THE DANMAN CAN

Recently I was inspired to tackle a passion project. Starting on May 8th—over the course of 10 days and totaling 19 hours—I created a new cut of Donnie Darko (2001) (my review here ) in DaVinci Resolve, using footage from both the theatrical and director's  cuts of the film from Arrow Video 's 2017 Blu-ray release. I wish I had been able to use their recent 4K UHD as the basis of my fan edit, but I'm not quite set up in my home office to do that and output with correct color accuracy (since UHD uses HDR ) just yet. As it is, the quality is still fairly high and very watchable. For the most part,  Donnie Darko Redux  keeps the theatrical structure of the film intact, while incorporating the parts I like about the director's cut, but leaving out the parts that I don't (the pages of the book, the shots of Donnie's eye, etc). This IMDb page  provides a good comparison of the two official cuts of the film (though it's not comprehensive), to give you an idea o...

If you've ever wondered what an entire album based around Chris Isaak 's " Wicked Game " would sound like,  Still Corners ' The Last Exit  is your answer. And that's not a back-handed compliment—I love that song and this LP is wonderful. But seriously, there's also a helping of Mazzy Star ,  Jesse Sykes , Neko Case , Air  and some Dire Straits  in SC's sound. Simple and catchy melodies, reverb-drenched vocals, twangy guitars, pretty without being too precious—lots to appreciate.

Donnie Darko (2001)— Richard Kelly 's surrealist, existential, metaphysical, superhero Sci-Fi time travel teen angster—turned twenty earlier this year (per its Sundance debut). Kelly's feature debut is clearly the work of a young filmmaker (though one who clearly had a vision, passion, and the means to make something special).  I appreciate the film for this though, as  DD 's "immaturity" only befits the characters and the story. I think that's why the film continues to find new audiences—it speaks to a certain age bracket and it serves as a reminder of why we identified with it for those of us who saw it in when it was released. I was twenty-one when I first saw it and I think that was just about the right age to connect with the characters and the dialogue. Upon buying Arrow Video 's recent limited edition 4K UHD (which is a really marvelous package), I decided to watch the included theatrical and director's cuts on consecutive nights (hat tip to my...

J.G. Ballard 's  High-Rise  (1975) is a fascinating and almost entirely convincing fictional portrait of the breakdown of social structure—a microcosm of hierarchy and human behavior as portrayed through the lens of a tenement’s deterioration, and the territorialism, tribalism, and colonialism that results.

Another Thin Man   (1939) might sound like an exasperated question you'd ask a friend upon news of yet another sequel in a franchise. But when it comes to the  Thin Man   series, I think most would agree that wouldn't be your response in regard to the third film (or possibly any of the follow-ups).  While this second of five sequels to  W.S. Van Dyk e's  film adaptation  of  Dashiell Hammett 's novel  The Thin Man   (1934) (my review  here ) is the least best in the series so far, and while it certainly follows an established formula, it's just impossible to deny the charm of Nick and Nora Charles ( William Powell  and  Myrna Loy ).  Returning writers  Frances Goodrich  and  Albert Hackett  provide plenty of what you'd expect from a  Thin Man  movie—witty banter, zingers, colorful characters with interesting monikers, Asta the dog antics, an  Agatha Christie / Hercule Poirot ...