THE DANMAN CAN

There's no denying that 1981's  Heartbeeps  should have turned out better than it did. You have  Allan Arkush  (of 1979's  Rock 'N' Roll High School ) in the director's chair, you have "anti-comedian"  Andy Kaufman at the height of his notoriety and the always lovely and endearing Bernadette Peters  playing robots who fall in love, you have really fun special makeup effects by the soon-to-be legendary  Stan Winston  (who was nominated for, but lost, the first Academy Award for Best Makeup— Rick Baker  won for  An American Werewolf In London  ( review ) ), you have a wonderful score by John Williams  which uses a lot of synthesizer (uncommon for the famous composer), and you have a strong (though underutilized) supporting cast including Randy Quaid , Kenneth McMillan ,  Melanie Mayron , Christopher Guest ,  Dick Miller , Kathleen Freeman ,  Mary Woronov , and  Paul Bartel . Despite all this, the fi...

A really charming fish out of water romantic comedy by Fran Rubel Kuzui ,  Tokyo Pop (1988) is a sweet little indie movie with a ton of heart. Kuzui's only other feature film credit as director is Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992), though she was also a producer for Orgazmo (1997) ( review ), which I find quite amusing. Some of the songs in TP are pretty vanilla and the story is a bit undercooked, but it's still a very enjoyable and engaging picture.

A critical and commercial failure,  Francis Ford Coppola 's One From The Heart  (1981) has enjoyed a bit of a reevaluation and is now considered, by some, to be one of his best films. A first time viewing for me, I decided to watch the Reprise version, which is shorter than the theatrical cut. I'm not quite sure why the film has a reputation for being bad because I loved it. It's technically innovative, visually breathtaking, earnest, sexy, and impressively choreographed (plus it has some of the coolest opening titles ever). Telling the story of a Las Vegas couple ( Teri Garr , Frederic Forrest ) on the rocks, both seeking thrills in the form of possible new partners ( Raul Julia , Nastassja Kinski ), OFTH  features some of the most gorgeous imagery ever set to celluloid (courtesy of cinematographer  Vittorio Storaro  and production designer Dean Tavoularis ). An ambitious revisionist musical (with songs by the singular Tom Waits ), OFTH  is domestic d...

Without ever being gratuitous,  Paul Schrader 's Affliction (1997) is one the bleakest, most downbeat explorations of toxic masculinity and alcoholism ever put to film. Strong performances across the board, intentionally bland cinematography (set in a fictional town in snowy northern New Hampshire), and a moody, ominous score by Michael Brook  create a chilling portrait of tragedy. Paul Schrader Feature Films Ranked

Kind Hearts And Coronets  (1949), perhaps the best of the  Ealing comedies , is a misanthropic romp, full of gallows humor, wonderful performances, and economic writing/direction by  Robert Hamer. Dennis Price  plays our antihero, Louis Mazzini, who casually murders the members of the D'Ascoyne family, in order to inherit the title of duke (robbed of him due to his mother marrying below her social class). The eight D'Ascoyne family members that Louis murders are all famously (and splendidly) brought to life by  Alec Guinness . Price gives a delightfully dry performance and it's hard not to root him on, even though Louis himself is a bit of a cad. Along with his gleeful murder spree, our protagonist carries on an affair with a married woman, Sibella (deliciously played by  Joan Greenwood )—every bit the equal of the plotting and vengeful Louis. Although not necessarily a film of the laugh out loud variety,  Kind Hearts And Coronets  is a class...