Tiger by the Tail

Brian De Palma's, "Blowout", was quite a thriller. I had no idea what was going on for the whole movie. His puppet master status was definitely confirmed as I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time. However, I had such of a little idea of what was coming next it was somewhat annoying. I grew tired of the strings with which De Palma was moving me.

It was amazing how he used multiple aspects of film to keep us guessing and make us uncomfortable. His 360 degree shots, when Travolta was looking for his film after it had been erased, added to the sense of urgency. Since the movie was about a sound technician, De Palma used sound on sound. Some times the sound was overwhelming. At the beginning of the film, I remember one segment where it seemed as if 5 or 6 sounds were playing at once. I thought it was a bit much but it may have added to the theme of sound.

It seems like every movie after 1960 has a theme about the corruption of the United States government. Avatar, Edge of Darkness,(two new movies I have recently seen)and Blowout all have themes that point to the negative side of the United States leaders. I am pretty tired of it. It may not be a fair response to De Palma's movie, especially in my circumstances, but I just would like to watch one movie that had something good to say about the good ole U.S. of A. De Palma depicted our American leaders as liars, cheaters, and womanizers. However, I found it quite interesting that McRyan's lady friend situation was a set up. He was set up for failure. It is amazing how much we expect out of our leaders while we put them on huge pedestals. I don't completely understand why we are shocked when they fall off. Tiger Woods is a great example of such a thing. Tiger Woods is a regular guy just like every other man in America. He is just a regular guy with millions of dollars and little quality time with his wife. He made a mistake. He made multiple mistakes. But we put him up on a unrealistic pedestal like our government leaders and he fell off. Sometimes I feel as if we need to wake up and realize that all our super human leaders aren't so superhuman. If we didn't worship them, maybe these world leaders wouldn't feel like they have such a license to do as they please.

Wow, that was a crazy tangent. But anyway, DePalma's movie was little like the movies we have seen thus far. It was filled with pointless nudity, foul language, and some weak acting (main female actress). Instead of pure entertainment like Singin in the Rain, DePalma's film was less about entertainment and more about real life. Movies from the 50's to 80's seem to have changed from escaping from the days worries to more deeply examining them. Movies have gone from technicolor happiness to multi million dollar disappointments. I enjoy a good thriller. But I don't mind not hearing the F word repetitively and people being fully clothed.