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.
Street Smart (1987, Jerry Schatzberg)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 25, 2018
Somewhere around the halfway point in Street Smart, when both female “leads” get reduced to a combination punching bag–figuratively and literally–and damsel, the movie starts to collapse. It doesn’t collapse in a standard way. It doesn’t give too much to either of its dueling stars, Christopher read more
The Phantom Creeps (1939, Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind), Chapter 2: Death Stalks the Highways
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 24, 2018
Despite a stupefying cliffhanger resolution–disasters happen, people just don’t get hurt–Death Stalks the Highways turns out not too bad. Comparatively. Take Bela Lugosi for instance. He tries real hard with some of his acting. It’s not good, but he’s trying. The trying gets him ahead of Robert read more
The Phantom Creeps (1939, Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind), Chapter 1: The Menacing Power
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 23, 2018
The Menacing Power does all right setting up the hook of The Phantom Creeps–Bela Lugosi is a mad scientist with various technological inventions he’s going to use for nefarious purposes–and even manages to gracefully segue between the expository setup and the chapter’s cliffhanger. So far Lugosi’s read more
The Great Monster Varan (1958, Honda Ishirô)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 22, 2018
The only thing more tedious and lethargic than the first half of Varan is the second half of Varan. The first half has a motley crew of lepidopterologists awakening a giant monster. The second half has these lepidopterologists consulting with the military to destroy said monster. Not sure why the m read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 21, 2018
Batman and Robin is fifteen chapters; all together, it’s just under four and a half hours. It is not a rewarding four and a half hours. Not at all. Of the fourteen credited actors, one gives a good performance. Don C. Harvey. He gets to be chief henchman for a while. But not even half of the serial read more
The Station Agent (2003, Tom McCarthy)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 20, 2018
The Station Agent is not a character study. It does try, at almost exactly the one hour mark (it runs a breezy, but deliberate eighty-nine minutes), to become a character study, but it is not a character study. It is actually a perfect example of how to not make a character study. Writer-director M read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 15: Batman Victorious
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 19, 2018
For a few minutes in Batman Victorious, which is mostly a chase sequence–the invisible (though only temporarily) Wizard is on the run from Batman and the cops. There are some questionable (but more ambitious than anything else in the serial) invisible man special effects and a more lively feel to read more
The Sin of Nora Moran (1933, Phil Goldstone)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 18, 2018
It’s hard to have worse written characters than dialogue. Like, how can character motivation be worse than what the characters speak to show their motivation. The Sin of Nora Moran shows what it’s like to have worse characterizations than dialogue. It’s not pretty. What’s sort of frustrating read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 14: Batman vs. Wizard!
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 17, 2018
Okay, I’m not wrong–wheelchair-bound, ornery scientist William Fawcett really does just walk around in front of everyone and no one reacts. He’s been zapping himself with electricity to regain use of his legs, making him a suspect for being masked, supercriminal the Wizard. Except only to the read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 13: The Wizard’s Challenge!
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 16, 2018
If the Wizard has any challenge in The Wizard’s Challenge!, it’s outsmarting Batman and Robin. It doesn’t take much as it turns out. Especially not with Robin (Johnny Duncan) playing with a toy truck when he’s supposed to be on guard duty. See, the Wizard has stolen all the scientific equipment read more
The Moon Is Blue (1953, Otto Preminger)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 15, 2018
William Holden never seems out of place in The Moon Is Blue, but occasionally the film seems out of place having William Holden in its lead role. He’s not mundane, he’s a star. The film isn’t about the mundane but it needs to acknowledge the possibility of it. Holden ain’t it. He’s top-billed read more
Loving Vincent (2017, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 14, 2018
Loving Vincent is the story of the man in the yellow suit (not to be confused with the Man in the Yellow Hat, which is sort of unfortunate because monkey) and his quest to deliver Vincent Van Gogh’s last letter. The title comes from how Van Gogh signed letters to his brother–“your most loving read more
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 13, 2018
2001: A Space Odyssey has five distinct parts–the “Dawn of Man” sequence, then the space station and moon visit, then the main action before the intermission, then the main action after the intermission, then the “Jupiter” sequence. The prehistoric sequence, where an advanced alien device read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 12: Robin Rides the Wind
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 12, 2018
The chapter title, Robin Rides the Wind, got me hoping Robin would jump out of a plane or something. Without a chute. Sad spoiler: he doesn’t. The chapter does clear one of the Wizard suspects, which would probably be more effective if the character–played by Michael Whalen–appeared more often. read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 11: Robin’s Ruse
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 11, 2018
So when Robin (Johnny Duncan) is alone in the Batcave, he doesn’t use the changing room. He puts on his tights in the public area. Off-screen, sure, but Robin’s Ruse confirms it. The titular Ruse isn’t particularly exciting. It’s fairly predictable, especially after the cliffhanger reveal at read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 10: Batman’s Last Chance!
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 9, 2018
The chapter title, Batman’s Last Chance!, must refer to Batman’s last chance to run around in this particular drab office building. I don’t think it’s supposed to be the same one they used earlier, but it definitely appears to be the same set. The last third–maybe less but it feels like a read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 9: The Wizard Strikes Back!
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 8, 2018
There’s some family drama for Jane Adams this chapter of Batman and Robin, as George Offerman Jr. returns to provide the main story for The Wizard Strikes Back! Otherwise, it’s just Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan goofing off and being lousy superheroes. Besides watching Lowery’s Batman cape flail read more
Batman and Robin (1949, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 8: Robin Meets the Wizard!
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 7, 2018
Robin Meets the Wizard! does indeed feature Johnny Duncan’s Robin meeting the Wizard. The masked, unknown (undoubtedly until the last chapter) Wizard knocks Duncan out while Duncan’s on lookout. More like the boy blunder. Wokka wokka. Other than the chapter title actually referring to an event in read more
Frances Ha (2012, Noam Baumbach)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 6, 2018
Frances Ha relies on exposition but depends on summary. Or it depends on exposition but relies on summary. One or the other. Director and co-writer Baumbach and star and co-writer Greta Gerwig move Frances in the summary. Even when the film slows down for a longer scene, the style and tone don’t re read more
Dark Victory (1939, Edmund Goulding)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 5, 2018
Bette Davis and George Brent never kiss in Dark Victory. He’s a brilliant neurosurgeon, she’s a mysteriously ill young socialite. He saves her, they fall in love. But does he really save her…. Victory gives Davis an excellent part, right up until the end of the film. It’s a somewhat bumpy ride–in read more