THE DANMAN CAN

I don't tend to review short films, but with Simon Of The Desert   (1965) being 45 minutes long and one of  Luis Buñuel 's key works I thought it deserved one. SOTD was the last of three films that Buñuel made with  Silvia Pinal , the first being  Viridiana  (1961) (my review here ), the second being The  Exterminating Angel (1962) (which I have yet to see). Brook plays the overly pious Simón—considered a saint (based on  Simeon Stylites ) by his devotees—who has lived atop a tall pillar, praying, in the desert for six years, six weeks, and six days. Pinal plays the devil (deliciously), who attempts to seduce him down to earth three times in three different forms.  SOTD finds Buñuel in full-on surrealist, controversy-courting mode and tapping into (and satirizing) religious themes, which caused scandal (not the first or last time for the director) with the Vatican and the government. The performances, atmosphere, black & white ...

I didn't grow up with Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977), but when I first watched it, in my late twenties, I immediately fell in love with it (and have only loved it more through the years). It's melancholic, but I think it just hits a certain tone that a lot of other Christmas specials/TV movies fail to. Plus the Riverbottom Nightmare Band is one of my favorite things ever. Paul Williams ' songs are wonderful,  Jim Henson and company's artistry is delightful, and the message is timeless.

I don't typically review short films but Shinya Tsukamoto is one of my favorite directors so The Adventure Of Denchu-Kozo (1987) gets a pass. This short is an intriguing test run of sorts for his most famous film  Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), featuring basically the same cast and similar metal fetishizing. Denchu-Kozo is funnier and more melodramatic, just as confusing, just as bizarre and frenetic, but nowhere near as influential. Filled with his strange blend of theatricality, cybersexuality and inexplicable sci-fi/horror tendencies, Denchu-Kozo is a pure Tsukamoto film. The lighting and overall quality isn't always great but the handmade f/x and eclectic soundtrack keep the film constantly engrossing. While I’ve always wished that Tetsuo was 15 minutes longer, this film could stand to be 15 minutes shorter. Still, it’s a fascinating early work from a truly unique filmmaker. You can find my Shinya Tsukamoto Films Ranked list here .

Vincent Malloy is seven years old He’s always polite and does what he’s told For a boy his age, he’s considerate and nice But he wants to be just like Vincent Price He doesn’t mind living with his sister, dog and cats Though he’d rather share a home with spiders and bats There he could reflect on the horrors he’s invented And wander dark hallways, alone and tormented Vincent is nice when his aunt comes to see him But imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum He likes to experiment on his dog Abercrombie In the hopes of creating a horrible zombie So he and his horrible zombie dog Could go searching for victims in the London fog His thoughts, though, aren’t only of ghoulish crimes He likes to paint and read to pass some of the times While other kids read books like Go, Jane, Go! Vincent’s favourite author is Edgar Allen Poe One night, while reading a gruesome tale He read a passage that made him turn pale Such horrible news he could not survive For his b...