THE DANMAN CAN

I love Steven Soderbergh 's  Out Of Sight (1998). I've always loved this film. It's my favorite Elmore Leonard adaptation. Along with Jackie Brown  the year before it, OOS was responsible for my fascination with Leonard novels. I believe I saw 1995's  Get Shorty  prior to either of those films but it wasn't until JB  and OOS  that I really started paying attentions and then buying many of Leonard's books. (And wow—all three of those great Leonard adaptations arrived within a three-year span!) GS is a fun one, and JB is a masterpiece in its own right because it manages to be both one of the best Leonard adaptations and still feel like a Quentin Tarantino film (it's my second favorite by him). But OOS  is the most authentic Leonard adaptation, as if it's ripped straight from the pages of his 1996 novel  (and really just perfectly captures that "Elmore Leonard feel").  OOS  is effortlessly cool, charming, sexy, and stylish. Some of the...

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Blade Runner  (1982) is one of those films that is worthy of hyperbole—it's one of my  Top 100 Films  (#19). It operates at peak level in every department—the assured direction by  Ridley Scott , the existential screenplay by  Hampton Fancher  and  David Peoples , the gorgeous cinematography by  Jordan Cronenweth , the incredible production design by  Lawrence G. Paull , the beautiful synthesized score by  Vangelis , and the complex performances of  Harrison Ford ,  Sean Young , and, in particular,  Rutger Hauer . Some viewers find  BR  to be an exercise in style over substance, but I don't agree. The film presents its themes in broad strokes, without the need for minute detail (at least in the script; the level of detail that went into the production is astounding). It's a slower moving film punctuated by short bursts of action, focusing more on its characters and their "human" desires. BR  underperformed a...

Vampire's Kiss (1988) is a film that gets better with repeat viewings. It was a box office failure but has deservedly gone on to become a cult favorite. It's Nicolas Cage at perhaps his most unCaged (sorry), which is saying a lot. But his performance has a purpose. As hilarious as the film is, it's also harrowing, depressing, and dark (and the marketing for it is all wrong). Cage's Peter Loew, and the film in general, bears striking resemblances to  American Psycho   (2000) ( review ) ( Christian Bale  even said he drew inspiration from Cage's portrayal for Patrick Bateman). What's most interesting to me is that, unlike AP , VK  is not looking back at the 1980s and yuppie culture but was made in the midst of it. Loew is a pathetic and doomed character but a fascinating one. He's a misogynist, abusive, an empty shell of a human being, and clearly mentally unwell, but Cage manages to evoke sympathy from the audience. Cage Rages Ranked

Siege (aka Self Defense ) (1983) is a taut and lean, mean and downbeat thriller. A simple and singular picture with a gritty realism and an eerie synth score, Siege is a cool little Canadian genre gem. Recommended for fans of Assault On Precinct 13 (1976),  Vigilante   (1982) ( review ), and Green Room  (2015).

Outside of 1988's  Hell Comes To Frogtown 's theatrical poster's tagline, which summarizes its plot quite succinctly, I'm not sure that I have a lot to say about the film. It's typical ridiculous ‘80s fare—it's stupid and goofy in a groan-inducing kind of way, it's like a low-rent  Mad Max 2   (1981) ( review ) (but with mutant frog-people), and it never quite delivers on its insane premise. But Roddy Piper is as charming as he was in the same year’s  They Live   ( review ), it's pretty hilarious at times, and I had fun with this one.

For Batman & Robin (1997)  Joel Schumacher  leaned even more heavily into the campiness that he somehow only hinted at with  Batman Forever  two years earlier. I honestly don't understand the hate for this film. I suppose if you're not a fan of  the  Batman   TV series (1966–1968), it makes sense, but I grew up on it (and loved it) and outside of the 1966 film this is the closest approximation to the show. I saw the first three Warner Bros.  Batman s (reviews  here ,  here , and  here ) in the theater but somehow only managed to see  B&R  for the first time last year. The sexual innuendo is amplified ( Uma Thurman  is delightful) from the previous outing, as well as the one-liners ( Arnold Schwarzenegger 's cold puns are seemingly never-ending). George Clooney is the worst of the '90s WB Batmen (he's too much himself and doesn't embody the character at all), Alicia Silverstone 's acting is not...

With Batman Forever (1995)  Joel Schumacher  took what  Tim Burton  established in  Batman   (1989) ( review )  and  Batman Returns  (1992) ( review ), juiced up the camp factor à la the Batman TV series (1966–1968), and—via candy-colored production design, costumes, makeup, and bold camerawork—created a true comic book come to life. At times it reminds me of 1990's  Dick Tracy  but it's louder, brasher, and just plain ridiculous. It's a weirdly horny movie—full of innuendo—and crammed with one-liners (you can tell Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey had a field day here).  Batman Forever  is an inherently silly and over the top film, but it's massively fun. Joel Schumacher Films Ranked