562 Blow Out

[swo17]

There is apparently a scene in Blow Out where Dennis Franz watches Murder à la Mod, so there's your connection. I'm hoping they include a commentary where you can pretend Dennis Franz is watching the film with you.

[mfunk9786]

With a MAN in the White House?! Not likely!

[tojoed]

Great news on "Murder a la Mod", though it would have been nice to have an interview with Travolta today, or preferably one with Zsigmond, since this is some of his finest work.
For those looking for "Wotan's Wake" and early de Palma there's this Box Set which, sadly, is no longer cheap.

[colinr0380]

I'm very surprised by that news, but pleasantly so as I tried to finally pick up the Something Weird release of Murder à la Mod last month but it was apparently unavailable from the distributor that I chose (MovieTyme).

[justeleblanc]

Hrm, I was able to pick up my copy of Murder a la Mod for 5 bucks a few years ago. Not a terrible movie, has a fantastic opening song and a few decent ideas that are executed with decent comedic timing. I'm not sure why Criterion passed on Woton's Wake, The Responsive Eye, or Dionysis as I doubt those are expensive properties to license. I doubt we'll get another De Palma release, though maybe if they were to release SISTERS on Blu they'll re package it with more features. That's my hope.

[jerome]

It looks as if the "More!" on Criterion's page has been revealed.

- Interview with star John Travolta from a 1982 French television news broadcast
- Murder à la Mod, De Palma’s 1967 feature film

Where did you see that? There is nothing on the Criterion website

[Jeff]

Where did you see that? There is nothing on the Criterion website

Both things were posted there on Saturday, and have since been removed.

[dwk]

On their Facebook page, Criterion responded to a question about the appearance and disappearance of Murder à la Mod

That was a mistake on our end. That particular supplement isn't 100% confirmed, so it had to be taken down. We'll keep you in the loop; we should know within a few weeks.

[jerome]

thank you for the answer.

[Jeff]

The "More!" has now been dropped from the spec listing, and Murder á la Mod and the Travolta interview aren't listed, so it looks like they aren't happening after all.

[Ampersand]

The "More!" has now been dropped from the spec listing, and Murder á la Mod and the Travolta interview aren't listed, so it looks like they aren't happening after all.

Actually, as of today Murder á la Mod has been re-added, though the Travolta interview is still m.i.a.

[tojoed]

From their Facebook page.

[Tom Hagen]

The "More!" has now been dropped from the spec listing, and Murder á la Mod and the Travolta interview aren't listed, so it looks like they aren't happening after all.

Actually, as of today Murder á la Mod has been re-added, though the Travolta interview is still m.i.a.

Criterion must have peppered him with too many questions about healing Marlon Brando's leg.

[kneelzod]

Criterion must have peppered him with too many questions about healing Marlon Brando's leg.

[Jeff]

Those film cans signal more good news. It means that Criterion must be doing a new high-def transfer of Murder á la Mod from film elements and not just dumping the old Something Weird transfer on there since it's a supplement. I expected as much from them, but it's nice to have it confirmed.

[JamesF]

For those of you after De Palma's early shorts, apparently they're due to be included as supplements on a forthcoming UK DVD/Blu of Obsession that Arrow are releasing.

[ccfixx]

Blu-ray.com Review

[Jeff]

^ Pleased to see Murder a la Mod confirmed as having a new 1080p transfer. Screenshots of Blow Out look great.

[dwk]

Just to let everybody know, that Blu-ray.com review has been updated with a couple screenshots from Murder á la Mod

[ccfixx]

DVDBeaver

[David M.]

Interesting that their Blu-ray captures are now being blurred, as well. If you compare the shots from Blu-ray.com, the transition between the letterbox bars and the active image are totally clean. On the DVD Beaver captures, they're slightly blurred, as is the rest of the image. They really need to sort this out...

[Finch]

Just finished the Blu and the film looked nothing short of amazing: not only does it make me wish that Warner would have taken equal care of similarly old titles in their library (Gremlins, for example), it made for a much more immersive experience than ever before. Criterion are really doing sterling work with these MGM titles (bring on The Killing!).

As for the film itself: I agree that it could have done without the sequence with Lithgow, the sailor and the hooker but other than that, it is a fine movie that complements the pictures it was inspired by (Coppola's Conversation, Blow Up etc) nicely. If they ever prep another DePalma, I hope they also got Dressed To Kill from MGM (my fave of his).

[knives]

This is only my second De Palma and in some ways this is very similar to that film, Carrie, and in other ways it's a completely different sort of fish. I naturally from the previous film expected some schlocky over the top movie with an added layer of interest because of the visual artiness. This film has all of that, but it manages to use those aspects in a far more complex, entertaining, and over all better way. I'm also willing to give it more leeway since the opening sequence is a clear way of admitting that the story is pure grindhouse, but he's willing to go further than that premise suggests.

The most shocking improvement is in the split screens. As far as I can tell there isn't any split screen in the movie, but De Palma always has the widescreen split into two fullscreens. Sometimes this presents an artificial split effect by having an image, usually a face, take up the foreground of an entire screen while a distant action occupies the other screen in the background. This is splitting the frame into four sections rather than the typical two. It's not only used for these extremities either. For example one shot of Travolta listening to the macguffin has Travolta on the left foreground, the recording device on the right foreground, and an ominous car in the right background. This all allows for very expressive visual commentary and some intense scares.

Speaking of Travolta this is easily one of his best performances. His manic energy really draws one in enough that you have to care his problems. It's an absolute magnetism that is impossible to resist. It might even beat Pulp Fiction now that I think about it (comically this makes two for two on De Palma movies I've seen with Travolta). I can't say the same thing about Karen Allen who's practically retarded in her performance. It's made even worse because she sounds like a baby Brooklynite. Like any good horror movie though our villains are the best part of the whole enterprise. I don't know who to respect more Dennis Franz or John Lithgow (this being the first purely dramatic performance I've seen him in). I guess I'll go by appearance and save the best for last.

Franz's part is not nearly big enough to show off his muscles, but the little we get is pure slime and grease. He looks like Keitel in Taxi Driver and comes off a dozen times worse. Like everything else in the movie his intro which is just perfect runs the line between comedy and drama too excellently. He appears like a used car salesman on the television and it becomes impossible to take him seriously in his sparse subsequent performances, but he manages to sell them as the ultimate sleeze. The real star though is Lithgow who like Mfunk (I think) says is a movie monster in the vein of the Jaws shark more than any man. He appears on screen even less than Franz but each time there's this otherworldly feeling to him. His voice is too childish and high pitched compared with his massive build so he turns into a giggling phantom. I'm interested in seeing more De Palma films to an insane extent almost entirely because of how deformed this performance was. There's also this one actor who I don't recognize that gives a fantastic scene that manages to be equal parts uneasy and hilarious. You just can't trust a newsman.

[Jeff]

The real star though is Lithgow... His voice is too childish and high pitched compared with his massive build so he turns into a giggling phantom. I'm interested in seeing more De Palma films to an insane extent almost entirely because of how deformed this performance was.

I'm sorry, Knives, but I think you're going to have to watch Raising Cain. It's gloriously awful in the best possible way. DePalma gone wild. The tagline "DeMented, DeRanged, DeCeptive, DePalma" should give you a clue as to what you're in for. It's Lithgow's show all the way, and his giddy, unhinged, over-the-top performance must be seen to be believed. I don't guess that in good conscience I can actually recommend it, but it's certainly goofy fun if you're willing to completely suspend disbelief and abandon all rational thought.

Definitely check out Dressed to Kill, Obsession, The Fury, Phantom of the Paradise, Body Double and Femme Fatale.

Have you not seen Mission: Impossible or The Untouchables? Both are enjoyable, well-crafted, Hollywood entertainments.

[knives]

I don't even have rational thought so all is good. I'm assuming the cheap as shit Universal is just fine.