Invaders from Mars (1953, William Cameron Menzies)
The Stop Button Posted by on Sep 13, 2013
About halfway through Invaders from Mars, the army mobilizes to come to the aid of the protagonists (who have discovered an alien invasion). These mobilization scenes are all stock footage–later tank footage is stock too–but director Menzies uses it for a long time, like an actual scene read more
Windows (1975, Peter Greenaway)
The Stop Button Posted by on Sep 12, 2013
Windows is exquisite. The short is a number of shots in a house, always out a window (hence the title), while pleasant harpsichord music plays. The music fits in later; Greenaway makes an exceptional amount of moves in just three and a half minutes with this one. Throughout the short, the narrator read more
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967, Roger Corman)
The Stop Button Posted by on Sep 6, 2013
Director Corman and–probably more so–writer Howard Browne construct The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre as a docudrama. Paul Frees narrates the entire film, introducing characters, providing their backstories–Corman sometimes mutes the film’s dialogue (during boring parts read more
Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)
The Stop Button Posted by on Aug 30, 2013
Some Like It Hot is perfectly constructed. Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s script precisely sets up gags, even as the film moves through its three stages. For example, there’s a joke about matching blood types–type o–near the beginning and it keeps echoing throughout. It&# read more
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman)
The Stop Button Posted by on Aug 28, 2013
The filmmaking economy in The Little Shop of Horrors is astounding. Most of the film takes place in one set–the titular shop–and Charles B. Griffith’s script works hard to imply the world outside that set. My favorite bit in the script is probably when leading man Jonathan Haze is read more
Fletch (1985, Michael Ritchie)
The Stop Button Posted by on Aug 23, 2013
While Fletch has its technical high lights and Andrew Bergman’s script is strong both in dialogue and structure (though the Chevy-sized plot holes are a tad rampant), the film hinges on star Chevy Chase (not a car) being arrogant, likable, sincere and funny all at once. And Chase manages it. read more
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Robert Wise), the director’s edition
The Stop Button Posted by on Aug 20, 2013
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is one of those imperfect films. No matter how many versions, there’s no way to fix one thing without breaking another–or it might just be broken all together. For example, I don’t know if I’d ever realized how focused director Wise is–dur read more
Dick Tracy (1967, Larry Peerce)
The Stop Button Posted by on Aug 8, 2013
“Dick Tracy” is shockingly all right. About half the pilot plays like a bad James Bond movie–villain Victor Buono is ludicrous and in it way too much, even if there’s an amusing revelation at the end. But the other half, with Ray MacDonnell as Dick Tracy, is pretty good. He& read more
A World of Difference (1960, Ted Post)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 30, 2013
It’s another man in a weird world “Twilight Zone” from Richard Matheson. This time, Howard Duff is a regular American middle class guy who all of a sudden wakes up in a world where he’s an actor playing that regular guy. There’s a lot of great panic from Duff–he& read more
The Last Flight (1960, William F. Claxton)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 25, 2013
The Last Flight has some fantastic sound design. Especially at the beginning when Kenneth Haigh’s plane lands. He’s a World War I flier who journeys through time to the late fifties, landing on an American airbase. The sound for the base and the planes is just phenomenal. And the episod read more
And When the Sky Was Opened (1959, Douglas Heyes)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 23, 2013
The magic of And When the Sky Was Opened is Rod Taylor’s lead performance. He’s an astronaut who holds on while reality loses track of his astronaut copilots after they return to Earth. Whether he’s loud or quiet, Taylor makes the episode work. The concept is simple enough, but Ta read more
Frankenstein (1952, Don Medford)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 18, 2013
For a twenty minute and change live performance, Frankenstein could be a lot worse. Director Medford occasionally will find a good shot. Mary Alice Moore (as Elizabeth) is real good at the beginning and competent, if not quite good, at the end. Medford showcases her during her best parts. As the ma read more
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942, Erle C. Kenton)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 13, 2013
The Ghost of Frankenstein is pretty bad stuff. Running less than seventy minutes, it’s unbearably boring from the twenty-five minute mark, once the picture focus on Cedric Hardwicke. Ghost opens with villagers pursuing Bela Lugosi’s evil hunchback. Though awful, Lugosi’s at least read more
Taxi! (1932, Roy Del Ruth)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 12, 2013
Even when the story falls apart, Del Ruth’s direction still keeps Taxi! somewhat afloat. It only runs seventy minutes and the first half is pretty good stuff. When it starts, the film’s about one cab company trying to muscle out its competitors–Guy Kibbee and James Cagney being so read more
The Phantom (1961, Harold Daniels)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 11, 2013
“The Phantom” is horrific. Between Lon Chaney Jr. trying a Cajun accent and Paulette Goddard’s hilariously bad turn as a Ms. Big, there’s no good acting. But these two guest stars aren’t even the worst–lead Roger Creed is unbearably awful. I’m sure he was h read more
Ski Troop Attack (1960, Roger Corman)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 10, 2013
The best thing in Ski Troop Attack is a forty or fifty second conversation between two characters about mortality. Writer Charles B. Griffith has a few other good observations in the dialogue, but they don’t resonate. Nothing in Ski resonates except that one conversation. And the acting isn&# read more
Godzilla, King of Monsters! (1956, Terry O. Morse and Honda Ishirô)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 5, 2013
Morse didn’t just direct the added American scenes for Godzilla, King of Monsters! but also did the hatchet job editing it. The concept–adding in footage of a reporter reporting on what would be an international news event–isn’t bad. But Morse (aided, undoubtedly, by Al C. W read more
The Shadow (1954, Charles F. Haas)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 4, 2013
So why not turn The Shadow into an amateur detective procedural? Haas’s pilot for a “Shadow” television series is a good reason, though it’s inexplicable why someone would want to turn it into such a thing. Not the procedural part, but the amateur detective part. Peter Barry read more
The Black Hole (1979, Gary Nelson)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jul 3, 2013
The Black Hole is a weird–and bad–movie. American science fiction usually avoids religion, at least literalizing religion, but Black Hole embraces it. Maybe I shouldn’t spoil it. But it’s from Disney too. It’s a Disney movie with Heaven and Hell. When the film cuts to read more
Steamboat Round the Bend (1935, John Ford)
The Stop Button Posted by on Jun 28, 2013
The best scene in Steambout Round the Bend is the wedding between Anne Shirley and John McGuire. Neither Shirley nor McGuire is particularly good in the film, but McGuire’s about to be hung and so they’re getting married. Steambout is often a comedy and Eugene Pallette–as the offi read more