Phantom of the Paradise (1974, Brian De Palma)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 28, 2016
Phantom of the Paradise has all the trappings of a failed passion project, only not a lot of passion for the project. Director De Palma, with a couple notable exceptions, doesn’t have much interest in directing a musical. When I say couple, I mean two–there are two scenes where he seems read more
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992, Fran Rubel Kuzui)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 25, 2016
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is so technically inept, not even Carter Burwell turns in a good score. Most scenes are just trying to decide who’s doing a worse job, director Kuzui, cinematographer James Hayman or editors Jill Savitt and Camilla Toniolo. Overall, it’s obviously Kuzui, but the read more
[BASP] Caddyshack (1980, Harold Ramis) / Caddyshack II (1988, Allan Arkush)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 23, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-four Caddyshack (1980, Harold Ramis) / Caddyshack II (1988, Allan Arkush) Originally posted: June 7, 2013 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015, Joss Whedon)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 21, 2016
There are no leads in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It is a collection of poorly staged Bond movie action sequences featuring different people in costumes doing outrageous things but never having much consequence to their actions. There’s no time for consequence, not when director Whedon has to ge read more
[BASP] Judge Dredd (1995, Danny Cannon) / Dredd (2012, Pete Travis)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 16, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-three Judge Dredd (1995, Danny Cannon) / Dredd (2012, Pete Travis) Originally posted: May 3, 2013 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
The Mole People (1956, Virgil W. Vogel)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 16, 2016
I have a long nostalgic history with The Mole People, which I won’t get into, but there will be tangents. Because The Mole People’s one of the reasons I got into classic film. It’s one of the reasons I prefer watching black and white films for concise intellectual pleasure, usuall read more
Revenge of the Creature (1955, Jack Arnold)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 11, 2016
Revenge of the Creature has three parts. The first part involves Nestor Paiva (the only cast member from the original to return) and John Bromfield as the guy who’s going to capture the Creature, the second part involves Bromfield, John Agar and Lori Nelson all studying the Creature in captiv read more
[BASP] The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman) / Please Don&’t Eat My Mother (1973, Carl Monson)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 9, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-two The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman) / Please Don&’t Eat My Mother (1973, Carl Monson) Originally posted: January 3, 2013 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
Trancers III (1992, C. Courtney Joyner)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 9, 2016
There’s a certain exhaustion about Trancers III. Director Joyner doesn’t have much chemistry with star Tim Thomerson, leading to way too much time spent on the evil super-soldiers. This Trancers sequel, in addition to a really lame Terminator 2 vibe with a novelty android, is all about read more
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, Orson Welles)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 9, 2016
Unfortunately, I feel the need to address some of the behind the scenes aspects of The Magnificent Ambersons. Not because I plan on talking about them, but because director Welles’s career is filled with a lack of control. There are always questions–what did editor Robert Wise do on his read more
Trancers II (1991, Charles Band)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 8, 2016
Without its cast, Trancers II couldn’t possibly succeed. It’s an unfortunately limited success as is, but without everyone’s enthusiasm–regardless whether they have a good role or not–the film just couldn’t work. There’s a whole bunch of charm to Trancers I read more
The Sheik (1921, George Melford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 7, 2016
The uncredited editor of The Sheik had a thankless task–during the first act, director Melford is packing in so much expository information all the cuts to introduce new information. The Sheik’s silent, the editing of the first act is always important in a silent film. There needs to be read more
Intruders (2015, Adam Schindler)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 3, 2016
Should Intruders be good? It should be better, no question, but should it be good. It’s about an agoraphobic (who’s an agoraphobic solely as part of the film’s gimmick) who has to fend off intruders into her home. Beth Riesgraf plays the agoraphobic. She’s quite good in the read more
[BASP] Fletch (1985, Michael Ritchie) / Fletch Lives (1989, Michael Ritchie)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 2, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-one Fletch (1985, Michael Ritchie) / Fletch Lives (1989, Michael Ritchie) Originally posted: December 7, 2012 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
Heaven Help Us (1985, Michael Dinner)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 2, 2016
In its hundred minute run time, Heaven Help Us does a number of things well. It’s beautifully edited, photographed, directed, acted. Charles Purpura’s screenplay offers a number of fantastic scenes, which director Dinner does a great job with. Overall, however, the screenplay is where t read more
Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979, Ivan Nagy)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 1, 2016
Captain America II: Death Too Soon, although it actually doesn’t have an onscreen subtitle, could just as well be called Captain America II: The Show No One Wants to See. I don’t even mean the eventual show (Death Too Soon is the second, Reb Brown-fronted CBS pilot), I mean this pilot m read more
Captain America (1979, Rod Holcomb)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 27, 2016
Captain America is almost loveably dumb. It’s never good, it doesn’t even have a good performance–at least, any good performances have caveats attached–but it’s so painfully obvious it ought to be lovable. It even has a lovable oaf of a lead–Reb Brown–who j read more
Ordinary People (1980, Robert Redford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 25, 2016
Two really big things to talk about with Ordinary People. The technical filmmaking–John Bailey’s beautiful, muted photography, Jeff Kanew’s actually peerless editing, Redford’s direction in general–and then Timothy Hutton’s performance, his place in the film, Red read more
Darth Maul: Apprentice (2016, Shawn Bu)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 24, 2016
Darth Maul: Apprentice is a fan film. It’s an excellent fan film. Director Bu has a wonderful vision sense–he goes for grandeur and drags it out (the short is an extended fight sequence) but it never gets boring. It should get boring, because absolutely everyone in the short except Ben read more
[BASP] The Blues Brothers (1980, John Landis) / Blues Brothers 2000 (1998, John Landis)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 19, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty The Blues Brothers (1980, John Landis) / Blues Brothers 2000 (1998, John Landis) Originally posted: September 7, 2012 Subscribe via iTunes. read more