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*** Official "FEMME FATALE" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Peter McM

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Rebecca I-can't-spell-or-pronounce-the-rest-of-her-name looks pretty good in the previews.
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Anybody heard anything yet about the inconsequential aspects of this film--such as acting, or plot?;)
 

Paul_D

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I heard it got a very bad reception at Venice or Cannes (can't remember where). Sounds ominous. That is all.
 

Damin J Toell

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I was rather excited for this months ago, hoping it would finally be DePalma's return to an earlier form. I was quite disappointed, however, in the trailer.

DJ
 

Todd_B

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^ The trailer didn't really do anything for me either. Looked like your standard thriller.

Todd B
 

Mark Palermo

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Personally, I can't wait for this film. No living filmmaker makes thrillers like De Palma, and I've stopped listening to trendoid critics who immediately bash all his movies without taking time to understand them. Even Fincher's well-regarded Panic Room played like De Palma-lite.

Mark
 

Damin J Toell

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Even Fincher's well-regarded Panic Room played like De Palma-lite.
Or, rather, Hitchcock-lite (especially given the strong visual references to specific Hitchcock films during the opening titles and the final shot of the film). Just because Fincher, too, was referencing Hitchcock, however, it doesn't make the film DePalma-lite. DePalma, while he certainly does it the most, doesn't have a monopoly on ripping off Hitchcock.

DJ
 

Mark Palermo

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I don't think Panic Room is especially lighter than most Hitchcock films. It deals with the whole class-prophylaxis issue just as forcefully as a lot of his stuff (to avoid confusion, I still think most Hitchcock films are better). Sure, Psycho, Vertigo, and Frenzy (though it's pretty humorous) are heavier, but De Palma's films are almost always far more merciless thematically. He's taken Hitchcock's influence and grown into a distinguished auteur in his own right.

Mark
 

BarryS

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He's taken Hitchcock's influence and grown into a distinguished auteur in his own right.
Yes, I agree. DePalma takes Hitchcock influence and does things his way. I'm not going to say that I love all of his films, but I like almost all of them. I even liked Bonfire of the Vanities. I'm looking forward to Femme Fatale and hope that DePalma is going back to making good suspense thrillers like Sisters, Dressed To Kill and Blow Out.
 

Edwin Pereyra

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DePalma is easily one of my favorite directors, as well. I'll be seeing Femme Fatale, which incidentally comes out next Wednesday.
~Edwin
 

MichaelPe

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A friend of mine saw "Femme Fatale" at Cannes, and she didn't care much for it. Her and I generally agree when it comes to films, so I don't have such high expectations.
 

Aaron Reynolds

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Is it just me, or is billing DePalma as "the master of the erotic thriller" (as the posters and trailer do) really selling him short?

I mean, with the exception of Body Double, can his work really be sold that way at all? Or am I just ghettoizing the genre of "erotic thrillers" because of all of those cheap, direct to video/cable Shannon Tweed movies?

I realize that DePalma's work is frequently very derivative, but when it's good I really enjoy it. Even his best work, I find, requires me to turn my brain off a little more than usual, but when I can, his work packs quite a punch. I remember seeing Raising Cain in the theatre with jet lag, and my not-full-speed brain and I had just the wildest time. Viewing it later, it's kind of obvious and frequently illogical, but what a trip!
 

BarryS

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I doubt any Shannon Tweed movies have 5-minute-long uninterrupted steadicam shots. DePalma didn't invent the long steadicam shot, but I think he popularized it, so much so that directors from Scorsese to P.T. Anderson have picked up on it. DePalma himself probably derived it from Orson Welles with Touch of Evil. Watching a DePalma movie, if nothing more, you know that you're going to get two things: female nudity and a really long steadicam shot.
 

Justin Doring

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"Or, rather, Hitchcock-lite (especially given the strong visual references to specific Hitchcock films during the opening titles and the final shot of the film)."

Damin, I rented Panic Room (I would have bought it, but an SE is coming next year!) a few weeks ago, but when I watched it I wasn't too alert, and so exact shots are a bit fuzzy in my mind. Would you be so kind as to tell me the specific visual references to Hitchcock films Fincher used in the opening and closing scenes and throughout the film, as I can't really recall any. Thanks!
 

Damin J Toell

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Damin, I rented Panic Room (I would have bought it, but an SE is coming next year!) a few weeks ago, but when I watched it I wasn't too alert, and so exact shots are a bit fuzzy in my mind. Would you be so kind as to tell me the specific visual references to Hitchcock films Fincher used in the opening and closing scenes and throughout the film, as I can't really recall any.
The opening titles were quite reminiscent of North by Northwest, with the words appearing across buildings in Manhattan, while the last shot of the film was a Vertigo trick shot.
DJ
 

JonZ

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"you know that you're going to get two things: female nudity....."


I heard Stamos does a full Frtonal nude scene. Anyone know if that true?
 

Ken Chan

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Her husband is in the movie? :) To me -- and Conan O'Brien -- he's "Stamos".
I'm probably gonna go see this regardless. Heck, I saw Snake Eyes.
//Ken
 

Herm C

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Very good piece on De Palma in today's National Post.
"I can't think of anything stupider than making Spider-Man 2"
Can you see the irony??
Anyways, it is
here.
 

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