De Palma is a god among filmmaking gods

You're right. Of the "film school class" he never got the respect awarded to Spielberg, Lucas et.al. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that a lot of early movies weren't that accessible. The first thing I really liked by him was Carrie. Body Double was an underrated movie which I also loved. Of course, Scarface and Dressed to Kill. I couldn't get into The Untouchable but that has more to do with my predisposition against Kevin Kostner, than it does with De Palma. I loved Carlito's Way. Femme Fetale was a guilty pleasure for me. I think you're right about The Black Dahlia. It really looks good.

I think his biggest problem is that for all his successes, he's also had his share of duds.
 
Scarface= One of the most memorable movies of all time. And its never gonna never our minds, its never gonna leave any generation, in 50 years even the robots will watch and enjoy the movie.
 
John_Hudson said:
http://www.theblackdahliamovie.net/

Carrie, Casualties of War, The Untouchables, Body Double, Scarface, Blow Out, Dressed to Kill ..
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I'll give you Untouchables, Scarface, and Carlito's Way (sort of).

The other tiltles listed are kind of weak. He has a large body of work, and even for the tiltles I don't like, I get some enjoyment out of them. The Fury had some good moments as did Body Double. Blow Out was a silly twist on Antonioni's Blow Up, which was better, although slow. However, Phantom of the Paradise is $hite.

He has been labeled a Hitchcock ripoff for some obvious reasons. The funny thing about him is he is kind of like an earlier Tarantino since he synthesizes a lot of other people's work into something that becomes his, but usually clearly derivative. Now we can't live in a vacuum nor do we want to, so borrowing and homages are OK and can be fun, but it can get ridiculous.

I have a funny story about him since he had (or still has) a house here in the SF Bay Area, and he used to rent a lot of movies from one of the last excellent mom-and-pop rental stores in this area. The owner (who is quite the cineaste) told me he would come-in occasionally, but he would usually send a flunkie to pick-up and return titles. Not only would he keep movies way late, but the lady noticed that his movies released later in the year would contain elements from the movies that he kept out for so long. That seems like film school antics to me. He's a better director than that! He made Scarface for Christ's sake! I don't believe that this lady is lying or has a reason to because I know her, but you can decide for yourself.

I hope the new movie is OK, but the video game of the same name (with Dennis Hopper) might be better.
 
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