This was so woodenly acted, badly scripted, soporific , it has to be one of the worst of the decade. Only the scene with K.D.Lang singing "Love For Sale" and Fiona Shaw's scene as the mad Mom, had any merit whatsoever.It has some of the worst cigarette-acting I've seen, (where smoking is used by lazy actors as a substitute for a performance).
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
Couldn't agree more, absolutely diabolical.Everything LA Confidential did well this did completely the opposite.It felt like wading through treacle & how could such a supposedly decent bunch of actors (& Josh Hartnet) all turn in the the worst performances of their lives all at the same time? De Palma, I'm talking to you!
shareBrian de Palma has to count as one of the world's most uneven directors ... look at his record:
THE GOOD, or NOT BAD
Blowout ... outstanding thriller. One of the best in the genre.
Carrie ... a beautifully acted and directed horror classic
Phantom of the Paradise ... dated, but interesting and quirky for its time.
Sisters ... slightly disjointed but gripping early effort.
The Fury ... a bit suspect in the sexual politics ... but gripping
Dressed to Kill .. looks a million dollars, but a bit over-rated in my opinion.
Body Double ... more glamorous misogyny, confusing, but with the great
tunnel scene.
Scarface ... over the top, but almost great.
Raising Cain ... a cheese-fest, but I love it. Another great extended take.
TRULY AWFUL:
The Untouchables... Only the railway station sequence worked.
Unbelievable situations, awful dialogue AND Kevin Costner.
Obsession ... Tedious "Vertigo" rip-off.
The Bonfire of the Vanities ... after a masterful opening sequence,
goes nowhere.
Snake Eyes ... Flash trash with one good sequence and a mail-in
Nick Cage performance.
The Black Dahlia ... Boring, boring, boring, badly acted, badly scripted and
atrociously directed. (Ellroy said he liked it, which
means that as a critic he makes a great novelist).
Mission Impossible ... meh ...not really a personal effort, it was always
going to be a franchise.
I may have been a bit hard on Kevin Costner ... Open Range is very good.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
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Yeah, this is the worst movie of the decade that spawned 'Open Water', 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' and '30 Days Of Night'. Com'on, are you serious?
I was talking about movies, not crap.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
The movie was not spectacular, but there were more scenes than two that deserve to be commended. The screen test scenes were good (it's interesting that De Palma himself was the voice behind the camera). Also, the scene were the police officer spots a blonde girl in the park and starts to chase her - that scene had great Hitchcockian tension. De Palma often likes to emulate Hitchcock in his movies.
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