Now that the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville is about to come back online I’m excited to see the new space and to watch films at my favorite art house again. I got an email last night confirming that the new Brian De Palma documentary, De Palma, will be screening at the Belcourt in August.

DePalma is written off by some as overrated or just a Hitchcock wannabe. For me movies like Carrie, Blowout, Scarface, The Untouchables, Phantom of the Paradise and Dressed to Kill more than
outweigh stinkers like The Black Dahlia and The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Plus DePalma is an invaluable alum of the film school generation of writers and directors including Marty, Francis, Steven and George. Here’s Brian on Charlie Rose in 1992…

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Yesterday I posted about Geroge Carlin. The comedian’s career put a spotlight on the First Amendment, and watching the video on that post got me wondering about other works of art that speak loudly about speaking truth.

It’s been 20 years since Miloš Forman released his biopic of Hustler magazine publisher and First Amendment hero, Larry Flynt. The People Versus Larry Flynt is a great American film directed by the genius Czech who also helmed One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest and Amadeus. In an age when freedom of speech seems simultaneously more valuable and more vulnerable, this film’s sometimes hilarious, sometimes harrowing themes couldn’t be more timely.

Here’s Forman talking with Charlie Rose about the film…

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Seems there’s always a significant anniversary to recount this year. Here’s another remembrance: this one marks five years since the death of Dennis Hopper.

Hopper was an actor, director, writer, photographer and art collector. He was good at each of them and occasionally great at every one.

Here’s a compilation of Hopper interviews presented by Charlie Rose in memoriam…

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Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Cinema posts.