They Met in the Dark offers James Mason as a romantic leading man in a thriller. For that one alone, it’s worth a look, but also because it’s an incredibly peculiar film. Not overall, unfortunately, because it descends into a routine wartime propaganda bit about fifth columnists–the details of the sinister plot are very familiar […]
The Stop Button
distinct . . . diverse . . . divisive . . . snobby.
An Alan Smithee Podcast
One Good Movie, One Bad, One Hour
from Matt of Cinemachine and Andrew of The Stop ButtonLatest Episode
We the hosts of An Alan Smithee Podcast do not take the responsibility of heralding Batman ’89 over Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins or The Dark Knight lightly.
Nor do we waver on the Solomonesque division of Tim Burton’s career into one brilliant period (1985 — 1996) and one banal (1999 — present.) The recent release of Alice In Wonderland 3-D has reminded us that everyone and their dog has an opinion on Tim Burton just as The Dark Knight gave everyone an opportunity to spout their two bits on Batman and Batman vis-a-vis Tim Burton, as the two names are after all forever related. The funny thing is that almost everyone is simply repeating something they heard from someone else or read on the Internet.
Listen, we mustn’t compare ourselves to regular people. We’re critics.
That’s why this week on An Alan Smithee Podcast we’ve recorded our second commentary track special since Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II, so as to better enlighten the masses.
With incredible new “start the movie and this MP3 at the same time” technology, you’ll be privy to two hours and 6 minutes of hardened analysis from the two most level headed Batman and Tim Burton fans on the planet. Aspects mentioned in our commentary track include the The Dark Knight’s plagiarism of the film, the hammy performances of William Hootkins and Jack Palance, the utter brilliance of Sam Hamm, Kim Basinger’s golddigging, the influence of Warner Brothers gangster movies, the tyranny of Prince, the tyranny of Jon Peters, how to quote Robert Wuhl in your everyday life, our mixed feelings on the Batwing, Batman and The Joker’s (separate) sex lives, how to quote Joseph Stalin in your everyday life, and the crazy eyed greatness of Michael Keaton.
NEXT WEEK: BLACK NARCISSUS (1947, MICHAEL POWELL & EMERIC PRESSBURGER) & COBRA (1986, GEORGE P. COSMATOS)
Previous Episodes- Episode 40: Gosford Park (2001, Robert Altman) / Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981, James Cameron)
- Episode 39: Psycho II (1983, Richard Franklin) / Psycho (1998, Gus Van Sant)
- Episode 38: This Gun for Hire (1942, Frank Tuttle) / Congo (1995, Frank Marshall)
- Episode 37: Mean Streets (1973, Martin Scorsese) / Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991, Mark L. Lester)
- Episode 36: The Stranger (1946, Orson Welles) / Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001, Kevin Smith)
