rape the girl, and later speaks out, determined to bring justice to the perpetrators of the terrible act. Working witha terribly similar recent real-life occurance where a young Iraqi girl was raped and murdered, DePalma has decided to re-visit the theme with his new film, Redacted.

The film gets its name from the term used to refer to edited text -- often documents edited to cover classified or sensitive information with those lovely, scribbled black bars. The particulars of the Al-Mahmudiyah Incident are as follows: Five US Soldiers have been accused of murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl's parents and 5-year-old sister before gang-raping and murdering the young girl as well. While one has been sentenced, the others are facing court martial and charges.

Unlike the fictional Casualties, Redacted will be heavily steeped in real information, using The Queen's approach to real-life narrative. According to Production Weekly, the movie will employ news broadcasts, trial coverage and also internet video from YouTube and, believe it or not, one of the solder's video blogs. The already-disturbing story will probably gain gut-punch intensity from the mixture of fictional narrative and real footage -- a strong reminder of the reality of the situation, and one that should keep it from being dismissed as 'mere' fiction.

Though the full slate doesn't come out until tomorrow, a few of the films that will appear at the Venice Film Festival have been announced, including The Black Dahlia, Brian De Palma's eagerly anticipated James Ellroy adaptation, which will have its world premiere at the festival's opening night. This is actually one the four or five films I'm looking forward to most this year, so I'm excited (and also very scared) to see what the critics at the festival will have to say about. Can Josh Hartnett actually carry a serious film? Does De Palma still have it? And will I ever understand why the hell the world loves Scarlett Johansson?

Apart from the opening film, however, the films revealed thus far have a decidedly European flavor. In the Venice Days sidebar alone -- an ostensibly noncompetitive section of the festival that nevertheless offers a couple of cash prizes (there is distribution money available, and first-time films screened in Venice Days are eligible for the festival's new director prize) -- are films from Denmark, Italy, Morocco and Spain.

Check back tomorrow for the festival's full slate, and to find out if David Lynch's Inland Empire will, in fact, finally make its debut.