Page 6 | Frank's Movie Log

Colt Comrades 1943
Directed by Lesley Selander. Starring William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, and Teddi Sherman.
Follows Border Patrol and Hoppy Serves a Writ in the Hopalong Cassidy series. Hoppy and his deputies buy a ranch and settle down, only to run up against a crooked cattle baron played by Victor Jory.

Weakest of the three Cassidy films I’ve watched so far. Lots of filler shots, lingering takes, and Clyde’s flat slapstick. That said, Mitchum shines in his meatiest (albeit shortest) part in the series thus far, playing yet another outlaw grunt.
10 Dec, 2020
- Robert Mitchum
Jack Frost 1997
Directed by Michael Cooney. Starring Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel, and F. William Parker.
In 2016, I gave Jack Frost a one-star review, calling it “bad, even by movie-about-a-killer-snowman standards.” I was wrong. Continue reading...
09 Dec, 2020
Horror of Dracula 1958
Directed by Terence Fisher. Starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, and Melissa Stribling.
Howard Hawks once said that a good movie consisted of “three great scenes and no bad ones.” Hammer’s first entry in its Dracula franchise gives us exactly that. Continue reading...
08 Dec, 2020
The Family Stone 2005
Directed by Thomas Bezucha. Starring Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, and Diane Keaton.
Mulroney brings his uptight, upper-crust girlfriend (played by Parker) to his tight-knit, liberal family’s Christmas get-together, where he plans to ask for his grandmother’s wedding ring. The film mixes family drama and romantic comedy but commits to neither. The stellar cast’s innate charisma shines, but the film feels ashamed of its rom-com ambitions. It raises some interesting points around inclusion, tolerance, and dialogue, only to fall back on reductive tropes. It’s a rom-com dressed up in a family drama; as if it yearns to prove it’s about more than meet-cutes, but meet-cutes are all it offers.
05 Dec, 2020
Black Christmas 1974
Directed by Bob Clark. Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon.
It’s grown on me. I wrote a snarky review in 2011 that bemoaned the final girl’s “fit of acting” as she goes up the stairs instead of out the door, but time has been kind to Black Christmas. Continue reading...
04 Dec, 2020
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 2013
Directed by Jay Oliva. Starring Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, David Selby, and Wade Williams.
An animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s seminal graphic novel that sees a middle-aged Batman (voiced by Peter Weller) emerge from a ten-year retirement to reclaim Gotham. Continue reading...
03 Dec, 2020
Border Patrol 1943
Directed by Lesley Selander. Starring William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, and Russell Simpson.
Boyd plays Hopalong Cassidy, a Texas Ranger who uncovers a shady mining town controlled by a despotic mayor, played by Russell Simpson. Continue reading...
02 Dec, 2020
- Robert Mitchum
Hoppy Serves a Writ 1943
Directed by George Archainbaud. Starring William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, and Victor Jory.
Robert Mitchum’s first movie. Boyd plays Hopalong “Hoppy” Cassidy, a Texas sheriff out to arrest an outlaw gang that’s fled into Oklahoma, where he lacks jurisdiction. Continue reading...
02 Dec, 2020
- Robert Mitchum
Fear and Desire 1953
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp, Paul Mazursky, and Stephen Coit.
Stanley Kubrick’s debut feature. During an unnamed conflict, four soldiers crash-land in enemy territory and confront the horrors of war. According to the IMDb, Kubrick disowned the film, comparing it to “a child’s drawing on a fridge.” Fair enough, if said child possesses Kubrick’s potential. Continue reading...
30 Nov, 2020
- Stanley Kubrick
Salvation!: Have You Said Your Prayers Today? 1987
Directed by Beth B. Starring Stephen McHattie, Dominique Davalos, Exene Cervenka, and Viggo Mortensen.
An early but impressive performance from Viggo Mortensen. A black comedy script indicting America’s class gap and televangelism. A visual esthetic inspired by contemporary Italian horror. A nightmarish home-invasion sub-plot. A soundtrack driven by New Order and Arthur Baker. How have I never seen this? Continue reading...
27 Nov, 2020

Pagination