Only now does it occur to me... CARLITO'S WAY (1993)

Only now does it occur to me... that CARLITO'S WAY is probably one of De Palma's best. It has all the ridiculous vintage spectacle of SCARFACE (i.e., a life of crime occasionally depicted as a sleazy Mentos commercial) alongside the endlessly creative visual storytelling that you've come to expect from De Palma,

but it also possesses some incredibly nuanced character development, particularly in the dynamic between Carlito (Al Pacino)
 
Pacino: pictured wearing a leather duster during a heat wave––something that likely soured Pacino on subway filming at least until he played Satan in THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE. According the the doc DE PALMA, he walked off set that night, mid-shoot!

and his scuzzy lawyer (Sean Penn, in one of his finest performances).

I'm not even joking about the caliber of Penn's work here––he's phenomenal.

Furthermore, there are brilliant supporting turns by underground NYC standby Rick Aviles,

pre-fame Viggo Mortensen (back when he was still a character actor),

a ubiquitously likable Luis Guzman, and a subtly chilling John Leguizamo.


But, as you can probably tell––being as this is an "Only now does it occur to me"––I'm about to dive into some minutiae. First, I'd like to call out a Dario Argento reference. De Palma is no stranger to giving a nod to his post-Hitchcock contemporary across the pond. Historically, DRESSED TO KILL is chock full of Argento references, and there's a pretty substantial TENEBRE homage in THE UNTOUCHABLES. Here, it's a little subtler. Pacino is stalking his ex-girlfriend Penelope Ann Miller and he follows her––in the rain––to a ballet academy.


Probably only the die-hards would read this as an abstract reference to SUSPIRIA, whose infamous opening scene involves a furtive (and voyeuristic) visit to a ballet academy in the pouring rain.

Finally, I wanted to salute the MVP of CARLITO'S WAY: Dancing Phone Call Woman. Allow me to explain.

At El Paraiso, Carlito's dance club (the name is a reference to the sandwich shop in SCARFACE), the revelers revel mostly in bottom-shelf cocaine and top-shelf disco.

De Palma is brilliant at staging group scenes with dozens of extras. Look no further than the "Relax" scene from BODY DOUBLE. Some directors don't direct their extras at all, some use an assistant director, and some assistant directors just tell the performers where to stand. De Palma is precise––incredibly so––and practically every single extra is doing something specific and visually interesting. There are no rooms of people randomly milling about, mumbling "peas and carrots, peas and carrots," wondering what the hell to do with their hands. This leads me to the all-star background artist of CARLITO'S WAY: Dancing Phone Call Woman. As De Palma's camera roams the room, in one corner, behind an open door, there is a woman on the phone. No, she is not merely on the phone––she is shaking a maraca while on the phone. And, no, she is not merely shaking a maraca while on the phone––she is dancing up a storm, twirling like Stevie Nicks, shaking a maraca, and beaming like a beauty contestant––all while making a phone call from a land line with a spiral-coil cord. 

I salute you, Twirling-Dancing-Maraca-Phone Call Woman. You are a special, irreplaceable thread in the tapestry that is CARLITO'S WAY. You are a goddamned champion.

R.I.P., Billy Drago

I was very sorry to hear that Billy Drago died today––prolific character actor, cheekbone wonder, menacing Kansan, and portrayer of exquisite madmen. He was one of my favorite eccentric performers in an A-and B-movie canon (and Cannon) full of them... I've written before that his brilliant volatility ought to have resulted in warning labels on VHS tapes that said "HERE THERE BE DRAGOS."

Some classic roles included when he enforced Al Capone's reign of terror in De Palma's THE UNTOUCHABLES, engaged in complex cartel homoeroticism with Chuck Norris in DELTA FORCE 2: THE COLOMBIAN CONNECTION, preached and handled snakes in GUNCRAZY, led a punk gang against vampire Grace Jones in VAMP, ran an insane asylum in THE HERO AND THE TERROR, slithered through INVASION U.S.A. while testing all the coke, and was a frighteningly pathos-filled john in MYSTERIOUS SKIN, among many, many others. His body of work runs the gamut from arthouse films to workaday TV shows to Cannon actioners to music videos to the only episode of MASTERS OF HORROR deemed too extreme to air (directed by Takashi Miike). In each performance, he imbued his characters with a real, lived-in quality; an authenticity that was sometimes startling, sometimes nightmarish, and always profound. Here's to you, Billy: R.I.P.

Only now does it occur to me... AMERICAN PSYCHO: THE NOVEL (1991)

Only now does it occur to me... that infamous Bret Easton Ellis alter ego "Patrick Bateman"––a Jason Voorhees/Gordon Gekko-hybrid and misogynistic serial murderer who probably attends underground yuppie Kumites, a character who notably masturbates to the murder-drill scene from BODY DOUBLE, classifies THE RETURN OF BRUNO as his favorite compact disc, and weeps through episodes of ALF––worships at the altar of Donald Trump. And we're not talking a "harmless pop culture cameo" like in HOME ALONE 2: Bateman, the untethered id of the THEY LIVE generation, literally idolizes Trump, between his Big Brother-ish branding of the moneyed cityscape and his amoral personal instruction in the (ghostwritten) THE ART OF THE DEAL. In a way, Trump is the character's mentor, his greatest ambition, his source of comfort. The Trump name merits twenty-seven mentions throughout this 1991 novel––once every fourteen pages. Here are ten of them:

10. "...best of all, The Patty Winters Show this morning was in two parts. The first was an exclusive interview with Donald Trump, the second was a report on women who've been tortured." (p. 256)

9. "I pause, unsure of what to say, and come up with 'Futility... is hard to deal with.'
I am thinking about nothing. It's silent in the office. To break it, I point out the book on top of the desk, next to the San Pellegrino bottle. The Art of the Deal, by Donald Trump.
'Have you read it?' I ask Kimball.
'No,' he sighs, but politely asks, 'Is it any good?'
'It's very good,' I say, nodding. (p. 276)

8. "'We're going to a party Donald Trump's having,' I lie.
'Big fun. Very big fun.'
'Donald's a nice guy. You should meet him,' I say. 'I'll... introduce you to him.'
'Really?' Sean asks, maybe hopefully, maybe not. (p. 229)

7. "'Thirty bucks at the door apiece is not exactly slumming, Evelyn.' Then I ask, suspiciously, 'Why wasn't Donald Trump invited to your party?'
'Not Donald Trump again,' Evelyn moans. 'Oh god. Is that why you were acting like such a buffoon? This obsession has got to end!' she practically shouts. (p. 194)

6. "'Is that Donald Trump's car?' I ask, looking over at the limousine stuck next to us in gridlock.
'Oh god, Patrick. Shut up,' she says, her voice thick and drugged." (p. 93)

5. "'Listen,' she says. 'The Young Republican bash at the Pla...' She stops herself as if remembering something, then continues, 'at the Trump Plaza is next Thursday.'"

4. "'Here.' He reaches into his pocket and hands me a Xeroxed article. 'I just wanted to prove you wrong. Read this.'
'What is it,' I ask, opening the folded page.
'It's an article on your hero, Donald Trump.' McDermott grins.
'It sure is,' I say apprehensively. 'Why didn't I ever see this, I wonder.'" (p. 109)

3. "I look up, admiringly, at Trump Tower, tall, proudly gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. In front of it two smart-ass n****r teenagers are ripping off tourists at three-card monte and I have to fight the impulse to blow them away." (p. 385)

2. "Faded posters of Donald Trump on the cover of Time magazine cover the windows of another abandoned restaurant, what used to be Palaze, and this fills me with a newfound confidence." (p. 163)

1. "Everyone is very uptight at the concert Carruthers drags us to in New Jersey this evening, an Irish band called U2 who were on the cover of Time magazine last week...  Carruthers keeps trying to placate everyone by telling us that Donald Trump is a a big U2 fan..." (p. 142)

Only now does it occur to me... WISE GUYS

Only now does it occur to me...  four quick things.  WISE GUYS is a sorta mediocre mobster comedy from Brian De Palma starring Danny DeVito and Joe Piscapo.  Laugh-worthy and groan-worthy moments appear in equal measure; approach at your own risk, depending on your tolerance level for zany Italian-American hijinks.  But here are four quick things that I appreciated:

#1.  "The De Palma Shot."  One of De Palma's trademark shots is the composite of two different shots so that characters in the foreground and the distance both appear in focus without sacrificing the depth of field he likes.  Danny DeVito at this point in time was most famous for playing a character on TV's TAXI named "Louie De Palma."  So here, in all of it's glory is Louie De Palma in a De Palma movie in a De Palma shot:

That's a lotta De Palma, but that's the way I like it.

#2.  DeVito's De Niro impersonation.  Because no comedy would be complete without a groundbreaking send-up of the "You Talkin' To Me?" sequence from TAXI DRIVER.  Ordinarily I'd roll my eyes at this– but DeVito's De Niro is actually pretty good!

#3.  The many loves of Rhea Perlman.  WISE GUYS features real-life Perlman husband DeVito, as well as fictional husband Dan Hedaya (who played "Nick Tortelli" on CHEERS).  How 'bout that?

#4.  WISE GUYS features a scene which I shall describe without comment:

A mob Fixer (wrestling's "Captain" Lou Albano) throws a profanity-laced hissy fit in the presence of casino owner Harvey Keitel.

 Keitel shuts him down by saying this isn't Newark and he should watch his language,

which leads to the exquisite mortification of Captain Lou

 

 and the shit-eating brilliance of Harvey Keitel.

 

Carry on.  WISE GUYS, ladies and gentlemen.

Only now does it occur to me... CARRIE

Only now does it occur to me...  that P.J. Soles and her hat practically steal the goddamn movie. 

During the filming of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN– a definite 'ensemble' piece, if there ever was one– Steve McQueen (unbeknownst to many of his fellow actors and to their later chagrin) tried his damndest to pull focus and steal the show with ostentatious bits of acting "business" whenever he was on screen, especially in scenes where his character had little or nothing to do.  In a similar vein (but certainly less malicious) is P.J. Soles (of HALLOWEEN and ROCK N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL fame) in CARRIE.  P.J. Soles is terrific.  She always injects her roles with an infectious sense of fun, but in CARRIE, she gets to play a villain.  A villain with a big 'ole red rainbow ballcap.  And pigtails.  And a smirk.




Hell, she's sort of like the proto-Punky Brewster.

Anyway, this hat gets around:  when they're making fun of Carrie's lack of menstrual knowledge,

in the classroom,
 
doing push-ups,

setting up for prom,

shit– even AT the prom:


I love it!  Look at her daring to even steal focus from Betty Buckley

with that hat and her impish grin.  It's hard to say if this is De Palma or P.J. herself at work here.  I'm leaning toward P.J., possibly because I need to believe that she's as mischievous in real life as the characters she portrays.


Well, now THAT's just ridiculous. 

I salute you, P.J.  You got a lot of mileage out of that hat, and so did I.  I hope that it's kept in a vault at the Smithsonian.

Only now does it occur to me... SNAKE EYES

 Only now does it occur to me...  that Nic Cage once played Rick Santorum in SNAKE EYES, the biopic focusing on his lesser-known early career as a sleazy Atlantic City cop.

Film Review: THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987, Brian de Palma)

Stars: 4 of 5.

Running Time: 119 minutes.

Notable Cast or Crew: Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith (AMERICAN GRAFFITI, STARMAN), Andy Garcia (THE GODFATHER PART III, BLACK RAIN), Billy Drago (TREMORS 4, DELTA FORCE 2), Patricia Clarkson (THE GREEN MILE, THE WOODS), Jack Kehoe (SERPICO, MIDNIGHT RUN), Don Harvey (CREEPSHOW 2, DIE HARD 2). Screenplay by David Mamet, music by Ennio Morricone, cinematography by Stephen H. Burum (CARLITO'S WAY, RAISING CAIN, ARTHUR 2: ON THE ROCKS).

Tagline: "AL CAPONE. He ruled Chicago with absolute power. No one could touch him. No one could stop him. - Until Eliot Ness and a small force of men swore they'd bring him down."

Best one-liner: "Isn't that just like a wop? Brings a knife to a gun fight." (said in Sean Connery's Scottish brogue)

THE UNTOUCHABLES is a pretty solid flick. I saw it when I was rather young, and I remember it making quite an impression. Part buddy cop movie, part mobster epic, part Peckinpah-style shoot-'em-'up, part courtroom drama, part police procedural, part Sergei Eisenstein meets John Woo– it pretty much had it all. Initially I saw it because INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE had recently come out and it had launched a Sean Connery kick for me that never really did end, now that I think about it. I believe it may have been my first exposure to Brian de Palma and David Mamet, too. In the years hence, I know that Mamet has written works with greater depth and resonance than this, and I know that De Palma has made movies that are artsier and even more ludicrous, but it's nice to return to THE UNTOUCHABLES, like an old friend– an old friend with a reverb-heavy, kickass 80's Morricone soundtrack who luvs slo-mo squib action and disguising split-screen shots as ridiculous deep-focus shots.

Anyway, others, such as J.D. at Radiator Heaven, John Kenneth Muir, and Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur have pretty much said what needs to be said about the film in the realms of historical context, profundity, and classiness, so I suppose that instead of covering ground that's already been covered, I'll do what I am wont to do: leap headlong into the absurdity and minutiae of THE UNTOUCHABLES!

As such, I'll divide my observations into two parts: Drago-related, and non-Drago-related. The non-Drago-related section is gonna be pretty small, actually.

Non-Drago-Related Observations:

#1. Don Harvey.

Hey, look, guys– it's Don Harvey, handing Kevin Costner an axe! You remember Don Harvey, don't you? From DIE HARD 2 and CREEPSHOW 2? I've described him as proto-Peter Weller meets proto-Kevin Bacon, and hey– I like the guy. Nice to see you, Don.

#2. TENEBRE homage.

Oh, De Palma, I love ya. During a notable scene when Sean Connery is being stalked at his home, the camera shifts forward and backward, tracking across the exterior architecture, catching voyeuristic glimpses of Connery, and ending with a first-person P.O.V. of hands breaking into a window, just like the legendary crane shot in TENEBRE (which has nearly the exact same visuals, and ends with black-gloved hands wielding bolt-cutters to gain entrance to a window). Sure, it doesn't matter much in the long run, but it makes me kinda tingly when Argento gets a well-deserved salute. Unless said salute is being delivered by Diablo Cody. Or to Diablo Cody. Eh. Anyway, TENEBRE is notably referenced in RAISING CAIN, too.

#3. Connery's booze stash.

Throughout the film, my girlfriend was remarking that "there's no way Connery is sober during this," and I, not having seen the film in a dozen years or so, was saying "he's fighting alcohol bootleggers, let 'im total his tea." Anyway, during the sequence referenced in #2, Connery pulls a bottle o' contraband hooch out of his oven and has a snort. Also of note: Connery is apparently playing an Irish American with a Scottish accent, just as he played a Spaniard with a Scottish accent, and in the future would go on to play a Russian with a Scottish accent. A versatile fellow, he.


Drago-Related Observations:


Who is that terrifying, cheek-boney, crazy-eyed, thin white duke lurking in the shadows, there? Wait a minute, wait a minute... a sense memory is kicking in... could it be...

Holy shit, now the wheels are turning, ladies and gentlemen! "Smooth Criminal" was on BAD, released in late August 1987. THE UNTOUCHABLES was early June 1987. Could it be? Could the inspiration for "Smooth Criminal" be none other than ....BILLY DRAGO???


"As he came into the window, it was the sound of a crescendo"

"He left the bloodstains on the carpet"

"You've been hit by, you've been hit by, a smooth criminal"

And then, it turns out that Drago later appeared, in 2001, in a Michael Jackson video called "You Rock My World!" Is it possible that all of Jackson's surgeries involved wanting to be more like Billy Drago? Is MOONWALKER indirectly the result of Billy Drago's acting brilliance? Who is Annie? And more importantly, is she okay? So many unanswered questions.

But I believe I may have put the cart before the horse. Let me back up for a moment. Billy Drago, long beloved by this site, plays "Frank Nitti," the white-suit-clad doer of Al Capone's dirty-work. He blows up children, he skulks in the dark, he kills beloved characters, he makes thinly veiled threats and dons a devilish grin.


And he does it with style. That's Drago for ya. The man is one of a kind. Make no mistake about that. I may have alluded to other celebrities with "thin white duke," or "smooth criminal," or, hell, once I even called him "Scary Dean Stanton," but my point is this: you believe Drago, every step of the way. Here is an actor who connects with the material, brings it alive, even when he's bringing alive an attempted Chuck Norris makeout session. And by the time THE UNTOUCHABLES is over: you will believe a Drago can fly– (which again, returning to DELTA FORCE 2, appears to be a recurring career theme!)

...Amen.


-Sean Gill

Film Review: RAISING CAIN (1992, Brian De Palma)

Stars: 4.4 of 5.
Running Time: 91 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: John Lithgow, Gregg Henry (BODY DOUBLE, PAYBACK), Steven Bauer (SCARFACE, TRAFFIC, BODY DOUBLE, GLEAMING THE CUBE), Lolita Davidovich (JFK, DARK BLUE, CLASS), Frances Sternhagen (THE MIST, BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY, MISERY). Music by Pino Donaggio. Cinematography by Stephen H. Burum (RUMBLE FISH, UNCOMMON VALOR).
Tag-line: "De Mented, De Ranged, De Ceptive, De Palma." More on that in a bit.
Best one-liner: "We need to find these babies now!"

You can say that RAISING CAIN is the work of a demented genius, an utter madman, an Argentophile, a psychoanalyst, or an absurd practical jokester. But it doesn't really matter, because the truth is, RAISING CAIN isn't a movie at all. It's a playground. John Lithgow's playground. And you'd better be in the right state of mind, cause Lithgow is gonna show you the labyrinthine secrets of the monkey bars; the ecstatic highs, down-to-earth lows, and endless cruelty of seesaw slamming; the dizzy thrills of tire swing spinning; the tragic bewilderment of being left behind when recess is over; and the iron-fisted, punitive detention that follows.



And by sweet God, Lithgow is having a blast.

It's difficult to discuss this film, because so much of the initial enjoyment is founded in the deliberate unfolding of the whacked-out plot which brims with gleefully unexpected moments, silly shocks, and macabre laughs. So I don't wanna say too much about the story, or how many characters Lithgow plays, or who murders who, or if this kid, presently plummeting from a great height,


gets caught or not. So instead, I'll try to speak in general and stylistic terms. But first, I must address the fact that a lot of people hate this movie. It's slightly abstruse, sure, but it's also a fun time- and it's well aware of it. More Argento than Hitchcock, the film embraces its own ridiculousness- then proceeds to play it straight. It's engaging even as it's confusing, and the overall arc is tied up rather neatly compared to something like, say, LOST HIGHWAY, but, in my opinion, the people who have knee-jerk negative reactions to a film like that will likely feel the same about RAISING CAIN.

Now it should be no surprise to most of you that Lithgow plays multiple roles in this thing, and while I don't want to outline exactly what that means, I would like to A: applaud De Palma for never showing two Lithgows in the same shot, even though the special effects which would make it possible it were ubiquitous by 1992,


and B: applaud Lithgow for, as always, being absolutely fearless, powerful, terrifying and truthful. (And, as a side note, I'm pretty sure that the fourth season of DEXTER would not exist without this film.) As I said before, Lithgow runs the gamut in this film, from crusty old-world physician to middle-aged greaser punk to frightened little boy to bungling, cuckolded spouse.


They should have given him the Oscar that year. No- correction: they should have given him all the Oscars that year.

The combination of Stephen H. Burum's glossy (yet dreamlike) cinematography and Pino Donaggio's melodramatic (but nerve-racking) score is an excellent one, and their continued partnership enables the same De Palma magic which graced BODY DOUBLE. As in BODY DOUBLE, there are one or two genuine scares which are further amplified by De Palma/Burum's visual mastery and Donaggio's unsettling, screeching accompaniment.

De Palma even manages to work in a four minute and fourteen second steadicam shot, the kind of virtuoso technical move which I'm always a sucker for.

The dialogue is theatrical- but not to the point of distraction, and the supporting roles are solid without being flashy. After all, this is the Lithgow show. Frances Sternhagen stands out as a wig-wearing specialist who may be able to unravel Cain's mysteries, and Gregg Henry plays one of those vaguely unlikable tough guys (here, a cop) which we've grown accustomed to seeing him play.

Then there's an ongoing clock motif, supposedly inserted by De Palma so that we could have a greater understanding of the film's admittedly confusing timeline (which becomes rather complex given the sheer amount of dream sequences and skewed perspectives).

However, I think the clock motif was inserted just so that Lithgow could psychotically declare, "Hickory dickory dock- Cain has picked his lock!"

Regardless, I loved every second of this film right down to the abrupt, TENEBRE-style finale, and as far as I'm concerned, the "black jokester De Palma" of RAISING CAIN, BODY DOUBLE, and OBSESSION is De Palma at his best (as opposed to the more popular, slightly mainstream, but still noteworthy De Palma of flicks like CARRIE or SCARFACE). For once, the tag-line really says it all: "De Mented, De Ranged, De Ceptive, De Palma."

-Sean Gill