Tag / brian de palma

by Jaime Rebanal

Jaime’s Film Diary: February 28, 2020

In order to continue keeping this site as active as possible while I have not been able to write as many full-length film reviews as I had planned initially, I figured that another solution would have come by in placing my Letterboxd entries starting from the week before here as a placeholder for eventual full-length reviews that are set to come by, if I were able to find the time to write another one. But as is, these are quick thoughts that I figure would be nice to keep afloat so that the site will remain active on a regular basis.

First-time viewings are noted as such. You can follow me on Letterboxd right here.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Snake Eyes – Review

✯✯✯✯

Brian De Palma putting Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train together into one, and the results are nothing less than pleasing. When he is at his most intriguing, Brian De Palma’s work around conspiracy thrillers is never anything below entertaining but to see him and Nicolas Cage come together is where all the promise of Snake Eyes comes in. There are a fair share of weaknesses that ultimately hinder Snake Eyes from becoming up to par with where it could reach knowing how De Palma creates the core of conspiracy (best shown in Blow Out, which I still consider to be his finest work) but as every key moment comes together, it shows Brian De Palma’s best capabilities with mysteries, an area in which he is at his most compelling. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Mission: Impossible – Review

✯✯½

One of the most notable roles in Tom Cruise’s career as well as one of the most successful box office hits of Brian De Palma’s filmography, both for reasons I never understood completely. That’s not to say Mission: Impossible is a bad film because it’s very far away from that, but the trademarked name seems to be from what I’m seeing is the only reason to remember it but what about it makes everything a standout? As a particularly big Brian De Palma apologist, I’ve always struggled with the reputation that Mission: Impossible had formed. At least given its success the fact it managed to spawn a franchise is understandable, but is the original really as special as some say so? Continue reading →