THE DANMAN CAN

I first saw Inland Empire (2006) in its original limited theatrical run at the Brattle Theatre . I was very excited to see it—a new  David Lynch  film in the cinema! While I appreciated aspects of it, unfortunately, I didn’t love it. I bought the DVD in 2007, watched it a second time, and still didn’t love it. Now I’ve seen the film a third time, via The Criterion Collection ’s Blu-ray …and I still don’t love it.  Most of all, I hated the cheap SD Mini DV look (the first time Lynch shot a feature film digitally). Criterion claims that Lynch made “visionary” use of the format but I don't totally agree. There's a film called Black Night , released one year before IE , which was also shot on video and which is very Lynchian (and Kafka esque) that I think made better use of the video format (I hope that film receives a Blu-ray release some day, I remember really enjoying it). Despite the weird but interesting remastering process  for the Criterion BD—which does mak...

Bloodsuckers From Outer Space (1984) blends  Zucker   Brothers / Abrahams -style humor with amateur acting and poorly executed gore. Director Glen Coburn (who also has a role in the film) has his characters knowingly break the fourth wall more than once. BFOS  is a very low budget affair and not a very good picture at all but it's really really  fun and very endearing. Movies like this, that are overtly self-aware, can be hit or miss, but this one works. I hadn't laughed this much at a film in a long time. The theme song is also a jam . Recommended for fans of John Waters ,  Troma , Die You Zombie Bastards!   (2005), and  The Return Of The Living Dead   (1985) ( review ), which bears more than a passing resemblance to this film but is far far  better.

Noah Baumbach 's second film, Mr. Jealousy  (1997), definitely meanders a bit and Eric Stoltz feels slightly miscast, but the story is interesting, the characters relatable in some way or other (flaws and all), and it's got some pretty funny moments. Annabella Sciorra  is delightful, though her character's choices feel a bit off and somehow unjustified. All in all, a "minor" Baumbach (" popular in schools "), but—as is typically the case with his films—very enjoyable. Noah Baumbach Feature Films Ranked

Vincente Minnelli 's Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) is filled with all the qualities that make a truly classic movie musical—exuberance, melodrama, memorable songs, beautiful costumes, and wonderful performances. Though it seems tenuous, the illusion of the perfect family dynamic is never shattered. Even in the film's darker moments the Smith family bond seems to be unbreakable.  MMISL  hits all the precise beats for maximum entertainment—it's joyful, it's fun and fancy free, it's melancholic, and it's a tearjerker. As the saying goes, they don't make 'em like they used to.

Freeway (1996), Matthew Bright ’s darkly hilarious take on Little Red Riding Hood , treads in similar ground to other scuzzy ‘90s crime films but does a commendable job of subverting expectations a number of times.  At only 19, Reese Witherspoon is as good here as she is in 1999's  Election   ( review ) and really leaves an impression. Kiefer Sutherland takes a bit of a backseat to Witherspoon, screen time-wise, but is perfectly sinister as a pedo predator. Brittany Murphy , in a smaller role, is as awkward, weird, and charming as she was in the following year’s  Drive  ( review ). I had no idea going into Freeway that Danny Elfman composed the film, so that was a welcome surprise—particularly because it’s a fun score, before Elfman started churning out bland sonic wallpaper.  I love the genre-mashing happening in this trash odyssey—it dabbles in street drama, serial killer psychological horror, women’s prison picture, and road movie, all while maintai...

I am fan of a great many films that Robert Kurtzman and KNB EFX Group  have supplied makeup and effects for but I wasn't aware that Kurtzman has directed a few films (most notably 1997's Wishmaster ). The Rage (2007) is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination but it's pretty hilarious. I'm not typically into overly mean-spirited horror films but when they are this over the top and absurdly funny, I don't mind them.  In its better moments, The Rage  reminded me of some of  Brian Yuzna 's efforts but it definitely lacks finesse and reeks of "affects-guy-in-the-director's-chair." It also reminded me of Eli Roth , Adam Green , and Rob Zombie  (none of whom I have a particular affinity for), but all of them have made at least one movie that is light years better than this one. There's more than a few obvious  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre  (1974) ( review ) references. The look of the film is ugly and cheap. The CGI is abhorrently bad, an...

It's undeniably undercooked and has a bit of a TV movie feel at times but David Twohy 's The Grand Tour (aka Timescape ) (1992) is still a charming low budget sci-fi film.  Jeff Daniels and Ariana Richards make an endearing father-daughter duo and there's some  Spielberg ian magic that presides over this fun little time travel adventure. With bigger production values and a stronger script, this could have been something special. As it is, it sits comfortably in an area that feels like it could have been made in the late '80s, before 1990s bombast became the standard.

Philip Kaufman 's  Rising Sun  is very dated in numerous ways (politically, representationally, technologically) and it's not even in the same league as that other little 1993 Michael Crichton film adaptation. Still, it's a solidly entertaining and stylish thriller—in some ways reminiscent of '70s espionage pictures, in other ways, the giallo. It's got a great cast (the Connery / Snipes  buddy cop pair-up provides plenty of amusement) and strong cinematography by Michael Chapman . Philip Kaufman Films Ranked

Philip Kaufman 's The Wanderers (1979), cowritten with his wife Rose  and based on the novel by Richard Price , is the story of teens in gangs growing up in the Bronx in 1963. It's a bit episodic in nature and it kind of meanders (or wanders, perhaps?) but it's very entertaining. Its theme of fighting between races is never satisfactorily explored either, but it has a lot of really memorable characters and a killer soundtrack. Michael Chapman 's cinematography is, as always, a feast. Recommended for fans of The Warriors (1979) ( review ), American Graffiti (1973) ( review ),  The Outsiders   (1983) ( review ), and  Animal House  (1978). Philip Kaufman Films Ranked

While  Dennis Hopper 's Colors (1988) is one of the earliest examples of a hood film —preceding both Boyz N The Hood (1991) and Menace II Society  (1993), two of the most popular movies in the subgenre—it lacks the edge of either of those well-known examples. And while  Colors  does give a decent amount of screen time to its gang members (portrayed by familiar faces like Don Cheadle , Grand L. Bush , and Damon Wayans ), it favors the junior/senior buddy cop dynamic of Sean Penn and Robert Duvall above anything else ( Maria Conchita Alonso also gets short shrift). It's an entertaining picture but it doesn't bear much of Hopper's stamp and it doesn't delve too deeply into the implications and systemic issues of its subject matter. Dennis Hopper Films Ranked

While I don't necessarily think it's a misunderstood masterpiece, there is no denying that Dennis Hopper 's The Last Movie (1971) is fascinating (as much for the history of its creation and its reception as the movie itself). So too is the documentary The American Dreamer  (1971)—made during post-production of TLM  and presented in a style very similar to Hopper's films—which scarily portrays him to be not so different from Charles Manson .  The Last Movie  is a beautifully shot (in Peru), self-reflective, head trip that touches on colonialism, the destructive nature of the film industry, and some men's need to implode themselves. It's also narcissistic, rambling, and serves as a giant middle finger to traditional narrative filmmaking. Recommended for fans of Easy Rider (1969),  El Topo   (1970) ( review ), and  Out Of The Blue   (1980) ( review ). Dennis Hopper Films Ranked