Frank's Movie Log

Right in my nihilistic, trap-movie-loving wheelhouse. So deft and surprising. More than once, I’d bemoan a plot point as weak writing, only to have it twist, circle back, and punch me in the gut. I bought everything Toni Collette’s all-in performance was selling. And I loved the ending.

John Wayne’s first starring role. He’s good but raw—on par with the poverty-row oaters he’d headline for the next nine years. Here he plays a trapper leading a wagon train up the Oregon Trail. The script includes the requisite character drama and romantic interest. Disregard them. The production itself is the real star. Continue reading...

Quill’s man-child characterization wears thin. Drax remains funny as ever. Baby Groot steals the show.

Peter Cushing’s second film for Hammer. He plays a botanist who hitches a ride aboard Forrest Tucker’s Himalayan expedition to find and study the legendary Yeti. Of course, Tucker’s motives prove less than scientific. And of course, one-by-one the party members meet unfortunate ends. Continue reading...

Powell’s third outing as amateur detective Philo Vance. After the disappointing Green Murder Case, the franchise returns to form with a closed-circle mystery pitting Powell against a notorious bootlegger. The early thunderstorm generates a terrific atmosphere and the eccentric supporting cast sprinkles in the right dose of light comedy.

I’d like to revisit a better print. All the uploads online appear sourced from the same low-res scan.

William Powell’s first talkie. Despite only rating third billing, he carries the picture. Powell plays a womanizer believed dead in the first World War. When he’s discovered living under an assumed name, a former flame—played by top-billed Evelyn Brent—seizes the opportunity to blackmail her former rival, Powell’s ex-wife, now married to an upstanding doctor. It’s a stiff drama with no emotional stakes. The quiet dignity of Powell’s performance provides the film’s only resonance.

Hal Skelly plays Hap, a well-named vaudeville bicycle-clown eking out a meager living. He takes in another vaudeville performer named Gardoni (just Gardoni—like Bono or Madonna), played with an Italian accent by William Powell. Continue reading...

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Stephen Strange, a hotshot neurosurgeon. After a car accident cripples his hands, Strange’s search for a miracle cure leads him to Nepal. There he meets The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton, who trains him in sorcery. Continue reading...