New Flick

The man.
The Black Dahlia. Brian de Palma. over the top, or over the hill? both but still fun. This years entry in the Venice Film Festival....
Josh and Hillary. What are they looking at?

What is a blue dahlia?

My favorite smart-ass critic, Christopher Kelly, says "it's Chinatown as replayed by your high school drama club." And, yes, it is de Palma playing with films again. Campy fodder for film critics, and they always amuse film buffs who love to parse the scenes. Almost all his movies are ready-made trivia games: he just did a Hitchcock "Rear Window" move.... Oh that was from Eisenstein!

If you enjoy this stuff, it can be great fun. (Guilty fun, because there is usually some grissly violence to look away from....) And I have to admit that I do love it. "Carrie", my first viewing of Sissy Spacik, was a sensational masterwork. "Dressed to Kill" and "Body Double" (Dressed to Drill, a smart-ass critic wrote, because of a very original murder weapon!) sealed my love of the director. And everybody agreed with me on the "Untouchables" and gave it deserved awards. There is always something to look at in his films, even if you do not like the plot or the characters, or even the actors. This can be just pop froth, but at its best, I have to admit. The return of "Scarface" is eagerly awaited. Al Pacino and his mountain of (gasp) cocaine!
Scarf one/chain 1/2