THE DANMAN CAN

1.    Memoir Of A Snail   ****1/2 ( review ) 2.    Kinds Of Kindness  **** ( review ) 3.    The Substance   **** ( review ) 4.    The Zone Of Interest (2023) **** ( review ) 5.    Rebel Ridge   **** ( review ) 6.    Shadow Of Fire   (2023) **** ( review ) 7.    The Dead Don't Hurt  (2023) ***1/2 ( review ) 8.    Love Lies Bleeding   ***1/2 ( review ) 9.    Nosferatu   ***1/2 ( review ) 10.  Daaaaaalí!  (2023) ***1/2 ( review ) 11. Frankie Freako ***1/2 ( review ) 12. Dune: Part Two ***1/2 ( review ) 13.  Drive-Away Dolls   *** ( review ) 14. Abigail *** ( review ) 15.  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice  *** ( review ) 16.  Longlegs   *** ( review ) 17.  MaXXXine  *** ( review ) 18.  Stopmotion   (2023) *** ( review ) 19.  Alien: Romulus   *** ( review ) 20.  Megalopolis   *** ( review )...

Undeniably Robert Eggers ' wheelhouse and filled with strong imagery and solid performances, Nosferatu (2024), while a very good and entertaining film, doesn't set itself apart enough story and atmosphere-wise from the many film adaptations of this tale, including  F.W. Murnau 's  Nosferatu  (1922) ( review ),  Tod Browning 's  Dracula  (1931) ( review ),  Werner Herzog 's  Nosferatu The Vampyre  (1979) ( review ), and  Francis Ford Coppola 's  Dracula  (1992) ( review ). Robert Eggers Feature Films Ranked

1.    Crimes Of The Future   **** ( Review ) 2.    The Banshees Of Inisherin   **** ( Review ) 3.    The Fabelmans   **** ( Review ) 4.    Pearl   **** ( Review ) 5.    The Northman   ***1/2 ( Review ) 6.    Confess, Fletch   ***1/2 ( Review ) 7.    The Whale   ***1/2 ( Review ) 8.    Bones And All   ***1/2 ( Review ) 9.    Decision To Leave   ***1/2 10.  X   ***1/2 ( Review ) 11.  The Menu   *** ( Review ) 12.  Glass Onion   *** ( Review ) 13.  Scream  *** ( Review ) 14.  Kimi   *** ( Review ) 15.  King Knight   (2021) *** ( Review ) 16.  Barbarian   ( Review ) 17.  Prey  ***   ( Review ) 18.  Nope   *** ( Review ) 19.  White Noise   *** ( Review ) 20. Blonde *** Biggest Disappointments Jurassic World Dominion  **1/2 ( Review ) The Black Phone...

The Witch   (2015)   is one quiet film. There are moments of sudden alarming noise, to be sure. And the tension remains throughout, even in the quietest moments. But it's a textbook definition of a slow burner. The performances are excellent across the board, the cinematography is exceptional (shot with mostly natural light only), the excruciating level of detail of the production to achieve authenticity shows, and the atmosphere is creepy as all get-out. I've seen  The Witch  four times now in three different formats (cinema, Blu-ray, and UHD) and it's been an engaging and enveloping experience each time—it's an excellent horror film but also a really good dark religious family drama. Recommended for fans of  Valhalla Rising   (2009),  A Field In England   (2013) ( review ),   The House Of The Devil   (2009) ( review ),   and  Rosemary's Baby   (1968). Robert Eggers Feature Films Ranked

While it's good to see that a $70–90 million budget hasn't stripped  Robert Eggers  of his trademarks, The Northman (2022) is undoubtedly my least favorite of his three features so far (my reviews of  The Witch   (2015)  here  and  The Lighthouse  (2019) here ). There is no denying the gorgeous cinematography by Jarin Blaschke , who shot both of Eggers' other features, and the cast is solid all around (though I found the accents a trifle distracting), but the oft-told tale—the legend of Amleth —(or similar versions of it) has been adapted/interpreted so many times before that it felt a bit too familiar.  I appreciate that The Northman isn't merely battle scenes and offers a bit more in the way of characters but these archetypes are so well-worn that it was difficult for me to connect wholeheartedly. Each act of the film has something exciting to offer and, despite being an epic of sorts, the film still feels smaller and personal in scal...

1.    The Irishman   ****1/2 ( Review ) 2.    Uncut Gems  ****1/2 ( Review ) 3.    Deadwood: The Movie  ****1/2 ( Review ) 4.    Marriage Story  ****1/2 ( Review ) 5.    The Nightingale  (2018) **** ( Review ) 6.    The Lighthouse   **** ( Review ) 7.    Knives Out  **** ( Review ) 8.    Once Upon A Time In Hollywood   ***1/2 ( Review ) 9.    Midsommar  ***1/2 ( Review ) 10.  The Dead Don't Die  ***1/2 ( Review ) 11.  Joker   ***1/2 ( Review ) 12.  Doctor Sleep  ***1/2 ( Review ) 13.  Dragged Against Concrete  (2018) ***1/2 ( Review ) 14.  Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker   *** ( Review ) 15.  El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie   *** ( Review ) 16.  High Flying Bird  *** ( Review ) 17.  Ready Or Not  *** ( Review ) 18.  Us  *** ( Review ) 19....

In Robert Eggers ' sophomore feature, the  Poe / Lovecraft -inspired   The Lighthouse  (2019), the sanity of two wickies  (portrayed by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson ) is brought to question when their scheduled four-week contract is extended due to a storm, which may have been brought on by an act of violence perpetrated by one of them. While I wouldn't say that The Lighthouse  offers any surprises or twists, I don't think it needs them. Its primal story (Eggers co-wrote the screenplay with his brother  Max ) is chock-full of period prose, imaginative insults, and well-timed farts (yes). Dafoe's salty (former) seafarer, Thomas Wake, is perfection, one of those "born to play" roles, and his sinister Poseidon / Neptune -like quality is a force on screen. Pattinson as Ephraim Winslow is quite good as well, forced to endure the verbal and physical punishment doled out via Wake (when he calls Winslow "pretty as a picture” it feels as if he's speci...

The Witch   (2015)   is one quiet film. There are moments of sudden alarming noise, to be sure. And the tension remains throughout, even in the quietest moments. But it's a textbook definition of a slow burner. The performances are excellent across the board, the cinematography is exceptional (shot with mostly natural light only), and the atmosphere is creepy as all get-out. I've seen The Witch  three times now in as many formats (cinema, Blu-ray, and this time UHD) and all signs point to this being a film that will stand the test of time. Recommended for fans of  Valhalla Rising   (2009),  A Field In England   (2013) ( review ),   The House Of The Devil   (2009) ( review ),   and  Rosemary's Baby   (1968).

See my previous review of The Witch  (2015)  here . The lack of annoying audience members this time definitely increased my appreciation of this film.

The Witch   (2015)   has got to be one of the quietest films I've ever seen. There are moments of sudden alarming noise, to be sure. And the tension remains throughout, even in the quietest moments. But this one is the textbook definition of a slow burner, which doesn't translate well to modern cinema-goers. Or maybe the audience I saw this film with just sucked. Well they did, but I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of people saying this film was boring or dumb and "nothing happened." Me, I loved it. But the audience almost ruined it for me—constant chatter, popcorn bags rustling, inappropriately-timed laughter, exasperated sighs—the works. I kid you not, I nearly walked out. So I very much look forward to a second viewing.  The story is incredibly simple, I'll just steal from IMDb here: "A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession." That's all you really need to know. The per...