Martin Scorsese was at the Berlinale this week for the first time in a decade. His presence to collect an honorary Golden Bear was a reminder of the festival’s glories of yesteryear.
In decades past, Scorsese touched down in Berlin with major works such as Raging Bull (1981), Cape Fear (1992); Gangs of New York (2003 ), Shine a Light (2008) and Shutter Island (2010). It feels a long time since the event — traditionally one of the world’s great cinema showcases — has attracted such movies. In recent years the studio splashes have dried up.
So have memorable movies from A-list arthouse filmmakers. Scorsese this week sang the praises of the event for the encouragement it had given him as an emerging filmmaker. Citing Brian de Palma’s Silver Bear win for his second film Greetings in 1969, Scorsese said the prize had marked a turning point for unknown, independent American directors such as himself, de Palma,...
In decades past, Scorsese touched down in Berlin with major works such as Raging Bull (1981), Cape Fear (1992); Gangs of New York (2003 ), Shine a Light (2008) and Shutter Island (2010). It feels a long time since the event — traditionally one of the world’s great cinema showcases — has attracted such movies. In recent years the studio splashes have dried up.
So have memorable movies from A-list arthouse filmmakers. Scorsese this week sang the praises of the event for the encouragement it had given him as an emerging filmmaker. Citing Brian de Palma’s Silver Bear win for his second film Greetings in 1969, Scorsese said the prize had marked a turning point for unknown, independent American directors such as himself, de Palma,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
If holiday romance flicks are one of your favorite dramas, head over to Pluto TV now to watch free titles from Hallmark, Lifetime and more.
Halloween is behind us, which means the holiday season is about to begin! For many in the United States, that means the yearly tradition of watching sweet, touching holiday romance movies is circling back around, and some already have their DVRs packed full of content.
Pluto TV launched its “Season’s Greetings” category Nov. 1. This content hub includes free streaming content from Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and more. Other holiday movies on Pluto include “Bad Santa,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and many others. Watch Now Tba Pluto.TV What is Available in Pluto’s Season’s Greetings Hub?
Pluto TV has a fantastic selection of both live and on-demand content available. First up is the streamer’s new Season’s Greetings hub, which houses a total of nine live-streaming channels featuring movies,...
Halloween is behind us, which means the holiday season is about to begin! For many in the United States, that means the yearly tradition of watching sweet, touching holiday romance movies is circling back around, and some already have their DVRs packed full of content.
Pluto TV launched its “Season’s Greetings” category Nov. 1. This content hub includes free streaming content from Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and more. Other holiday movies on Pluto include “Bad Santa,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and many others. Watch Now Tba Pluto.TV What is Available in Pluto’s Season’s Greetings Hub?
Pluto TV has a fantastic selection of both live and on-demand content available. First up is the streamer’s new Season’s Greetings hub, which houses a total of nine live-streaming channels featuring movies,...
- 11/2/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
Bruce Springsteen released his debut album in 1972, a decade after Bob Dylan released his first. Springsteen’s album was well-received by critics, but some reviews drove him to change up his writing style. Springsteen admired Dylan and had for years. Still, he didn’t want to put out music that sounded too much like him. Here’s why comparisons to Dylan convinced Springsteen to avoid this in the future.
Bruce Springsteen said 1 of his albums sounded like Bob Dylan
When Springsteen signed to Columbia Records, he was meant to put out music that sounded Dylan-esque.
“John Hammond, Clive Davis, and Columbia had thought they’d signed a folk singer-songwriter,” Springsteen wrote in his memoir Born to Run. “The stock was way up on singer-songwriters in those days. The charts were full of them, with James Taylor leading the pack. I was signed to Columbia, along with Elliott Murphy, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright,...
Bruce Springsteen said 1 of his albums sounded like Bob Dylan
When Springsteen signed to Columbia Records, he was meant to put out music that sounded Dylan-esque.
“John Hammond, Clive Davis, and Columbia had thought they’d signed a folk singer-songwriter,” Springsteen wrote in his memoir Born to Run. “The stock was way up on singer-songwriters in those days. The charts were full of them, with James Taylor leading the pack. I was signed to Columbia, along with Elliott Murphy, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright,...
- 6/17/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
It’s no exaggeration to say that filmmaking legend Brian De Palma has had an eclectic and often spectacular career, spanning over fifty years that have brought audiences many unforgettable and classic movies. 1976’s Carrie remains an often referenced (we’re looking at you Wednesday!) horror masterpiece, crime drama Scarface is all time gangster gold, while his first entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise is still perhaps one of the strongest instalments for a then young and even more sprightly Tom Cruise. However, it’s De Palma’s 1987 The Untouchables, an adaptation of the 1950’s TV serial that focuses on the attempts to bring down crime lord Al Capone, that really shows his versatility as a director. The award winning film features several iconic scenes that are now etched in the minds of movie fans around the globe; from the Union Station shoot-out with full-on baby-in-great-peril slow-mo action shot, to...
- 4/2/2023
- by Adam Walton
- JoBlo.com
Most fans are familiar with Penn Badgley the actor — but it turns out, he’s also in a band. His roles as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl and Joe Goldberg in You made him famous. However, like many others in show business, the star also has a passion for music. In a 2023 interview, Badgley addressed his side project, acknowledging the name his band chose is “tragically hipster.”
Penn Badgley, the actor, is also in a band Simon Oscroft, Penn Badgley, and Darren Will from Mothxr pose backstage at La Maroquinerie on September 13, 2016 in Paris, France. | David Wolff – Patrick/Redferns
A decade ago, Badgley starred in the movie Greetings From Tim Buckley, and that changed everything. He portrayed the role of cult NYC singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, and, according to The New York Post, this led directly to the formation of his band.
“Gossip Girl was a great opportunity, but it would...
Penn Badgley, the actor, is also in a band Simon Oscroft, Penn Badgley, and Darren Will from Mothxr pose backstage at La Maroquinerie on September 13, 2016 in Paris, France. | David Wolff – Patrick/Redferns
A decade ago, Badgley starred in the movie Greetings From Tim Buckley, and that changed everything. He portrayed the role of cult NYC singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, and, according to The New York Post, this led directly to the formation of his band.
“Gossip Girl was a great opportunity, but it would...
- 3/30/2023
- by Lisa Geiger
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Penn Badgley is now famous for his role as romantic serial killer Joe on Netflix’s You. But before that, the actor played a lot of high-school characters — something Badgley recently said he was way too old to be doing.
Penn Badgley starred in teen shows and movies like ‘Easy A’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ Penn Badgley (L) and Emma Stone in the Fox Presents network theatrical premiere of ‘Easy A,’ airing Friday, May 20 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox. | Fox Image Collection via Getty Images
Badgley started acting when he was just 11 years old, appearing in shows like What I Like About You, The Young and the Restless, and Do Over. The actor also starred in movies like John Tucker Must Die and Drive-Thru.
His big break came in 2007, when he began starring as Dan Humphrey in the CW’s teen soap opera Gossip Girl. The show made...
Penn Badgley starred in teen shows and movies like ‘Easy A’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ Penn Badgley (L) and Emma Stone in the Fox Presents network theatrical premiere of ‘Easy A,’ airing Friday, May 20 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox. | Fox Image Collection via Getty Images
Badgley started acting when he was just 11 years old, appearing in shows like What I Like About You, The Young and the Restless, and Do Over. The actor also starred in movies like John Tucker Must Die and Drive-Thru.
His big break came in 2007, when he began starring as Dan Humphrey in the CW’s teen soap opera Gossip Girl. The show made...
- 3/17/2023
- by India McCarty
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
When Robert De Niro came out swinging, rhetorically, at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016, it was the most stirring and surprising performance he'd given in years. "He's so blatantly stupid," he said in a campaign ad. "He's a punk. He's a dog. He's a pig. A con. A bulls**t artist. A mutt who doesn't know what he's talking about." Then he lowered the boom: "I'd like to punch him in the face."
Though the actor had long been on the record as a Democrat, he'd never been this emphatic about a political position in his public life. In fact, he'd never been emphatic about much of anything. Anyone who'd watched the actor squirm his way through an interview knew full well that the man wasn't much of a talker. When he did speak, he tended to be soft-spoken. He seemed almost embarrassed to be holding forth on any subject,...
Though the actor had long been on the record as a Democrat, he'd never been this emphatic about a political position in his public life. In fact, he'd never been emphatic about much of anything. Anyone who'd watched the actor squirm his way through an interview knew full well that the man wasn't much of a talker. When he did speak, he tended to be soft-spoken. He seemed almost embarrassed to be holding forth on any subject,...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Like many people passionate about movies, particularly those who grew up in the golden age of trash-talking critics like Pauline Kael, Judith Crist, Rex Reed, Gene Siskel, and Roger Ebert, Quentin Tarantino isn't shy about throwing an elbow or twelve when discussing cinema. He doesn't vacillate, nor does he spend much time discussing films that elicit a ho-hum response. You could say he likes to play contrarian, but that would suggest he's basically the Skip Bayless of film discourse. While you may vehemently disagree with Tarantino from time to time, he is anything but a full-of-it blowhard who spouts off inflammatory opinions to get a rise out of low-information fanatics. Tarantino knows his subject inside and out. If you want to enter his arena, you better come armed with ardor and a lifetime's worth of film knowledge.
This doesn't mean Tarantino can't be infuriating on occasion. This is, after all,...
This doesn't mean Tarantino can't be infuriating on occasion. This is, after all,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Bruce Springsteen has announced his forthcoming album titled Only the Strong Survive, which will celebrate “the sweet sound of soul music”.
Scheduled to release on 11 November, the new 15-track record marks his 21st studio album and comes nearly 50 years since his debut 1973 album, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ.
It will also be Springsteen’s first studio album release since his chart-topping 2020 record, Letter to You.
Guest vocalists featured on Only the Strong Survive include Sam Moore, Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr, Dennis Collins, and Fonzi Thornton, with contributions from The E Street Horns and full strings arrangements by Rob Mathes.
Following its release, the 73-year-old “Dancing in the Dark” singer will reunite with the iconic E Street Band in February 2023 to kick off his international tour.
While over 1.6m tickets have already been sold across the US and Europe, fans were initially shocked and outraged by...
Scheduled to release on 11 November, the new 15-track record marks his 21st studio album and comes nearly 50 years since his debut 1973 album, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ.
It will also be Springsteen’s first studio album release since his chart-topping 2020 record, Letter to You.
Guest vocalists featured on Only the Strong Survive include Sam Moore, Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr, Dennis Collins, and Fonzi Thornton, with contributions from The E Street Horns and full strings arrangements by Rob Mathes.
Following its release, the 73-year-old “Dancing in the Dark” singer will reunite with the iconic E Street Band in February 2023 to kick off his international tour.
While over 1.6m tickets have already been sold across the US and Europe, fans were initially shocked and outraged by...
- 9/29/2022
- by Inga Parkel
- The Independent - Music
Casting movie stars can be a tricky proposition, especially if you're making a big-budget film with unproven talent. In 1987, that's exactly what Kevin Costner was. He'd appeared in three box-office bombs in 1985, and, prior to this, had been cut out of Lawrence Kasdan's Baby Boomer smash "The Big Chill." But after missing out on the more established Don Johnson (who was red hot at the time thanks to "Miami Vice"), Costner wound up being Brian De Palma's Eliot Ness in the hit-hungry director's big-screen rendition of "The Untouchables." And while De Palma had a bit of movie star insurance in Sean Connery as the veteran beat cop Malone, David Mamet's masterful screenplay screamed for a larger-than-life Al Capone.
De Palma only had eyes for Robert De Niro, and he had a history with the actor, having worked with him in the counterculture comedies "Greetings" and "Hi, Mom!
De Palma only had eyes for Robert De Niro, and he had a history with the actor, having worked with him in the counterculture comedies "Greetings" and "Hi, Mom!
- 8/31/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
If you’re a fan of both horror and soundtracks, like me, you know there’s an embarrassment of riches to collect– especially in the current golden age of boutique labels like Waxwork Records and One Way Static. Some of these horror soundtracks are highly uncommon, not because they’re for obscure films or TV series, but because they break the mold in numerous ways.
Read on for some of the most unusual horror soundtracks ever released….
And feel free to add your own oddities in the comments!
Monster In My Pocket (1992)
This might just be the most unusual soundtrack on this list, given that it’s for a toy line! It’s a shame I didn’t pick this up as a kid, because I loved Monster In My Pocket toys and this Halloween-y compilation sounds right up my alley. (I probably would have worn out the cassette playing it year round.
Read on for some of the most unusual horror soundtracks ever released….
And feel free to add your own oddities in the comments!
Monster In My Pocket (1992)
This might just be the most unusual soundtrack on this list, given that it’s for a toy line! It’s a shame I didn’t pick this up as a kid, because I loved Monster In My Pocket toys and this Halloween-y compilation sounds right up my alley. (I probably would have worn out the cassette playing it year round.
- 8/10/2022
- by Justin Lockwood
- bloody-disgusting.com
Sony Music Group said it has acquired Bruce Springsteen’s entire recorded music and songwriting catalogs, confirming numerous media reports over the past 24 hours.
The combined value of the separate recording and publishing deals reportedly could reach the $500 million range or even as high as $600 million. Financial terms were not specified in the official announcement.
Springsteen is the latest top name in the music business to take advantage of a seller’s market due to the boom in streaming. Digital sales have surged in recent years and, until Covid, live touring revenues were also on the rise. Now, with touring still in an uncertain state, a range of established performers have been realizing the value of their career’s work. Among those whose catalogs have sold recently are Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and James Brown. Dylan’s pact earlier this year with Universal Music was worth $300 million.
The combined value of the separate recording and publishing deals reportedly could reach the $500 million range or even as high as $600 million. Financial terms were not specified in the official announcement.
Springsteen is the latest top name in the music business to take advantage of a seller’s market due to the boom in streaming. Digital sales have surged in recent years and, until Covid, live touring revenues were also on the rise. Now, with touring still in an uncertain state, a range of established performers have been realizing the value of their career’s work. Among those whose catalogs have sold recently are Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and James Brown. Dylan’s pact earlier this year with Universal Music was worth $300 million.
- 12/16/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The life story of Jeff Buckley will be told in the upcoming biopic Everybody Here Wants You, and Broadway actor/musician Reeve Carney has been cast in the lead role. The Buckley estate backs the film and has granted access to his full musical library.
“This will be the only official dramatization of Jeff’s story which I can promise his fans will be true to him and to his legacy,” said Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, in a statement (via Variety). “Thankfully, my determination to assemble all the right participants,...
“This will be the only official dramatization of Jeff’s story which I can promise his fans will be true to him and to his legacy,” said Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, in a statement (via Variety). “Thankfully, my determination to assemble all the right participants,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
For a perennial toddler who’s only ever taken a few baby steps, Maggie Simpson really gets around, and is very popular. In spite of all the ribbing the parent company took from the long running animated comedy, Disney+ set a playdate with The Simpsons. The animated short film “Maggie Simpson in ‘Playdate with Destiny’” will stream globally on the service starting Friday, April 10. The announcement was made by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening with a special handwritten note, with no cursives.
“Greetings, Friends! Earlier this year we made a nifty little short film called ‘Maggie Simpson in Playdate with Destiny.’” Groening posted to Instagram. “The response was so gratifying we wanted everyone to see it at home. So here ya go – stream it starting April 10th on Disney+!”
“Maggie Simpson in ‘Playdate with Destiny’” was originally shown in movie theatres before Disney and Pixar’s computer-animated urban fantasy flick Onward.
“Greetings, Friends! Earlier this year we made a nifty little short film called ‘Maggie Simpson in Playdate with Destiny.’” Groening posted to Instagram. “The response was so gratifying we wanted everyone to see it at home. So here ya go – stream it starting April 10th on Disney+!”
“Maggie Simpson in ‘Playdate with Destiny’” was originally shown in movie theatres before Disney and Pixar’s computer-animated urban fantasy flick Onward.
- 4/9/2020
- by Kayti Burt
- Den of Geek
Review by Roger Carpenter
Before Brian De Palma became That De Palma and before Robert De Niro scored big with multiple high-profile roles, they were just two twenty-somethings trying to put together film careers. De Palma was a film school student and De Niro was a no-name actor.
The two first met around 1963 when De Niro was cast in a supporting role in De Palma’s first film, The Wedding Party. The film is a farce about a groom who visits his soon-to-be bride’s family estate for the forthcoming nuptials. His two friends and groomsmen (played by De Niro and William Finley), who are there to support him, initially try to talk the groom out of the marriage. The groom refuses to listen to their arguments and turns them away. Yet as the day looms large, the groom begins having second thoughts even as the groomsmen have changed their...
Before Brian De Palma became That De Palma and before Robert De Niro scored big with multiple high-profile roles, they were just two twenty-somethings trying to put together film careers. De Palma was a film school student and De Niro was a no-name actor.
The two first met around 1963 when De Niro was cast in a supporting role in De Palma’s first film, The Wedding Party. The film is a farce about a groom who visits his soon-to-be bride’s family estate for the forthcoming nuptials. His two friends and groomsmen (played by De Niro and William Finley), who are there to support him, initially try to talk the groom out of the marriage. The groom refuses to listen to their arguments and turns them away. Yet as the day looms large, the groom begins having second thoughts even as the groomsmen have changed their...
- 2/3/2019
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Young Rebel With A Movie Camera”
By Raymond Benson
Arrow has released an interesting time capsule of a boxed set that features early work by director Brian De Palma and starring a very young Robert De Niro before either of them were significant names in the motion picture industry. The films are The Wedding Party, Greetings (1968), and Hi, Mom! (1970).
De Palma had embarked on a film career in the very early 1960s when he was a student at various institutions. While at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, he collaborated with then-theatre-professor Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe (who provided much of the script and funding) to make a feature entitled The Wedding Party. Most accounts (including IMDb) state that the movie was made in 1963; however, an essay by Brad Stevens in the accompanying Blu-ray booklet claims that the film was shot in 1964-65. It was eventually copyrighted in 1966, but wasn...
By Raymond Benson
Arrow has released an interesting time capsule of a boxed set that features early work by director Brian De Palma and starring a very young Robert De Niro before either of them were significant names in the motion picture industry. The films are The Wedding Party, Greetings (1968), and Hi, Mom! (1970).
De Palma had embarked on a film career in the very early 1960s when he was a student at various institutions. While at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, he collaborated with then-theatre-professor Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe (who provided much of the script and funding) to make a feature entitled The Wedding Party. Most accounts (including IMDb) state that the movie was made in 1963; however, an essay by Brad Stevens in the accompanying Blu-ray booklet claims that the film was shot in 1964-65. It was eventually copyrighted in 1966, but wasn...
- 12/14/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Brian De Palma celebrates his 78th birthday on September 11, 2018. While his films have ranged from the sublime to the atrocious, there’s no denying the impact he’s had on cinema. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
De Palma began his filmmaking career directing underground features shot on a shoestring, many of which starred a young Robert De Niro. He came into his own with the Hitchcock-inspired thriller “Sisters” (1973), starring Margot Kidder as a pair of killer Siamese twins. The Master of Suspense would serve as a muse to De Palma throughout his career, influencing such films as “Obsession” (1976), “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Blow Out” (1980) and “Body Double” (1984) both in style and substance.
He enjoyed his first box office success with “Carrie” (1976), an adaptation of Stephen King’s chilling novel about a shy teenager (Sissy Spacek) with telekinesis.
De Palma began his filmmaking career directing underground features shot on a shoestring, many of which starred a young Robert De Niro. He came into his own with the Hitchcock-inspired thriller “Sisters” (1973), starring Margot Kidder as a pair of killer Siamese twins. The Master of Suspense would serve as a muse to De Palma throughout his career, influencing such films as “Obsession” (1976), “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Blow Out” (1980) and “Body Double” (1984) both in style and substance.
He enjoyed his first box office success with “Carrie” (1976), an adaptation of Stephen King’s chilling novel about a shy teenager (Sissy Spacek) with telekinesis.
- 9/11/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Each year, the Sundance Film Festival faces expectations established by the previous edition. Assessing program quality often becomes secondary to following the hype, and the festival is defined by the movies that cost the most and have the greatest promise of commercial viability. However, in 2018 the question isn’t which Sundance movies are this year’s “The Big Sick,” “Mudbound” or “Call Me By Your Name;” it’s ultimately more constructive to consider what’s not.
See More:The 2018 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, and News Item Posted During the Festival
In year of cautious buyers and fewer blockbuster breakouts, smaller and stranger movies stepped into the foreground, dividing audiences and fueling thoughtful conversations. (When one Sundance first-timer for whom English was a second language asked me to define “hype,” I replied, “Everything you should ignore.”) In a consumer age dominated by customized viewing habits, a festival that’s hard...
See More:The 2018 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, and News Item Posted During the Festival
In year of cautious buyers and fewer blockbuster breakouts, smaller and stranger movies stepped into the foreground, dividing audiences and fueling thoughtful conversations. (When one Sundance first-timer for whom English was a second language asked me to define “hype,” I replied, “Everything you should ignore.”) In a consumer age dominated by customized viewing habits, a festival that’s hard...
- 1/23/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Ryan Lambie Published Date Friday, September 23, 2016 - 06:17
If director Brian De Palma was sometimes criticised for settling for style over substance in his thrillers, this feature-length documentary about his career is reassuringly basic in its approach. Barring archive footage and one, solitary moment, directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow divide their retrospective between sequences from De Palma’s movies and interviews with the filmmaker himself, seated in front of a grey fireplace.
It’s the kind of move that could be regarded as lazy or tentative in some circumstances, but Baumbach and Paltrow are shrewd enough to recognise that a director known for his technical flourishes needs room to breathe; and besides, De Palma and his movies are interesting enough subjects that they hardly need further embellishment.
Even De Palma’s structure is straightforward: we start at the beginning, when the future director of Carrie and The Untouchables was a kid,...
If director Brian De Palma was sometimes criticised for settling for style over substance in his thrillers, this feature-length documentary about his career is reassuringly basic in its approach. Barring archive footage and one, solitary moment, directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow divide their retrospective between sequences from De Palma’s movies and interviews with the filmmaker himself, seated in front of a grey fireplace.
It’s the kind of move that could be regarded as lazy or tentative in some circumstances, but Baumbach and Paltrow are shrewd enough to recognise that a director known for his technical flourishes needs room to breathe; and besides, De Palma and his movies are interesting enough subjects that they hardly need further embellishment.
Even De Palma’s structure is straightforward: we start at the beginning, when the future director of Carrie and The Untouchables was a kid,...
- 9/22/2016
- Den of Geek
There’s an alternate version of Brian De Palma’s career where 1972’s Get to Know Your Rabbit stands as one of the most seminal entries. The last of De Palma’s early-70s comedies, the film is most readily recognized as a prelude to his directorial turning point. Just a year later, he began a string of legacy defining films: Sisters, Obsession, and Carrie.
But this early-period black sheep is more than a mere historical footnote. It’s the transitional fiasco that De Palma needed. Coming after the modest hits of Greetings and Hi, Mom!, this was the big leagues, a chance for the nascent but rising director to work with Hollywood and establish himself as a conjunction of artistic and financial impulses.
It’s only inevitable that even De Palma’s crowd-pleasing comedy scans as commentary about the prison of working with studios. In an impish reversal of the artist’s own circumstances,...
But this early-period black sheep is more than a mere historical footnote. It’s the transitional fiasco that De Palma needed. Coming after the modest hits of Greetings and Hi, Mom!, this was the big leagues, a chance for the nascent but rising director to work with Hollywood and establish himself as a conjunction of artistic and financial impulses.
It’s only inevitable that even De Palma’s crowd-pleasing comedy scans as commentary about the prison of working with studios. In an impish reversal of the artist’s own circumstances,...
- 9/20/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Manic, messy, and experimental, The Wedding Party serves as a 90-minute preamble, both technically and thematically, to the next decade of Brian De Palma’s young career. Co-directed with two others (Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe), the film was shot in 1963, only to be released in 1969, after both De Palma and Robert De Niro’s stars were on the rise. Leach was a theater professor at Sarah Lawrence, De Palma and Munroe two of his students. Fellow student Jill Clayburgh stars as Josephine, the bride-to-be, while Charles Pfluger plays Charlie, the impending groom. Jennifer Salt — who would go on to star in Murder à la Mod, Hi, Mom! and Sisters — also appears as Phoebe, friend of the bride.
Not too long after Charlie docks on the upscale island where the wedding is to take place and meets Josephine’s whole, judgmental family, his two groomsmen, Cecil (De Niro) and Alistair (William Finley,...
Not too long after Charlie docks on the upscale island where the wedding is to take place and meets Josephine’s whole, judgmental family, his two groomsmen, Cecil (De Niro) and Alistair (William Finley,...
- 9/8/2016
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
These days, there’s the buffer of Redacted to shore up Brian De Palma’s credentials as a Godardian ironist. Perhaps in the time when it was fashionable for high-minded critics to bolster De Palma’s significance while decrying the filmmakers he cited as influences, the takedowns by card-carrying auteurists might have seemed a necessary antidote to all the doting. De Palma long represented the negative end of a New Hollywood excess, championed by one side of a polemic and lambasted by the other.
De Palma’s bad taste and his love of schlock discounted him from the pantheon erected by auteurists, while the same characteristics attracted the attentions of less-serious-minded populist critics, who saw the director’s near-indistinguishable alternations between facetiousness and sincerity as a plus. Still, even these De Palma diehards generally struggled to explain why he was significant, outside of an anti-intellectual impulse towards celebrating baroque kitsch...
De Palma’s bad taste and his love of schlock discounted him from the pantheon erected by auteurists, while the same characteristics attracted the attentions of less-serious-minded populist critics, who saw the director’s near-indistinguishable alternations between facetiousness and sincerity as a plus. Still, even these De Palma diehards generally struggled to explain why he was significant, outside of an anti-intellectual impulse towards celebrating baroque kitsch...
- 8/4/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
“This is a pretty good land, a fact” was proclaimed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in a television broadcast addressing the Vietnam War — the leader of the free world backing up a “humble” if contentious wording of his nation’s state with an absolute, and thus already opening up the possibility of not just satire, but images as the ultimate medium for telling lies. Perhaps it was the ultimate “prologue” for a 28-year-old Brian De Palma.
With the mission statement of setting out to make something akin to Jean-Luc Godard’s ’60s work, De Palma’s third feature, Greetings, still feels surprisingly his own; his preoccupations already so dominant that it doesn’t come off as a banalization of Godard’s aesthetics and ideas the way so many other rip-offs did. Perhaps the difference is that it’s based in a very personal milieu, situated around three New York buddies...
With the mission statement of setting out to make something akin to Jean-Luc Godard’s ’60s work, De Palma’s third feature, Greetings, still feels surprisingly his own; his preoccupations already so dominant that it doesn’t come off as a banalization of Godard’s aesthetics and ideas the way so many other rip-offs did. Perhaps the difference is that it’s based in a very personal milieu, situated around three New York buddies...
- 6/29/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
It’s difficult to talk about Brian De Palma without talking about other filmmakers. We talk about Godard, who clearly impacted De Palma’s early politicization and constant interrogation of what it means to watch. We talk about Antonioni and Eisenstein, among the most notable filmmakers that De Palma has quoted whose surnames don’t begin with “H.” We talk about Lucas, Spielberg, Coppola, and Scorsese, the bearded “Movie Brats” whose elusive club De Palma claims membership to. Most of all, we talk about Hitchcock.
Brian De Palma is almost always discussed in terms of Hitchcock. His detractors frame him as a parasitic freeloader sucking away at the master’s suspense-filled tits. De Palma’s movies owe an obvious debt to the so-called Master of Suspense, but it’s a crippling and constricting narrative to apply to his entire body of work, and one that complicates readings of his early output.
Brian De Palma is almost always discussed in terms of Hitchcock. His detractors frame him as a parasitic freeloader sucking away at the master’s suspense-filled tits. De Palma’s movies owe an obvious debt to the so-called Master of Suspense, but it’s a crippling and constricting narrative to apply to his entire body of work, and one that complicates readings of his early output.
- 6/29/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
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Director Brian De Palma followed Carrie with another gory vaunt into the supernatural. Here's why The Fury deserves a revisit...
When it comes to telekinesis and gory visual effects, the movie that generally springs to mind is David Cronenberg’s 1981 exploding head opus, Scanners. But years before that, American director Brian De Palma was liberally dowsing the screen with claret in his 1976 adaptation of Carrie - still rightly regarded as one of the best Stephen King adaptations made so far. A less widely remembered supernatural film from De Palma came two years after: De Palma’s supernatural thriller, The Fury.
The Fury was made with a more generous budget than Carrie, had a starrier cast (Kirk Douglas in the lead, John Cassavetes playing the villain), and it even did pretty well in financial terms. Yet The Fury had the misfortune of being caught in a kind of pincer movement between Carrie,...
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Director Brian De Palma followed Carrie with another gory vaunt into the supernatural. Here's why The Fury deserves a revisit...
When it comes to telekinesis and gory visual effects, the movie that generally springs to mind is David Cronenberg’s 1981 exploding head opus, Scanners. But years before that, American director Brian De Palma was liberally dowsing the screen with claret in his 1976 adaptation of Carrie - still rightly regarded as one of the best Stephen King adaptations made so far. A less widely remembered supernatural film from De Palma came two years after: De Palma’s supernatural thriller, The Fury.
The Fury was made with a more generous budget than Carrie, had a starrier cast (Kirk Douglas in the lead, John Cassavetes playing the villain), and it even did pretty well in financial terms. Yet The Fury had the misfortune of being caught in a kind of pincer movement between Carrie,...
- 6/23/2016
- Den of Geek
Taking a glance over his filmography, it’s quick to surmise Brian De Palma’s lack of interest in the words “Inspired By” or “Based on a True Story.” His attraction to images leans so heavily towards their natural falsity rather than some kind of prosaic yet still wholly phony verisimilitude. But one of the few exceptions lends a tragic weight that few of his films have.
The true story in question is what’s commonly referred to as Incident on Hill 192: in 1966, an American army squad in the Vietnam War kidnapped a young village girl, then subsequently gang-raped and murdered her. Journalist Daniel Lang brought this to further public attention with a 1969 article in The New Yorker entitled Casualties of War, of which De Palma’s film would share the name.
It caught the attention of screenwriter David Rabe and then De Palma, who had, since the late ’70s,...
The true story in question is what’s commonly referred to as Incident on Hill 192: in 1966, an American army squad in the Vietnam War kidnapped a young village girl, then subsequently gang-raped and murdered her. Journalist Daniel Lang brought this to further public attention with a 1969 article in The New Yorker entitled Casualties of War, of which De Palma’s film would share the name.
It caught the attention of screenwriter David Rabe and then De Palma, who had, since the late ’70s,...
- 6/17/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Bringing up Brian De Palma as if he’s still some kind of marginalized or misunderstood figure is now heavily contentious, not just in the sense that “the discussion” has, with the presence of the Internet, become so heavily splintered that every figure has at least seem some form of reappraisal, but in that this is being discussed on the occasion of a new documentary and retrospectives in New York, Chicago, Austin, and Toronto (the lattermost of which this symposium will be timed to). Yes, the line has probably tipped past “divisive,” but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t room for debate.
It’s not hard to understand why De Palma’s work strikes a cord with a new cinephilia fixated on form and vulgarity. Though, in going film-by-film — taking us from political diatribes against America to gonzo horror to gangster films your parents watch to strange European...
It’s not hard to understand why De Palma’s work strikes a cord with a new cinephilia fixated on form and vulgarity. Though, in going film-by-film — taking us from political diatribes against America to gonzo horror to gangster films your parents watch to strange European...
- 6/17/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
The Carrie and Scarface director is the subject of a new film and retrospective. Here he talks about how he invented reality TV and what it feels like to be reviled
This month, New Jersey-born director Brian De Palma is the subject of two major, separate tributes. The recently opened Metrograph cinema in New York’s Lower East Side has a full retrospective encompassing his five-decade career. This body of work is markedly diverse, spanning experimental curios (Greetings, Hi, Mom!), Hitchcock-inflected thrillers (Dressed To Kill, Body Double), gruelling war dramas (Casualties of War, Redacted), and, of course, the visually spectacular, more mainstream fare for which he is best known (Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible).
Related: De Palma review – Scarface director reappraisal is a cinephile's nirvana
Continue reading...
This month, New Jersey-born director Brian De Palma is the subject of two major, separate tributes. The recently opened Metrograph cinema in New York’s Lower East Side has a full retrospective encompassing his five-decade career. This body of work is markedly diverse, spanning experimental curios (Greetings, Hi, Mom!), Hitchcock-inflected thrillers (Dressed To Kill, Body Double), gruelling war dramas (Casualties of War, Redacted), and, of course, the visually spectacular, more mainstream fare for which he is best known (Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible).
Related: De Palma review – Scarface director reappraisal is a cinephile's nirvana
Continue reading...
- 6/7/2016
- by Ashley Clark
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's unpretentious documentary De Palma (2015) reveals a clear-sighted and fascinating director, who often seems as bemused by the vagaries and inconsistencies in his own career as everyone else. Brian De Palma was initially seen as the most talented of the Young Turks who came to prominence in the seventies. Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg all deferred to him and his fierce intelligence. However, De Palma was to be left struggling in their wake as they all went on to accrue massive commercial and critical success while his own career, despite the occasional peak, suffered from troughs of ever-deeper despond.
The directors eschews the conventional prologue to such 'Extended Features' fare that would involve a chorus of praise from De Palma's peers, perhaps to forestall those obvious comparisons. It's consistent with his no-frills approach, which has De Palma sitting down...
The directors eschews the conventional prologue to such 'Extended Features' fare that would involve a chorus of praise from De Palma's peers, perhaps to forestall those obvious comparisons. It's consistent with his no-frills approach, which has De Palma sitting down...
- 9/9/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
In 1995 and 1997, Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. had Heat and Jackie Brown released into cinemas. Not his best films or his best performances, perhaps, but mesmerising work in excellent pictures directed by master filmmakers: the former saw him convince for Michael Mann as the cool, meticulous leader of a gang of career criminals; the latter had Quentin Tarantino give viewers a dim crim whose uncontrollable anger contributes to the unravelling of a heist.
For a whole generation of moviegoers who have grown up since, however, the adulation that's universally showered upon De Niro must be perplexing. Occasionally he summons up a portion of his old intensity – his turns in What Just Happened, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle are the (slim) picks of the last 15 years – but for anyone who got into movies from the late '90s on, he's the funny guy in Analyze This and Meet The Parents,...
For a whole generation of moviegoers who have grown up since, however, the adulation that's universally showered upon De Niro must be perplexing. Occasionally he summons up a portion of his old intensity – his turns in What Just Happened, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle are the (slim) picks of the last 15 years – but for anyone who got into movies from the late '90s on, he's the funny guy in Analyze This and Meet The Parents,...
- 8/2/2014
- Digital Spy
I'm So Excited | The Eye Of The Storm | Gimme The Loot | Robosapien | Come Out And Play | Shootout At Wadala | 21 & Over | Dead Man Down | Dragon | Chimpanzee | It's Such A Beautiful Day | All Stars
I'm So Excited (15)
(Pedro Almodóvar, 2012, Spa) Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Carlos Areces. 90 mins
Almodóvar responds to his country's economic woes with camp hysteria and Carry On humour. In many ways this airborne disaster farce – anarchic, absurdist, garishly stylish and gleefully debauched – is a return to the Spanish auteur's subversive roots. But there's a serious subtext to the silliness, and the metaphors are brought back down to earth for a satisfying landing.
The Eye Of The Storm (15)
(Fred Schepisi, 2011, Aus) Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis. 119 mins
The imminent death of Rampling's matriarch throws an aristocratic family's dysfunction into relief in this Aussie drama, whose overstuffed story is redeemed by three watchable leads.
Gimme The Loot (15)
(Adam Leon, 2012, Us) Tashiana Washington,...
I'm So Excited (15)
(Pedro Almodóvar, 2012, Spa) Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Carlos Areces. 90 mins
Almodóvar responds to his country's economic woes with camp hysteria and Carry On humour. In many ways this airborne disaster farce – anarchic, absurdist, garishly stylish and gleefully debauched – is a return to the Spanish auteur's subversive roots. But there's a serious subtext to the silliness, and the metaphors are brought back down to earth for a satisfying landing.
The Eye Of The Storm (15)
(Fred Schepisi, 2011, Aus) Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis. 119 mins
The imminent death of Rampling's matriarch throws an aristocratic family's dysfunction into relief in this Aussie drama, whose overstuffed story is redeemed by three watchable leads.
Gimme The Loot (15)
(Adam Leon, 2012, Us) Tashiana Washington,...
- 5/4/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
"Dads leave, you don’t have to be such a pussy about it." – Tony Stark, 'Iron Man Three'
Greetings from the apocalypse! Free Comics? An "Iron Man" sequel that doesn't suck? Genre festivals, eccentric painter docs and serial killer biopics? Have I been irradiated and gone to heaven? Nope, it's all happening man, it's all happening …
Friday, May 3
Pow! In Theaters
As a raving fan of Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr.'s first collab, the neo noir comedy "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," I had hoped that this director/star combo would hit it out of the park with "Iron Man Three." Well, frankly, Shane hit it out of the park and into the stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, etc. Pulpy, groovy, bang-up fun, this is the best cinematic iteration of ol' shellhead yet, and while Joss Whedon got the quipy part right in "Marvel's The Avengers," this one perfectly balances...
Greetings from the apocalypse! Free Comics? An "Iron Man" sequel that doesn't suck? Genre festivals, eccentric painter docs and serial killer biopics? Have I been irradiated and gone to heaven? Nope, it's all happening man, it's all happening …
Friday, May 3
Pow! In Theaters
As a raving fan of Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr.'s first collab, the neo noir comedy "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," I had hoped that this director/star combo would hit it out of the park with "Iron Man Three." Well, frankly, Shane hit it out of the park and into the stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, etc. Pulpy, groovy, bang-up fun, this is the best cinematic iteration of ol' shellhead yet, and while Joss Whedon got the quipy part right in "Marvel's The Avengers," this one perfectly balances...
- 5/3/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
"I'll see you in another life when we are both cats." –Tom Cruise, 'Vanilla Sky'
Greetings from the apocalypse! You might think that this particular Mad Max would enjoy watching Tom Cruise fight evil robots in a future nuclear-blasted wasteland, but Nope! "Oblivion" is a dud, though that doesn't mean we can't make it through the next few days as long as we stick together and don't cross the Dmz. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, troops, we're goin' in …
Friday, April 19
Pow! In Theaters
Xenu's own Tom Cruise returns to comfortable sci-fi territory this week with "Oblivion," which I will henceforth refer to as "The Matrix Redressed." Cruise is the only living boy in post-apocalyptic New York, where he and a stuffy British chick (Andrea Riseborough, natch) maintain giant water vacuums when they're not having PG-13 swimming pool sex … that is, until the mysterious Olga Kurylenko arrives from outer space.
Greetings from the apocalypse! You might think that this particular Mad Max would enjoy watching Tom Cruise fight evil robots in a future nuclear-blasted wasteland, but Nope! "Oblivion" is a dud, though that doesn't mean we can't make it through the next few days as long as we stick together and don't cross the Dmz. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, troops, we're goin' in …
Friday, April 19
Pow! In Theaters
Xenu's own Tom Cruise returns to comfortable sci-fi territory this week with "Oblivion," which I will henceforth refer to as "The Matrix Redressed." Cruise is the only living boy in post-apocalyptic New York, where he and a stuffy British chick (Andrea Riseborough, natch) maintain giant water vacuums when they're not having PG-13 swimming pool sex … that is, until the mysterious Olga Kurylenko arrives from outer space.
- 4/19/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
"If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world." – Philip Seymour Hoffman, 'The Master'
Greetings from the apocalypse! This week finds me once again walking down memory lane as I recall two new movies I visited the sets of and, as usual, childhood traumas. Do those traumas involve giants? Do I seek the therapy I so desperately need? Read on …
Friday, March 1
Okay, so in case you haven't heard already, "21 and Over" is basically the same movie as "The Hangover," as evidenced by our informative chart. I had the honor of touring the set of this raunchy sex/alcohol poisoning comedy in Seattle around 2011 or so (I can't quite remember for some reason) and got to watch Justin Chon ride a mechanical buffalo while projectile vomiting.
Greetings from the apocalypse! This week finds me once again walking down memory lane as I recall two new movies I visited the sets of and, as usual, childhood traumas. Do those traumas involve giants? Do I seek the therapy I so desperately need? Read on …
Friday, March 1
Okay, so in case you haven't heard already, "21 and Over" is basically the same movie as "The Hangover," as evidenced by our informative chart. I had the honor of touring the set of this raunchy sex/alcohol poisoning comedy in Seattle around 2011 or so (I can't quite remember for some reason) and got to watch Justin Chon ride a mechanical buffalo while projectile vomiting.
- 3/1/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
"Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today." – Bill Murray, 'Groundhog Day'
Greetings from the apocalypse! This week the groundhog is gonna see his shadow, which means six more weeks of nuclear winter. Seriously, though, I'm freezing my sack off one minute; the next I'm outside wearing a T-shirt. Take Your Meds, East Coast God! There's several cool-looking flicks out and about this week, two of which I was present for filming, although neither director rubbed my belly for luck so no guarantees, people.
Friday, February 1
This week we have a very special "Survivor of Thunderdome" in the form of Jonathan Levine's excellent zombie romance "Warm Bodies," if only because yours truly is actually In the movie as an official card carrying member of the undead. I visited the Montreal set in late 2011 and was lucky enough to get my shamble on as a zombified extra,...
Greetings from the apocalypse! This week the groundhog is gonna see his shadow, which means six more weeks of nuclear winter. Seriously, though, I'm freezing my sack off one minute; the next I'm outside wearing a T-shirt. Take Your Meds, East Coast God! There's several cool-looking flicks out and about this week, two of which I was present for filming, although neither director rubbed my belly for luck so no guarantees, people.
Friday, February 1
This week we have a very special "Survivor of Thunderdome" in the form of Jonathan Levine's excellent zombie romance "Warm Bodies," if only because yours truly is actually In the movie as an official card carrying member of the undead. I visited the Montreal set in late 2011 and was lucky enough to get my shamble on as a zombified extra,...
- 2/1/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
Greetings from the apocalypse, and welcome to the new weekly feature where our lone warrior gives you the play-by-play for how your filmgoing weekend can unfold, Friday-to-Sunday, morning-to-night.
Our second weekend riding through the desolation of the new year is no less doom and gloom than the last one, with a couple new theatrical releases that make the doldrums look like a fun place to be. Luckily there's some alternative viewing destinations available to those who have true grit, so as we nosedive into oblivion remember that in the event of a water landing your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device.
Friday, January 11
Riding the art house pony into theaters is "Quartet," the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman. If I said he was a "graduate" of the acting field would you kick me in the balls? Wrinkled thesps Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and the ever-irreverent...
Our second weekend riding through the desolation of the new year is no less doom and gloom than the last one, with a couple new theatrical releases that make the doldrums look like a fun place to be. Luckily there's some alternative viewing destinations available to those who have true grit, so as we nosedive into oblivion remember that in the event of a water landing your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device.
Friday, January 11
Riding the art house pony into theaters is "Quartet," the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman. If I said he was a "graduate" of the acting field would you kick me in the balls? Wrinkled thesps Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and the ever-irreverent...
- 1/11/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
It was a busy week for Troma Entertainment this past week. They unveiled Poultrygeist: Chicken Of The Dead online for free, and also finished principal photography on their next film, Return To Class Of Nuke ‘Em High. The movie is directed by Lloyd Kaufman, one of the creators of Troma, and is the second sequel since the 1986 original Class Of Nuke ‘Em High (which was followed by Class Of Nuke ‘Em High: Subhumanoid Meltdown). We have a few images from the production for you, and the press release straight from our friends at Tromaville.
New York, NY - Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment is proud to announce that principal photography has wrapped on Return to Class of Nuke ‘Em High, directed by Lloyd Kaufman.
Produced in association with Starz Media, Return to Class of Nuke ‘Em High is a satirical sci-fi comedy concerning idealistic students, overcoming bullying, and love triumphing over prejudice.
New York, NY - Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment is proud to announce that principal photography has wrapped on Return to Class of Nuke ‘Em High, directed by Lloyd Kaufman.
Produced in association with Starz Media, Return to Class of Nuke ‘Em High is a satirical sci-fi comedy concerning idealistic students, overcoming bullying, and love triumphing over prejudice.
- 9/24/2012
- by Andy Greene
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Troma fans, it’s time to rejoice. To reward their loyal fans over the past forty years, Troma Entertainment is releasing Poultrygeist: Night Of The Chicken Dead, online and free for download on their Youtube Channel. The film is getting raves from EW, Nyt, and more, and definitely deserves a viewing (possibly after a few cocktails). It’s definitely changed my Friday night plans.
Here’s the press release for more info on the film, Troma, and more!
September 18, 2012, New York, NY - Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment is proud to announce that Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, is now available for free online and is creating buzz! In a recent article, Buzzfeed raved about the film, calling it “some of the strangest body-horror this side of David Cronenberg”. To thank their fans for almost 40 successful years, Troma has made Poultrygeist, along with its behind-the-scenes documentary Poultry in Motion,...
Here’s the press release for more info on the film, Troma, and more!
September 18, 2012, New York, NY - Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment is proud to announce that Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, is now available for free online and is creating buzz! In a recent article, Buzzfeed raved about the film, calling it “some of the strangest body-horror this side of David Cronenberg”. To thank their fans for almost 40 successful years, Troma has made Poultrygeist, along with its behind-the-scenes documentary Poultry in Motion,...
- 9/21/2012
- by Andy Greene
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Toronto -- On a sunny afternoon this past week at the Toronto Film Festival, Brian De Palma finishes holding court at a reporters round table. As he moves to the other side of the room, he pauses to admire one of the mural images from the iconic 1960 film "La Dolce Vita" that adorns the walls.
The director mumbles something about the era and sits down for an interview. Soon he expounds on the period as being a magical time, with peers like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and George Lucas.
"We were in the era where everyone saw the directors as the geniuses, so we got a lot of opportunities to make any crazy movie that happened to occur to us," the 72-year-old De Palma recalled.
That period of American filmmaking – the 1960s and `70s – created many notable relationships, like when De Palma introduced Robert De Niro to Martin Scorsese.
The director mumbles something about the era and sits down for an interview. Soon he expounds on the period as being a magical time, with peers like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and George Lucas.
"We were in the era where everyone saw the directors as the geniuses, so we got a lot of opportunities to make any crazy movie that happened to occur to us," the 72-year-old De Palma recalled.
That period of American filmmaking – the 1960s and `70s – created many notable relationships, like when De Palma introduced Robert De Niro to Martin Scorsese.
- 9/16/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Who knew that the little studio that could, Troma, would now find success outside of the horror and cult-movie loving community with Hollywood remakes of their movies? First we had the Brett Ratner remake of Mother’s Day starring Rebecca DeMornay and Jaime King, and there’s also a remake of The Toxic Avenger on the way too from producer Akiva Goldsman (Paranormal Activity 2 & 3, I Am Legend) and Hot Tub Time Machine director Steven Pink. And to top it all off, Troma have released a statement that say remakes of both Poultrygeist and my personal all-time favourite Troma flick Class of Nuke ‘Em High are planned as well!
Here’s the official press release from Troma, courtesy of Dread Central:
October 18, 2011 (New York,NY) – Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment’s theatrical classics, Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Poultrygeist, are now in negotiation to be remade as mainstream, big-budget productions,...
Here’s the official press release from Troma, courtesy of Dread Central:
October 18, 2011 (New York,NY) – Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment’s theatrical classics, Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Poultrygeist, are now in negotiation to be remade as mainstream, big-budget productions,...
- 10/19/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Remember those little Troma movies that cost next-to-nothing to make? Never let it be said that Lloyd Kaufman is not a genius because his little film company that could just might be looking at some giant dollar signs in the near future!
From the Press Release
Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment's theatrical classics Class of Nuke 'Em High and Poultrygeist are now in negotiation to be remade as mainstream, big-budget productions, following deals for the remake of The Toxic Avenger, which will be produced by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Steven Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine), and Troma's Mother's Day, which has just been remade by Brett Ratner (X-Men, Tower Heist).
The original Class of Nuke 'Em High, directed by Richard W. Haines and Troma President Lloyd Kaufman in 1986, tells how a radioactive leak in the Tromaville Nuclear Plant contaminates the marijuana consumed by the students in Tromaville High School.
From the Press Release
Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment's theatrical classics Class of Nuke 'Em High and Poultrygeist are now in negotiation to be remade as mainstream, big-budget productions, following deals for the remake of The Toxic Avenger, which will be produced by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Steven Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine), and Troma's Mother's Day, which has just been remade by Brett Ratner (X-Men, Tower Heist).
The original Class of Nuke 'Em High, directed by Richard W. Haines and Troma President Lloyd Kaufman in 1986, tells how a radioactive leak in the Tromaville Nuclear Plant contaminates the marijuana consumed by the students in Tromaville High School.
- 10/19/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
One of my absolute favorite Troma titles is Class Of Nuke ‘em High. I love post apocalyptic movies, and when you add the level of zany depravity that Troma brings to the table, you’ve got an instant cult classic. Though this isn’t the first sequel to “Nuke ‘em High”, it’s certainly the most surprising. It’s good to see Troma pumping out new original content. I’m glad they buy and distribute other filmmakers oddities, but this is a welcome turn of events.
October 13, 2011 – New York, NY – Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment, Inc. is proud to announce that Troma’s Class of Nuke ‘Em High franchise will have a new installment filmed in Spain with a Spanish cast and crew, produced by Mushnik’s Entertainment in collaboration with Chaparra Entertainment (both based in Barcelona).
The original Class of Nuke ‘Em High, directed by Richard W. Haines and...
October 13, 2011 – New York, NY – Greetings from Tromaville! Troma Entertainment, Inc. is proud to announce that Troma’s Class of Nuke ‘Em High franchise will have a new installment filmed in Spain with a Spanish cast and crew, produced by Mushnik’s Entertainment in collaboration with Chaparra Entertainment (both based in Barcelona).
The original Class of Nuke ‘Em High, directed by Richard W. Haines and...
- 10/14/2011
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
With Tsr Buzz, you’ll find links to articles, videos and other random things that will help you waste your time just a little bit more.
You need something more out of your Oscar betting pools, don’t you? Well, now you can Bowl the Perfect Oscar Game! Yes, I created it. You’re welcome. Look for my Oscar picks on Saturday. From what nerds have told me, Zelda turned 25 this week. So it seems appropriate to showcase John Hughes’ long lost “The Legend of Zelda” Trailer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf-7jPXvPEA
Take Me On Tonight starring Topher Grace should at least have some good music. Right? Atomic Tom covers “Don’t You Want Me.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfo6uUY_WE
If you don’t remember, Inception was my favorite movie of the year. This TV film critic doesn’t agree. He is also someone that...
You need something more out of your Oscar betting pools, don’t you? Well, now you can Bowl the Perfect Oscar Game! Yes, I created it. You’re welcome. Look for my Oscar picks on Saturday. From what nerds have told me, Zelda turned 25 this week. So it seems appropriate to showcase John Hughes’ long lost “The Legend of Zelda” Trailer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf-7jPXvPEA
Take Me On Tonight starring Topher Grace should at least have some good music. Right? Atomic Tom covers “Don’t You Want Me.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfo6uUY_WE
If you don’t remember, Inception was my favorite movie of the year. This TV film critic doesn’t agree. He is also someone that...
- 2/24/2011
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Catch up on all last night's awards action with Hadley Freeman
• News: Firth crowned while Social Network cleans up
• Peter Bradshaw's reaction
• Gallery: quotes of the night
• Gallery: Globes arrivals
• Gallery: TV winners
• Full list of winners
12.15am GMT: Greetings all, and welcome to the preview to tonight's Golden Globes liveblog. While I may not actually be on the red carpet in Los Angeles, I will be reporting to you live from my red sofa in New York. Truly, no expense is spared in the Guardian liveblog department. This is journalism in action, people! Suck on it, Woodward and Bernstein.
Oh, I do love the Golden Globes. So much more fun than the Oscars, because the nominees tend to be more what my cousin Catie calls "loosey goosey", or what I call "drunk". The usual explanation for this is that it's because there are so many more acting categories...
• News: Firth crowned while Social Network cleans up
• Peter Bradshaw's reaction
• Gallery: quotes of the night
• Gallery: Globes arrivals
• Gallery: TV winners
• Full list of winners
12.15am GMT: Greetings all, and welcome to the preview to tonight's Golden Globes liveblog. While I may not actually be on the red carpet in Los Angeles, I will be reporting to you live from my red sofa in New York. Truly, no expense is spared in the Guardian liveblog department. This is journalism in action, people! Suck on it, Woodward and Bernstein.
Oh, I do love the Golden Globes. So much more fun than the Oscars, because the nominees tend to be more what my cousin Catie calls "loosey goosey", or what I call "drunk". The usual explanation for this is that it's because there are so many more acting categories...
- 1/17/2011
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
Are moviegoers allergic to good films? It sure seems that way. This holiday weekend “Little Fockers” beat “True Grit” in box office gross. (Chew on that. Tastes bad, doesn’t it?) Then there’s the case of “127 Hours”, one of our favorites of 2010, which has developed an unfortunate stigma amongst Joe Moviefan as “that one flick where the guy cuts his arm off.”
Apparently watching James Franco delimb to save his life and triumph against all odds is somehow less appetizing than seeing Ben Stiller stab Robert De Niro in the wiener because he took too many boner drugs.
Well, Grandma Franco has a special holiday message those reluctant to see “127 Hours.” We’ll let her take it from here.
Christmas Greetings From the Franco’s from James Franco...
Apparently watching James Franco delimb to save his life and triumph against all odds is somehow less appetizing than seeing Ben Stiller stab Robert De Niro in the wiener because he took too many boner drugs.
Well, Grandma Franco has a special holiday message those reluctant to see “127 Hours.” We’ll let her take it from here.
Christmas Greetings From the Franco’s from James Franco...
- 12/27/2010
- by Chris Plante
- NextMovie
A treasure trove of memorabilia from Robert De Niro's film career is to go on display at the University of Texas in Austin.
Donated to the university's Harry Ransom Center library and museum in 2006, the materials document the movie star's professional career from the 1960s through to 2005, including scripts, rare photographs, movie props, costumes, publicity and research documents.
The papers document De Niro's work on 69 films, from the 1968 film Greetings through to Hide and Seek in 2005.
The De Niro collection boasts some 8,500 items and include the leopard-print boxing robe the actor wore in Raging Bull and the coats he donned as the creature in Frankenstein.
The collection has been appraised at more than $5 million (GBP3.4 million) and took university museum curators more than two years to process, organise and catalogue.
Other substantial film collections at the Ransom Center include those of producer David O. Selznick, screenwriter Ernest Lehman and actress Gloria Swanson.
De Niro's publicist Stan Rosenfeld tells WENN, "The Ransom Center does an incredible job. They have a rich history of knowing how to do these sorts of presentations."...
Donated to the university's Harry Ransom Center library and museum in 2006, the materials document the movie star's professional career from the 1960s through to 2005, including scripts, rare photographs, movie props, costumes, publicity and research documents.
The papers document De Niro's work on 69 films, from the 1968 film Greetings through to Hide and Seek in 2005.
The De Niro collection boasts some 8,500 items and include the leopard-print boxing robe the actor wore in Raging Bull and the coats he donned as the creature in Frankenstein.
The collection has been appraised at more than $5 million (GBP3.4 million) and took university museum curators more than two years to process, organise and catalogue.
Other substantial film collections at the Ransom Center include those of producer David O. Selznick, screenwriter Ernest Lehman and actress Gloria Swanson.
De Niro's publicist Stan Rosenfeld tells WENN, "The Ransom Center does an incredible job. They have a rich history of knowing how to do these sorts of presentations."...
- 4/30/2009
- WENN
Greetings from lower Manhattan where yesterday morning I went to the opening press conference of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. There are 85 films screening, dozens of premieres and lots and lots of filmmaking. I got my press credentials and am ready to roll. I got a chance to lob a question to festival cofounder Robert De Niro and then hung out one-on-one afterwards with his Tribeca partner Jane Rosenthal. See...
- 4/22/2009
- AMC News: Film Festivals
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