THE DANMAN CAN

You kind of have to admire a movie with a protagonist as ruthless as Sonny Chiba 's Takuma "Terry" Tsurugi in 1974's The Street Fighter . The film makes no bones about the fact that Terry (in the English dub) is a bastard (though he does have a few, um, tender moments) and his over the top mean-mugging is endlessly enjoyable. The plot is a bit hard to follow and honestly not that interesting, and even the fights are a little sloppy, but Chiba's physicality and the sleazy exploitation factor are what truly sell the picture.  The   Street Fighter  was one of the first commercially successful films for distributer New Line Cinema  and also notable for being the first film to receive an X-rating in the US for violence alone. Toei really capitalized on the success of TSF —amazingly cranking out two sequels ( Return Of The Street Fighter   and  The Street Fighter's Last Revenge ) plus two (out of four) of the Sister Street Fighter  spinoff series films ( S...

It's a shame that  Michele Soavi   hasn’t made more horror films. He made a few very good ones in the late 1980s to early 1990s.  Dario Argento ’s stamp is all over  The Sect  (1991) (he co-wrote and produced it, and some of the shots are similar to his style), but it's also reminiscent of  Guillermo del Toro ’s early work and steeped in a Wonderland -like sensibility. The film is chock full of surreal, oneiric imagery, atmospheric sets, and squirm-inducing makeup effects (all never looking better than on Severin Films ’ recent  4K UHD ).  Kelly Curtis  ( Jamie Lee 's sister) is an engaging lead and  Herbert Lom  is great in one of his last feature film roles.  Recommended for fans of  Rosemary’s Baby   (1968) ( review ),  The Wicker Man   (1973) ( review ),  Phenomena  (1985) ( review ), and  Cronos   (1993). Michele Soavi Feature Films Ranked

One of a slew of adult-friendly family films made in the 1980s, where the sense of peril aimed at kids was much more tangible,  D.A.R.Y.L. (1985) is an entertaining and heartfelt sci-fi adventure. It’s one of those films that requires a monumental amount of suspension of disbelief, but it’s a great story and a fun film. Featuring a charming cast, a lush score, impressive stunts, and notable for its use of the SR-71 Blackbird ,  D.A.R.Y.L. is a modern retelling of  Pinocchio  where an AI boy must—with the help of a few empathic human friends—outwit the military that created him. Recommended for fans of  WarGames  (1983) ( review ),  Cloak & Dagger  (1984), Explorers (1985), and  Flight Of The Navigator   (1986) ( review ).

Robert Wise ’s Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) concerns three desperate, flawed men (one a raging bigot) who plan and commit a heist. With its trio of fantastic performances ( Harry Belafonte ,  Robert Ryan , and  Ed Begley ), loose structure, exciting jazz score, a social conscience that never comes off preachy, and a tense finale, OAT  is a terrific late-era classic period noir.   Robert Wise Feature Films Ranked Film Noir Feature Films Ranked

Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) is a solid submarine thriller with two iconic leads. While it's a bit slow and repetitive, in director  Robert Wise 's capable hands, the film is nevertheless a handsomely shot drama about obsession and vengeance with a few quite tense moments. A perfect lazy Sunday afternoon feature. Robert Wise Feature Films Ranked

When High Tension (2003) hit US theaters in wide release in 2005, I saw it twice in two days. Even then, I didn't particularly love the improbable (and much derided) twist ending, and I still think the film would work better as a straightforward slasher (although then I guess it wouldn't be the movie that it is), but at the time it felt like a shot in the arm for a quasi-mainstream horror film. The last time I watched the picture was 2010 and, while I definitely like it less now, I can't deny that  Giannetto De Rossi 's gruesome makeup effects still pack a punch, the film has a pleasingly dark and grimy look, and the sound design (plus ambient score) does a commendable job of creating suspense throughout.   Alexandre Aja Feature Films Ranked

I would argue that 1994’s The Hudsucker Proxy is Joel and  Ethan Coen ’s most underrated film, but that honor goes to 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty ( review ), as THP seems to have enjoyed a bit of a reevaluation in the last decade or so. Pitch perfectly cast—down to the smallest bit part—and gorgeously shot by  Roger Deakins  (Art Deco heaven), replete with superb, rapid-fire dialogue and editing, THP  is the  Coen Bros.  (and co-writer  Sam Raimi ’s) love letter to screwballs / Howard Hawks / Frank Capra /et al. that still feels 100% their own. Pure comedic brilliance and you can’t tell me otherwise. And it’s not just, you know, for kids. Coen Bros Feature Films Ranked Top 20 Directors