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.
Dirty Harry (1971, Don Siegel)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Feb 2, 2018
Dirty Harry only has one significant problem. It has a bunch of little problems, but it gets past those–sometimes manipulatively, sometimes just nimbly thanks to director Siegel and star Clint Eastwood–but the big one. It can’t overcome the third act. Villain Andy Robinson (I can’t forget to read more
Harvest (1953, James Sheldon)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 28, 2018
Dorothy Gish isn’t just top-billed in Harvest, host (and narrator) Robert Montgomery introduces the episode hyping her presence. So it’s a tad disappointing when it turns out Gish gets less and less to do throughout the hour-long television play. When she does get things to do, they happen off-scre read more
Thor: Ragnarok (2017, Taika Waititi)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 28, 2018
Why does Thor: Ragnarok open with Chris Hemsworth narrating only for him to stop once the title card sizzles? Literally, sizzles. Ragnarok is delightfully tongue-in-cheek and on-the-nose. Director Waititi refuses to take anything too seriously, which makes for an amusing two plus hours, but it does read more
Puppet Master 4 (1993, Jeff Burr)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 27, 2018
Puppet Master 4 is in a race with itself. Can it deliver on the animate puppet action before the cast becomes too intolerable? Can it deliver before the stupid scenes get to be too much? No, as it turns out, it can’t. Puppet Master 4 doesn’t succeed. Not even a Frankenstein making-the-monster homag read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 27, 2018
Superman is a long fifteen chapters. The first two chapters are the “pilot.” They set up Kirk Alyn as Superman. He comes to Earth as a baby–with the Krypton sequences in the first chapter the most impressive thing in the entire serial–and grows up through montage to become Alyn. The first chapter read more
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018, Sam Liu)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 26, 2018
The first act of Gotham by Gaslight is rough. It establishes Batman (Bruce Greenwood) in the Victorian era. He’s fighting with Fagin-types while “Jack the Ripper” is attacking prostitutes. Jim Krieg’s script, which will go on to impress at times, is rather problematic with the first Ripper victim. read more
Enemy Mine (1985, Wolfgang Petersen)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 26, 2018
Enemy Mine has one great performance from Louis Gossett Jr., one strong mediocre performance from Dennis Quaid, one adorable performance from Bumper Robinson (as a tween alien), and terrible performances from everyone else. The film’s most impressive quality is a tossup. It’s either Gossett’s read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 15: The Payoff
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 25, 2018
The Payoff presumably refers to this chapter being the finale of Superman. There’s not much payoff otherwise. Spider Lady Carol Forman isn’t out to blackmail the city, she’s out to cause destruction. She’s given the Daily Planet four hours until she destroys it. She’s has to give them four read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 14: Superman at Bay
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 25, 2018
Superman is never at bay in Superman at Bay. In fact, Superman’s barely in it. When Kirk Alyn does done the tights, it’s stock footage of him changing in the stock room and flying out the window. Same footage as last chapter. The cliffhanger resolution is actually pretty good, with Pierre Watkin read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 13: Hurled to Destruction
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 23, 2018
Hurled to Destruction once again has the Spider Lady’s goons outsmarting the Daily Planet reporters. In the latter category is also Superman, who delivers a dangerous criminal to the Planet for questioning instead of the police. Said criminal attacks Pierre Watkin, leading to a pretty good fist fig read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 12: Blast in the Depths
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 22, 2018
Blast in the Depths resolves the previous chapter’s cliffhanger with a reveal–something happened the viewer didn’t get to see, changing the outcome. It’s a cheat, but Superman hasn’t had a decent cliffhanger so it doesn’t really matter. In fact, the serial’s structured not to have them. read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 11: Superman’s Dilemma
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 21, 2018
Superman’s Dilemma has a scene where Kirk Alyn, as Superman, talks to a conscious Noel Neill. She’s telling him how Tommy Bond stupidly has gotten himself in trouble with the goons again. Bond’s apparently trouble-proof to some degree, however; at the end of the previous chapter, he was being read more
Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge (1991, David DeCoteau)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 21, 2018
Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge is Puppet Master Origins. Set in WWII Berlin, Guy Rolfe is a concerned old man. He sees his neighbors in fear of the Nazis so he got some string and he got some wood, he did some carving and he was good. Anti-Nazi civilians–mostly kids–came running so they could read more
Puppet Master II (1990, David Allen)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 20, 2018
Puppet Master II opens with a mostly successful animate puppets resurrect their long-dead master in scary graveyard sequence. It’s a mix of stop motion and live effects; it just has a nice tone about it. Then the endless opening titles start up and the film loses track of that tone. The Richard Ban read more
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017, Seshita Hiroyuki and Shizuno Kôbun)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 19, 2018
The first half of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is surprisingly good. The film sets the scene during the opening titles–giant monsters attack in 1999, followed later by unstoppable Godzilla, two different space aliens show up to help in exchange for residency on the planet. Godzilla kicks everyb read more
Cop Land (1997, James Mangold)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 19, 2018
Cop Land either has a lot of story going on and not enough content or a lot of content going on and not enough story. Also you could do variations of those statements with “plot.” Writer and director Mangold toggles Cop Land between two plot lines. First is lead Sylvester Stallone. Second is this read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 10: Between Two Fires
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 18, 2018
Between Two Fires does indeed feature two fires. The opening fire is when Noel Neill has been knocked out and captured. Kirk Alyn–and a nicely animated Superman–save her. Of course, the rescue does come with Alyn’s most unlikely change of outfit. And Neill’s asleep for the whole thing, so no read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 8: Superman to the Rescue
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 18, 2018
Superman to the Rescue fails to feature one thing–Superman to the rescue. The cliffhanger resolution goes from sped-up film fistfight to Kryptonite gas filling a room. Tommy Bond saves himself–lucking out because apparently a convener belt is poorly designed–while Kirk Alyn’s Superman stumbles read more
Superman (1948, Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr), Chapter 9: Irresistible Force
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 18, 2018
Again, a Superman chapter where the title really has nothing to do with the content. Unless the Irresistible Force refers to Superman vs. train, which is one of the serial’s better composite effects sequences. At least ones involving Kirk Alyn and not the cartoon Superman fill-in. But after resolvi read more
Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Jan 16, 2018
Most of Goodfellas is told in summary. After an opening scene introducing leads Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci, the action flashes back to Liotta’s childhood. Liotta narrates. Christopher Serrone plays the younger version. Liotta’s narration guides Serrone around the neighborhood, lettin read more