THE DANMAN CAN

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 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

Escape From Alcatraz (1979) is a masterclass in slow burn tension. The final collaboration between director Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood , EFA  plays a bit loose with some of the facts of the fascinating real-life story but primarily functions as a spare and straightforward thriller and one of the best prison break films ever made. Don Siegel Films Ranked

While I can't be too hard on a film that is designed simply to be fun (and Glass Onion (2022) is undeniably that), I found Rian Johnson 's follow-up to his 2019 whodunnit,  Knives Out ( review ) to be a weaker effort. The characters aren't used as effectively and the celebrities playing them aren't as interesting. Much of the humor is a bit too broad for my tastes (though there are definitely some choice jokes). I felt the runtime more here as well— KO was already 2 hours and 10 minutes long and GO is another 10 minutes on top of that. KO was just as much fun on a rewatch but I'm not sure that will be the case with GO . Time will tell. In any case, this was enjoyable and I'll show up for the third film (which, honestly, does anyone really need the “ A Knives Out Mystery ” subtitle for?). Rian Johnson Feature Films Ranked

Steven Spielberg is still making captivating films in his seventies. I don't love every film he makes but I've loved his two most recent, including this one. The Fabelmans  (2022) feels extra special because of its semi-autobiographical quality. Michelle Williams is always impressive in her roles and that is very much the case here. Paul Dano has more of a thankless part but his mannerisms suit his character just fine. Judd Hirsch  makes a very memorable impression in his small role. Seth Rogan gives easily his best performance. And David Lynch as John Ford is simply some of the best casting in, for my money, one of the greatest cameos ever. I was less enamored with lead Gabrielle LaBelle  but not enough to detract much from this truly heartfelt drama. Amidst all the familial turmoil, there is so much joy in watching Spielberg recreate his childhood in this fictionalized version. Life is cinema. Steven Spielberg Feature Films Ranked Top 20 Directors

It's funny, I very recently watched  Cannibal Ferox   (1981) and remarked in my review  how I don't like  cannibal films . But I knew going into  Luca Guadagnino ’s Bones And All (2022) that it wouldn't be anything like the cycle of cannibal films that were predominantly made by Italians in the 1970s and '80s. No, B&A is a romantic road movie cannibal film.  The three lead performances are mostly excellent and the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is mostly very strong (though I found the song that closes the film a bit schmaltzy) but some of the editing choices left a bit to be desired (particularly the attempt at heightening tension via sound effects and loud noises that I didn't think was necessary).  The film didn't quite grab me all the way. Some of the beats just felt too familiar or alternately perplexing. Much in the way that my rewatch of Guadagnino's 2018  Suspiria   ( review ) left me feeling,  B&A  is just shy of being something

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) had always been on my radar but I only managed to watch it for the first time last night. What a goofy but fun ride—a smorgasbord of kitschy, candy-coated, sci-fi popcorn fluff. I didn't realize that the film was a musical—that was a pleasant surprise. Those songs (with lyrics by Julie Brown and music by  Nile Rogers ), along with the soundtrack, are a blast. The cast, production design, costumes, makeup, effects, and cinematography are all fantastic. My one complaint is that I think the picture could be 10-15 minutes shorter.  EGAE reminded me of another movie that I only saw for the first time this year,  Back To The Beach  ( review ), which was released a year earlier—another slice of '80s camp that became a cult classic.

I don't have much to say about Cannibal Ferox (1981). I've never been a fan of cannibal films (and I've seen more than a few).  Cannibal Holocaust   (1980) is a well-made film within the genre (though still one I never need to see again, and I've seen it more than once) with some level of social commentary, but CF  is just mean-spirited and gory for the sake of being mean-spirited and gory (with some heavy-handed and weak attempts at the same type of commentary). That wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the cruelty toward and real killing of animals (in both of the above-mentioned films). It's one thing to capture footage of animals hunting each other in the wild or native people eating animals that are part of their regular diet, it's another to tie up an aardvark and film a snake strangling it solely to disturb the audience. Anyway, there is some funny dialogue and some good makeup f/x but otherwise this is just simply not a film for me (and

Rollerball   (1975) presents a dystopian future (set in 2018) where war no longer exists. In its place a violent sport captivates society, corporations have replaced countries, and the spectacle of Rollerball is used to control the masses by stripping away individuality. One top player, Jonathan E. ( James Caan ) presents a threat to the corporate control by fighting for his personal freedom. Independent thought could lead to revolt and the corporations can't have that so they attempt to convince Jonathan to retire. Rollerball   has an excellent, prophetic premise and great production design and cinematography, yet it still doesn't quite fully deliver as a piece of cinema. Caan mumbles his way through the film in an odd but good performance. It's a pretty slow film outside of the game sequences, which provide some decent action, but nothing mind-blowing. The drama at the center of the film is murky, and the themes and characters are never satisfyingly explored.  Death Race

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 charm (and

There are more entertaining  Jaws  (1975) ( review ) rip-offs, there are funnier  Jaws  rip-offs, and there are gorier  Jaws  rip-offs ( The Last Shark   (1981) falls into all of those categories), but  Piranha   (1978) is one of the most well-made  Jaws  rip-offs ( Alligator   (1980) ( review ), which shares writer  John Sayles , has it beat). Piranha is a   campy knockoff (there's literally a camp in the film) that  Steven Spielberg  liked enough to hire  Joe Dante   to direct multiple films that he produced ( Twilight Zone: The Movie  (1983),  Gremlins  (1984) ( review ),  Innerspace   (1987),  Gremlins 2: The New Batch  (1990) ( review ) among them) and that spawned (sorry, not sorry) a sequel (1981's  Piranha II: The Spawning , directed (and disowned) by  James Cameron ), two remakes (1995's  Piranha , which I've yet to see, and 2010's  Piranha 3D , which is over the top fun) and a sequel to said remake (2012's  Piranha 3DD , which I've yet to see).  Pi

"And if there's a beast in men, it meets its match in women too." Neil Jordan 's  The Company Of Wolves  (1984) is a wonderful, surreal, fantastical anthology film that serves as an exploration of a young girl's budding sexuality, a cautionary tale of the dangers of strange men, and a horrifying fairy tale with themes of female empowerment. The cast (including  Angela Lansbury ,  David Warner , the young  Red Riding Hood -clad lead  Sarah Patterson , and an uncredited cameo by  Terence Stamp ) are all great, even when the dialogue is a bit silly at times. The visual f/x, including a couple of wolf transformations, are at times impressive and at times laughable, but all the while endearingly bizarre. The score is lush, varied, and unusual—the electronic aspects add to the mystery of the film. I love the artifice of the sets, particularly the well-staged, fog-enshrouded shots in the woods. There really is nothing quite like this film.  Recommended for fans of  Legen