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.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014, Marc Webb)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 10, 2017
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is bereft of good ideas. It’s also bereft of good music–Hans Zimmmer’s bland “superhero” score rattles the brain, bowdlerizing what might be better scenes and effect sequences. It’s impossible to know, because there’s never a single moment of music without ludicrous read more
De Palma (2015, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 10, 2017
De Palma is director Brian De Palma talking about his films. He’s talking to the directors, Baumbach and Paltrow, but without ever addressing them by name. De Palma’s filmmakers have zero presence in the film, until the epilogue. Matt Mayer and Lauren Minnerath’s editing is magnificent, especially read more
The B.R.A.T. Patrol (1986, Mollie Miller)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 8, 2017
The B.R.A.T. Patrol is about a group of kids on an airforce base who discover one of the MPs is selling military hardware to literal junk yard arms dealers. None of the adults believe them because it’s a “Wonderful World of Disney” movie and there are rules. There are limits and there are rules. read more
The Dark, Dark Hours (1954, Don Medford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 8, 2017
The Dark, Dark Hours is the story of two desperate beatnik gunmen who just pulled a job and one of them took a bullet. They need a doctor and they find Ronald Reagan. The beatniks are James Dean and Jack Simmons. Simmons is the shot one. Dean’s the moody one whose undoubtedly tragic life has led hi read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 6, 2017
What remains of The Perils of Pauline is not The Perils of Pauline. This European version is a condensation of the actual serial. The nine chapter European version is about half the original length of the serial. And it’s also not a good translation. English to French to English again. So the Europ read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 9: The Floating Coffin
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 5, 2017
The Floating Coffin starts as most Perils of Pauline chapters start. Villain Paul Panzer is loitering around lovebirds Pearl White and Crane Wilbur, trying to figure out a way to off White. This time they’re yachting and White wants to go off on her own in a motorboat. Unlike every other chapter of read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 8: The Serpent in the Flowers
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 4, 2017
The Serpent in the Flowers only refers to one of the many things in this penultimate chapter of The Perils of Pauline. It comes towards the middle, after Paul Panzer has hired gypsy Clifford Bruce to again do away with Pearl White. Panzer senses he’s running out of time to kill White (accordi read more
Tin Men (1987, Barry Levinson)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 3, 2017
Tin Men is expansive. So expansive writer-director Levinson can’t get everywhere. He doesn’t have time in 112 mintues, he doesn’t have the structure for it either. Tin Men establishes its narrative distance firmly, deliberately, and usually hilariously in the first act. When Levinson gets to the read more
The Villainess (2017, Jung Byung-gil)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 3, 2017
The Villainess manages to be technically superior without ever being technically impressive. Despite editor Heo Sum-mi and cinematographer Park Jung-hun cutting together extravgent action sequences–the finale is protagonist Kim Ok-bin chasing down a bus, jumping onto it, attacking the bad guys with read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 7: The Tragic Plunge
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 3, 2017
This chapter involves the world of international espionage, with leads Pearl White, Crane Wilbur, and Paul Panzer meeting a submarine designer (Jack Standing) who offers White a tour of his latest boat. Conveniently, Standing’s (unfortunately uncredited) fiancée is a foreign agent out to steal his read more
Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978, Ron Satlof)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 3, 2017
Spider-Man Strikes Back is the international theatrical release of a two-part “Amazing Spider-Man” episode. It’s unclear if any significant changes were made (or insignificant ones). Though I really hope the frequent sequences without much sound are the result of editing and not c read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 6: The Shattered Plane
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 2, 2017
The Shattered Plane title to this chapter kind of gives things away. Is there going to be a shattering of a plane? Has it already shattered? Villain Paul Panzer talks his ward, Pearl White, into going out to the airfield and trying to get aboard a plane. There’s going to be a race. White love read more
Off to the Vet (2015, Simon Tofield)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 1, 2017
Off to the Vet is a longer “Simon’s Cat” cartoon. Eleven minutes instead of three. As always, creator Simon Tofield comes up with a series of annoying cat problems for the titular cat to cause. Here, the cat gets a bee sting on the paw and suffers until owner Simon has to take him to the vet. read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 5: A Watery Doom
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 1, 2017
A Watery Doom opens with scheming villain Paul Panzer hiring a “gypsy” (honestly, calling them Romani in this context seems inappropriate), played by Clifford Bruce, to drown his ward, Pearl White. But Panzer’s worried her fiancé Crane Wilbur will come along and save her at the last minute. So read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 4: The Deadly Turning
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 31, 2017
The Deadly Turning starts with what seems like a lot of corrective potential. Pearl White has signed up for a car race without telling beau Crane Wilbur or guardian Paul Panzer. Once she’s accepted, she tells them at once, setting she and Wilbur on their plot line and Panzer on his. Wilbur begs Whi read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 3: The Pirate Treasure
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 30, 2017
The Pirate Treasure doesn’t give Pearl White anything more to do than usual in Pauline, despite her playing Pauline, but it’s one heck of an amusing chapter. Villains Paul Panzer and Francis Carlyle (who really ought to be top-billed since they have the most to do every chapter–so far) are walking read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 2: The Goddess of the Far West
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 29, 2017
Tired of being in the public eye–presumably since she escaped a terrible fate in the previous chapter–Pearl White decides to go visit some friends out west. Suitor and pal Crane Wilbur can’t go with her (which is initially a blessing); unfortunately, villain Paul Panzer discovers her plans and read more
The Perils of Pauline (1914, Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie), the European version, Chapter 1: Trial by Fire
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 28, 2017
Trial by Fire takes a while to get to its first Peril for (sort of) lead Pauline (Pearl White). She’s a young heiress who wants to live a life of adventure–at least for a year–before she marries her guardian’s son. That son, Crane Wilbur, doesn’t really want Pauline to take this year off, read more
[FYI] Stop Button Sum Ups
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 28, 2017
A couple months ago, I decided to think–again–about doing some kind of print publication of Stop Button posts. I’ve started multiple print collections over the years, as print-on-demand became feasible for the hobbyist. Nothing ever lasted. It was either too much work or the combi read more
Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 27, 2017
For most of its runtime, Suspiria builds. It increases suspense, it increases terror, it increases discomfort. Director Argento and cinematographer Luciano Tovoli shoot these long shots with slightly fish-eyed backgrounds. Combined with Giuseppe Bassan’s jawdroppingly awesome production design, the read more