THE DANMAN CAN

Review

 

Sightseers  (2012),  Ben Wheatley 's serial killer black comedy, is a hilarious and gruesome tale of a road trip gone wrong. Co-writers and stars Alice Lowe and Steve Oram  perfectly portray a seemingly normal couple on a caravan holiday who end up being a lot more mentally unstable than they appear. I found the whole film very entertaining and the central couple always engaging. I've only seen two other films by Wheatley, Kill List (2011) and A Field In England   (2013). The former is a ultra-serious and brutal crime drama and the latter is a trippy and surreal war piece, so it's refreshing to see that he can handle a comedy just as well. Sightseers  very much bears its director's stamp and watching it reminded me that I really need to get around to seing  High-Rise (2015) and Free Fire (2016), both of which I've been meaning to watch since they were released.

Point Break (1991), nearly 30 years on, remains a tremendously entertaining action crime thriller. Having been made so early in the ‘90s, it carries over the gonzo style of ‘80s actioners, resulting in a pop culture touchstone featuring immensely quotable dialogue. Kathryn Bigelow 's testosterone-fueled bromance has it all—breakneck stunts, amped-up shootouts, killer waves, hunky heartthrobs, melodramatic overacting, and, of course, coked-out Gary Busey . The cinematography, editing, and score are all top notch. It drags a bit at times, some of the characters could have used some more work, and it might be big and dumb, but it's ridiculously rewatchable and a touch more philosophical than your run-of-the-mill action-fest.  As with the 2014 RoboCop remake, I have virtually no desire to watch the 2015 remake  of  Point Break , except perhaps out of morbid curiosity. Some films are lightning in a bottle and don't need to be updated for future generations.

Fletch (1985) is an amusing bit of fluff that has aged decently. It's often very funny—thanks of course to its star, Chevy Chase —and, unlike many '80s comedies, it contains very little "offensive" or “problematic” content when viewed through the "2020 lens". The film is episodic in nature, giving Chase the opportunity to riff on his many disguises, there's lot of great character actors in the supporting cast, and Harold Faltermeyer 's synth score is catchy as hell. All in all, Fletch  is a fun, inconsequential little movie. 

Roman Holiday (1953) is exactly the type of romantic comedy that I love. All the beats are just right and there is a perfect blend of laughs and heartfelt moments. William Wyler 's film is never schmaltzy, has enough genuinely laugh out loud moments, and contains what they call "movie magic."  Audrey Hepburn (in her first major film role) is impossibly adorable and Gregory Peck  is all charm and dignity. RH may be a light and "fluffy" affair but it's an all-time classic—filled with memorable dialogue (nice to see Dalton Trumbo finally get his proper full screenplay credit on the 2020 Blu-ray), indelible moments, beautiful locations, and wonderful characters. William Wyler Feature Films Ranked

The Two Jakes (1990) was a troubled production and a box office fizzle, but as ‘90s neo-noirs go, it's quite good. Star and director Jack Nicholson 's sequel to 1974's  Chinatown   (one of my Top 100 Films )  is competently made, well acted (with many returning actors from the original film and all the new additions well cast), gorgeously shot by Vilmos Zsigmond , and never calls too much attention to the fact that it is the continuing saga of one of the most beloved films ever made (too many callbacks can break a sequel). TTJ  is a tad long, can be a touch boring at times, and  the voiceover is a genre trope that probably could have been avoided (though Nicholson’s dulcet tones lend itself to that sort of thing). The film has a few zany moments that perhaps feel a bit over the top (though I can't help but love them) and it is definitely a slow burner, but if you avoid comparing it to its predecessor—it's a very enjoyable and handsome-looking film with wonderf...

Bob Le Flambeur ( Bob The Gambler ) (1956), director  Jean-Pierre Melville 's precursor to the French New Wave , is one of those films that I feel like I should like a lot more than I do. Largely this is due to its reputation as one of the greatest crime films (as well as a favorite film of many directors that I admire). I do like the film (which I’ve seen twice now) a lot, but I prefer the detached cool and slightly grittier edge of Melville’s later film Le Samouraï (1967) (my review here ). There is a breezy noirish charm to BLF that is undeniably attractive but I have to admit to splitting this latest viewing up into two sittings (something I rarely do) because I was losing interest in the film’s first half and I wanted to resume when I felt more attentive. For some reason, BLF is a film that just feels long. The sparse narration doesn't add anything to the film and—this is a small critique—the crew assembled for the heist seems unreasonably large. Auguste Le Breton ...

Review

I'm Thinking Of Ending Things (2020) is unmistakably a Charlie Kaufman film. It's heady, poetic, and bizarre. It could also be accused of being willfully obtuse, rambling, psychological claptrap. My interpretation of it is somewhere in the middle. I didn't flat-out love it—it contains plenty of mumbling dialogue (par for the Kaufman course)—but this rumination on time, age, and reality does contain many powerful moments (including two impressively long dreamlike snowbound driving sequences).  ITOET  is a particularly unsettling, meta mood-piece with surreal framing choices (the film is presented in full screen 1.33:1 ratio), disorienting camera movements, and elusive editing. I can't claim to fully understand it and I wasn't fond of where the film settled in its finale, when it shifted character focus—preferring the first half(ish) to the second—but, as mentioned earlier, it's a Kaufman film through and through.

1976's Murder By Death  has a cool premise (five famous detectives are invited to "dinner and a murder") and it has an impressive ensemble cast. From what I can see it plays much like a precursor to 1985's  Clue —I've actually never seen that film (though I've read and seen plenty of  whodunit s). But the film is a mess of wasted potential and rife with stereotypes that derail it within the first few minutes. It has aged very poorly. Truman Capote  (and his house of trickery)—in one of the renowned writer's only screen roles—plays  the mysterious master of ceremonies, Lionel Twain. His dinner guests are send-ups of legendary fictional sleuths.  David Niven  and  Maggie Smith  play Dick and Dora Charleston, a dull parody of  Dashiell Hammett 's  Nick and Nora Charles  of the  Thin Man  series (my review of the first film  here ), and a waste of their talent.  Peter Sellers  plays Sidney Wang,...

My initial review of Luca Guadagnino ’s Suspiria (2018), one of my Top Films Of 2018 , can be found  here . I’ve cooled a bit on the film for this “Take 2” viewing. This time around I found myself distracted by the dismally drab color pallet and overly dim cinematography. Part of this could be down to Amazon’s poor compression, even for their 4K offering, but there is no doubt that the film has a deliberately dark transfer. The darkest scenes in the film obviously suffer the most but it still blows my mind that the majority of people think streaming quality is acceptable as an accurate representation of an artist’s vision. I also found the lengthy exposition dumps by the coven to be a weak point, not adding much to the narrative. These happen frequently over scenes involving a great deal of action and/or juxtaposed by jarring cuts to other scenes, which makes it difficult to focus on one or the other. I think that aim at disorientation is intentional—it just doesn’t work for m...

Beetlejuice (1988) is the type of film that, if it hit you at just the right age and temperament, will forever be a favorite. As with Tim Burton 's 1985 debut feature, Pee-wee's Big Adventure   (my favorite film; blog entry here ), Beetlejuice is one of my  Top 100 Films —one I can revisit any time and never tire of. It's not literally a perfect film, but I can't (and don't try to) find fault with it. I just love it dearly and it always makes me smile. The mystique built up by the plot development leading to Michael Keaton 's entrance, nearly halfway through the film, is truly wonderful. The fact that he only spends a mere 14 1/2 minutes of running time on screen just doesn't seem possible. Betelguese is undoubtedly one of Keaton's most unforgettable roles—he's crass, he's perverted, he's hilarious, and Keaton plays him with aplomb. Can you even fathom any other actor in this role? Can you picture the character with a different voice? Cre...