THE DANMAN CAN

Focus On Film   Episode 50  is up! Download the MP3  HERE Danman battles the arid landscape currently known as his throat to deliver a delayed solo episode devoid of humor but hopefully still containing at least a sliver of charisma. In this episode: May 2017  Criterion Collection   Titles Announcement Best & Worst Of The Month  –   PATERSON (2016), THE BOSTON STRANGLER (1968), SPACE JAM   (1996), LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON  (1957) Criterion Most Wanted "Focus On Film Theme"  & commercial music:  Daniel Sardella

With Get Out   (2017),  Jordan Peele delivers a mashup of Rosemary's Baby   (1968) &  The Stepford Wives  (1975) with hints of Kubrick , Cronenberg and Carpenter , as told from the Black perspective.

Verbinski does The Wicker Man  (1973) and   Cronenberg   with a dash of Universal Monsters . A Cure For Wellness  (2016) is a bit long and uneven but visually stunning and has some genuinely unsettling imagery and themes for a mainstream film.

Bridge Of Spies  (2015) is an excellent blend of courtroom drama and humor,  Bridge  finds  Hanks  inhabiting the same territory as  James Stewart  and  Gregory Peck  before him.  Spielberg   creates a superb mashup of his previous films such as  Catch Me If You Can   (2002),  Munich   (2005),  Lincoln  (2012) and  Schindler's List   (1993), with touches of  John le Carré   and  Jean-Pierre Melville . Overall, the  Coens ' screenplay doesn't bear their typical stamp but is fully engaging throughout.  Of note: this is one of the very few films that  John Williams  did not score for  Spielberg .  Thomas Newman  takes his place and does a great job, evoking  Road To Perdition   (2002) (which  Newman  also scored,  Hanks  also starred in, and which some scenes in  Bridge  reminded me of). If you're in the mood for some Spielberg-speak, check out the episode of  Movie Matters Podcast   that I guested on recently  here .