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Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 10: Flying Spies
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 14, 2017
And now Batman is back to the misleading chapter titles. There aren’t spies in Flying Spies, there’s only one spy on the plane. After the laziest cliffhanger resolution in the series so far–and there have been some lazy ones–Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft take a break from c read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 9: The Sign of the Sphinx
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 13, 2017
Incredibly, Douglas Croft’s Robin doesn’t get beat up this chapter. Sure, Lewis Wilson still manages to get pummeled, but Croft makes it through without being incapacitated once. Well, except in the cliffhanger resolution and then only temporarily. After quickly ridding themselves of Sh read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 8: Lured by Radium
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 12, 2017
Lured by Radium actually does refer to the content of the chapter. It’s almost getting to be a habit for Batman. Unfortunately, all the serial’s other bad habits are in play here. The recap and resolution of the previous chapter takes a fifth of the runtime. Once again, boring resolutio read more
Quartet (1948, Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree, and Ken Annakin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 11, 2017
Quartet opens with what turns out to be a questionable introduction from source story author W. Somerset Maugham. In the rather stodgy introduction to the film–featuring adaptations of four personal favorites from Maugham’s extensive bibliography–Maugham indentifies adjectives critics have given read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 7: The Phoney Doctor
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 11, 2017
The best part of The Phoney Doctor is Charles Middleton. He’s the rough and tumble prospector, albeit one who falls for a phoney doctor, but he’s got personality and presence. He’s unexpected. Everything else in Batman, down to Batman and Robin getting beat up yet again, is predic read more
Even the Rain (2010, Icíar Bollaín)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 11, 2017
Even the Rain has a particular narrative distance as it starts, then changes to another one a little later on. Director Bollaín doesn’t transition gradually between these two vantage points; she keeps the pacing of scenes and how they flow into each other, just from the new distance. The film has read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 6: Poison Peril
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 10, 2017
Poison Peril actually fits a lot into the chapter. Narrative too, not just racism. Lots of racism this time around, with the screenwriters rushing to fit in slurs. There’s the exceptionally weak cliffhanger resolution–it’s like they aren’t even cliffhangers as much as pauses in action–J. Carrol read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 5: The Living Corpse
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 9, 2017
Shockingly, The Living Corpse actually doesn’t involve a living corpse. It’s far from the most dynamic living corpse in cinema history, but it’s at least present in the chapter it entitles. The Corpse has most to do with J. Carrol Naish’s half of the chapter. He’s got two schemes, with one read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 4: Slaves of the Rising Sun
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 8, 2017
When the chapter title refers to Slaves of the Rising Sun, I guess it means J. Carol Naish’s traitorous American henchmen. They really don’t do anything; well, Robert Fiske argues with Naish about Japan’s chances in the war to ill result, but otherwise, they don’t really do anything. They don’t read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 3: The Mark of the Zombies
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 7, 2017
Despite a tantalizing title, The Mark of the Zombies has nothing to do with zombies’ marks. If there is a zombie, it’s Gus Glassmire, who’s just been electronically brainwashed by J. Carrol Naish. Glassmire still refuses to sell out the U.S. to Japan–it’s inexplicable why Naish asks him again, read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 2: The Bat’s Cave
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 6, 2017
While the resolution to the previous chapter’s cliffhanger is extremely lackluster, The Bat’s Cave sort of recovers as it goes along. It just has to get through Batman Lewis Wilson terrifying butler William Austin with the radioactive laser gun. Then it’s time for villain J. Carol Naish to order read more
Batman (1943, Lambert Hillyer), Chapter 1: The Electrical Brain
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 5, 2017
The first chapter of Batman introduces the main cast–Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft as Batman and Robin (and their alter egos), villain J. Carrol Naish, damsel in distress Shirley Patterson–and establishes some of the ground situation. Naish is an evil Japanese agent (if Electric Brain is any indic read more
Alien: Covenant (2017, Ridley Scott)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 5, 2017
Alien: Covenant is at its best when its pedestrian as opposed to anything else. Director Scott botches all of the big action set pieces; the more CGI vehicles involved, the worse it gets. The first false ending action sequence has “protagonist” Katherine Waterston suspended in mid-air from a careen read more
Waiting for Guffman (1996, Christopher Guest)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 4, 2017
Waiting for Guffman is a story of dreams and dreamers. Director (co-writer and star) Guest opens the film with shots of a small American town, Blaine, Missouri. It’s a town with a lot of history and a lot of heart. Sure, it’s all absurd history, but those absurdities just make the heart beat strong read more
The Moon and Sixpence (1942, Albert Lewin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 4, 2017
The Moon and Sixpence has a number of serious problems, all of them the fault of director and screenwriter Lewin. As a director, while never spectacular, Lewin manages some competence and ambition. He tells Moon and Sixpence in a series of summarized flashbacks. Those flashbacks, narratively and bu read more
Kes (1969, Ken Loach)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 2, 2017
Kes has a forecasted structure (so long as you can understand the Yorkshire accents). Teenager David Bradley is about to leave school and head into the workforce. His older brother, played by Freddie Fletcher, works in the coal mines and Bradley knows he doesn’t want that career. They share a bed read more
Dark Legacy (2017, Anthony Pietromonaco)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 26, 2017
Dark Legacy opens with a shot of a solar system. The “camera” descends to one of the planets. Then we find out it’s a Star Wars short. Because, until that point, director Pietromonaco could be doing anything. He’s just showcasing the visuals. Not showing off. Showcasing. It’s such a nice difference read more
Kong: Skull Island (2017, Jordan Vogt-Roberts)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 22, 2017
Kong: Skull Island has a deceptively thoughtful first act. Director Vogt-Roberts and his three screenwriters carefully and deliberately introduce the cast and the seventies time period (the film’s set immediately following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam). The script’s smart in the first act, givi read more
John and Mary (1969, Peter Yates)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 21, 2017
Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow are John and Mary, respectively, and they’ve just woken up after spending the night together. They met at a singles bar. Is it going to be a one night stand or is it going to be something more? Both come with some baggage, though of different varieties. Farrow’s last read more
Undercurrent (1946, Vincente Minnelli)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 20, 2017
Undercurrent is the story of newlyweds Katharine Hepburn and Robert Taylor. She’s recovering from being in danger of old maidhood–despite being raised by two scientists, she’s content just cleaning up after widower father Edmund Gwenn’s home laboratory. Taylor is a captain o read more