Welcome to BlogHub: the Best in Veteran and Emerging Classic Movie Blogs
You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Vigil in the Night (1940, George Stevens)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 17, 2017
Still of the Night is supreme melodrama. I mean, in its first ten minutes, the film manages to establish a small English town’s hospital, introduce stoic nurse Carole Lombard and her flighty sister Anne Shirley, throw them into tragedy and crisis, and kick Lombard into an entirely new setting. Stil read more
Operation Chromite (2016, John H. Lee)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 16, 2017
There’s no indication there’s a better movie anywhere in Operation Chromite. Director Lee just doesn’t have a handle on it. The script’s an uncomfortable mix of predictable and manipulative–director Lee and co-writer Lee Man-hee lay on the war movie jingoism so thick, it actually takes a while read more
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 15, 2017
It’s a Wonderful Life is going to be a tough one. When I was a kid, during the public domain days, Wonderful Life was omnipresent. It became a joke because of that omnipresence. But also because it’s undeniably sappy. And it has angels in it. It’s so saccharine, I didn’t even notice my eyes read more
Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 14, 2017
Rear Window is an absurdly good time. It’s breathtakingly produced and the set is a marvel on its own, but it’s also an absurdly good time. You’ve got Thelma Ritter chastising James Stewart not just for peeping, she also chastises him for not being serious enough about Grace Kelly. How could it read more
My Bodyguard (1980, Tony Bill)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 13, 2017
My Bodyguard is more than a little frustrating. Alan Ormsby’s script either completely changes in the second half–just in terms of how he constructs scenes, how much willful suspension of disbelief you need, whether or not lead Chris Makepeace is ever going to have a story of his own–or director read more
Django (1966, Sergio Corbucci)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 6, 2017
Right away, Djano sets itself to have a problem–gunfighter Franco Nero is just way too good. Just when he’s too unstoppable, too unbeatable, the film finds a way to make him even more unstoppable, more unbeatable. The first act of the film has him taking on a band of Confederate soldiers who have read more
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974, Michael Cimino)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 2, 2017
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is the story of men in all their complexities. Their desire for money, their desire for women, their desire for stylish clothes. Whether a young man–Jeff Bridges–or an older man–Clint Eastwood–how can any of us truly understand these deep, complex beings. I wish the read more
The Big Easy (1986, Jim McBride)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 1, 2017
There’s not much script structure like The Big Easy’s script structure. It’s an exceptionally constructed screenplay. The film’s great, but it all hinges on how Daniel Petrie Jr.’s script works. As previously introduced (whether onscreen or off) come back into the film, expanding on their read more
The Tiger and the Pussycat (1967, Dino Risi)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 31, 2016
The Tiger and the Pussycat tells the sad tale of forty-five year-old businessman, Vittorio Gassman. He’s just become a grandfather. His college-age son wants to have long hair. All of his wife’s friends are abandoned women; their husbands have run off with younger women. Gassman is dissatisfied. read more
She’s the One (1996, Edward Burns)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 27, 2016
She’s the One has a fantastic first act. Some of the banter doesn’t connect, but all of the performances are strong and when the banter does connect, it makes up for the rest. Director, writer, and star Burns relies a little too much on “gentle” homophobia for the banter between his character read more
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983, Jack Clayton)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 26, 2016
Nothing connects with Something Wicked This Way Comes, though Jonathan Pryce’s performance is probably the closest thing to a complete success. Jason Robards is often quite good, but he’s both protagonist and subject of the film, which neither director Clayton nor writer Ray Bradbury (adapting his read more
Flight of the Navigator (1986, Randal Kleiser)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 26, 2016
Flight of the Navigator works on a principal of delayed charm; eventually, it’s got to be charming, right? No, no, it doesn’t. The film’s a series of false starts. The only thing approaching a pay-off is Paul Reubens–voicing an alien spaceship–going into a riff on his “Pee-Wee” routine. read more
The NeverEnding Story (1984, Wolfgang Petersen), the international version
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 26, 2016
For most of The NeverEnding Story, director Petersen’s ability, the special effects, and active lead Noah Hathaway keep the whole thing going. It’s a gorgeous looking film, with great photography from Jost Vacano and exceptional editing from Jane Seitz. Hathaway’s character, a boy warrior, gets read more
The Last Starfighter (1984, Nick Castle)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 26, 2016
The Last Starfighter gets a long way on affability. Lead Lance Guest is nothing if not affable. Robert Preston plays an affable alien grifter. Dan O’Herlihy, completely covered in makeup, is affable as Guest’s alien co-pilot. And the whole concept of the thing–video game wunderkind Guest gets read more
Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin (1989, Christian I. Nyby II)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 26, 2016
Right off, the big problem with Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin is clear. Maybe not altogether clear in the first scene, but certainly when director Nyby gets around to having to try to do a suspense sequence. He bungles it. But while he’s bungling the action, he’s also bungling the read more
Dead Silence (2007, James Wan), the unrated version
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 18, 2016
Dead Silence is pretty dumb, but it’s often incredibly well-made, which makes up for a lot of the dumbness. There are a lot of problems with the acting–lead Ryan Kwanten is particularly lacking when delivering the weak dialogue though he’s otherwise acceptable as a scream king. Or, in the case read more
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975, Lawrence Schiller and Bruce Nyznik)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 17, 2016
The Man Who Skied Down Everest is a peculiar film. It’s straight, methodical narrative non-fiction. In 1970, Miura Yûichirô set out to ski down Everest. His expedition included a film crew. The resulting film doesn’t tell Miura’s story outside the present action–through narrator Douglas Rain, read more
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder (1989, Christian I. Nyby II)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 17, 2016
Raymond Burr does a fantastic job in Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder. He’s got it down. He even sells some of the sillier one liners in George Eckstein’s teleplay. At times, it seems like Eckstein is trying to goof on the idea of a Perry Mason TV movie. Or maybe he’s sincere and Nyby’s read more
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 11, 2016
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is an excellent collection of very funny sketches on a theme. It’s really funny. It’s often exceptionally well performed–acted is a bit of a stretch–and it’s got a wonderful tone. It also lacks narrative momentum, which is kind of extraordinary since it’s read more