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
Russian Rhapsody (1944, Robert Clampett)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 31, 2014
Russian Rhapsody is a strange–and very funny–cartoon. First, as a historical document, it's a Hollywood cartoon mocking Hitler (before the end of the war and the extent of his atrocities became clear). In Rhapsody, he's an obnoxious windbag and there are a bunch of good jokes read more
Sabotage (1936, Alfred Hitchcock)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 28, 2014
Sabotage demands the viewer's attention. It opens with a dictionary definition of Sabotage, forcing the viewer to read something and then immediately relate it to the rapidly edited sabotage of a power station. This sequence, which sets off the first act of the film, takes place in maybe a min read more
Black Angel (1980, Roger Christian)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 22, 2014
Until the finale, which features a risible fight sequence, Black Angel at least looks and sounds good. The story is atrocious, but the production values make it tolerable. Based on that fight sequence, the short concerns a clumsy, vain and mostly incompetent knight–Tony Vogel in a terrible pe read more
Godzilla (1954, Honda Ishirô)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 17, 2014
Godzilla is a peculiar picture. It's intensely serious, with director Honda never letting the viewer get a moment's relief. This approach is all throughout the film, which opens with a documentary feel. Honda and co-screenwriter Murata Takeo set up their main characters quickly and withou read more
Trancers: City of Lost Angels (1988, Charles Band)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 14, 2014
Tracers: City of Lost Angels was originally intended to be part of an anthology film but it doesn’t feel much like a short subject. With the obviously limited budget, director Band treats it like a television production more than a film. Most of the action plays out in one or two of the sets. read more
Supernatural (1933, Victor Halperin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 12, 2014
Supernatural is a strange little film. I say little just because it's just over an hour; it has a great pace, however, and always feels full. Maybe because it introduces two subplots before getting to top-billed Carole Lombard. Then Lombard sort of encounters one of the subplots and the other read more
Island of Lost Souls (1932, Erle C. Kenton)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 4, 2014
What’s so incredible about Island of Lost Souls is how Charles Laughton doesn’t overpower the entire picture. Laughton’s take on the mad scientist role–playful, gleeful, callous, cruel–is a joy to watch and it definitely contributes but it doesn’t make Souls. Eve read more
The Invisible Man (1933, James Whale)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 4, 2014
The Invisible Man is a filmmaking marvel. First off, R.C. Sherriff’s screenplay sets things up speedily and without much exposition. The film introduces Claude Rains’s character through everyone else’s point of view–first the strangers he meets, then his familiars–all read more
Jaws 3-D (1983, Joe Alves)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 27, 2014
Jaws 3-D is one part advertisement for Sea World, one part disaster movie, one part monster movie, then figure the rest is character stuff. It does really well as the Sea World ad, not so well as a disaster movie, a little better as a monster movie… and shockingly well on the character stuff. read more
Sorcerer (1977, William Friedkin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2014
It’s incredible how much concern director William Friedkin is able to get for his characters in Sorcerer. Now, the film’s really kind of like four or five movies in one–there are four prologues, with very full ones for Bruno Cremer and Roy Scheider, then there’s the story of read more
The Strange Woman (1946, Edgar G. Ulmer)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2014
The Strange Woman opens with Dennis Hoey as a drunken widower and Jo Ann Marlowe as his evil little daughter. Herb Meadow's script is real bad in this opening, but it's nineteenth century kids playing and one of them is a psychopath, how good is the script going to be? But then it jumps f read more
Vision Quest (1985, Harold Becker)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2014
Linda Fiorentino might be a year older than Matthew Modine back she's supposed to be playing a worldly twenty-one year-old to his eighteen year-old high school senior in Vision Quest and they sure don't look it. Modine looks about twenty-four, his age at the time of filming. Fiorentino lo read more