I always found his films frustrating, I never liked his style, and he's definitely gotten worse over the years. I watched Blowout last year when the Criterion blu-ray came out and had forgotten how bad that really was. I sold it the next day. I'll watch Scarface or the Untouchables if I come across them on tv, but I'm not a fan.
I like the first Mission Impossible movie more than the others. That's probably the last movie he did that I like. Of his earlier stuff I really like The Fury and Carrie
Much as I love(d) Pauline Kael, I've always thought that her adoration of DePalma pretty much ruined him. Her review of Carrie brought him a lot of attention and subsequent unqualified raves for Fury, Dressed to Kill, and Blowout pretty much convinced him that his excretory functions were odorless. Her review of Casualties went on almost as long as the movie and was about as hard to read as the movie was to watch. He has/had talent (as does Shyamalan), but both have fallen over their own egos and they can't get up.
When we went to St. Paul in 1984 to see the launch of Springsteen's tour....Brian was, of course, shooting. He was standing in front of the stage and guys were walking up to him and shaking his hand. I would have but I was up in the lower bowl....
I liked "Snake Eyes" from 1998 if you want to consider that recent work. I remember Gene Siskel did too when he was doing "At The Movies" with Roger Ebert by phone right before he died.
I love 'Sisters". That's my favorite DePalma films. I wish Criterion would give it the blu-ray treatment. I also enjoy "Blow Out", "Dressed to Kill", "Carrie", "Phantom of the Paradise" and...."Raising Cain"!
That film had potential. Nicolas Cage has not done much since. Apart from making money . Herzog's kooky Port Of New Orleans and big daddy in Kick-Ass were excellent.
You can watch Sisters on Hulu@720p. Criterion on Hulu+ is about the best thing ever. For the price of a Whopper with cheese combo you can get a month of Hulu+.
Wow. I feel the opposite. Flaws aside, it's a fine film IMHO. I think despite its entertainment value Scarface is a much worse film.
Good question. I probably gave it another chance because of Travolta and the number of years since I'd seen it had dulled the pain.
Yeah that's why I've started renting, netflixing, etc. where possible (I don't know if that was an option here) because I've been burned many, many times by films I thought I might like (or even had a memory of liking) where they weren't quite as good as I recall. There are a cuple of De Palma movies I recalled seeing and liking as a kid that, later, turned into mush when I watched them again.
Perhaps the most disappointing of all the directors that came up in his generation. His successes have always been undermined by something awful right around the corner. My nominee for the Hall of Shame -- Snake Eyes w/Nicolas Cage.
Wow, never heard of it, I'll have to check it out. Hmm, just researched it - apparently it is a remake of the french move "Love Crime". I thought that movie had an interesting twist to it; even knowing it am curious to see what De Palma does with the story (I believe the ending is changed in De Palma's version, don't tell me though!) .
I just watched Body Double again last night. It's so entertaining but so odd. The Frankie Goes to Hollywood appearance is random yet fascinating (and fun for an '80s snapshot). Melanie Griffith in her prime was great, Deborah Shelton was gorgeous (though I never realized until recently she was dubbed by Helen Shaver or someone who sounds a lot like Shaver) and Craig Wasson was well cast as the lead. The Pino Donaggio score is gorgeous.
I love many of his '70s and '80s films: Phantom of the Paradise Carrie The Fury Dressed to Kill Blow Out The Untouchables Casualties of War I don't like Scarface, though. And the only post-'80s movie of his I love is Carlito's Way. A couple of others are OK, though.
