THE DANMAN CAN

Poorly lit, awkward, mostly unfunny, but fascinating in a car wreck/can't look away from it kind of way, Highball (1997) probably could have been a decent film had it been granted more time and money . As it exists, it's essentially  Noah Baumbach 's  The Room  (2003) ( review ) and I can fully understand why he asked to have his name removed from it. Noah Baumbach Feature Films Ranked

Dennis Hopper 's Chasers (1994), his final film as director, is a pretty by-the-books gender-swapped version of  Hal Ashby 's  The Last Detail   (1973) ( review ), a much more interesting, naturalistic, and funny film. A bunch of great actors show up in bit parts and the whole affair is rather fluffy and pleasing enough but it's a shame that the iconoclastic Hopper went out on such a safe note. Dennis Hopper Films Ranked

Salome's Last Dance (1988) was a blast. Madman  Ken Russell doing camp Oscar Wilde set in a brothel—what's not to love? Ken Russell Feature Films Ranked

Much in the way that Rian Johnson attempted to subvert film noir with 2005's  Brick   (my review here ), The Brothers Bloom (2008), his swing at the con movie, only half works for me. His next film, Looper   remains my favorite of his so far. TBB is cute and quirky but the tone is muddled. Some of the time it feels like  The Sting  (1973) (a perfect film), most of the time it feels like a  Wes Anderson  facsimile—particularly his 1996 debut  Bottle Rocket  (a near perfect film)—right down to the music choices and the inclusion of Adrien Brody . There's hints of Hal Ashby sprinkled throughout as well. There's fun to be had in the jet set/old-fashioned romance elements of the picture, but it suffers from being overlong and underwhelming. Is TBB a good film? Yes. Is it a great one? Not quite. You can find my Rian Johnson Feature Films Ranked  list here .

But I'm A Cheerleader   (1999) is a cute and campy conversion comedy that playfully satirizes gender roles and heteronormativity. It's got a great cast, a cool score, and fun, vibrant production design to reflect the themes. It's fairly predictable, a little sappy (not terribly so), and I didn't flat-out love it, but I understand its appeal and why it's a cult film. I did really enjoy it and I would definitely watch it again. Recommended for fans of John Waters  and  Psycho Beach Party   (2000) (my review here ).