Having read the book, the first thing I actually thought of was Body Double, which makes this a perfect match for De Palma, as I really liked Body Double. But it shifts the focus from crime to psychological, and the ellroy book is ultimately psychological (hence the, eh, Body Double...for anyone who has already seen this movie I'm guessing that element of the book it played up). It makes it Vertigo-style, more than crime noir. Am I right?

I'm still going to try and catch this matinee tomorrow.

I'm not sure if I can handle this kind of pressure...

Zing, kypade, zennier... I really hope you like it. I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with De Palma's great stuff (those early 80's thrillers of his that are just dripping with camp and trash and sleaze), but if you are, I think you'll love it.

Just don't go in expecting a straight forward detective mystery type film.

Well, the story definitely plays into De Palma's obsessions (especially the doppelganger aspect), and he certainly highlights those throughout the picture.

It's still very much steeped in the noir genre (Infact, if you didn't know any better, you'd think this film was made in the '40s), but you're right... it's not much of a "crime" film. The Dahlia case serves as more of a backdrop for these weird-ass characters and their weird-ass obsessions. I think that's where a lot of people are coming away disappointed with the film.

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts.

I'd take Makeshift's review with a grain of salt if those are his two favorite De Palma movies. It's great he liked it but I would hesitate before anyone reads that as a sign that they would also like it. Personally I hated Body Double and Dressed to Kill, they were both amateurish and more than a little mysogynistic. De Palma has issues and it's kind of obvious why he wanted to take on this subject. His next film is about a man who charms his way into women's lives and then labotomizes them.

I actually agree with you, in the sense that I don't think a lot of people will enjoy this film.

I loved Dressed to Kill. I haven't seen Body Double.

Seems as if with every movie of this type this year that I love but most dislike (this and Miami Vice) or don't care enough to see (Brick, Running Scared), Makeshift is in the thread going on about how brilliant it is. heh

Wonderful.

i'm actually not sure ive seen any other de palma flicks.

but i did just see this.

and i loved it.

mostly because of these two things:
1. "Infact, if you didn't know any better, you'd think this film was made in the '40s"
kinda...it's more like a neo-noir ripped straight outta the 40s.
2. "The Dahlia case serves as more of a backdrop for these weird-ass characters and their weird-ass obsessions."
bingo - it's almost like Coen meets Lynch.

it's sick and twisted and beautiful and enthralling and i ate it up.

also, i'm pretty sure it solidifies as fact that Scarlett Johansson is angelic (quite literally, at the end there).

I can't stress this enough. While technically well shot and directed, it doesn't work as a film. High camp is one thing, this might be something different.

One down, two to go...

I loved Brick and Miami Vice, but HATED Lady in the Water, so is makeshift loves it, I'm interested but not always sold. If nothing else, it tells me the film has outstanding style and craftsmanship. However, DePalma is one of my very least favorite popular directors out there, so although I'll be seeing this soon, I'm not exactly sure if I'll love it or not. I will say though that I'm DYING to see this stairwell scene.

Consider the crap that released in theatres, I feel guilty telling someone not to see a film directed by the likes of De Palma.

That said, I think people need to throw logic out the window, forget everything they've seen via print advertising, and go in blind. The Black Dahlia is as similar to what was advertised as Braveheart is to a rom-com.

Pretty much.

Like loyal said earlier, this can't be stressed enough.

If you see this film expecting what the ads have told you it is, you might walk out twenty minutes in.

It wasnt that bad. Definately not the best Brian Depalma film (Carlito's Way and Scarface were one of his best) but it was still alright. I agree with some of the posters that the acting was quite bad especially Scarlett Johanson but then again Brian Depalma scenes are quite over the top like in Untouchables with Elliot Ness and Jim Malone chasing after the bad guys but since Im so used to Depalma's style I dont mind it at all. My only other problem is that they dont show enoughof Mia Kirchner who basically does the best job in the movie and it should have explored more into her Elisabeth Short character

PS: I really wonder how much of the stuff is made up like the Untouchables. Way too many over the top death scenes

B

Isn't there a disclaimer at the end of the film?

Yeah, and I believe the majority of it is fictional.

Ahhhh... Thank goodness -- I liked it. I liked it a lot!

Coming off three disappointing films in a row (The Protector, Hollywoodland, & Half Nelson), I was really hoping for a good movie tonight and De Palma came through for me... again.

In everyone's personal little DePalma retrospective in their reviews here, there haven't been enough accolades for my own favorite DePalma film: Body Double. Now that's a great movie! Sure, lately he's made crap like Mission to Mars and Mission Impossible, but back in the day he made some very cool movies like: Snake Eyes, Phantom of the Paradise, The Untouchables, Scarface, & Dressed to Kill. I'm willing to forgive him his misteps like his last movie, the atrocious Femme Fatale.

Black Dahlia is in playing in the same league as pennant winner, Body Double - but it is in no danger of stealing the World Series from it. It's a very good movie, that if anything is just a tad too ambitious. The style is awesome! The acting is pretty darn exceptional. The script is full of hilarious in-jokes for fans of old movies. The story is complex and continuously evolves with surprising revelations.

This movie is as good as Hollywoodland was bad.

It's one of those films that will most definitely reward multiple viewings. It's a winner!

5 out of 5.

I have a question, makeshift (slash the rest of you, I just know he brought it up earlier), something that just isn't quite fitting together:

What, exactly, was the POV shift in the house all about? It brought about a pretty dramatic tension and reality to the film...or it would have if it weren't so extremely abrupt, disrupting the flow like whoa...felt like an incredible scene, that had been completely ripped out of the film turned upside down and placed back on the screen kinda lop-sided like.

There were a couple other such shifts in viewpoint, but none really affected the film like that one (and were just kinda ackward at worst).

I loved that scene! It was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise. Personally, it was that sort of intentional inside joke that really made the movie for me...

Hearing about that scene is making me want to see the movie, but I like De Palma, his movies are always campy, sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

Well, I went in with the lowest of expectations (despite it being one of my most anticipated for quite a while now) and I knew it wasn't going to be a straight-up murder mystery film (which was one of my main reasons for wanting to see it)...

And I still didn't like it.

There were random scenes that were somewhat interesting, and I liked the characters, but the film is still hard to follow, jumps around too much, and left me pretty bored and uninterested by the time "The End" showed up. It also seemed a bit predictable, though I don't know if it was intended to be or not, but I pretty much figured it out from the moment I saw the characters on screen. And I hate that kind of stuff. The film isn't a total failure because the style of the film is very, very cool, and the performances were good ('cept Johannson), but I was just all around disappointed that the film was nothing like what I had hoped for months ago, when the trailer was released.

C-

So what's up with Scarlett Johansson lately? She was excellent in LiT and Pearl Earring, and looked to be a big star of tomorrow, and then... well... heh. Below average in The Island, awful in Match Point, and nothing but terrible word from Scoop and Black Dahlia though I haven't seen them. Did she hit her head on a wall or something?

And oh by the way, I'm dieing to see this movie now. What you guys have unmasked this as, excites me so much more than the generic crime thriller that the ads made it look like. My anticipation was kind of at 0 before, now it's high.

I don't really get it either. I haven't seen Scoop or Black Dahlia, but she seems like she started to lose most of her acting talent as she got more high-profile. She was quite mediocre in Match Point, which was especially odd considering how wonderful the rest of the movie was.

Hopefully The Nanny Diaries will bring her back.

In a nutshell, I think she has gotten offered too many parts that require a level of maturity that at her young age she simply doesn't have, through no fault of her own. She's just cast in things that she's too young for. Her age was masked in LiT due to all the silences and meaningful pauses and that the movie often got distracted by the local culture going on around them.

I thought she was good in Match Point, not sa good as Rhy-Meyers, but good enough, and for LiT, I think in that part she had a god chemistry with Mrray which is key, and she play someone Lost, not exactly an uncommon feeling for a girl to have had even at that young age. I think she has talent, but talent does not mean you will always bee great, few actors are always good. The Island is not a film an actor shows up for and intends to act, and with Scopp, well Woody Allen in his own movie has been the kiss of death lately, she's not the first person to not do well in that situation.

Do I think she is the next Meryl Streep no, she's young, her career is having ups and downs, it will happen.