THE DANMAN CAN

With 2016 finally drawing to a close we would like to wish each and every one of our loyal listeners a very Happy New Year! Recorded earlier this year and saved for this celebratory occasion, we invite you to enjoy the return of Movie Matters [Music] : our spin-off series where soaring, bombastic, introspective and timeless film scores reverberate. To begin Volume 7 , Lee Howard plays quizmaster and challenges co-hosts Michael Mackenzie and Dan Sardella to a “Guess the Giallo Grooves” game, how many can you answer correctly? The trio then curate a grab bag of tracks chosen by themselves as well as featuring a number of long overdue listener soundtrack requests (many thanks to Phil Walsh, Bryan McGrath, Wilson McLachlan and Tony Black). As is our custom, we’ve deliberately omitted the track listing from this post in an attempt to keep the soundtrack choices a surprise. On that note, beware of reading the “links for reference” below if you do not wish to see any potent...

Focus On Film   Episode 48  is up! Download the MP3  HERE ​Rygar returns after a 2-month absence to combat Danman's ennui. **Spoilers re: the ending of  NOCTURNAL ANIMALS  begin at 46:00 and end at 49:00** In this episode: March 2017  Criterion Collection   Titles Announcement Best & Worst Of The Month  –  THE SHALLOWS  (2016),  PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE   (2002),  ​ NOCTURNAL ANIMALS  (2016),   ON DANGEROUS GROUND  (1951) Criterion Most Wanted "Focus On Film Theme"  & commercial music:  Daniel Sardella

Initial thoughts on my first viewing here .

Rogue One  (2016) has probably the best battle sequences of any SW film, one of the best Vader moments of any SW  film, Mendelsohn was so perfectly cast and so deliciously sinister,  Whitaker was unfortunately so very bad (awful acting). Otherwise no truly annoying characters, K-2  was a droid to rival C-3PO , and I was thoroughly entertained throughout.

I'm seeing a lot of divisive opinions about Nocturnal Animals (2016) and that pleases me. Often when this happens (people giving either very low or very high ratings), I tend to really love the film in question, as I did this film. Another example is Only God Forgives   (2013). Unlike that film, Nocturnal Animals  isn't cryptic or hard to follow, but it's masterfully constructed. The scenes that take place in present day with Amy Adams gave me a very De Palma vibe and the scenes representing the book that the  Jake Gyllenhaal  character wrote gave me a very Lynch  vibe. The three leads are all on their game and the ending is perfect. I can't wait to see this again so I can absorb more details.

My thoughts from my first viewing ( here)  of Triple 9   (2016) remain the same. Solid film, underdeveloped characters, somewhat wasted cast of heavies, doesn't offer anything that films that have come before did better, plays more like an extended television episode. I actually didn't realize that Atticus Ross   was one of the composers (which probably makes more sense for this subject matter than Hillcoat 's usual composer duo) but the score isn't memorable.