With summer winding down and fall on the horizon, distribution seems muddled. I'm a fan of Brian De Palma since 1987, the summer "The Untouchables" came out. I saw it in the theater, right after buddies and I had seen "Wise Guys," one of the most overlooked comedies of the last thirty years. I thought "The Untouchables," a huge hit that summer, outdoing "Predator," "The Witches of Eastwick," and others, and his camera had me. Between my first job in a vineyard, and later water polo daily doubles, I worked my way through all his works, even "Phantom of the Paradise" and " The Fury," which were little-seen and mostly forgotten films of the go-go '80s. A friend of mine and I find the man fascinating because, according to said friend, "De Palma" has greatness in him and you never know when or how it's going to surface." I agreed one hundred percent, and it says something that I've been waiting for, oh, six months, watching the unofficial fan site and related articles. The over 42,000 people who are fans of his on Facebook seem to be vultures waiting for the theatrical release, and guess what? It may not be a hit. Think of his last two, "The Black Dahlia" and "Redacted." Both weren't out-and-out failures, and the latter was grim, thought-provoking. I guess we couldn't handle it.
This next week in limited release of "Passion," which will also be released video-on-demand. It makes me think of Steven Soderbergh's dual theatrical-DVD release of "Bubble" years ago. It bombed, and he survived and persevered. De Palma has done the same the last two times, and in the '90s, and....he just moves on. One of the many reasons I admire him, and "Passion" features two women, so the misogynous charges will likely fall aside. And it got four stars from Peter Sobczynksi of Roger Ebert's site. That I didn't expect, and cannot wait any longer.
This next week in limited release of "Passion," which will also be released video-on-demand. It makes me think of Steven Soderbergh's dual theatrical-DVD release of "Bubble" years ago. It bombed, and he survived and persevered. De Palma has done the same the last two times, and in the '90s, and....he just moves on. One of the many reasons I admire him, and "Passion" features two women, so the misogynous charges will likely fall aside. And it got four stars from Peter Sobczynksi of Roger Ebert's site. That I didn't expect, and cannot wait any longer.
