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
I’m a Fool (1954, Don Medford)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 25, 2017
I’m a Fool gets off to a somewhat promising, somewhat precarious start. Eddie Albert is an onscreen narrator–precarious–talking about his younger days–his younger self played by James Dean–promising. Dean is leaving his small-town for the booming metropolis of Sandusky, Ohio, where he hopes read more
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948, H.C. Potter)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 23, 2017
It takes You Gotta Stay Happy a while to get there, but it’s actually a road movie. Well, it’s flying movie. Owner-operator James Stewart flies his cargo plane from New York to California with a number of paying passengers (a no no), with co-pilot Eddie Albert doing most of the ticket sales. The read more
Dracula’s Daughter (1936, Lambert Hillyer)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 21, 2017
Dracula’s Daughter starts as a comedy. With Billy Bevan’s bumbling police constable, there’s nothing else to call it. Sure, the opening deals with the immediate aftermath of the original Dracula–returning Edward Van Sloan arrested for driving a stake through a man’s heart–but it’s all read more
Masters of the Universe (1987, Gary Goddard)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 21, 2017
Masters of the Universe is almost charming in its lack of charm. Its plot is a kitchen sink–a little Conan sword fighting here, a little Superman opening credits, a lot of Star Wars stuff (like all black “troopers” with laser guns, the skiffs from Jedi), but also lots of other popular eighties read more
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary (2002, Guy Maddin)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 20, 2017
To put it mildly, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary is narratively erratic. The film–a filmed ballet “converted” to a silent movie–opens with panic over Eastern Europeans entering Britain. At least, the onscreen text implies this panic. It’s quickly forgotten; after doing cast introductions read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 20, 2017
King of the Rocket Men isn’t a long serial. It’s only twelve chapters and almost one of them is a recap of the first three chapters. The final chapter spends most of its time setting up a big showdown, with the grand action finale–at least the grand action finale not recycling disaster footage read more
Let Her Out (2016, Cody Calahan)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 20, 2017
If cheap, misogynist Canadian horror gore twaddle is a genre, Let Her Out must be one its finest examples. At least in the modern era. In some ways, the worst thing about the film is director Calahan. With a single exception, his direction’s not bad. His composition is strong, his sense of space is read more
The Omen (1976, Richard Donner)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 20, 2017
The Omen is a terrible bit of cinema. It’s a long bit, almost two hours, filled with Jerry Goldsmith’s–shockingly Oscar-winning–chant filled “scare” score. It doesn’t scare. It annoys, which just makes everything go on longer. Director Donner certainly doesn’t help with it. He drags read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 12: Wave of Disaster
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 18, 2017
The Wave of Disaster does have some great special effects for Rocket Men’s finale. Sure, they’re from an earlier film, but they’re still great. The Rocket Man effects are fine too, they’re just boring. After yet another tepid cliffhanger resolution–maybe the first to directly contradict the read more
The Cosmopolitans (2014, Whit Stillman)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 18, 2017
The Cosmopolitans opens with some visual sarcasm, but it quickly moves to verbal. Writer-director Stillman is somewhat merciless, introducing characters just to comment on the absurd pretentiousness of the principals. Of course, Stillman doesn’t let the observers off easy either. It just takes long read more
King of the Rocket Men (1949, Fred C. Brannon), Chapter 11: Secret of Dr. Vulcan
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 17, 2017
About halfway through the chapter–the penultimate Rocket Men chapter–Tristram Coffin and Mae Clarke go over a cliff in a car into a lake. They’ve already gone over a cliff together as a cliffhanger. And Coffin forced a motorcycle driver to his death over the cliff into a lake. It really felt like read more