THE DANMAN CAN

On a second viewing Uncut Gems  (2019) feels slightly less frantic but no less engaging. This really is an all-timer. My original more detailed review is here . I hope that the next Safdie brothers film is as electric as this one, their most commercially successful but also their best so far. Safdie Bros Feature Films Ranked

Public Practice 's debut album  Gentle Grip   (2020) is a sexy slice of new wave inspired rock/pop in the vein of early INXS , Joe Jackson , Elvis Costello , Wire ,  Gang Of Four  and Blondie . Traces of  David Bowie ,  Brian Eno , early  Cure ,  Peter Gabriel  and  Gary Numan  crop up as well. Basically, if you like what any of the above artists was doing in the late 70s/early 80s, there's a good chance you'll dig PP. My cousin Bryan, who introduced me to this band, remarked that they sound like a less synthy version of  New Young Pony Club , which is also a very apt description.

Shiner return with their first album in nineteen years!  Schadenfreude   (2020) is that perfect blend of familiar and new. It's a natural continuation of their sound—picking up where The Egg   (2001) left off while still feeling fresh.  Schadenfreude  is full of tasty riffs and big sounds.

Boom! (1968) is notorious for being a box office flop and a film that not many have seen. Tennessee Williams wrote it and it's one of John Waters ' favorite films—there is a poster for the film in Pink Flamingos   (1972) and the poster for Polyester (1981) (my review here ) is an homage to this film's (not to mention Divine idolized  Elizabeth Taylor ). So when Shout Select  released it on Blu-ray almost a year ago to the day, I knew I needed to pick it up. I finally did that recently and just got around to watching the film. All of Williams' work is melodramatic, but Boom!  is one of the few that spills over into camp territory, much like Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) (my review here ), which I liked a bit more (after a single viewing of each film). I always enjoy interviews with John Waters so I think that I am going to do something that I very rarely do and rewatch the film with his commentary. Elizabeth Taylor was no stranger to the films...

William Friedkin 's infamous film Cruising   (1980), as well-known for the protests its production caused as for the subject matter itself, is essentially a really good slasher film. Friedkin has stated numerous times that the underground gay leather S&M scene in which the film is set was merely a choice he made because it was "unusual" and not something that mass audiences were accustomed to seeing. He never set out to harm a subculture and I believe that to be true. But he has also stated that he understands why many in the LGBT community were upset by the film and the subject matter. Al Pacino  is very restrained here, embodying his character with a smoldering intensity and naivety that suits the picture exceptionally well. Paul Sorvino , upon Friedkin's instruction, conveys a sadness in every single scene he's in, giving his role a true emotional weight. In fact, basically the entirety of  Cruising  is either sad, uncomfortable, or disturbing though rar...

Review

Just as much fun on a rewatch. Review

Used Cars (1980) is a film from another time. Arriving in the summer of 1980, it set the bar for many raunchy comedies to come (and yet stands out from many of the films that followed). It's crude, not politically correct in the slightest, and even a bit mean-spirited. But it is undeniably funny a lot of the time. Robert Zemeckis ' sophomore film bears no resemblance to any of his others—it feels much more akin to the work of  Mel Brooks , early  Harold Ramis or Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Bros . If you're not easily offended, it's got lots of laughs and a great cast of fantastic character actors.  Jack Warden is particularly impressive in dual roles (at first you don't even realize it's the same actor). Lead  Kurt Russell  chose this role, very consciously attempting to break free of his family-friendly, squeaky clean Disney image.  Used Cars  is a tad long and features a totally ridiculous and unrealistic denouement but that is part of its c...

I don't consider myself a huge fan of slashers. I've seen (and enjoy) a great many of them but I am no aficionado (I tend to connect more with other types of horror films). For the most part I find some of them very fun and a good deal of them particularly mean-spirited with cardboard characters and hulking villains that don't interest me. That said, I do think there is a place for films like Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) (my review here ) which are simply exploitative entertainment. But  My Bloody Valentine   (1981) stands out to me because the characters are incredibly charismatic and relatable. There's no doubt that MBV  follows a slasher formula and contains tropes of the genre, but here instead of teens getting hacked up we have twentysomethings (some of the actors were even close to thirty) in a small mining town. MBV  doesn't delve too deeply into its backstory (and there is even a kind of hilarious thirty second flashback explaining the killer's m...

I am a massive fan of Shinya Tsukamoto 's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), a true cult classic, which I first witnessed in the early 90s (I still have my VHS copy). It was a formative film for me—bizarre, abrasive, hilarious, disturbing and like nothing I'd ever seen before. It still has the power to move me in ways I can't even describe—it's very much like Eraserhead (1977) (my review here ) in that way. I only got around to seeing the sequel  Tetsuo II: Body Hammer  (1992) five years ago when I picked up  Third Window Films ' excellent  Blu-ray of the first two films. Both films are also available in an upcoming Tsukamoto box set  from Arrow Video  that my friend Michael Mackenzie produced (which to be honest looks super nice and I would pick up if I didn't already own all but one film from that box set in versions from Third Window). I remember being worried that I might not like Body Hammer  because it's in color (the original film's grainy...

Danger: Diabolik (1968) is a film that I fell in love with instantly. It earned a place on my Top 100 Films  list in 2014. When I revised that list in 2019  the only reason that Diabolik  didn't make the cut was because I had sold my DVD so I didn't own a copy at the time. It's finally been given a Blu-ray release so when I make my next Top 100 in 2024, you can bet it has a spot reserved. Based on the popular fumetti (Italian comics) created in 1962 , Mario Bava 's film is e xactly what I always wanted in a film adaptation of a comic (instead of the superhero dreck that has clogged cinemas for over a decade)—it's literally a comic book come to life. It's ludicrous, it's whacked-out, it's playful and it's F-U-N, fun—even hilarious at times (I frequently find myself laughing out loud). Diabolik is campy in the way that the Batman (1966-68) television series was but it’s never corny like the latter and it has loads more super sexy 60s style. J...

You know that when Shinya Tsukamoto makes a jidaigeki film (and more specifically a chanbara ) that it's not going to be anything like one you've seen before. What's interesting about Tsukamoto's first foray into this genre is the restraint he shows. For those that are familiar with the director's more gonzo work, that restraint present in Killing  (2018) might come as somewhat of a surprise, but his past few films (2011's  Kotoko and 2014's Fires On The Plain   (review)) have had an overall similar approach. The influence of Kurosawa and films like The Sword Of Doom (1966) are easy to spot, and while there is formalism evident in a good deal of the film, Tsukamoto charges certain scenes with bits of S&M, dream logic and over the top violence à la Lone Wolf And Cub   (1972-1974). Sosuke Ikematsu  proves a strong lead, capable of sympathetically portraying his character's struggle with causing violence and repressing his sexual urges. Yu Aoi ...

It's the 16th day of the month and it's been three months since the last DB Mix   was posted, so here's the new one for ya! Read on to get the scoop on  DB Mix Series 8 – Death Jams . For those unfamiliar with these music challenges—my cousin Bryan and I alternately choose a concept, we each choose the appropriate number of songs, make a playlist, share with each other, then I mix the playlists, design the album art, and share with you! You can check out the previous  DB Mixes  here . The concept this time was chosen by me—each of us was to make a 20-track mix of songs about death (from our available MP3 collections). The rules I set were: a limit of 10 songs with the word "death" in title, no tracks from movie scores (I included a "song" from a "soundtrack"—not the same thing), but songs from singles & EPs were OK this time. The cover art is an altered version of a still image from the famous Technicolor scene in  The Phantom Of The ...

I don't typically review short films but Shinya Tsukamoto is one of my favorite directors so The Adventure Of Denchu-Kozo (1987) gets a pass. This short is an intriguing test run of sorts for his most famous film  Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), featuring basically the same cast and similar metal fetishizing. Denchu-Kozo is funnier and more melodramatic, just as confusing, just as bizarre and frenetic, but nowhere near as influential. Filled with his strange blend of theatricality, cybersexuality and inexplicable sci-fi/horror tendencies, Denchu-Kozo is a pure Tsukamoto film. The lighting and overall quality isn't always great but the handmade f/x and eclectic soundtrack keep the film constantly engrossing. While I’ve always wished that Tetsuo was 15 minutes longer, this film could stand to be 15 minutes shorter. Still, it’s a fascinating early work from a truly unique filmmaker. You can find my Shinya Tsukamoto Films Ranked list here .

Review

Firestarter (1984) is one of those '80s sci-fi/horror films that has managed to escape me all this time, but I've been slowly but surely remedying that, along with catching up on/revisiting  Stephen King  adaptations.  Drew Barrymore  is the titular starter of fires, Charlie, and a government agency known as The Shop wants to control her pyrokinetic powers to (what else?) use them as a weapon. Barrymore can be a bit saccharine at times, but she's so damn adorable that it's difficult not to love her. It also makes it easier to accept when she burns several people alive (although, let's be fair, most of them have it coming in this story). And Firestarter  is chock-full of absolutely insane fire stunts that just don't occur in movies anymore. David Keith  is serviceable as Charlie's dad Andy—doing everything he can to protect her while father and daughter are on the run—but a stronger lead actor could have been chosen.  George C. Scott  is perhap...

I remember liking The Crazies   (2010) when it was released in theaters. I still do; it's held up pretty well. Less of a remake of  George A. Romero 's 1973 film (my review here ) than a straightforward thriller, this Crazies  plays it mostly by the numbers with kind of stock characters and plenty of tropey horror/action movie moments (jump scares, predicable choices, familiar beats). And yet there are some scattered scenes throughout that caught me off guard and I can't help but admire the John Carpenter esque efficiency of the editing, pacing and presentation. I'm not a huge fan of the original film anyway (though I appreciate its loose experimental quality), so it's nice that this Crazies does its own thing (even if that thing is nothing special). Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell make a good small town blue collar couple though the number of times the script calls for Olyphant's David to tell Mitchell's Judy to "wait here" is pretty fru...

Directors  Severin Fiala  and  Veronika Franz  have a thing for messed-up children, apparently. As with their feature debut,  Goodnight Mommy  (2014) (my review here ), the children central to their follow-up  The Lodge (2019) do awful things to an adult female (in GM  it was their mother, here it's their father's girlfriend/potential stepmother). And boy, are there consequences. The Lodge  is one downbeat film that wallows a bit too heavily in its misery for my tastes but there is plenty to appreciate. Comparisons to Hereditary (2018) (my review here )—another bummerfest focused around a family torn apart by tragedy with religion playing a central role—are hard to avoid, though mostly coincidental I think. There is indeed a similar pacing and cinematographic choices at play here but the dynamic is different. The performances are strong across the board and the snowy setting provides a sinister backdrop of isolation. There's a great de...

I don't claim to have any great knowledge of anime. I saw a handful of them in my early teens—titles like Vampire Hunter D   (1985) ( review ), Fist Of The North Star   (1986) ( review ),  Wicked City (1987), Robot Carnival  (1987)   and, of course, the most famous one (and my personal favorite)— Akira (1988) ( review ). Since its release I’ve been aware of  Ghost In the Shell (1995) by name and that, along with Akira , it was considered one of the more introspective and impressive anime titles, but I had never seen it. Well I finally remedied that glaring omission in my film viewing. While a lot of anime tends to be sensationalistic, overly preoccupied with gory violence, and a bit pervy/male gazey— GITS , while it certainly appears to have traces of the latter on the surface, raises a lot of interesting questions about what it means to be both a human and a "being". The film is widely known for being hugely influential to the Wachowskis when they m...

I realize that David Cronenberg 's Shivers   (1975) involves parasites rather than a virus but I still thought it would be COVID-19 quarantine-appropriate viewing. I've seen his debut feature film a number of times now (he made two roughly hour long films prior but I am no great fan of either). Shivers  lacks the finesse of his best work but its rawness and its exploitative quality are part of why I really enjoy and return to it. All of the psychosexual/body horror that the director is so well known for starts here. Cronenberg doesn't make as poignant a statement here regarding the human condition as he did from The Brood (1979) (my review here ) onward, instead favoring shock factor. But there is still a sense that Shivers is better than the average mindless horror film. Cronenberg has always been good like that—using his intelligence in the way that George A. Romero does to comment on society, within the context of a gruesome genre film. You can find my  David ...

Day Of Anger (1967) is a great little Italian Western  with a delightful pop-art credits sequence, a rousing and playful score by Riz Ortolani , and confident direction by Tonino Valerii . Lee Van Cleef is his usual mean, smirking self (and I mean that in the most reverent way) as—what else—a lightning fast gunfighter.  Giuliano Gemma  shows good range as "a rare spaghetti-western hero with a character arc" (to quote Kim Newman ). Despite the film being somewhat derivative of the genre and fun and breezy at times, it also has a conscious—presenting a complex and corrupted society—concluding with a decidedly dark ending.

My full review of The Crazies (1973), which I last watched two years ago, is located  here .  I'll just add a few additional thoughts from this rewatch—it is a bit of a different experience while largely self-quarantining in the middle of an actual pandemic. While I think the military response, which leads to an onslaught of violence—inflicted both between the military and civilians, and amongst the civilians themselves—feels a bit exaggerated, there is no doubt a comment to be made on Americans' tendency to swiftly resort to guns to attempt to solve any and all problems. I found myself noticing and appreciating the cinematography in the still scenes where the frenzied movement takes a backseat.  The Crazies  is a noisy, almost constantly loud film but I really enjoy it most in its quieter, more self-reflective moments. You can find my  George A. Romero Feature Films Ranked  list  here .

I've seen the 1925 version of The Phantom Of The Opera  a few times now. The second screen adaptation of  Gaston Leroux 's  1910 novel  (the first  1916 adaptation  is considered a lost film)—I've never flat-out loved the film, but I love certain elements. Lon Chaney and his famous makeup rightfully deserve a place in film history. The production design, featuring a number of large-scale sets, is also particularly impressive for such an early film, and the Technicolor ball sequence has always stunned me (example in the last screenshot below). Seeing that sequence (along with the notorious unmasking scene) must have been absolutely fantastic in 1925 (or 1929, when the film was re-released). The rest of the film and the story itself are good, I've just never particularly connected with it or the characters in the same way that I do another classic 1920s silent, Nosferatu (1922) ( review )—a film that truly moves me. But I won't deny that POTO  '25...

When I first saw Barry Jenkins ' Moonlight  (2016) the year it was released to theaters, it ended up topping my Top Films Of 2016  list. I purposely waited a long time to rewatch the film, for numerous reasons—it received universal praise, won Best Picture, and I even awarded it ****1/2—a rarity for me when it comes to new films. So I needed to be distanced from the zeitgeist surrounding it and give it some years before I was ready to revisit. I'm glad I did. I'm still awarding it **** because I still think it's an important film—one that tells a story from a perspective that I've never experienced. I don't personally think that it's cinema's "job" to do that because often that approach ends up making a film feel like "Oscar bait" or a "message film". I don't necessarily think that was Jenkins' intention and I have yet to see either of his other features. I also don't set out to be a naysayer—I'm just goin...