Brian De Palma
Noah’s Barks pages relating to movie/film director Brian De Palma.
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The Fury
When talking about Brian De Palma‘s sense of excess in his films, it’s more often a positive—he makes even typical tales grandiose. The Fury is excess by lack of imagination. The Fury takes a silly concept and tries to run straight with it, fucking up all the way with horrible dialogue, pointless scenes, dragged shots,… (read more)
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Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is so bloody solid! But so damn impersonal, which is my typical response to older action films. I love Brian De Palma‘s excessive bombast, but it’s not excessive here. The scale of each scene is appropriate though obviously the plot is dramatically contrived. Tom Cruise’s lack of characterization is a blessing since he… (read more)
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Carrie
The imagery of Sissy Spacek as Carrie bug-eyed, drenched in blood as she walks through the flames is as powerful as ever. But Carrie’s tragedy is castrated by incredibly hammy performances that border on a cartoon’s depiction of high school students, as well as a lack of intensity due to the era the movie was… (read more)
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Scarface
The Godfather is significant in how it makes us love a family of criminals as people, and Goodfellas shows us all the thrills that come with the high-life. Scarface gets plain and ugly about the underground, and Tony Montana (Al Pacino) suffers for his obsession with power. Even when he’s on top of the world… (read more)