The Fire Within (1963, Louis Malle)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2016
Director Malle sets up The Fire Within as a series of events. They don’t feel like events–or even vignettes–because protagonist Maurice Ronet is so transfixing. As the film progresses and the viewer gets to know Ronet better, gets to understand him better, Fire changes. The film i read more
D.O.A. (1950, Rudolph Maté)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2016
D.O.A. is a wonderful example of a gimmick having nowhere to go. Edmond O’Brien is a small town accountant who decides to spend a week in San Francisco drinking and carousing (leaving girlfriend and secretary Pamela Britton back home). Out of the blue, he gets poisoned and has to solve his ow read more
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991, Russell Mulcahy)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2016
Highlander II: The Quickening has had a reputation as a sequel disaster since its release. Outside of “Starlog” write-ups, did anyone ever pretend to be excited about this film? But since its initial release (and multiple home video re-releases with different editing), The Quickening ha read more
[BASP] I Married a Witch (1942, René Clair) / Bewitched (2005, Nora Ephron)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 12, 2016
The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Nineteen I Married a Witch (1942, René Clair) / Bewitched (2005, Nora Ephron) Originally posted: June 27, 2012 Subscribe via iTunes. read more
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991, Ohmori Kazuki)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
Not much goes right in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Director Ohmori has a strange way of being boastful about really lame ideas and even worse technical executions. He spends a lot of time–and the film’s not short, it runs an hour and forty-three–trying to show off the film’s read more
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992, Okawara Takao)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
Godzilla vs. Mothra ain’t bad. It ain’t bad at all. While Ohmori Kazuki’s script leaves something to be desired in general, it doesn’t leave anything in specific to be desired. It doesn’t fail to do something. It sets forth its concept and fulfills it. I’m thinki read more
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993, Okawara Takao)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is outrageous spectacle. The film has the perfect combination of story, director and special effects. The film allows its giant monsters limited personalities, feasible motivations. It even manages to raise questions of morality as this version’s Mechagodzilla is pi read more
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995, Okawara Takao)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah does a lot. It mixes an Aliens rip-off into a Godzilla movie, then tries new things for the giant monster fight, all while finishing off the series. Destoroyah is meant to close off the franchise, giving director Okawara plenty of opportunities to tug at heart strings. Okawa read more
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000, Tezuka Masaaki)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
To say Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is good for a while might be a stretch, but it’s definitely okay for a while. It’s a Godzilla movie with a lot of CG, whether it’s the giant monster itself swimming or the millions of prehistoric dragonflies out to sting him. Director Masaaki tries h read more
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001, Kaneko Shûsuke)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
While watching Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, I had a daydream. I day dreamt Craig Armstrong, composer of The Incredible Hulk score, had been brought in the redo the score of Attack for the U.S. home video market. He did not. Instead, Ôtani Kô actually did compos read more
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975, Honda Ishirô)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2016
Terror of Mechagodzilla is an uncomplimentary mix of a sixties Godzilla movie with the production values of a seventies Godzilla movie. It’s got a lame monster with cool powers and a cool monsters with lame powers. The Mechagodzilla fight scene is mind-numbing. He shoots rockets at Godzilla. read more
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971, Banno Yoshimitsu)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
There are two types of people in the world. People who like Godzilla vs. Hedorah and people who do not. I am in the former category. I think director Banno knows how to do what he wants to do, which is make an impassioned environmental statement with a Godzilla movie. Banno asks the audience to hum read more
Godzilla’s Revenge (1969, Honda Ishirô)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
I don’t know if I wish Godzilla’s Revenge were better or if I just liked it more. Because I wanted to like it more–I wanted it to be as wacky as the concept would allow. The concept–a little boy (Yazaki Tomonori) gets valuable life lessons involving working parents, bank rob read more
Godzilla Raids Again (1955, Oda Motoyoshi)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
Godzilla Raids Again has all the elements it needs to be a quirky success. It has a low budget and rushed schedule, resulting in a hodgepodge of awkwardly effective sequences amid otherwise inept ones. The script, from Murta Takeo and Hidaka Shigeaki, mixes inert melodrama with giant monsters. But read more
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972, Fukuda Jun)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
Godzilla vs. Gigan is a little like a filmed ballet or play. It’s a performance of its Kaiju ballet. The Kaiju ballet has a stage–a surprisingly large soundstage with a miniature Tokyo or Mount Fuji landscape for serve as the ring in which the men in suits wrestle. The men in suits are read more
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, Fukuda Jun)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
Godzilla vs. Megalon is madness. There are two distinct portions of the film and both of them are crazy. Initially, these portions might more seem stupid than crazy, but they’re crazy. Director Fukuda gets to make an espionage thriller and a Godzilla movie where Godzilla communicates with the read more
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974, Fukuda Jun)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 10, 2016
I want to be more enthusiastic about Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. It has a number of good moments, often involving giant monsters, which is impressive. Godzilla facing off against a mechanical Godzilla (not to mention a flesh-covered cyborg–nothing dead will go), it’s a great visual. Dir read more
Rhinestone (1984, Bob Clark)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 9, 2016
With the exception of Dolly Parton, everyone involved with Rhinestone seems nervous. Well, maybe not Richard Farnsworth. He seems impatient, like he can’t wait for his scene to be over. Top-billed Sylvester Stallone spends the first half of the film trying too hard, seems to relax, then finis read more
Steve Jobs (2015, Danny Boyle) (2)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 6, 2016
Steve Jobs is unexpected. It is a parody of itself, it is a parody of being an “Oscar-worthy” biopic about a topical, zeitgeist figure. Down to having Seth Rogen in a dramatic part. Steve Jobs feels very conscious. In Michael Fassbender’s Jobs, the film gets to create a world wher read more
Steve Jobs (2015, Danny Boyle) (1)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 6, 2016
Steve Jobs is unexpected. It is a parody of itself, it is a parody of being an “Oscar-worthy” biopic about a topical, zeitgeist figure. Down to having Seth Rogen in a dramatic part. Steve Jobs feels very conscious. In Michael Fassbender’s Jobs, the film gets to create a world wher read more