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.
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978, Gordon Hessler), the theatrical version
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 3, 2014
What’s there to say about KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park? It moves pretty fast. Wait, I didn’t specify nice things to say about the movie. Oops. There’s a lot of bad things to talk about. The easiest targets are KISS, who frequently seem lost–supposedly they got fed thei read more
Hud (1963, Martin Ritt)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Aug 2, 2014
Every once in a while in Hud, it seems like Paul Newman's eponymous lead character might do something selfless. Not redemptive or nice, but selfless. It's not the point of the film and not one of its promises–it's just visible how significant it would be for Brandon De Wilde, p read more
Starman (1984, John Carpenter)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 29, 2014
Starman’s first forty or so minutes speed by–director Carpenter gets as much information across as quickly as he can to discourage the viewer from paying too much attention. There aren’t exactly plot holes, but there’s a lot of silliness in the script. For example, Charles M read more
THX 1138 (1971, George Lucas)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 28, 2014
Director Lucas makes one attempt at audience accessibility in THX 1138. It’s actually the first thing he does–he shows a clip from an old Flash Gordon serial to let the audience know the story is about the future. The clip also lets the audience know the future isn’t going to be h read more
The Great Escape (1963, John Sturges)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 21, 2014
While The Great Escape runs nearly three hours, director Sturges and screenwriters James Clavell and W.R. Burnett never let it feel too long. Part of the quick pace comes from the first half hour being told in something like real time and another big part of it is the aftermath of the escape taking read more
The Getaway (1972, Sam Peckinpah)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 20, 2014
From the lengthy opening credits to the big action finale, it's always clear sound is important in The Getaway. Editor Robert L. Wolfe does some wonderful transitions with sound foreshadowing the cut and the next scene, but there's something more to it. That something more is the isolatio read more
Jaws 2 (1978, Jeannot Szwarc)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 19, 2014
There's definitely a good movie somewhere in Jaws 2; maybe just one without so much shark. Sadly, most of its narrative problems seem obvious to fix. For example, if the shark isn't confirmed and Roy Scheider might just be suffering post-traumatic stress… maybe they didn't want read more
At War with the Army (1950, Hal Walker)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 18, 2014
I wonder what At War with the Army would be like if it were funny. I also wonder what it would be like if director Walker could figure out how to open up a scene. Sure, the whole thing is shot on limited exteriors and then the same interiors–it takes place on an army base–but Walker jus read more
Firefox (1982, Clint Eastwood)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 14, 2014
Firefox has three distinct phases. First, there's retired Air Force pilot Clint Eastwood getting recruited into an espionage mission. This part of the film barely takes any time at all–there's three missing months–Eastwood, as the director, does not like montage sequences. Eve read more
Ring Around the Redhead (1985, Theodore Gershuny)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 13, 2014
Television is a visual medium but budgetary constraints sometimes lead to a lack of visualizations. I assume Ring Around the Redhead, an episode of "Tales from the Darkside," had some serious budgetary constraints. The entire episode has two and a half sets–one is inventor John Hear read more
The Brighton Strangler (1945, Max Nosseck)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 11, 2014
While a lot of The Brighton Strangler meanders, there are some rather effective moments in the film. It's a B picture, with John Loder as an actor suffering from amnesia who imagines himself his latest role–a murderer. The film's set in London, with blackouts and air raids–not read more
Detour (1945, Edgar G. Ulmer)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 9, 2014
Detour should be episodic, but it's not. The film chronicles the misadventures of Tom Neal's night club pianist, who's stuck not being good enough for Carnegie Hall and having a fickle fiancée (Claudia Drake) from the outset. When he does decide to follow her out to her dreams in Cal read more
The Whole Town’s Talking (1935, John Ford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 7, 2014
The Whole Town’s Talking has some peculiar third act problems, but it also has this extraordinary first act set over three scenes and twenty-some minutes, which evens things out. Some of the problem might stem from Town’s plot–mild-mannered office clerk Edward G. Robinson just hap read more
Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! (1958, Leo McCarey)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 5, 2014
It’s hard to describe what’s wrong with Rally ’Round the Flag, Boys!; not because its ailments are mysterious but because the sentence is just a little problematic. Rally is a light handling of what should be a mature comedy. It deals with big issues–fifties suburban malaise read more
The Fly II (1989, Chris Walas)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 4, 2014
One of the great tragedies for soap operas has to be Fly II director Chris Walas being too good with special effects–his company does them on the film–to have to direct soap operas. With the exception of these high angle shots of impossibly expansive sets, presumably to emulate thirties read more
The Fly (1986, David Cronenberg)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jul 3, 2014
The Fly starts with perfect economy. Director Cronenberg does not waste time with introductions or establishing shots–whenever there’s an exterior shot in the film, it comes as surprise, even after Cronenberg opens it up a little. There’s Jeff Goldblum, he’s a scientist, and read more
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Steven Spielberg)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 23, 2014
E.T. is deftly manipulative but also undeniably magical. Steven Spielberg’s direction, both of the actors and of the effects sequences, is phenomenal. He’s often doing an anti-“Twilight Zone” episode, but he never lets himself comment on it. The film’s sincere in all i read more
Baby Buggy Bunny (1954, Chuck Jones)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 18, 2014
Baby Buggy Bunny opens with its weakest sequence–a bank robbery. The perpetrator is a baby-sized thug who gets away by throwing on a bonnet and hopping in a carriage. Clearly there are some Baby Herman connections, especially later on when the robber and Bugs Bunny start battling. Bugs gets i read more
Labyrinth (1986, Jim Henson)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 18, 2014
Every so often, Labyrinth plays like an episode of “Fraggle Rock” with special guest star David Bowie. Oddly, the film starts Bowie heavy but pretty soon he’s just popping in to remind the viewer he’s still around. His performance is terrible; his singing sequences are fine, read more
Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988, Bud Yorkin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 11, 2014
With the exception of Jill Eikenberry, all of the cast members from the original return for Arthur 2: On the Rocks. Cynthia Sikes replaces her. Eikenberry’s absence means she’s the only person who doesn’t embarrass herself. I’m sorry, did I say embarrass? I more meant humili read more