WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched New Orleans Confidential today, it's a little like On The Waterfront but set in the Big Easy and on a much smaller budget. It was entertaining enough but I liked the scenes set in the French Quarter, reminded me of a very nice holiday I had there.

[moira finnie]

A question about Bound for Glory: I didn't start watching from the beginning, but saw one scene and was so put off I turned off the TV. The scene was all brown-tone cinematography and the faux-nobility of the poor. Instead of Pretty in Pink, it was Sappy in Sepia. Is the whole film like this, or is this scene just an aberration?

I was made to go to the movies to see this one as a lass. Yeah, there was an element of that beautiful sepia throughout, some of which was beautiful looking. However, I don't think the film captured any of the humor that Woody Guthrie had in real life. From what I've read about the man, he was far from solemn (and was a rather elfin little fellow with wit and a social conscience that he used pointedly and wore lightly--unlike the lugubrious David Carradine character).

[RedRiver]

DePalma is one of those talented filmmakers who never quite lived up to potential. More style than substance, he serves up a cute little package. CARRIE is visceral and exciting. DRESSED TO KILL a fun little roller coaster ride. UNTOUCHABLES his most literate and thoughtful work. But SNAKE EYES, THE BODY DOUBLE, FEMME FATALE? Those just don't come across.

I like BOUND FOR GLORY for the most part. It's simply too long. This is not a biblical epic. Not a sweeping saga. There's no reason for the story of a folk singer to be two and a half hours long. The director should have found twenty minutes, any twenty minutes, he could have lived without!

[CineMaven]

"BODY HEAT" is my favorite Brian DePalma film. Looking over his career via imdb, my other favorite films of DePalma's are:

"Sisters"
"Obsession"
"Carrie"
"The Fury"
"Dressed to Kill"
"Blow Out"
"The Untouchables"
"Femme Fatale"

I guess he did lose his mojo as did Woody Allen and Mel Brooks (for my own personal tastes and funny bone). But I did enjoy his work, how he constructed his films, and how he tipped his hat to the Master....Hitchcock.

[MikeBSG]

I guess my favorite DePalma films are "The Phantom of the Paradise," "The Untouchables" and "Carlito's way."

I probably need to see "Body Double" again. I was a rather mechanical reworking of "Vertigo" as I remember it, (A "Vertigo" with a happy ending, sort of like Clint Eastwood's "Blood Work" in a way). What puzzled me was how some critics went absolutely nuclear in fury at "Body Double" for being misogynistic.

I guess my problem with DePalma is that too often I sit through his films and say "Oh, this is the murder from 'Bird With Crystal Plumage,' and this is the taxi scene from another movie, and this is the art museum scene from still yet another movie" and then the DePalma movie is over, and I wonder why did they bother making a new movie.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I guess my problem with DePalma is that too often I sit through his films and say "Oh, this is the murder from 'Bird With Crystal Plumage,' and this is the taxi scene from another movie, and this is the art museum scene from still yet another movie" and then the DePalma movie is over, and I wonder why did they bother making a new movie.

Ditto.

[MichiganJ]

"BODY HEAT" is my favorite Brian DePalma film.

Body Heat is a great movie, but it was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (his directorial debut).

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched a 1949 film with George Raft today called Red Light, it didn't float my boat although George Raft was fine and there was a fine roster of co stars, the direction was somewhat lacklustre.

[CineMaven]

"BODY HEAT" is my favorite Brian DePalma film. Looking over his career via imdb, my other favorite films of DePalma's are...

Body Heat is a great movie, but it was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (his directorial debut).

Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!

How could I have made that mistake. Oh my. Sorry about that. The list above are still my favorite DePalmas...but here are my favorite Kasdans:

"BODY HEAT"
"BIG CHILL"
"SILVERADO."

...Hmmm, not as many. Thx for the correction Michigan.

"Shanghai Gesture" is on right now. Boy. Is it a pip!

* ( "Stop behaving like a disabled flamingo..." ).
* ( "Omar should avoid thinking. It doesn't suit his personality" ).
* ( "I can say with pride I never paid for anything in my life." )
* ( "How can you be jealous of a little chorus girl that can't pay for the clothes on her back?" )
* ( "Don't preach to me. Let my race take care of itself!!!" )

It's worth all the movies on Kasdan's and DePalma's list.

[MikeBSG]

I like "Body Heat" and "The Big Chill" very much. I have to say that I was enormously impressed when I saw Kasdan's "Wyatt Earp" on DVD last summer. I had never seen the film in the theater, and I know a lot of people disliked it. However, I thought it was a terrific Western that really gave the full sweep of the experience of the Old West. You understood or could grasp all the changes that had taken place in one man's life.

[RedRiver]

I like Kasdan's GRAND CANYON too. It's not a perfect movie. It's a little to contemplative. But there are more plusses than minuses. It makes you think, which I believe was the goal.

[CineMaven]

"Grand Canyon" was okay. I like those "Grand Hotel" type stories with a cast of millions. I found "Wyatt Earp" kind of slow. Enjoyed "Tombstone" much much better.

[RedRiver]

I like TOMBSTONE until it becomes a bloodbath. It's a thoughtful drama that deteriorates into mindless violence in the final fifteen minutes. I'm afraid my favorite Earp movie is still "Clementine." I also like John Sturges' telling.

[RedRiver]

I do like Tombstone pizza!