THE DANMAN CAN

Up until this year I hadn't seen either  Spies Like Us   (1985) (my review here ) or Trading Places  (1983). There's still a few more  John Landis  films I haven't seen, but I've got all the "classics" covered now (well, actually I still haven't seen  Coming To America   (1988) or  ¡Three Amigos!   (1986) in its entirety so maybe that's debatable?). Trading Places is very good and very funny overall, thanks to two great comic performances ( Aykroyd and Murphy ) and strong supporting roles by the likes of Ralph Bellamy , Don Ameche ,  Denholm Elliott , and, in particular,  Jamie Lee Curtis . Some of the humor is dated, but a lot of the film still remains relevant, if a bit on the nose at times. It didn't strike me as particularly quotable, but then again I didn't grow up with it. I'm glad I finally saw the film and I'm sure I'll enjoy future viewings. You can find my  John Landis Feature Films Ranked  list  ...

Dario Argento 's  Suspiria  (1977), the first and best film in his  Three Mothers Trilogy , is best enjoyed if you let the gorgeous visuals and dreamlike quality wash over you and focus less on the absence of plot or dialogue. A blood-soaked nightmarish adult fairy tale with an all-time great score by  Goblin , unmatched production design and cinematography, Suspiria is one of my Top 100 Films . Check out my  Dario Argento Films Ranked  list  here . Screenshots from  Synapse Films ' stunning 4K mastered Blu-ray *Note that I watched the UHD this time, which looks even better.

Lucio Fulci 's  The Black Cat  (1981) is a bit of a mishmash, full of non sequiturs and disparate ideas that don't get satisfyingly explored. Using only very basic elements from the  Edgar Allan Poe   story  of the same name, the story follows a medium ( Patrick Magee , intense as usual and one of the film's strongest components) who is linked to the titular feline through a kind of supernatural hatred—similar to  David Cronenberg 's  The Brood  (1979). As far as adaptations of this story by Italian directors go, Dario Argento 's version in Two Evil Eyes (1990) (my review here ) has a slight edge over this one for sheer spectacularity, but I still prefer  Sergio Martino 's  Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key   (1972) (my review  here ) best (though all three are fairly loose adaptations). On one hand,  The Black Cat  has excellent camerawork by  Sergio Salvati  and a superb sc...

It's interesting to have finally seen Alan Parker 's Birdy  (1984), having listened to and loved Peter Gabriel 's moody  score  for the film (which, in addition to new pieces composed for the soundtrack, also incorporates instrumental themes and sections from his third and fourth albums to form the basis of some tracks) for many years. The film is a beautiful portrait of friendship, obsession, and what it's like to be an outsider, portrayed  by two brilliant and sensitive actors, Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage , in the prime of their youth. The story involves two young men—one fragile and strange (Birdy), the other frustrated and short-tempered (Al)—who form a unique bond and later on both become scarred by the Vietnam War. The titular character (Modine), obsessed with birds and flying, has ceased speaking and has been put in a mental hospital after going missing in action, having been the sole survivor of a helicopter crash. Al (Cage) has been hospitalized ...

I am so very glad that I made the trek to see The Irishman  (2019) in a theater (in particular, one with a history and one that cares deeply about presentation, The Coolidge Corner Theatre ) for it was well worth the Friday night traffic that I sat in and the hour and a half long drive in to Boston. I'm also glad that, at 3 1/2 hours long, the film never felt bloated. Finally, I'm amazed (and thankful, as I didn't want to miss a second) that I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom once (and somehow still didn't have to until I arrived back home after midnight). With The Irishman  (titled on screen as I Heard You Paint Houses , the name of the 2004 book that this film is based on), Martin Scorsese has made yet another masterpiece in a career full of them. While it absolutely has many parallels to his other mob epics, GoodFellas (1990) and Casino (1995) (my review here ), it's no carbon copy. It's a less showy affair—a more sprawling film in line ...

While Close Encounters Of The Third Kind  (1977) does crack the top 10 of my ranked Spielberg films, and while I do greatly enjoy it, and have watched it numerous times, there's always been something about it that feels missing. Perhaps in that way, I feel the same as Richard Dreyfuss ' character Roy Neary does—in the same way that he can't describe his emotions and his behavior, I can't quite describe what exactly it is that I feel Close Encounters is lacking. What I can say that is that there are a great many things that I appreciate about this film—the simple yet iconic 5-note theme by John Williams , the somewhat dated but beautiful special f/x, the pacing, and the fact that it's a film about alien visitors that come in peace. There is still fear and trepidation by the human characters but there is no knee-jerk reaction by the government or armed forces to approach the beings with force. Merely a sense of wonder by scientists and laymen alike. Sadly, I can...

Beatrice Cenci  (aka The Conspiracy Of Torture ) (1969) is an interesting outlier in Lucio Fulci 's filmography. Having made mostly Italian-centric comedies previous to this film, and afterward gaining notoriety primarily for his increasingly violent and sadistic horror movies and gialli—though he was a versatile director who made westerns, a crime picture, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action flick, and even a sword and sandal fantasy adventure— Beatrice Cenci is a surprisingly retrained period drama with only hints of the "Godfather Of Gore," as Fulci would come to be known. Fulci's film is based on the legendary historical events of the real life Beatrice Cenci , who, along with her family and aided by two vassals, murdered her father after years of abuse by his hand. For this the Pope had them all tortured and upon confession, sentenced them all to death by public execution. If the information regarding the events described  here  is true, they are much more graphi...

Hot Fuzz   (2007) is one of those films that just holds up amazingly well. Tonight I was in the mood for something familiar and this film is like comfort food. Though some of the gore gags and f/x unfortunately look dated due to CGI, and though some of the action is a bit too sloppy/quick cut style for me, the editing and cast are brilliant, the jokes still land incredibly well, and the dialogue is inimitably quotable. Hot  Fuzz  is off the fucking chain. You can find my  Edgar Wright Feature Films Ranked  list  here .

Prolific electronic musician Susumu Yokota  left this world nearly five years ago. Having released more than twenty albums  (from acid house to techno to downtempo to experimental to ambient) during his lifetime, his final full-length while alive was 2012's  Dreamer . I have six of Yokota's albums, so I'm only familiar with a fraction of his work, but he's one of those artists that you feel instantly connected to and as you discover more and more albums, your appreciation only grows. Cloud Hidden , the first posthumous release by Yokota, was conceived following the discovery of a DAT tape containing unreleased tracks. Jon Tye, founder of  Lo Recordings , who've released multiple Yokota LPs, "decided to do (his) best to honour the spirit and legacy of Yokota’s work by completing the tracks in a way which (Tye) thought (Yokota) would approve." Tye did an exceptional job— Cloud Hidden  fits perfectly within Yokota's discography and feels less like a tr...

Two Evil Eyes (1990) presents two legendary directors each directing half of a film based on stories by legendary author Edgar Allan Poe . The result is a mixed bag but not without merit. The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar George A. Romero directs the first segment, which plays as a sort of dark version of a Dynasty   (1981–1989) episode. Adrienne Barbeau  strikes a nice balance of rich bitch who still has an empathic side. Ramy Zada plays a soulless greedy bastard very well, Bingo O'Malley is ghoulishly good and E.G. Marshall  and  Tom Atkins pop up too (which makes for a neat little Creepshow (1982) semi-reunion). This one is a bit of a slow burner but has a great payoff. The Black Cat For Dario Argento 's segment he adapts one of Poe's most well-known and frequently adapted short stories. As far as adaptations of this story by Italian directors go, I'd say Argento's version has a slight edge over Lucio Fulci 's The Black Cat  (1981) (my r...

Though Joker (2019) is not as good of a film as the classics that it pulls inspiration from and seems to emulate— Taxi Driver  (1976) (my review  here ),  The King Of Comedy  (1982), A Clockwork Orange  (1971), Network (1976) among them—it is undeniably a well-crafted anti-superhero movie, villain origin story, and psychological drama. Joker has the kind of ultra serious tone that the Christopher Nolan Batman films became known for, with an even darker and more violent approach. There is very little that is funny in this film—if someone told me that this was intended as a black comedy, then I'd say they had a drastically different interpretation than me. 1981 Gotham (pretty much New York City) is very effectively evoked through the cinematography. The production design presents a time capsule but is never showy about, or subservient to, the time period. Whereas some films feel like actors cosplaying in a modern film,  Joker   actually looks and...

Unlike Stephen King 's 2013 novel , which I thought was excellent, Mike Flanagan 's film version of Doctor Sleep (2019) serves as an adaptation of said book and a sequel to Stanley Kubrick 's 1980 film version (my review here ) of The Shining (1977) and thus makes a few major changes that deviate from  Doctor Sleep , the novel. It's a daunting task to undertake and one that I'm sure a lot of people feel shouldn't have been attempted. Rebecca Ferguson is a perfectly cast, devious, and dangerously babely Rose The Hat, leader of The True Knot, a group of vampire-like semi-immortals that essentially feed on fear, pain and death. Rose does terrible things and is no friend to children but I like that the film doesn't shy from the darker elements at play. Ewan McGregor is a serviceable adult Dan Torrance, still scarred from his dark past, but cleaned up and mending, after having gone through a self-destructive patch. Kyliegh Curran , as the teenage girl who...

The Devil's Nightmare (aka The Devil's Longest Night ) (1971)—the only feature film directed by Jean Brismée —is a Belgian/Italian co-production that plays as sort of a cross between an Agatha Christie murder mystery and a sexy vampire picture (though it's a succubus here). Some of the gothic vibes are cool but the dubbing, shots that linger too long, and tepid eroticism make much of the film unintentionally funny. The camerawork and the production design are competent but not evocative. The score by Alessandro Alessandroni (a multi-instrumentalist most famous for being the whistler in Sergio Leone 's " Dollars Trilogy " and involved in the music department for a number of Italian Westerns and gialli ) is pretty groovy. Some of the deaths are creative but mostly bloodless. Overall, this flick is nothing remarkable but entertaining enough.

As with Jim Jarmusch 's Only Lovers Left Alive  (2013) ( review ),  The Dead Don't Die  (2019) was better than I expected, based on the trailer. I'm hoping that, again, as with OLLA , subsequent viewings of TDDD  will reveal an even greater appreciation. Like OLLA ,  I wasn't sure how I'd react to Jarmusch tackling another genre that I'm (even more) burnt out on, but I ended up really enjoying it. I think it's down to the way this film was sold—it's nigh impossible to convey the atmosphere of a Jarmusch film in a trailer: the tone, the overall feeling that the poetic delivery of the dialogue imparts, the way the score affects the mood. Obviously the cast is astounding, but most of the actors' appearances are little more than cameos. Still, it's nice to see people like Eszter Balint (Eva in Jarmusch's classic Stranger Than Paradise (1984) ( review )) and Tom Waits (who hasn't appeared in a JJ film since 2003's Coffee And Cigarett...

Despite historical inaccuracies and a running time that stretches a bit further than needed, The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) is a rousing adventure film of impressive scope. As I get older, Bridge does begin to feel a bit more like a product of its time instead of an all-out timeless classic. At this point, given what I just mentioned and the fact that I've seen it numerous times, it's the kind of film that I can drift in and out on a Sunday afternoon, but still enjoy the same experience. Director David Lean 's film about British prisoners of war forced to build a bridge on the " Death Railway " for the Japanese Army during World War II is based on Pierre Boulle 's (who also wrote Planet Of The Apes  in 1963) book The Bridge Over The River Kwai  (1952), which I've read, but don't recall much of (might be time for a re-read). According to Wikipedia "Boulle had been a prisoner of the Japanese in Southeast Asia and his story of collaboration...

I didn't realize when I purchased the Blu-ray for This Gun For Hire (1942) that I'd actually seen the film before, five years ago. I gave it three stars then and apparently it didn't leave a lasting impression. As I watched it again, certain details felt familiar, and after it finished I feel like I enjoyed it more on "Take 2". I gave it an extra half star for a rating, which bumped it way up on my Film Noir Feature Films Ranked list, which you can view below. I still don't have the same love for it that it seems a lot of noir fans do, but I appreciate certain elements that laid the groundwork for a lot of (superior) future noirs to come. Alan Ladd as hit man Philip Raven (love that name) is mostly very good here—all tough guy exterior, but hurting and mentally suffering inside. I didn't pick up on it the first time I watched TGFH , but the influence of the Raven character on Jean-Pierre Melville 's neo-noir classic  Le Samouraï   (1967) seems ob...

I've seen Hardware  (1990) three times now and every time I have the same experience—one of frustration. Frustration at the fact that it's half of an awesome post-apocalyptic film with incredible visuals and design, well-done gore and effects, and some beautifully surreal moments, but that it's also half of an annoyingly inferior cyberpunk film with underdeveloped characters, cringy dialogue, and poorly staged action. Director Richard Stanley 's affection for Dario Argento (in particular  Suspiria (1977)), Shin'ya Tsukamoto 's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner  (1982) is obvious, sometimes obnoxiously so. He takes elements of the The  Terminator (1984) and Alien  (1979), but doesn't have the craft to match those sci-fi horror classics. Simon Boswell delivers a moody and varied score that helps the atmosphere of the film a lot, particularly when other elements aren't quite working. I am definitely a bigger fan of S...