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Dressed to Kill (1980)

January 23, 2006 at 1:08 am · Filed under Movies

Dressed to KillDressed to Kill is a deeply stupid movie. Brian De Palma knows his way around a camera; it’s just a shame that that camera has to be filled with film. The wordless sequence of seduction at the museum (the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stuck in the middle of Manhattan) is terrific. It’s a whole story, told completely by images and Pino Donaggio’s score. It’s great, and it’s sandwiched by crap.

The parts that are stolen from Psycho are great, in Psycho. The opening shower scene is pretty much the definition of gratuitous, and why bother with an obvious body double?

The dialog is pretty much nonstop awful. Cringeworthy awful. I have already blocked most of it out, or I would provide examples.

The big twist is only a surprise if you haven’t seen the aforementioned Psycho.

It’s another early ’80s movie with Keith ‘Christine’ Gordon, who seems to be here to get a version of Mr. De Palma into the story. Otherwise, mostly pointless.

I’m glad Brian was tryin’ on this one. He’s reaching for greatness. It’s just that he missed, by a lot.

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Writergirl said,

January 23, 2006 @ 10:34 am

hi, ryan, i wanted to say, great wedding blog, and great blog here.

also, jessica, if you assign my books to your classes, there may be ‘bookola’ in it for you, knowwatimsayin?

also further too, cool review. but how many movies is depalma going to have an ‘homage’ to hitchcock in? i love the scene in obsession that’s an homage to vertigo (guy trying to get woman to be more like past lover), but when is an ‘homage’ copying? then again, will smith keeps doing ‘homages’ in the form of swiping classic ’70s tunes and putting new words to them.

i am going to back to work now, but keep bringing the movie heat. ryan-ocerous, you are a star.

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Emily said,

January 23, 2006 @ 11:15 am

Other people call you ryan-oceros?

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Writergirl said,

January 23, 2006 @ 12:40 pm

Apparently only those of us who are sufficiently pun-obsessed. At last, someone understands! I knew I wanted your family to adopt me for a reason. And my 15 years of trying to get Ocerous to marry me didn’t work. Onward.

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Emily said,

January 24, 2006 @ 1:34 pm

I think our Uncle Paul is available.

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Writergirl said,

January 24, 2006 @ 4:32 pm

Paulocerous doesn’t have the same ring to it, but if he’s as smart and witty as Ryan, I’m on the plane.

But hmmm…that would make me your aunt, and that’d be a lot of responsibility all at once.

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monoglot said,

January 24, 2006 @ 11:46 pm

He already married an interestingly spelled Karen once, so it’s not outside the possibility realm.

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Emily said,

January 25, 2006 @ 9:48 am

He may, in fact, still be married to her, despite all these decades of living apart.

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