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.
Star Trek Beyond (2016, Justin Lin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 24, 2016
I want to like Star Trek Beyond more than I do. I want to be able to look past its problems. It has a whole lot of problems. Michael Giacchino’s music is awful. Stephen F. Windon’s photography is lame. The four editors don’t do any particularly good work, though they’re not read more
Along Came Jones (1945, Stuart Heisler)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 22, 2016
Along Came Jones gets by on its gimmick and its charm–it’s got a lot of charm, both from the cast and Nunnally Johnson’s screenplay, which is good as director Heisler doesn’t bring any. Jones is a lower budget Western, lots of rear screen projection, lots of boring setups fr read more
Clerks (1994, Kevin Smith)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 20, 2016
Clerks operates on intensity. But it’s mostly dialogue and there’s not a lot of action. So director Smith relies on surprises, whether visual, in dialogue, in plot. At its best, Clerks is creative with its constraints. At its worst, Clerks is lead Brian O’Halloran whining (badly, read more
Mothra 2: The Undersea Battle (1997, Miyoshi Kunio)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 17, 2016
Mothra 2: The Undersea Battle is incredibly disappointing. It should be glorious in its stupidity–Mothra at one point turns into a giant fish-moth. Or is it moth-fish? There’s an underwater city raised up. There’s a furry E.T. or Gizmo-type creature and it’s got magical piss read more
Zootopia (2016, Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 16, 2016
Ah, the socially responsible children’s movie, or: the progressive soulless capitalism of the Walt Disney Corporation, twenty-first century iteration. I went into Zootopia waiting for it to be great–I assumed the filmmakers would take responsibility for the big questions they imply̵ read more
The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 16, 2016
The Third Man runs just over a hundred minutes and takes place over a few days. It’s never clear just how many; director Reed and writer Graham Greene are both resistant to the idea of making the film too procedural. Greene’s scenes, even when they’re expository, still strive agai read more
Bed of Roses (1996, Michael Goldenberg)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 12, 2016
A couple immediate thoughts occurred to me as Bed of Roses started. First, is it a good idea to be watching Bed of Roses? (Spoiler: no, it’s not). Second, what’s going on with Mary Stuart Masterson’s performance? It’s not a movie saving performance because it’s a terri read more
Over the Top (1987, Menahem Golan)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 11, 2016
Is Over the Top terrible? Yes. It’s a terrible film. Is it an interesting terrible film? No. I mean, maybe if you wanted to examine Giorgio Moroder’s inept eighties synthesizer score or David Gurfinkel’s weird photography, you might be able to find some kernels of interest. But it read more
Detective Story (1951, William Wyler)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 10, 2016
Detective Story, the film, is William Wyler’s “production” of Sidney Kingsley’s play of the same title. Philip Yordan and Robert Wyler adapted the play. Wyler directed and produced the film. It is a stage adaptation and proud of it. The phrasing above is directly adapted fro read more
Thirteen Women (1932, George Archainbaud)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 9, 2016
Thirteen Women runs just under an hour. A minute under an hour. There was pre-release cutting on the studio’s part. But with those fifty-nine minutes, director Archainbaud is still able to create one heck of a creepy film. The film’s not a mystery. It’s not even a thriller. ItR read more
The 39 Steps (1935, Alfred Hitchcock)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 7, 2016
There are numerous good moments in The 39 Steps. Even the clunky finale is a good moment–director Hitchcock knows he’s got a good moment, he just doesn’t know how to fill in around it. This inability on Hitchcock’s part makes The 39 Steps immediately interesting when compare read more
Jaws: The Revenge (1987, Joseph Sargent), the international version
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 4, 2016
If only there were something remarkable about Jaws: The Revenge. Just one thing terrible enough about it to make it somehow interesting. Jaws: The Revenge is unremarkably bad in its unremarkable badness. As the opening titles rolled, with shark POV of a New England harbor, I wanted it to be some ki read more
[BASP] An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997, Arthur Hiller)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 4, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Thirty An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997, Arthur Hiller) Originally posted: May 5, 2014 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
Highlander: The Source (2007, Brett Leonard)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 3, 2016
I wish there were nice things to say about Highlander: The Source. I wish every statement didn’t have to have a qualifier. For example, Adrian Paul is almost fine. He’s got a badly written part but he’s game for it. Same goes for Peter Wingfield, who’s a little less almost f read more
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016, Zach Snyder), the ultimate edition
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 2, 2016
The extended version of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn’t just the extended version of Batman/Superman, it’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Ultimate Edition. There’s a second subtitle on the thing. It’s doubling down on the idea the extended cut in the post-D read more
The Hunger (1983, Tony Scott)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 1, 2016
A lot of The Hunger is so exquisitely directed by Scott, it almost seems like there’s nothing the narrative could do to mess it up. His Panavision composition is precise, fixated on the small detail, whether it’s David Bowie’s stubble or Catherine Deneuve’s sunglasses. These read more
The Deadly Mantis (1957, Nathan Juran)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 29, 2016
The best directed parts of The Deadly Mantis are when the film is propaganda for the military. Director Juran–and editor Chester W. Schaeffer–show more enthusiasm when putting together those brief expository segments than they do anywhere else in the film. Given it’s about a giant read more
She’s Dressed to Kill (1979, Gus Trikonis)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 27, 2016
She’s Dressed to Kill is a simultaneously a perfect TV movie and a disappointment. It’s a murder mystery set on an isolated mountain; Eleanor Parker is a recluse fashion designer who has a show and the attendees can’t stop being murdered. Only the killer has followed the attendees read more
[BASP] KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978, Gordon Hessler) / Detroit Rock City (1999, Adam Rifkin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 27, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-seven KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978, Gordon Hessler) / Detroit Rock City (1999, Adam Rifkin Originally posted: April 8 2014 Subscribe via iTunes. r read more
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 27, 2016
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid opens with a sepia-toned silent film newsreel. It’s exposition, but also contrast. The silent images of a daring train robbery distract from reading the film’s accompanying opening titles. When the film itself starts, it’s just as sepia-toned. On read more