Dafriend Or Dafoe

It’s our second review of a Wes Anderson picture, and while Fantastic Mr. Fox is to be commended for its technical achievements and original stylization, both Ann and Isaac agreed that something is just a tad off about this movie.  Is this a movie for children, or adults? It seems to want to be both...Read moreRead more

Bullfighter is a movie that sat on a shelf for nearly 5 years before its release on home video. There are many, many reasons for that. Though featured on the box art, Willem Dafoe is in this movie for maybe four minutes. And there’s barely any bullfighting. Or scenes that make any sense. This film...Read moreRead more

Dafoe’s best-reviewed featured film, according to Rotten Tomatoes, 2002’s Finding Nemo was a box office powerhouse, earning over $900 million during its theatrical run. Visually stunning and with a story that is heartwarming and surprisingly relatable, it’s no wonder that this animated feature is considered by many to be a Pixar classic. But is it good enough...Read moreRead more

This episode of Dafriend or Dafoe is not for the timid! We’re talking about Lars von Trier‘s highly controversial 2009 film, Antichrist! Full frontal nudity, genital mutilation, gore, child death, this movie has it all! Should you watch it? Can you even get through it? This is going to be a movie that splits many audiences...Read moreRead more

It’s the longest Dafoe movie we’ve watched to date- and it’s one of the longest episodes we’re ever recorded. This week we’re talking about The Last Temptation Of Christ, Martin Scorsese’s highly controversial 1988 film based on the novel of the same name. It’s been nearly 30 years since Isaac last watched this flick and Ann’s...Read moreRead more

This week we’re checking out a film where Dafoe has only one single scene – 1996’s Basquiat! The story behind the film, its director, and the artist himself are all fascinating and a story onto itself, but Isaac was just enamored with the nostalgia surrounding 1980’s New York City. Though short on Dafoe, this is...Read moreRead more

In the not too distant future, 95% of the world’s population has been infected with a disease which transforms them into vampires. The human blood supply, which the new vampire population needs to thrive, is about to run out unless Ethan Hawke can come up with a substitute. Everything changes when Hawke meets up with...Read moreRead more

Nominated for two Academy Awards, 1994’s Tom & Viv tells the story of the relationship between T. S. Eliot and his first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot. It’s based off a play that debuted 10 years prior and is a very hard to find movie. Should you watch it? Ehhhhhhhhhh, yes? No? Dafoe’s not over-the-top but he does come off...Read moreRead more

Last week we talked about Dafoe’s biggest box office success of all time. Today, we’re talking about what could arguably be his worst. Tomorrow You’re Gone is described as “Charlie Rankin, recently released from prison, seeks vengeance for his jail-house mentor William “The Buddha” Pettigrew. Along the way, he meets the ethereal, yet streetwise, Florence Jane....Read moreRead more

The biggest box-office blockbuster of Willem Dafoe’s career, and the film that arguably rebooted the entire superhero genre, 2002’s “Spider-Man” was a huge success that thrust Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi into the mainstream spotlight. 16 years later (wow, times flies!) how does this flick hold up? Is Dafoe threatening behind a plastic mask? Does...Read moreRead more

Based on a popular series of Dean Koontz novels, 2013’s Odd Thomas was a film that suffered from legal problems during and after its production. The movie actually sat on the shelf for nearly two years while the financiers took the producers to court.  Starring the late Anton Yelchin as the titular character, Odd Thomas...Read moreRead more

“In the not-too-distant future, two New York businessmen plot to play two multinational rival corporations against each other, with a little help from a shady Italian street woman, to obtain an important Japanese businessman for the company they work at, only things are not always as they appear.” Sounds like an interesting idea for a...Read moreRead more

IMDB describes American Psycho as a film about a wealthy New York investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, who hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies. That in itself may be a little too on the nose of a description but despite all prior...Read moreRead more

Based on the real-life story of Bob Crane and his fall from grace due to his illicit activities with video cameras and sexual deviance, Auto Focus is the third Paul Schrader film we’ve watched for this podcast, but the best by far. In fact, Isaac has a theory that Schrader had little to do with the actual...Read moreRead more

What happens when Willem Dafoe and Nicholas Cage have 25 days to spare? They make a movie like Dog Eat Dog, unfortunately! While available right now on Netflix streaming, either Ann or Isaac can recommend you watch this picture. This is violence-porn at its worst, masked as a black-comedy which is light on the comedy and...Read moreRead more

A man descends into madness. A woman is killed in a violent incident. A police officer must defuse a tense hostage situation. Sounds like any other crime thriller, right? Well, forget everything you’ve come to expect from this genre as Werner Herzog  “Confounds all convention and denies all expected pleasures, providing instead the delight of watching (him)...Read moreRead more

What happens when you mix 1950’s rocker style and 1980’s pop glam? You get 1984’s Streets of Fire, a box-office disaster which has found a new appreciation and legacy as the years go on.  Willem Dafoe’s second big-budget Hollywood film thanks to a referral by director Kathryn Bigelow, Streets of Fire deserves recognition for its boldness...Read moreRead more

Not to be confused with the Jay-Z album with the same name, 4:44 Last Day On Earth takes place almost entirely in a single apartment on a very special day for humanity- its last! The third collaboration between Willem Dafoe and director Abel Ferrara, this hard to find movie is sure to polarize viewers.  In this, our 20th...Read moreRead more

Nominated for an AARP “Movies for Grownups Award” for “Best Grownup Love Story”, Robert Redford and “Ellen” Mirren, 2004’s The Clearing is based on a true story, even though it never bothers to bring that up. Things happen for reasons and people react. Seriously. We try to find the silver lining in every Dafoe flick but...Read moreRead more

A movie written by a real-life felon, directed by Steve Buscemi, and co-starring the one and only Danny Trejo, 1999’s Animal Factory does a lot with very little. Willem Dafoe sports a shaved head, Edward Furlong is in his finest form as a fresh fish, and Mickey Rourke is incredible as a transexual inmate. Oh,...Read moreRead more