Blow Out

For one last time in 2024, we're closing out DePalmber: Part De by opening the vault door and welcoming another of our beloved classics into the podcast canon, this time a bleak noir thriller about a foley artist in the film industry who winds up recording proof of a political murder conspiracy while out grabbing sounds for a new low-end horror picture, and gets swept up into a dark world of intrigue where no one is safe. It's 1981's Blow Out, written and directed by Brian De Palma and starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Jon Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden, John Aquino and Deborah Everton. Like Michael Mann's Thief (released just four months earlier), it feels like a visionary director establishing countless trademark flourishes in an early outing before really hitting their stride as the decade continued. And just like Thief, that early outing may prove to be a high-water mark neither man ever cleared again. Plus: without any theatrical outing to report on to end the year, we're vibing out with hoarfrost and the music of Waxahatchee.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening along to this conversation, and we loved this movie so we strongly recommend you do, Blow Out is currently streaming for free on Tubi (at least in Canada) at the time of publication.

Other works discussed in this episode include Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Nosferatu, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Abigail, The Brutalist, The Order, Blue Chips, Air, Hustle, Hoosiers, Moneyball, Glory Road, Miracle, The Way Back, The Holdovers, Knives Out, Glass Onion, Law Abiding Citizen, I Saw the TV Glow, Monkey Man, Biggest Heist Ever, Joker: Folie à Deux, A Christmas Story, Black Christmas, Baby Geniuses, The Karate Dog, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, To Grandmother's House We Go, New York Minute, Scarface, Body Double, Pulp Fiction, Gotti, The Fanatic, Dexter, Conclave, Cliffhanger, Nightcrawler, and Nope among many more.

We'll be back next week to kick off 2025 with the Bernie Mac baseball comedy Mr. 3000, to celebrate J Mo crossing the 3000 films watched lifetime milestone at some point in the year that was 2024. That's as good a reason to watch it as any I suppose, and you can find Mr. 3000 streaming for free on Hoopla at the moment. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!