Saturday, November 8, 2025
Friday, November 7, 2025
THE FURY (1978)
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The Fury is a 1978 American neo-noir supernatural horror thriller film directed by Brian De Palma and starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Amy Irving, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, and Andrew Stevens. The screenplay by John Farris was based on his 1976 novel of the same name.
Produced by Frank Yablans and released by 20th Century Fox on March 10, 1978, the film was both critically and commercially successful, grossing $24 million from a $7.5 million budget. Film critic Pauline Kael highly lauded the music, composed and conducted by John Williams, calling it "as apt and delicately varied a score as any horror movie has ever had".[3][4]
Plot
In Israel, ex-government agent Peter Sandza and his psychic son Robin meet Ben Childress, Peter's old agency colleague. Sandza plans to leave his old life and return to the United States with his son, but Childress objects and subsequently stages a terrorist attack to cover up kidnapping Robin for his “protection”. Peter narrowly survives, maiming Childress in the attempt and escaping while heavily injured, but is unable to protect Robin.
Months later in Chicago, high-school student Gillian Bellaver discovers her psychic powers, including telekinesis and extra-sensory perception, during an in-class demonstration. The uncontrolled manifestations of these powers harm people who physically touch or provoke her. She volunteers to attend the Paragon Institute, a live-in research facility studying psychic powers in adolescents.
Meanwhile, Peter has tracked his son to Chicago. After evading Childress's agents, Peter meets with his girlfriend Hester, a Paragon nurse, who tells him about Gillian. Peter tells Gillian that Paragon's director is cooperating with PSI, a covert agency led by Childress that kidnaps psychic children to weaponize their powers for the American government, managing and controlling the psychics by brainwashing them and eliminating their families.
As Gillian's psychic prowess grows, she begins experiencing visions of the Institute abusing Robin, who has unsuccessfully attempted escape, and eventually connects to him telepathically. Knowing that she knows too much and that her powers are growing, Childress orders that Gillian be transported to PSI headquarters where Robin is being kept. Hester overhears Childress's conversation and informs Peter, who plans a rescue, hoping she can lead him to Robin.
The rescue is successful, but Hester is killed in the process. Gillian uses her powers to assist Peter in tracking Robin down to a remote mansion in the countryside, where Childress and his handler Susan have spent the last several months grooming and experimenting on him. Though Robin's abilities have grown to unprecedented levels, he gradually becomes increasingly unstable from the psychological strain of his superiors' machinations. While at an amusement park, he uses his powers to kill middle eastern men by causing their amusement park ride inside Old Chicago, to falter and throw them from the ride. He believes the middle eastern men are a part of the terrorist group that killed his father.
As Peter and Gillian infiltrate the mansion, Robin senses her presence. Believing that PSI intends to kill him and replace him with another psychic, he finally snaps, telekinetically torturing and killing Susan. Peter confronts his son, but Robin, now a schizoid, furiously attacks him. Robin is thrown out of the window and scratches Peter when he tries to save him from falling. When Robin plunges to the ground, a distraught Peter flings himself after his son, thus killing himself.
Robin lingers a bit before finally dying, and seems to make some form of psychic contact with Gillian; he transfers his refined powers to her, implying that she will save herself from Childress and avenge his death. The next morning, Childress approaches Gillian and starts manipulating her to get her to connect with him. Understanding his long-term intentions, she embraces her psychic abilities and avenges the deaths of Robin and Peter by causing Childress's body to explode.
Cast
- Kirk Douglas as Peter Sandza
- John Cassavetes as Ben Childress
- Amy Irving as Gillian Bellaver
- Carrie Snodgress as Hester
- Charles Durning as Dr. Jim McKeever
- Andrew Stevens as Robin Sandza
- Fiona Lewis as Dr. Susan Charles
- Carol Rossen as Dr. Ellen Lindstrom
- Rutanya Alda as Kristen
- Joyce Easton as Katharine Bellaver
- William Finley as Raymond Dunwoodie
- Dennis Franz as Bob Eggleston
- Jane Lambert as Vivian Nuckells
- Sam Laws as Blackfish
- J. Patrick McNamara as Robertson
- Alice Nunn as Mrs. Callahan
- Melody Thomas Scott as La Rue
- Hilary Thompson as Cheryl
- Patrick Billingsley as Lander
- Gordon Jump as Nuckells
- J. P. Bumstead as Greene
- Daryl Hannah as Pam
- Laura Innes as Jody
Actress Hilary Thompson (Cheryl) had her dialogue redubbed by an uncredited Betty Buckley.[citation needed]
Production
In an interview with The Talks, De Palma said that he had 8 or 9 high-speed cameras to film Cassavetes exploding in the film's conclusion: "The first time we did it, it didn't work. The body parts didn't go towards the right cameras and this whole set was covered with blood. And it took us almost a week to get back to do take two".[5]
Reception
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and called it "a stylish entertainment, fast-paced, and acted with great energy. I'm not quite sure it makes a lot of sense, but that's the sort of criticism you only make after it's over. During the movie, too much else is happening".[6] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety stated that "the film plays very well to an undemanding escapist audience", but "those who have to write about the film are confronted with a gaping hole in the script: Apart from a few throwaway references to government agencies and psychic phenomena, there is never, anywhere, a coherent exposition of what all the running and jumping is about. The more one analyzes the picture, the less substantive its story becomes. Better not to think too much about this one".[7]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "'The Fury' is bigger than Carrie, more elaborate, much more expensive and far sillier ... It's also, in fits and starts, the kind of mindless fun that only a horror movie that so seriously pretends to be about the mind can be. Mr. De Palma seems to have been less interested in the overall movie than in pulling off a couple of spectacular set-pieces, which he does".[8]
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and described it as "one of those thrillers where you sit around and wait for the big scenes. And the key word in that sentence is 'wait' because there is little in The Fury to hold your attention in between its three big scenes of extreme violence. That's because the film develops only one character. Its story also makes little sense, and for a movie ostensibly about psychic powers, The Fury contains precious little magic".[9]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "at any moment The Fury could lapse into the ludicrous, but De Palma's control is so taut and filled with bravura that he makes plausible the most bizarre—and bloody—psychic manifestations, not to mention much physical derring-do. Without indulging in the gratuitous, lingering displays that lead to morbidity, De Palma keeps you at seat's edge. He seems to be able to get away with everything".[10]
Judith Martin of The Washington Post called it a "very slick movie" and "a film for people who like to see blood — lots of blood, blood pouring from unpleasantly unlikely places, such as eyeballs — and not for anyone who doesn't".[11]
Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote that "De Palma is one of the few directors in the sound era to make a horror film that is so visually compelling that a viewer seems to have entered a mythic night world. Inside that world, transfixed, we can hear the faint, distant sound of De Palma cackling with pleasure". The music, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra for the LP re-recording, was also highly praised by Kael, who wrote that it "may be as apt and delicately varied a score as any horror movie has ever had".[12]
As of July 2025, the film holds a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Brian De Palma reins in his stylistic flamboyance to eerie effect in The Fury, a telekinetic slow burn that rewards patient viewers with its startling set-pieces".[13]
The film opened in 484 theatres in the United States and Canada and grossed $1,917,075. The following weekend it expanded to 518 theatres and grossed $2,777,291 which placed it at number one at the box office for the week.[14][15]
Accolades
Rick Baker and William J. Tuttle both won Best Make-up at the 6th Saturn Awards.[citation needed]
Home media
In October 2013, UK video label Arrow Films released The Fury onto Blu-ray with a brand-new transfer and exclusive extras.[16]
OBSESSION (1976)
Obsession is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping-rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look-alike of his long dead wife.
Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsession's narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release.
Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box-office success and received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his wife Elizabeth and daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing.
Sixteen years later, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra Portinari who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate.
Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years earlier. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's fortune, and that Sandra—now on her way to Rome with her payoff—was in it from the beginning. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death and rushes to the airport, intending to kill Sandra.
Meanwhile, it is revealed through flashbacks as LaSalle rushes Sandra to the airport that she is Courtland's daughter, Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own. Throughout the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, writes a note to her father and takes a pair of cuticle scissors to the washroom and slits her wrists, attempting suicide. The plane returns to the airport, intercutting between Courtland, striding toward the gate, and Sandra, wrists bound, being pushed along the concourse to the terminal by an attendant.
Courtland spots Sandra and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland hits out with the money-laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, seeing the fluttering bills, stands, runs toward him smiling and leaps into his arms, crying "Daddy! You came with the money!" She kisses him, calling "Daddy" over and over as Courtland looks at her, first in bewilderment and finally in comprehension, as he calls her Amy and smiles.
Cast
- Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
- Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland / Sandra Portinari
- John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
- Sylvia "Kuumba" Williams as Judy
- Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
- Patrick McNamara as kidnapper
- Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
- Nick Freiger as Farber
- Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
- Don Hood as Furguson
- Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
- Regis Cordic as newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it."[1] Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work".[2] Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three-part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time."[3]
De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since."[1] Schrader stated that "the future section was cut from the script for budgetary reasons"; however rumor had it that Bernard Herrmann suggested the cuts when he was working on the score for the film because he felt the last third set in the future didn't work.[4] In 2011, Schrader's full three-part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu-ray.
After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career.[5]
Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post-wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact."[6]
In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on-set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project.[7]
Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals.[8]
Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it...I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all."[9] Variety's review described it as "an excellent romantic and non-violent suspense drama...Paul Schrader's script...is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness..."[10] In Time, Richard Schickel called the film "...exquisite entertainment...The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies."[11] Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976.[12]
But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness..."[13] Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay...is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious...The plot...is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early."[14]
Decades later, Obsession's reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 77% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 30 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".[15]
Soundtrack
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
LEO LAPORTE (1956-)
Leo Laporte (/ləˈpɔːrt/; born November 29, 1956)[1] is the former host of The Tech Guy weekly radio show[2] and founder of TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. On November 19, 2022, actor, writer, musician, and comedian Steve Martin called into Laporte's radio show to announce Leo's retirement from The Tech Guy radio show.[3] Laporte's last new radio show was December 18, 2022 with reruns for the remainder of the year. Rich DeMuro later appeared on the show to announce that he would take over in January with a weekly show, recorded on Saturdays, called "Rich On Tech."[4]
Background
Laporte was born in New York City,[5] the son of geologist Leo F. Laporte,[6] and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island.[7] From 1973 to 1976,[8] he studied Chinese history at Yale University before dropping out in his junior year to pursue a career in radio broadcasting,[6] where his early on-air names were Dave Allen and Dan Hayes.[9] He began his association with computers with his first home computer, an Atari 400.[5] By 1984 he owned a Macintosh and wrote a software review for Byte magazine.[10] From 1985 to 1988, he operated one of the first Macintosh-only bulletin board systems, MacQueue.[11]
Radio and television
From December 1977 to May 1998, Laporte hosted newstalk and interview shows on KGO, KSFO, and KNBR in San Francisco. He was a personality DJ on KLOK in San Francisco and San Jose and KMBY in Monterey.[8] Laporte had been a midday, general-interest radio host until the increasing popularity of Rush Limbaugh, after which he created and co-hosted the tech talk radio show On Computers from January 1991 to July 1994. The program was syndicated to over 60 stations nationwide as well as the American Forces Network.[8][11][12]
In 1997, Laporte was awarded a Northern California Emmy for his role as Dev Null, a motion capture character on the MSNBC show The Site.[8]
In 1998, Laporte created and co-hosted The Screen Savers,[13] and the original version of Call for Help on the cable and satellite network ZDTV (later TechTV).[14]
Laporte hosted the daily television show The Lab with Leo Laporte, recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The program was formerly known as Call for Help when it was recorded in the US and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The series aired on G4 Canada, on the HOW TO Channel in Australia, on several of Canada's Citytv affiliates, and on Google Video. On March 5, 2008, Laporte confirmed on net@nite that The Lab with Leo Laporte[15] had been canceled by Rogers Communications. The HOW TO Channel did not air the remaining episodes after it was announced the show had been canceled.[16][17]
He hosted, until December 2022, a weekend technology-oriented talk radio program show titled Leo Laporte: The Tech Guy. The show, started on KFI AM 640 (Los Angeles), was syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks. Laporte appeared on Friday mornings on KFI with Bill Handel, and previously on such shows as Showbiz Tonight,[18] Live with Kelly,[19] and World News Now.
He holds an amateur radio license, W6TWT.
Bibliography
Laporte has written technology-oriented books including:
- Smith, Gina; — (1 March 1995). 101 Computer Answers You Need To Know. Ziff-Davis Press. ISBN 978-1562763398. LCCN 95159818. OCLC 32516630. OL 873902M. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Branwyn, Gareth (1 October 2004). Leo Laporte's Guide to TiVo. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789731951. LCCN 2004107054. OCLC 57086528. OL 3314839M. Retrieved 1 January 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Stauffer, Todd (8 November 2004). Leo Laporte's 2005 Mac Gadget Guide. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789731746. LCCN 2004107074. OCLC 56658424. OL 3314849M. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Stauffer, Todd (1 August 2005). Leo Laporte's Guide to Mac OS X Tiger. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789733931. LCCN 2005922649. OCLC 60320459. OL 8157794M. Retrieved 1 January 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Soper, Mark Edward (September 1, 2005). Leo Laporte's PC Help Desk. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789733948. LCCN 2005924991. OCLC 62382528. OL 8157795M. Retrieved January 1, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- Bacon, Jono (27 August 2009). "Foreword from the First Edition". The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation (Theory in Practice). Foreword by Leo Laporte (Second ed.). O'Reilly Media. pp. ix–x. ISBN 978-0596156718. LCCN 2010277242. OCLC 804515247. OL 24194264M – via Internet Archive.
He has published a yearly series of technology almanacs:
- Leo Laporte's Technology Almanac
- Poor Leo's Computer Almanac ISBN 0768654920
- Leo Laporte's 2006 Technology Almanac ISBN 0789733978
Laporte announced in October 2006 that he would not renew his contract with Que Publishing, and had retired from publishing books.
In 2008, Laporte did a voice narration of Andrew Lang's fable The True History of Little Golden-hood[20] from Audible (Amazon), a sponsor.[21]
Podcasting
Laporte owns and operates a podcast network, TWiT.tv with his wife[22] Lisa Laporte. Before the expansion to new facilities in 2011, Laporte said TWiT earned US$1.5 million (equivalent to $2,100,000 in 2024) annually on a production cost of US$350,000 (equivalent to $489,000 in 2024).[23] In a 2012 Reddit posting, he commented that revenue was approaching US$4 million (equivalent to $5,590,000 in 2024).[24] The TWiT studios are located in Petaluma, California,[13] where Laporte lives.[25]
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
DOMINO (2019)
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Domino is a 2019 crime thriller film directed by Brian De Palma and starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Carice van Houten, Guy Pearce, and Eriq Ebouaney. It is an international co-production filmed on-location across Europe. It tells the story of a Danish police officer (Coster-Waldau) who is seeking justice for the murder of his partner by a vengeful man (Ebouaney), hampered by his target being a CIA informant.
In the United States, it was released direct-to-VOD on 31 May 2019 by Saban Films but received theatrical releases in other territories. It received generally negative reviews.[2] De Palma has expressed discontent with the final film, revealing that considerable sections of the original script were not filmed as intended due to production issues.
Plot
Copenhagen police officers Christian Toft and Lars Hansen are sent to check out a reported domestic disturbance in an apartment. When they arrive, they find a man trying to leave the building with blood on his shoes. Toft assumes he's the domestic assailant and handcuffs him. Hansen sends Toft upstairs to go check on the man's wife when Toft realizes he accidentally left his gun at home. He takes Hansen's and goes upstairs, only to find the apartment filled with firearms, plastic explosives, and a man lying dead with his throat slit and fingers removed. Using a hidden knife, the assailant breaks free from his restraints and attacks Hansen, inadvertently cutting his throat. The wounded Hansen tells Toft to give chase before losing consciousness. Toft pursues the assailant across the rooftop, but both fall into several stories. While Toft lies incapacitated, he sees three men come up and knock the assailant out before taking him away.
The police identify the assailant from fingerprints as Ezra Tarzi, a Libyan emigrant and former Special Forces operative whose parents had been killed by Salah Al-Din, an ISIS commander known as "Sheikh". Al-Din, who smuggles weapons and explosives through a tomato importer based in Brussels, is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks which he films and edits before posting them online. Tarzi's victim, Farooq Hares, was one of Al-Din's lieutenants, and Tarzi was trying to get to him. Toft wants to pursue Tarzi to bring him to justice but is suspended by his superior Detective Wold after he learns that Toft misplaced his service weapon, and is interrogated by internal affairs inspector Alex Boe.
Meanwhile, Tarzi and his family have been abducted by CIA agent Joe Martin, who has relentlessly pursued Al-Din ever since he killed five of his colleagues years earlier. Martin pressures a reluctant Tarzi into working on his behalf by threatening to reveal his murderous deeds to his children. He sends him first after Hares' nephew in Copenhagen, but during the struggle, the younger Hares breaks loose and throws himself to his death. Tarzi manages to find several hidden cellphones in the apartment, from which Martin traces calls from a restaurant in Almería. They deduce that Al-Din intends to use a ferry to escape to friendly territory in North Africa, where he'll be effectively untraceable. Tarzi travels to Almería and attempts to find Al-Din by torturing one of his underlings, but gets nothing.
Despite being suspended, Toft remains resolute in finding Tarzi. Along with Boe, who also wants to avenge Hansen, the two travel unsupervised to Brussels, but during the drive receive a phone call from Hansen's wife Hanne that he has died in hospice. Heartbroken, Alex reveals that she and Lars had been having an affair and he'd been intending to divorce Hanne and start a family with her. When a shocked Toft pushes back, Boe reveals intimate photos of the two together and an ultrasound, indicating she's carrying his child.
The two fail to find leads in Brussels but learn that Tarzi has been spotted in Almería and quickly change course for southern Spain. As they're driving from the airport, they spot one of Al-Din's tomato delivery trucks, and Toft deduces the connection. They follow the truck, eventually stumbling across Al-Din himself in another. They follow him to a bullfighting arena, where he and several others splinter off into the ring and nearby building. Toft follows Al-Din to the roof of the building, while Boe follows the others into the arena, where she spots one of them causing a distraction while another gets into a strategic location. Al-Din's men fly a camera drone into the arena, intending to film their comrade's suicide bombing. Just in the nick of time, Toft and Boe realize what is happening and intervene, shooting Al-Din in the process.
Boe calls Wold, who in turn calls Martin, who proposes a trade—Tarzi for Al-Din. They meet on the rooftop, but Al-Din dies from his wounds. A distraught Tarzi asks Toft to kill him, but Martin makes clear that he intends to use the vengeful assassin as an asset for years to come. Suddenly, Boe arrives and shoots and kills Tarzi, avenging Lars. A disappointed Martin walks away, leaving an emotionally drained Toft and Boe alone.
Cast
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Christian Toft
- Carice van Houten as Alex Boe
- Guy Pearce as Joe Martin
- Eriq Ebouaney as Ezra Tarzi
- Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Chief Detective Wold
- Paprika Steen as Hanne Hansen
- Illias Adabb as Yusuf Hares
- Mohammed Azaay as Salah Al-Din
- Søren Malling as Lars Hansen
- Jay Pothof as Musa Tarzi
- Ardalan Esmailli as Omar
- Sachli Gholamalizad as Fatima
- Hamid Krim as Mustafa
- Younes Bachira as Miguel
- Emrin Dalgic as Farooq Hares
- Ardalan Esmaili as Omar
- Nicolas Bro as Porter
Production
In 2017, Brian De Palma began to shoot Domino in Málaga,[3] and continued in Almería at the airport, the bullring and the port.[4] Walk-on extras were selected at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos.[5] Shooting in the Almería bullring was cut short due to problems with the number of extras required.[6] Christina Hendricks was replaced by Carice van Houten in the lead female role.[7] When shooting finished in Spain, De Palma moved on to continue in Denmark.[8]
Despite De Palma denying rumors that the final cut, clocking in at 89 minutes, was shortened against his wishes (an erroneous original running time of 148 minutes had been cited by reviewers), he declared: "I was not involved in the ADR, the musical recording sessions, the final mix or the color timing of the final print."[9] In an interview with theplaylist.net he precised: "Domino is not my project, I did not write the script [...]. I had a lot of problems in financing [it]. I never experienced such a horrible movie set. A large part of our team has not even been paid yet by the Danish producers. [...] This was my first experience in Denmark and most likely my last."[10]
Release
The film was released on 31 May 2019.[11]
Reception
Box office
Domino grossed $317,776.[12]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 34% based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A rote thriller whose few flourishes serve as bittersweet reminders of its director's glory days, Domino continues a streak of DePalma disappointments."[13] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14]
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, writing, "What's most frustrating about Domino is just how invisible De Palma has become, bringing a tired script to screen without any real panache or even effort, the work of a man who's seemingly given up."[15] David Fear of Rolling Stone gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, describing it as "A messy, uneven, heavy-handed, occasionally inspired, often insipid, steroidally stylistic De Palma joint, but one that fits the description in enough fits and starts to warrant the claim."[16] Peter Sobcynzki of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing, "This is not a great Brian De Palma film in the end, but its best moments will remind you of just how great he can be."[17]
DIANE LADD (1935-2025)
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Rose Diane Ladd (née Ladner; November 29, 1935 – November 3, 2025) was an American actress. With a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in over 200 films and television shows, receiving three Academy Award nominations for her roles in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990) and Rambling Rose (1991), the first of which won her a BAFTA Award. She was also nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards, winning one for her role in the sitcom Alice (1980–1981).
Ladd's other film appearances include Chinatown (1974), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Primary Colors (1998), 28 Days (2000) and Joy (2015). She was the mother of actress Laura Dern, with her ex-husband, actor Bruce Dern.
Early life
Ladd was born Rose Diane Ladner, the only child of Mary Bernadette Ladner (née Anderson), a housewife and actress, and Preston Paul Ladner, a veterinarian who sold products for poultry and livestock.[1][2][3][4] She was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on November 29, 1935, while the family was visiting relatives for Thanksgiving, though they lived in Meridian, Mississippi.[1][5] Ladd was related to playwright Tennessee Williams[6] and poet Sidney Lanier.[7] Ladd was raised in her mother's Roman Catholic faith.[8][9]
Career
In 1953, while living in New Orleans, Ladd was cast in a production of the Jack Kirkland play Tobacco Road, and later moved to New York, where she acted on stage and screen.[10]
In 1971, Ladd joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm. She was the second actress to play the role of Kitty Styles on the long-running daytime serial. She later had a supporting role in Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Flo in the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. That film inspired the television series Alice, in which Flo was portrayed by Polly Holliday. When Holliday left the TV series, Ladd succeeded her as waitress Isabelle "Belle" Dupree.
Her subsequent film appearances included Black Widow (1987), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Primary Colors (1998), 28 Days (2000) and Joy (2015). She appeared in the independent screwball comedy Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me in 1992, where she played a flirty, aging Southern belle alongside her real mother, actress Mary Lanier.[11]
In 2004, Ladd played psychic Mrs. Druse in the television miniseries of Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. In April 2006, Ladd released her first book, Spiraling Through The School of Life: A Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Discovery. In 2007, she co-starred in the Lifetime Television film Montana Sky.
In addition to her Academy Award nomination for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, she was also nominated (again in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category) for both Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, both of which she starred alongside her daughter Laura Dern. Dern received a nomination for Best Actress for Rambling Rose. The dual mother and daughter nominations for Ladd and Dern in Rambling Rose marked the first time in Academy Awards history that such an event had occurred. They were also nominated for dual Golden Globe Awards in the same year.
Ladd also worked in theatre. She made her Broadway debut in Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights in 1968. In 1976, she starred in A Texas Trilogy: Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination.[12]
On November 1, 2010, Ladd, Laura Dern and Bruce Dern received adjoining stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; this was the first time family members had been given such consideration on the Walk.[13]
She starred in the Hallmark Channel series Chesapeake Shores.[14]
Ladd's final two film roles were in Gigi & Nate and Isle of Hope, both from 2022.[15]
Personal life and death
Ladd was married to actor and one-time co-star Bruce Dern from 1960 to 1969. They had two daughters, Diane Elizabeth, who died at age eighteen months after a drowning accident, and Laura Elizabeth, who became an actress.[16][17] Ladd and Laura Dern co-starred in the films Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, Citizen Ruth and Inland Empire, and in the HBO series Enlightened.[10] The two also appeared together in White Lightning and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, although Laura was uncredited in both.
Ladd was married to William A. Shea Jr. from 1969 to 1977. She married again in 1999, to her third husband, Robert Charles Hunter.[16] Hunter was at one point the CEO of PepsiCo Food Systems.[18] They remained married until Hunter's death in 2025, three months before her own death.[18][19]
Ladd was supportive of Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign.[20]
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with pneumonia and given six months to a year to live after she inhaled "poison spray" from the farms neighboring her home, constricting her esophagus.[21] Her daughter, Laura, transferred her to another hospital where she made a full recovery.[22]
Ladd died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at her home in Ojai, California, on November 3, 2025, aged 89.[18][23][24]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Something Wild | Bit Part | Uncredited |
| 1962 | 40 Pounds of Trouble | Young Bride on Honeymoon | Uncredited |
| 1966 | The Wild Angels | Gaysh | |
| 1969 | The Reivers | Phoebe | |
| 1970 | The Rebel Rousers | Karen | Shot in 1967 |
| Macho Callahan | Girl | ||
| WUSA | Barmaid at Railroad Station | Uncredited | |
| 1971 | The Steagle | Mrs. Forbes | |
| 1973 | White Lightning | Maggie | Credited as Diane Lad |
| 1974 | Chinatown | Ida Sessions | |
| Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry | ||
| 1976 | Embryo | Martha Douglas | |
| 1981 | All Night Long | Helen Dupler | |
| 1983 | Something Wicked This Way Comes | Mrs. Nightshade | |
| Sweetwater | Lucy | ||
| 1987 | Black Widow | Etta | |
| Plain Clothes | Jane Melway | ||
| 1989 | National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Nora Griswold | |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | Marietta Fortune | |
| 1991 | A Kiss Before Dying | Mrs. Corliss | |
| Rambling Rose | Mother | ||
| 1992 | Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me | Lucille | |
| Forever | Mabel Normand | ||
| Spies Inc. | Alice | ||
| 1993 | The Cemetery Club | Lucille Rubin | |
| Carnosaur | Dr. Jane Tiptree | ||
| Father Hood | Rita | ||
| 1995 | Mother | Olivia Hendrix | Also co-producer |
| Mrs. Munck | Mrs. Munck | Also writer and director | |
| Raging Angels | Sister Kate | ||
| 1996 | Citizen Ruth | Ruth's Mother | Uncredited |
| Ghosts of Mississippi | Grandma Caroline Moore | ||
| 1997 | Get a Clue | Berthe Erica Crow | |
| James Dean: Race with Destiny | Mama Pierangeli | ||
| 1998 | Primary Colors | Mamma Stanton | |
| Route 66 | |||
| 1999 | Can't Be Heaven | Nona Gina | |
| 2000 | 28 Days | Bobbie Jean | |
| The Law of Enclosures | Bea | ||
| 2001 | Daddy and Them | Jewel | |
| Rain | Audrey Turnquick | ||
| 2002 | Redemption of the Ghost | Aunt Helen | |
| More than Puppy Love | Aunt Edna | ||
| The Virgin | |||
| 2003 | Charlie's War | Jobie | |
| 2005 | The World's Fastest Indian | Ada | |
| 2006 | Come Early Morning | Nana | |
| When I Find the Ocean | Edna | ||
| Inland Empire | Marilyn Levens | ||
| 2008 | Jake's Corner | Fran | |
| American Cowslip | Roe | ||
| 2013 | Grave Secrets | Emily Barnes | |
| 2014 | Just Before I Go | Mamma | Uncredited |
| 2015 | I Dream Too Much | Vera | |
| Joy | Mimi | ||
| 2016 | Sophie and the Rising Sun | Ruth Jeffers | |
| Amerigeddon | Betty | ||
| Boonville Redemption | Grandma Mary | ||
| 2019 | The Last Full Measure | Alice Pitsenbarger | [10] |
| 2020 | Charlie's Christmas Wish | Nana | |
| 2021 | Charming the Hearts of Men[25] | Alice Paul | Uncredited |
| 2022 | Gigi & Nate | Mama Blanche | [15] |
| Isle of Hope | Carmen Crawford | [15] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Decoy | Selma Richmond | Episode: "Two Days to Kill" |
| 1958 | The Big Story | Vera | Episode: "The Small of Death" |
| The Walter Winchell File | Lois | Episode: "A Thing of Beauty: File #29" | |
| 1958–1959 | Naked City | Kathie Mills / Yankee Cretias | 2 episodes |
| 1959 | Deadline | Judy | Episode: "Victor Reisel" |
| 1961 | The Detectives | Gloria Tyler | Episode: "Act of God" |
| 1963 | Wide Country | Alma Prewitt | Episode: "Step Over the Sky" |
| Armstrong Circle Theatre | Charlotte Cable | Episode: "The Counterfeit League" | |
| 77 Sunset Strip | Helen Saunders | Episode: "The Left Field Caper" | |
| Perry Mason | Miss Frances | Episode: "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" | |
| Mr. Novak | Mrs. Otis | Episode: "I Don't Even Live Here" | |
| Hazel | Sharlene | Episode: "George's 32nd Cousin" | |
| 1964 | The Fugitive | Stella | Episode: "Come Watch Me Die" |
| The Great Adventure | Annie Thompson | Episode: "Rodger Young" | |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Cissy | Episode: "The Game with Glass Pieces" | |
| 1964–1967 | Gunsmoke | Bonnie Mae Haley / Lulu / Elena Kerlin | 3 episodes |
| 1966 | Daniel Boone | Ronda Cameron | Episode: "Seminole Territory" |
| Shane | Amy Sloate | Episode: "The Distant Bell" | |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | Muriel Akely | Episode: "Boy into Man" |
| 1968 | Ironside | Peggy Barnard | Episode: "Robert Phillips vs. the Man" |
| 1969 | Then Came Bronson | Valerie Faber | Episode: "Old Tigers Never Die--They Just Run Away" |
| 1971–1972 | The Secret Storm | Kitty Styles #2 | Unknown episodes |
| 1973 | The Devil's Daughter | Alice Shaw | TV movie |
| 1975 | Movin' On | Amy | Episode: "General Delivery" |
| 1976 | City of Angels | Laura | Episode: "The November Plan: Part 1" |
| Addie and the King of Hearts | Irene Davis | TV movie | |
| 1977 | The November Plan | Laura Taylor | |
| 1978 | Black Beauty | Amelia Gordon | Miniseries |
| Thaddeus Rose and Eddie | Carlotta | TV movie | |
| 1979 | Willa | Mae | |
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Lynette Jones | |
| 1980–1981 | Alice | Belle Dupree | 22 episodes |
| 1980–1985 | The Love Boat | Christa Johanson / Bernice Bronson / Ruby Gibson | 3 episodes |
| 1982 | Desperate Lives | Carol Cameron | TV movie |
| 1983 | Grace Kelly | Margaret Kelly | |
| Faerie Tale Theatre | Mother | Episode: "Little Red Riding Hood" | |
| 1984 | I Married a Centerfold | Jeanette Bryan | TV movie |
| 1985 | Crime of Innocence | Rose Hayward | |
| 1987 | Celebration Family | Mrs. Heflin | |
| 1988 | Bluegrass | Verna Howland | |
| 1989 | Father Dowling Mysteries | Arlene | Episode: "The Face in the Mirror Mystery" |
| Heartland | Marjorie | Episode: "B.L. Moves Out" | |
| 1990 | Rock Hudson | Kay | TV movie |
| In the Heat of the Night | Maybelle Cheseboro | Episode: "Home Is Where the Heart Is" | |
| The Lookalike | Mary Helen Needam | TV movie | |
| 1991 | Shadow of a Doubt | Emma | |
| 1992 | Middle Ages | Bebe Cooper | Episode: "Forever Young" |
| 1993 | L.A. Law | Celeste Bauman | Episode: "Cold Shower" |
| Harts of the West | Alison's Mom | Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Chow?" | |
| Sisters | Belle Adderly | Episode: "The Best Intentions" | |
| Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Charlotte Cooper | 2 episodes | |
| 1994–1997 | Grace Under Fire | Louise Burdette | |
| 1994 | Hush Little Baby | Edie | TV movie |
| The Gift | Evie | TV short | |
| 1996 | The Siege at Ruby Ridge | Irma Coulter | TV movie |
| Cold Lazarus | Martina Masdon | Miniseries; 3 episodes | |
| 1997 | Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops 2 | Aunt Shelly Fein | TV movie |
| Touched by an Angel | Carolyn Sellers | Episode: "An Angel by Any Other Name" | |
| Get a Clue | Berthe Erica Crow | TV movie | |
| 1998 | The Staircase | Sister Margaret | |
| 2000 | Best Actress | Herself | |
| Sharing the Secret | Nina's Mother | ||
| Strong Medicine | Annabelle Lee Stowe | 2 episodes | |
| Christy: Return to Cutter Gap | Alice Henderson | TV movie | |
| 2001 | Christy, Choices of the Heart | Alice Henderson | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Living with the Dead | Regina Van Praagh | TV movie |
| Damaged Care | Mary "Rhodie" Rhodes | ||
| 2003 | Aftermath | Mother | |
| 2004 | Gracie's Choice | Louela Lawson | |
| Kingdom Hospital | Sally Druse | 13 episodes | |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Zelda Amatuzzi (2005) | Episode: "Committed" |
| 2006 | ER | Mrs. Pooler | Episode: "No Place to Hide" |
| 2007 | Montana Sky | Bess | TV movie |
| 2008 | Mayerthorpe | Roszko's Mother | |
| 2011–2013 | Enlightened | Helen Jellicoe | 16 episodes |
| 2012 | Deadtime Stories | Barnsey | Episode: "Grave Secrets" |
| 2016 | Ray Donovan | Motel Lady | Episode: "Federal Boobie Inspector" |
| 2016–2022 | Chesapeake Shores | Nell O'Brien | 43 episodes |
| 2018 | Christmas Lost and Found | Grandma Frances | TV movie |
| 2021 | Young Sheldon | Hortense | Episode: "The Geezer Bus and a New Model for Education" |
Awards and nominations
Books
- Ladd, Diane (2006). Spiraling Through the School of Life: A Mental, Physical, And Spiritual Discovery. Hay House Inc. ISBN 978-1-401-90719-8.
- Ladd, Diane (2016). A Bad Afternoon for a Piece of Cake. Exxcell Press. ISBN 978-0-981-79206-4.
- Dern, Laura; Ladd, Diane (2023). Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding). Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1-538-72037-0.