DePalma's Women
Women are often disrobed and filmed in a stylish, lip-smacking way in Brian DePalma's films, and the trailer for The Black Dahlia (Universal, 9.15) seems to indicate he's maintaining his signature. Nothing wrong with this -- just predictable. The forthcoming booking at the Edinburgh Film Festival (8.14 to 8.27) is fine, but my reservations still hold.
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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 8, 2006 at 12:18 PM
comment #1
Anonymous says ...
It's DePalma. Of course reservations hold.
Posted by Anonymous at August 8, 2006 1:31 PM
comment #2
nickc says ...
the trailer looks like vintage DePalma. I'm already in the theater.
Posted by nickc at August 8, 2006 1:33 PM
comment #3
Astral Weeks says ...
I am all for DePalma's prurient appreciation of his actress's. There is a lot of static about sex in Hollywood but there's actually a paucity of female flesh and sex. Hollywood seems more comfortable with violence then sex after all. So thank God for the old perv and bring on the flesh.
Posted by Astral Weeks at August 8, 2006 1:44 PM
comment #4
Edward says ...
DePalma has certainly done some fascinating work. He's a wonderful stylist and even his lesser films can be worth watching, but I agree with the first poster, reservations do hold. It's a fascinating story and the cast is interesting. I'm not sure that Josh Hartnet can carry a film like this, but we'll see.
Posted by Edward at August 8, 2006 1:45 PM
comment #5
Chris says ...
The script was fucking great...
... before DePalma got a hold of it.
Posted by Chris at August 8, 2006 1:52 PM
comment #6
Jay T. says ...
The book was amazing - so if he doesn't mess it up it should be good. Big IF, of course. My only reservation is the story has sort of a gritty feel as opposed to being polished...
Posted by Jay T. at August 8, 2006 2:00 PM
comment #7
lesterg says ...
The man really missed his calling as a soft-core porn director. Rebecca Romijn's bathroom lesbian make-out scene in Femme Fatale was easilly the sexiest thing I've seen on film this decade.
Posted by lesterg at August 8, 2006 2:10 PM
comment #8
Anonymous says ...
Hey, Wells, some sincere advice: you've become an ornery crank who's suddenly writing and acting like an over-the-hill old man, you bemoan the death of your beloved VICE and rail (ridiculously) against the illusory political meanings in a dumb, fun Will Farrell comedy. So, Jeff, it's August. Vacation time. Shut down the blog, get out of LA, don't think about movies for a couple of weeks, and recharge the batteries. Really. You don't think you need it, but you do.
Posted by Anonymous at August 8, 2006 2:15 PM
comment #9
insidah says ...
I don't find films about real life mysteries that haven't been solved very satisfying (examples: From Hell...wait, I know there are more, I'm drawing a blank)
Posted by insidah at August 8, 2006 2:15 PM
comment #10
Edward says ...
insidah, I agree. We have a fascination for exploring the unsolved; although Patricia Cornwell believes she solved the Jack the Ripper case.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425192733/sr=1-2/qid=1155073306/ref=sr_1_2/104-0518948-5840715?ie=UTF8&s=books
Posted by Edward at August 8, 2006 2:43 PM
comment #11
Anonymous says ...
Thing is, Johanssen doesn't do nudity and does Swank (loved her in Vanity Fair)?
Posted by Anonymous at August 8, 2006 3:16 PM
comment #12
'size says ...
I don't buy Hartnet in this thing. DePalma is hit and miss with me in the first place, but Hartnet is probably going to keep me out of the theatre.
Posted by 'size at August 8, 2006 3:34 PM
comment #13
Neeb says ...
This will seem odd, but having read the book, and now looking at the trailer, I don't see any of the charcters in the movie... sweating.
No one looks distraught or desperate or tortured. The poetry of skinned knuckles and rotted flesh seems to have been exorcised from the transition from page to screen.
I'll put money on the meat-locker scene not even being in the picture.
Posted by Neeb at August 9, 2006 1:14 AM
comment #14
Anonymous says ...
The meat-locker scene WAS in the script.
And then DePalma rewrote the damn thing.
Posted by Anonymous at August 9, 2006 8:10 AM