The Best Films of John Huston

The Best Films of John Huston

No one burst into cinema like Huston. His first film was a masterpiece, his greatest, and the best first film of any director. He arose as the perfect director, and for ten years he defined genius behind the camera. Far more of a rebel than Welles, he squeezed art out of Hollywood against its will.

The Best Films of Leslie Howard

The Best Films of Leslie Howard

Howard was a major star of early film, and a gifted actor, playing romantics, egotists, detectives, scholars, and even a swashbuckler, but he is primarily remembered for his gruesome role as the effete Ashley in Gone With the Wind. His legacy deserves better. Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with him. He was

Top Five Genre Films of 2012.

Top Five Genre Films of 2012.

2012 was an excellent year for fantasy, science fiction, and horror films…at the top…but it didn’t have a lot of depth. I’ll ignore mediocrity for now and focus on the winners. #5 Upside Down I’m starting with a cheat. I can’t say that Upside Down is the 5th best genre film of the year, even

Ranked: Every James Bond Title Sequence

Ah, the Bond title sequence. It is as iconic as Bond himself, or at least has been since the playbook was completed with Thunderball: Beautiful female silhouettes undulating about with weapons pointed at them or in their hands against surreal backdrops. Good ones can set the film up. Bad ones pull the audience down. I’m

Ranking the X-Men Movies (updated)

Ranking the X-Men Movies (updated)

Once a metaphor for Blacks in America, and now often seen as a commentary of how the LGBT community is treated, the X-Men have always meant a bit more than other comic book characters. The X-Men film franchise has, at times, been more successful with its political statements than the comics, but at other times

The Best Films of Vincent Price

The Best Films of Vincent Price

The 4th of the Big Three horror icons (of sound films), like Karloff before him, Vincent Price had a liquid-jeweled voice and range. Price’s early work was more often in Film Noirs, comedies, and a few adventure films. Except for brief sojourns, he didn’t switch to horror until 1953’s House of Wax, but once there,

Best Films of 2017

Best Films of 2017

What a year it has been in film. My best list is for fantasy and science fiction films, in all their many forms, so everything from dedicated scientists in the near future to dragons and elves to evil clowns (though no evil clowns will made this list). And it has been an amazing year for

Ranking The Best Superhero Films

Ranking The Best Superhero Films

We live in a wonderful age for superhero fans. When I was in college, none of the films in my top 10 existed, and only one of my top 20. I would only have been able to come up with two superhero films that were actually good. Now it is a snap to come up

The Best Films of Chuck Jones

The Best Films of Chuck Jones

This is different from my normal Director’s Lists as Jones is not known for features, but for animated shorts. But then he’s also the greatest director of shorts, and arguably of animations of any length, so definitely a man who needs to be included. A majority of his career was spent at Warner Bros., working

Top Five Overrated Genre Films of 2012

Top Five Overrated Genre Films of 2012

Overrated does not mean bad. That’s obvious, but I feel I need to point that out to save myself from hate-filled emails. None of these would five would fit on my worst of 2012 list. There are things so much worse. These films are watchable, but have garnered far more praise than they deserve. #5

Ranking the James Bond Villains

Ranking the James Bond Villains

To go with my ranking of all of the Bond films last week, here is my ranking of the Bond villains. Everyone always says that the villain makes the Bond film. I don’t think so. But there is some relationship. I’m going with main villains, as there are lots and lots of villains. Henches will

Best/Most Important SF Films of the '50s

Best/Most Important SF Films of the ’50s

I was asked by a friend (yes, a real one, not just a Facebook one) what the Best ‘50s—early ‘60s science fiction films were. I asked if we were talking “best” or “most important” and he said “Why not both?” As I’ve just finished a panel at Dragon Con on the subject, and making that