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Tag Archives: John Travolta

Blow Out

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 47 Comments

Tags

1980's, Blow Out, Brian De Palma, Dennis Franz, John Lithgow, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Thriller

Film Title

Blow Out

Director

Brian De Palma

Starring

  • John Travolta as Jack Terry
  • Nancy Allen as Sally
  • John Lithgow as Burke
  • Dennis Franz as Manny Karp

A well crafted thriller that focuses on someone discovering something they weren’t supposed to and how important sound is in the big scheme of things, Blow Out invites you into a suspenseful and intricate web of conspiracy and one man fighting the system. All of this is under the eagle eye vision of Brian De Palma, whose serious approach adds another layer of emotion to a potent and enigmatic cocktail.

Jack Terry is a sound man who while good at his job, has largely spent most of his time working on sleazy horror movies. He has something haunting him from his past, but passes everything off with something of a cynical shrug and smile. blow-out-posterWorking on yet another low-budget movie, he is struggling to find the perfect scream for the main murder scene. Late one night, he is out recording nature sounds near a bridge. Nothing much is happening until a car veers off the road and into the lake, following a strange sound. Jack jumps in and rescues a young woman by the name of Sally from the car, though he is unable to save the other man who dies. Once at the hospital, Jack swears he heard a gun shot that preceded the blow out and has the sound that could back this up. He grows even more curious when he learns that the man in the car was a presidential candidate who was launching his campaign, but those closest to the man and others tell him to forget what he heard and keep his mouth shut. Getting to know Sally, who is a ditzy and skittish girl who remains coy about what she was doing in the car, Jack attempts to piece together what he heard and just how big the cover up that is forming is willing to go to hide the true events of the ‘accident’. Long story short, it gets very complex. Meanwhile, a mysterious and sinister man known simply as Burke( who has something to do with the tangled events) begins murdering young women in the area, with his plan being to eliminate Sally in the end by making it look like another serial killer crime. Pictures are published of some of the incident by a sleazy blackmailing man Manny Karp, which helps Jack splice a film with his sound that helps suggest that it was murder. Due to the fact that the images aren’t crystal clear poses another stumbling block, yet he also gets to understand the naive Sally a bit better, as she clearly has some involvement albeit as a pawn. Even with proof, no one seems to believe Jack and tell him to let it be. But Jack is not going to remain quiet and soon sets about desperately trying to prove what’s going on. With nearly everyone either turning Jack away or wanting the conspiracy to remain silent, Jack must fight and hopefully uncover the full extent of this cover up before it is erased for good, along with himself and Sally.

Although De Palma has been criticized for overusing visuals to tell a story by some quarters( I personally don’t agree, but that’s a matter of opinion), no one can deny the grim and serious centre of Blow Out, that enables an emotional undercurrent pertaining to Jack and Sally to effectively slot in among the conspiracy. With this neat homage to the equally compelling Blow-Up, De Palma fashions a compelling mystery about political agendas and consequences found when all the stones have been upturned. Paranoia is at its apex here, with the unfurling mystery and various vignettes of what Jack discovers and we as the audience see. john-travolta-blow-outDe Palma is on deep and sober form with this film, which is reflected in the intricacy of how big the political events and schemes that Jack stumbles on are told, leaving some room for us to fill in with deliberate hints that are never quite as simple as they appear. That isn’t to say that De Palma abandons his trademark style though, as his many brush strokes and composition are well placed and compliment the overall impact of Blow Out. From a riveting scene in which Jack listens to the tape back and it cuts back and forth in time with the sounds it has picked up, the obsessively detailed sequence of Jack  to a swirling camera used when Jack finds that someone has erased his tapes, it’s both a stylish film and one that has a startling downbeat tone that slowly feeds into it. Plus, the cinematography of largely red, white and blue bathes Blow Out in a strangely surreal shade that also references the political aspects found in the thriller. Voyeurism plays heavily into Blow Out, with the focus being on ears and all things pertaining to them instead of eyes. And worthy of note is the refusal to adhere to a bravery and heroic ending. Without spoiling it, I’ll say that Blow Out features a gut punch of an end that you won’t see coming and brings with it a haunting tone that colours everything. De Palma’s film is not without the irony that a lot of his work as ( check the opening scene that satirizes cheap horror movies) but the pervading feeling of darkness and tension is what truly makes the film. Sound is frequently manipulated, distorted or raised throughout Blow Out, stressing the importance of what we hear and perhaps the things we aren’t meant to in the first place. As a film that largely concentrates on the impact and overall usage of sound, Blow Out provides a fascinating insight into the mechanics behind it all. Sure some of the technology is different today from what’s depicted here, but the perspective it takes on how crucial it is to cinema allows for compelling nuggets of information. And the score of Blow Out beautifully layers on the mystery and menace in stunning strokes that often match the action perfectly, along with a sorrowful element that comes into fruition later on.

John Travolta is excellently cast as the slowly more determined Jack, who before was slightly cynical about his lack of prospects that his skill as a sound man were wasted on. The crash and what he hears spark him into life, as he discovers a real purpose( in both the mystery and Sally) and Travolta brings an effective amount of idealism and decency that benefits the role. He has that worn, every man quality going on as he unearths just how big the situation is that he has come across and with haunted eyes, you feel for the man as he tries to do the right thing in a climate of danger. nancy-allen-blow-outNancy Allen is just as successful, portraying a girl whose niceness and green nature are repeatedly taken advantage of. Kudos to Allen for not playing Sally as a complete bimbo and turning her into someone sympathetic and in over her head. The immense John Lithgow, armed with hardly any dialogue and a stare that could melt ice caps, is the terrifying adversary, whose skills in killing are brutal, efficient and cold-blooded. Seriously, Lithgow is deeply chilling here you feel like you’re in the Arctic whenever he appears. Dennis Franz rocks it as the greasy and oily blackmailer, who would do just about anything for a buck and does so on many occasions.

A grim, tense and even emotional in parts thriller burning with paranoia and unexpected shock, Blow Out showcases Brian De Palma with maturity on the mind and armed with a dark story that flows well with his customary visual style.

And I must thank Pete and Paul for suggesting this movie to watch.

Carrie

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 65 Comments

Tags

1970's, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Brian De Palma, Carrie, Horror, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Stephen King, Supernatural Horror, William Katt

Film Title

Carrie

Director

Brian De Palma

Starring

  • Sissy Spacek as Carrie White
  • Piper Laurie as Margaret White
  • Amy Irving as Sue Snell
  • Nancy Allen as Chris Hargensen
  • Betty Buckley as Miss Collins
  • William Katt as Tommy Ross
  • John Travolta as Billy Nolan

Based on the novel by Stephen King, Carrie is a heartbreaking and frightening take of bullying and the limits that someone is pushed to. With Brian De Palma behind the camera and Sissy Spacek supremely moving as the titular protagonist, Carrie becomes a compelling exercise in horror rooted mostly in the real world, but with supernatural touches complimenting it.

Carrie White is a painfully shy outcast in high school, who is mercilessly bullied by her fellow peers. carrie-movie-posterShe has an equally unhappy home life where her mother Margaret is a crazed religious zealot who thinks anything remotely sexual is a sin, regularly beats Carrie and forces her to pray for her alleged sins. Carrie is once again tormented when she experiences menstruation for the first time in the showers and as a result of her upbringing that hasn’t explained it, she is targeted by a number of girls headed by the sadistic Chris Hargensen. Miss Collins breaks up the horror of the situation and attempts to comfort Carrie. She punishes the girls for their horrible treatment of Carrie, resulting in Chris being banned from prom due to her lack of sympathy and refusal to admit she’s done anything wrong. margaret-whiteAt the same time, the timid Carrie starts exhibiting signs of telekinesis that flair up when she is angry and she struggles to understand. One of the girls involved in the torment,  Sue Snell, starts to feel very guilty about her part in it and wanting to be nice, she asks her boyfriend Tommy to take Carrie to the approaching prom. She sees it as a way to help Carrie and also as an apology for her behaviour of which she feels immense remorse for. Carrie is apprehensive when Tommy asks her as she thinks it is a prank, but after talking and getting advice from the kind Miss Collins, she accepts. Meanwhile, the horrid Chris ropes her boyfriend into engineering some sort of revenge on Carrie. Carrie’s mother is adamant that her daughter will no go to the prom, but Carrie finally stands up for herself and attends. But after a vicious prank set up by Chris and her boyfriend humiliates Carrie just as she feels accepted, she completely breaks and makes those who have bullied her very sorry in a most fatal and gruesome way with the use of her powers.

Brian De Palma directs this film a stylish and surprisingly empathetic touch to showcase the way that Carrie wants to be accepted and is repeatedly bullied for it. Sensitive and compassionate are not often words associated with De Palma, but his approach to the material really hits home in how it presents the horrors of bullying and being seen as different by ignorant others. And while a film that is in the horror genre, the biggest unsettling parts are the depictions of cruelty and nastiness that Carrie endures. When she finally lashes out and unleashes her powers, you can see why this is happening. She has been put to the razors edge and is now acting out retribution of the most fatal kind. Carrie is no monster, merely a misunderstood girl with a gift that finally snaps when torment gets to much, and I think everyone whose ever been mistreated or bullied can at least relate to that feeling of being so downtrodden and yet wanting to get back at those who frighten them. Which brings me onto my next point of interest. Now no review of this film would be complete without a shout out to the justly celebrated prom sequence when Carrie is pushed over the edge with no way back. carrie-prom-sceneUtilizing an assortment of techniques( eerie yet tense slow motion, the maximizing of particular sounds and striking split-screen) the results of the scene are simply haunting in how chilling and precise everything is, as Carrie turns the prom into a bloodbath. I could wax lyrical about this forever but the review can’t be a full on essay. All that’s left to say is De Palma is the masterful composer behind the detailed and shocking scene that leaves a big imprint on the mind, and won’t be forgotten for a long time after the movie finishes. Carrie adeptly straddles the tropes of a perceptive high school drama with horror that grows to a jaw-dropping finale, confirming it as a horror film that deals with real life social issues compassionately. The pace of it is just right, building up to the climatic snapping of Carrie’s mind with assurance and some cleverly ironic foreshadowing. And the score is purely amazing in every aspect of the word. Pino Donaggio works wonders as he covers all the emotional ground of Carrie, while bringing in by little nuances, the suspense and shocks that will eventually ignite. You couldn’t have asked for a better score for this film than the lyrical and haunting one it sports.

Sissy Spacek represents the tormented soul of the film with a natural and sympathetic performance. There are times when she is so authentic that it doesn’t seem like she is acting at all, so sincere and expressive in her interpretation of Carrie’s anguish and victimized mind. sissy-spacek-carrieThere is simply no one who could have been so convincing in the part and use their eyes to both moving and unnerving effect, particularly noticeable in the prom sequence when Carrie’s powers come into full force. Piper Laurie is wildly and suitably over the top as Carrie’s crazy mother, who puts fear into her heart and also the audience’s. She really goes for the unrestrained and frightening approach that is superbly played like a pro, which of course Piper Laurie is. This is the mother of your nightmares, and has to rank as one of the most unhinged to hit the cinema screen. In her movie debut, Amy Irving strikes the right notes of guilt-ridden shame and atonement for her actions in a quiet but evocative way. Nancy Allen stars as queen of nasty and vicious Chris, and you can’t fault her performance because you genuinely loathe this character. Betty Buckley is a supportive presence as the kind Miss Collins, while William Kitt displays a sensitivity as Sue’s boyfriend who is persuaded to ingratiate Carrie to the prom. And of course, there is a very young John Travolta, who successfully plays the none too bright boyfriend of Chris who is pulled in to help her exact her shocking prank on the title character.

A dazzling horror and cautionary tale of how you should think about the treatment of others, Carrie is rightfully iconic and cuts deep on a lot of levels.

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