Desk Set (1957, Walter Lang)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 16, 2017
Despite being an adaptation of a stage play and having one main set, Desk Set shouldn’t be stagy. The single main location–and its importance–ought to be able to outweigh the staginess. Desk Set does not, however, succeed in not being stagy. It puts off being stagy for quite a while, but not foreve read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 10: The Deadly Fog
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 16, 2017
The Deadly Fog is a clip chapter. Sadly, the fog doesn’t refer to the misting effect when Deadly goes into flashback to the moments from the first three chapters. After another lackluster cliffhanger resolution, Tristram Coffin ignores the weapon of mass destruction in a nearby car–he r read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 9: Ten Seconds to Live
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 15, 2017
Ten Seconds to Live is a new low as far as Rocket Men quality goes. It’s bad to the point the badness becomes more engaging than the story, partially because there’s no story, mostly because the good guys are just so dumb. The cliffhanger resolution is bad. The subsequent setup for the read more
The Invention of Lying (2009, Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 15, 2017
The Invention of Lying is a 100 minute exploration of a gag. In a world without lying–or any fictive creativity whatsoever–co-director, co-writer, and star Ricky Gervais one day spontaneously mutates and lies. He lies for personal gain, only to discover exploiting people doesn’t make him feel read more
The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ulmer)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 14, 2017
The Black Cat has a lot going on. It’s the story of two American honeymooners–David Manners and Julie Bishop–who, for whatever reason, decide Hungary is better than Niagara Falls. It’s also the story of a recently freed Hungarian soldier Bela Lugosi, who went into the war a read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 8: Suicide Flight
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 14, 2017
Maybe I missed Tristram Coffin revealing his Rocket Man identity to Mae Clarke and House Peters Jr. Or maybe they just don’t question only Rocket Man ever coming to their rescue after Coffin has put them in danger. This chapter is a mild improvement over the previous one, though the cliffhang read more
Sleeping Beauty (1959, Clyde Geronimi)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 13, 2017
Seven credited writers on Sleeping Beauty and none of them could figure out any dialogue to give the prince. Though, notwithstanding some cute banter between the three fairies, there’s not much good dialogue in Sleeping Beauty anyway. Villain Maleficent doesn’t even get any. Eleanor Audley’s great read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 7: Molten Menace
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 13, 2017
King of the Rocket Men made it to chapter seven before having a stinker. And Molten Menace isn’t even an exciting stinker, it’s just a plodding one. It’s also frustrating because it requires lead Tristram Coffin to be stupid about something a scene after he was talking about being cautious about read more
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 13, 2017
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is either terrifying or horrifying. Sometimes it’s a combination of the two. Sometimes it’s visual terror or horror, sometimes it’s audial, sometimes it’s just implied. Director Hooper has three different styles–daytime, nighttime, indoor&# read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 6: Secret of Rocket Man
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 12, 2017
With the opening cliffhanger resolution once again being tepid, it seems like Rocket Men is never going to get out of the bad opening rut. Poor Mae Clarke is simply dismissed from the chapter, not very gracious considering she’s just around to be in danger. There’s some brief setup for Tristram read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 5: Fatal Dive
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 11, 2017
Not much happens in Fatal Dive before the action–i.e. fisticuffs–starts. Tristram Coffin gets out of the previous chapter’s cliffhanger, inexplicably abandoning the interrupted fight, and heads off to consult with scientist on the lam James Craven. Meanwhile, House Peters Jr. is h read more
Something for an Empty Briefcase (1953, Don Medford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 11, 2017
For a while, it seems like Something for an Empty Briefcase is going to have some grit. It’s set in a rough New York neighborhood, albeit constructed out of cardboard (Briefcase is a “TV play”). Lead James Dean is a recently released ex-con who’s looking for one big score to read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 4: High Peril
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 10, 2017
One of King of the Rocket Men’s unintentional strengths is its brevity. The chapters never go on too long. They’re all just right, even when they’ve got lackluster events. Most of High Peril is lackluster. The opening cliffhanger resolution is lackluster, the group interrogation s read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 3: Dangerous Evidence
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 9, 2017
It’s another quick chapter, starting with a lackluster resolution to the previous cliffhanger–three chapters in, it appears King of the Rocket Men is going to just reveal something previously unseen in resolutions instead of the characters actually having to get out of anything. Unfortunately, Dang read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 2: Plunging Death
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 8, 2017
The coolest part of Plunging Death is a toss-up. It’s either when lead Tristram Coffin, who doesn’t get to participate in the chapter’s fisticuffs, pulls over to put on his rocket suit and take off to chase the villain or when Mae Clarke starts pursuing the villain in the first place. She and read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 1: Dr. Vulcan – Traitor
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 7, 2017
King of the Rocket Men’s first chapter, Dr. Vulcan – Traitor, opens with the mysterious Dr. Vulcan killing off members of the scientific establishment. The first couple just die in mysterious explosions, but the third has Dr. Vulcan taunting him with his impending doom. So far, not a great vi read more
Timecop (1994, Peter Hyams)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 7, 2017
Timecop is deceptively competent. Sort of. There’s often something off about it, but then director Hyams will do something else decent and distract. Hyams also manages to get a perfectly serviceable performance out of lead Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme’s unsure, cautious performance–he tries read more
The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 6, 2017
Despite the title, The Exorcist is about pretty much everything except the actual exorcist. When he does appear, kicking off the third act, it’s kind of a stunt. There’s a lot of implied mythology in the film, without much connective tissue–but nothing ruling out connective tissue. Director Friedki read more
The Brother from Another Planet (1984, John Sayles)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 6, 2017
Despite being about an alien who crash lands on Earth and finds himself stranded in New York City, The Brother from Another Planet takes its time getting to being a fish out of water story. Even when it does, it’s more like a fish being carefully transported in a cup of water to maybe some mo read more
Return to Glennascaul (1953, Hilton Edwards)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 4, 2017
Orson Welles stars in Return to Glennascaul as himself. He’s acting as a combination presenter and narrator. Amusing, he says he’s not going to be around for long, he’s busy making Othello after all. But then when star Michael Laurence starts telling Welles his story, Welles can’t let someone read more