[ePub] Out of the Loop: Vernacular Architecture Forum Chicago by From Agate Midway at Arts-Photography

Description

Over the last five decades; the films of director Brian De Palma (b. 1940) have been among the biggest successes (The Untouchables; Mission: Impossible) and the most high-profile failures (The Bonfire of the Vanities) in Hollywood history. De Palma helped launch the careers of such prominent actors as Robert De Niro; John Travolta; and Sissy Spacek (who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in Carrie). Indeed Quentin Tarantino named Blow Out as one of his top three favorite films; praising De Palma as the best living American director. Picketed by feminists protesting its depictions of violence against women; Dressed to Kill helped to create the erotic thriller genre. Scarface; with its over-the-top performance by Al Pacino; remains a cult favorite. In the twenty-first century; De Palma has continued to experiment; incorporating elements from videogames (Femme Fatale); tabloid journalism (The Black Dahlia); YouTube; and Skype (Redacted and Passion) into his latest works. What makes De Palma such a maverick even when he is making Hollywood genre films? Why do his movies often feature megalomaniacs and failed heroes? Is he merely a misogynist and an imitator of Alfred Hitchcock? To answer these questions; author Douglas Keesey takes a biographical approach to De Palmarsquo;s cinema; showing how De Palma reworks events from his own life into his films. Written in an accessible style; and including a chapter on every one of his films to date; this book is for anyone who wants to know more about De Palmarsquo;s controversial films or who wants to better understand the man who made them.