De Palma on DVD

[justeleblanc]

Brian De Palma's WISE GUYS will finally see a DVD release on August 30th from Warner Bros. It really isn't that good of a film... in fact some people might say it just isn't funny, but because I've been a nut a now own every Brian De Palma film on DVD, I need this to fill out my collection.

Plus I'm probably certain Pauline Kael thought WISE GUYS was a masterpiece.

[rossbrew]

Love De Palma but this film really was lame...still, it's always good to have a director's complete ouvre avail. on disc.

[Gregory]

There will still be at least two unreleased De Palma films that I know of. His first feature, Murder a la Mod, which I haven't seen, and Dionysus in '69. I finally saw the latter a couple of years ago after many months spent trying to find a copy. It's never seen an official release anywhere on any format, but I guess it could happen someday. It's worth watching it to see how De Palma uses split-screen to document a performance, and it's also a crucial film for anyone interested in the Living Theater.

[justeleblanc]

There are also a couple of shorts he did. Of course, I would like to see Greetings in its original aspect ratio as well. Maybe we'll some more of De Palma's backlog released when his new film is released.

[Polybius]

Brian De Palma's WISE GUYS will finally see a DVD release on August 30th from Warner Bros. It really isn't that good of a film... in fact some people might say it just isn't funny, but because I've been a nut a now own every Brian De Palma film on DVD, I need this to fill out my collection.

Plus I'm probably certain Pauline Kael thought WISE GUYS was a masterpiece.

It was once The Worst Film I Ever Paid Money To See, but a few months later my Madonnaphile best friend dragged me to see Who's That Girl? and a new champion was crowned. It's been approached since (most notably by Shining Through) but I think it will retire undefeated.

[Lino]

Pssst...Gregory

[Gordon]

Yeah, that French set is very tempting, Annie.

I love many of De Palma's films. Phantom of the Paradise is such great fun and Greetings is probably the funniest film you have never seen, folks. Crazy shit, man!

Blow Out is brilliantly constructed; great editing; masterful use of split-diaptor Panavision lenses, too. A bit cheezy in places, but overall, a fine film and a great companion piece to Blowup and The Conversation.

Scarface is, of course, still the most outrageous, fucked-up movie ever made. F. Murray Abraham gets thrown out of a helicopter, for God's sake - what more do you want?!

I have never seen Sisters. Is it good?

[Fletch F. Fletch]

fred i think you forgot to qualify the above with "except of course Johnny Dangerously"...everyone welcomes this masterpiece into their homes right?

"You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once!"



Speaking of De Palma on DVD has anyone picked up the re-release they did of Carlito's Way? Is it worth picking up if you already have the previous, bare bones version?

[the dancing kid]

fred i think you forgot to qualify the above with "except of course Johnny Dangerously"...everyone welcomes this masterpiece into their homes right?

Don't forget Dead Heat! The best buddy cop zombie film I've ever seen.

[justeleblanc]

Gordon, I liked Sisters a lot. I actually like pretty much all early De Palma except for The Fury. To me that one is the most uninspired. It's somehwere between Carrie and Blow Out but it never really takes off the ground as it should.

The rereleased version of Carlito's Way isn't worth picking up. They're filming a prequel to it and my guess is they might release a SE of the original when the prequel is released.

[Gregory]

Sisters is one of my very favorite De Palma films.

Thanks for pointing me to that box set, Annie. I'll probably order it in the next day or two. It doesn't have forced subtitles, does it?

[Lino]

Couldn't tell as I don't have it myself but here's a review if you're interested to know how it fares.

[Gregory]

Forced French subtitles have been included that on some DVD players can be disabled by using your controller.

Hmm, that's taking a chance. Oh well.
Sorry to have gotten this thread off-topic. I haven't even seen Wise Guys.

[justeleblanc]

Does any one know anything regarding De Palma's GET TO KNOW YOUR RABBIT or MURDER A LA MOD?

[Lino]

I've seen RABBIT a couple of years ago on TV and the print looked restored so there's no excuse to not put it out on DVD.

The film itself is kind of interesting in that it has two distinct parts to it and I found myself enjoying the second one much better than the first one. It's about a man who one day gets tired of the same old job (that he doesn't like) and decides to dedicate himself to his true passion: Magic.

There are some truly De Palma-like camera work on display here and even some early split-screen as well. However, the rhythm of the whole thing is a bit uneven, I'm afraid (and I'm a De Palma fan).

The good thing is that midway through his personal quest, the main character has an encounter with the top magician around in the story: Orson Welles! I was very surprised to see him as I did not know a thing about the movie before watching it. It's that elusive. If you find it, check it out. It's worth a viewing or two, at least.

[Lino]

A new SE of Body Double is on the way.

But don't get rid of the old edition as yet because Sony is insisting on excluding the original theatrical trailers from the DVDs they belong to. And in this case, it even won an award in its day so it's kind of sad and stupid that they should stick to this kind of policy. Watch it here.

[Lino]

Something Weird is releasing a very early and rare De Palma film on DVD.

[justeleblanc]

That's like sooooooo five minutes ago.

[cinemartin]

I just picked this disc up tonight. Aside from a very annoying intro from Something Weird, the film captivated me. It reminds me very much of Wotan's Wake and The Wedding Party, but it has many stylistic touches looking into the future. In truth, it was my first time seeing this picture, and it astounded me. The print looked great as well. I suggest that this should be purchased by everyone. It's a shame it was released by such a trashy label, although one that did a great job on this (even though I would have liked to have the remaining unseen shorts on here). I think the box's artwork and seeming sleaze will put off a lot of average buyers, which is a shame because I believe this is truly the best film I've seen in a while. Really, the entire handling of this film since '68 baffles me. I'm just glad we now have the opportunity to view it now. And just for the record (in case there was any doubts), Bill Finley's a genius.

[justeleblanc]

I've loved Finley ever since Phantom. And thanks for the review, I look forward to watching this movie finally!

[Lino]

DVDtalk reviews the new SE of Body Double.

[flyonthewall2983]

Is anyone here aware of the new Scarface DVD that will come out 5 days before the game is released?

[Fletch F. Fletch]

DVDtalk reviews the new SE of Body Double.

I just watched this disc last night and definitely agree with DVDtalk's review. This transfer looks and sounds great and the extras are well done too. Altho, I wondered how depressed De Palma must get when someone brings up all the Hitchcock references in his movies... I enjoyed the bit where they talked about all the controversy the film stirred up back in the day... and the reviewer was right Shelton looks great after all these years!

[Lino]

I wonder if any online comparison between the old and the new editions is available. I'm about this close to order this re-release!

[Highway 61]

Does anyone know if De Palma actually filmed a full-length video for "Relax"? Or did he just intend to? He talks about it on the disc, but it's unclear if the project was abandoned before or after being made.