Hi, Mom!
1970 Sigma III Productions & Orion Pictures; distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Jennifer Salt, Lara Parker, Paul Bartel, Charles Durning, Gerrit Graham
Director: Brian De Palma
Buy Hi, Mom! at Amazon.
Robert De Niro reprises his character of Jon Rubin, which he first played in 1968's Greetings. Here, Rubin lives in New York City, and is an aspiring adult filmmaker whose grand idea is to post cameras at his windows and record the activities of his neighbors. This plan fails when Rubin doesn't shoot any usable footage for a project that producer Joe Banner (Garfield) plans to release, and he fails to seduce the widow Judy (Salt) to get what he wants. Instead, Jon teams up with his neighbor Gerrit Wood (Graham) for an avant garde presentation called "Be Black, Baby!", where African American actors invite caucasians to experience what it's like to be black, baby. The presentation breaks down into chaos, with the white audience members attacked and humiliated, but somehow, is a critical success.
MGM did a great job restoring the film for DVD. It's also unusual to watch Brian De Palma directing a straight comedy film with a young Robert De Niro in the lead role, doing a great job as the socially awkward peeping tom trying to turn his fetish into a filmmaking career. Recommended DVD.
Showing posts with label brian de palma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brian de palma. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sisters
Sisters (Criterion #89). 1973 American International Pictures & Janus Films.
Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley, Lisle Wilson
Director: Brian De Palma
Buy Sisters (Criterion Collection) at Amazon.
Two paid actors (Kidder & Wilson) appear on a game show called Peeping Toms, which honestly wouldn't be out of place in today's television lineups. Danielle and Philip go out on a date after the taping, and things are going nicely until her creepy ex-husband Emil (Finley) shows up at the restaurant. He's stalking Danielle, so they have to sneak back to her apartment on Staten Island, where Emil ends up after they arrive, standing guard outside.
After that, things go well until the morning. Danielle mentioned that she has a jealous and unmanageable sister named Dominique (also played by Kidder), and that day is their birthday. Philip decides to add to the festivities with a birthday cake, which gets him murdered for his troubles.
Reporter Grace Collier witnessed the crime, and unfortunately, she can't get the police to believe her. She hires a detective, Joseph Larch (Durning) and they set out to investigate the two sisters, discovering that they were siamese twins recently separated by a doctor...who is Emil!
De Palma was clearly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, and Sisters was his homage to the latter director's filmmaking, even down to hiring Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock's preferred composer, to score the film. It's an effective thriller. Recommended movie.
Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley, Lisle Wilson
Director: Brian De Palma
Buy Sisters (Criterion Collection) at Amazon.
Two paid actors (Kidder & Wilson) appear on a game show called Peeping Toms, which honestly wouldn't be out of place in today's television lineups. Danielle and Philip go out on a date after the taping, and things are going nicely until her creepy ex-husband Emil (Finley) shows up at the restaurant. He's stalking Danielle, so they have to sneak back to her apartment on Staten Island, where Emil ends up after they arrive, standing guard outside.
After that, things go well until the morning. Danielle mentioned that she has a jealous and unmanageable sister named Dominique (also played by Kidder), and that day is their birthday. Philip decides to add to the festivities with a birthday cake, which gets him murdered for his troubles.
Reporter Grace Collier witnessed the crime, and unfortunately, she can't get the police to believe her. She hires a detective, Joseph Larch (Durning) and they set out to investigate the two sisters, discovering that they were siamese twins recently separated by a doctor...who is Emil!
De Palma was clearly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, and Sisters was his homage to the latter director's filmmaking, even down to hiring Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock's preferred composer, to score the film. It's an effective thriller. Recommended movie.
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