Cobra Woman (1944) - Tollea is all set to get married when she is abducted and taken back to her people. Apparently she has a twin sister, Naja, who rules viciously and sadistically and her Grandmother wants Tollea to take her place and save her people. It's utter nonsense but thoroughly entertaining. It's quite ambitious in that it's shot in colour, which is something of a rarity for this type of film from the 40's. I enjoyed it, anyway!
War of the Colossal Beast (1958) - Typically wacky 50's sci-fi in which soldier Glenn Manning gets radiation poisoning and starts growing! He apparently reaches 60 feet tall. His sister is on the case though, and wants him found and helped. There are ridiculous plot turns, like how he reached 60 feet then disappeared. How does a man that big disappear? Not exactly hard to spot! The dialogue is a laugh riot and I thoroughly enjoyed every silly second of it.
'This footprint was made by a man 60 feet tall.'
'Glenn was 60 feet tall!'
****ing hell, how many 60 foot tall people are there? It's also odd how the film briefly switches to colour at the end, pretty pointless but must have seemed like a good gimmick at the time.
Nevertheless, I was entertained. What more can you ask for?
Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps (2010) - Oliver Stone delivers a sequel to the 80's hit and Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko. Gekko has just got out of prison and discovers his daughter has a boyfriend who works on Wall Street. It's not long before he's wheeling and dealing, only this time things end on a happier note. It's not bad, but lacks substance really and doesn't come close to the original for making its point ferociously. Not bad though and Josh Brolin is outstanding as a ruthless trader. Worth a look and it does make some wry observations on the current political and economic climate. As Gekko himself observes - greed is now not only good, but it's legal.
Planet of the Apes (1968) - Charlton Heston is Taylor, an astronaut who crashes on a planet where evolution has taken a different path - the apes are intelligent and can talk whilst humans are unspeaking brutes. It's an undeniable classic and I had a great time revisiting this one - and seeing it in widescreen makes a huge difference too. Good stuff. The Blu-ray is stunning, too.
Doc Savage (1975) - Ron Ely is Doc Savage. Women love him, men want to be him, and his enemies want him dead so they can get their hands on his gold! It's as bizarre as it sounds but highly entertaining. This is cheesy. There's cheese on top of that cheese. With a cheese topping. Just sit back and watch the silliness and enjoy. Best served with a couple of beers. And some cheese.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Clint Eastwood is Josey Wales, farmer turned outlaw following the slaughter of his family by the Yankees. He's still fighting the war long after it's finished. It's not Clint's best, but it's still a damn good western with plenty of colourful characters and action set pieces to keep things rolling along. Not bad overall, quite enjoyed this one again.
The Fog (1979) - John Carpenter's atmospheric chiller gets a bit of a poor presentation on the UK BD. A group of long deceased lepers return to wreak their vengeance on the folks of Antonio Bay, the forefathers of whom killed them. It's thin on plot but big on atmosphere and remains one of my favourite Carpenter films. Just a shame the BD is a bit below par, but thankfully nowhere near as bad as Optimum's EFNY atrocity on Blu-ray.
The Green Mile (1999) - Tom Hanks meets and befriends a magic giant. But it's actually a prison movie. You figure it out. Nevertheless, I do quite like the film which is why I grabbed the Blu-ray. Darabont directs from the Stephen King story and it's not bad, Hanks is bearable in this. Just.
Source Code (2011) - Jake Gyllenhaal is the US pilot who is forced to repeatedly enter into the last 8 minutes prior to a terrorist attack on a train in order to identify the terrorist so that a further terrorist strike can be prevented. Think Groundhog Day with terrorists and you'd be close. However, it's brilliantly done and director Duncan Jones shows himself to be a real competitor to Christopher Nolan. Hopefully Jones will shake off the 'son of David Bowie' tag soon and be seen as a creative force in his own right. Highly recommended.
The Monster Maker (1944) - A real bargain basement shocker this one, but not unenjoyable. A mad scientist looking to develop a cure for acromegalay also perfects how to infect someone with it, which he does - into the father of the woman he is obsessed with. It's gloriously cheap and cheerful, but this only adds to the charm. The print on the Cayman DVD is a bit battered, but serviceable. Give it a go, I quite enjoyed it. Undemanding entertainment.
Pandorum (2009) - Gave this Blu-ray rental a spin. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid are two astronauts who awaken from hypersleep to find that their spacecraft is overrun with malevelont creatures. Or is it? There is a syndrome called Pandorum that causes space travellers to go nuts. So are the creatures real or is it the Pandorum syndrome? Intriguing and although shot on an obviously modest budget it looks extremely impressive. Most of it works, but some of it doesn't. Well worth a look though.
Psycho (1960) - Picked up the Blu-ray of this and it looks stunning. We all know the tale, Norman Bates runs an out-of-the-way motel, but he's a little bit mad and is bumping people off. He's also got a mother fixation, which doesn't help matters. Evn 50 years on the film still has some potent scenes and deals with some very strong themes. An absolute classic, and one I'd never seen in widescreen, so that was nice.
Fertile Ground (2009) - Another Blu-rental. A young couple relocate to the husband's family home out in the country following a messy and traumatic miscarriage. But within their new home, are the ghosts of the past really dead? Things inevitably get weird. Not an entirely successful effort and I found myself getting a bit bored, to be honest.
The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - I thought this was a bit like taking The Matrix and Dark City, mixing them up and adding in a love story. It just about works and it is very entertaining. So it's a thumbs up from me.
Killers (2010) - Yet another Blu-ray rental. Jen (Katherine Heigl) falls for Spencer (Ashton Kutcher). They get married and settle down. What she doesn't know is that he's a former contract killer and when the bullets start flying her world is turned upside down. It's harmless enough, but that Heigl woman is really annoying.
Withnail and I (1987) - Picked this up cheap on BD and it was great to catch up with it again. When Withnail and friend go on holiday by mistake it's all fun and games - with Monty taking a shine to Withnail's friend. Brilliant, brilliant film. Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant give the performances of their lives, which they've never bettered IMO.
'I must have some booze. I demand to have some booze.' Asylum (2008) - An old asylum with a gruesome history is turned into a college campus, but it's not long before its bloody past starts creeping into the present. It's all a bit dull and predictable. Below average horror offering with crap actors and poor production values.
Jennifer's Body (2010) - Jennifer (Megan Fox) becomes possessed by a demon when a Satanic ritual goes wrong. Her friend (Amanda Seyfried) twigs that's something wrong and tries to sort things out. Bit crap really. The Blu-ray rental looked very nice, shame the film itself is shit.
Bonded By Blood (2010) - More Mockney antics from the likes of Tamer Hassan and company. Thankfully Danny Dyer is mercifully absent. This tells the story of what happened before Rise of the Foot Soldier and it's just as cringe inducing. Lots of Mockney lads trying to out-Cockney each other. It's laughable. Based on the true story of the Essex, Rettendon landrover shootings, it's just as ineffectual as the previous two stabs at the story. When is someone going to be honest enough to tell Tamer Hassan that he's a lousy actor? He's that bad I almost wanted Craig Fairbrass back in the role of Pat. That should give an indication of how bad it is.
Devil's Playground (2010) - Speaking of Fairbrass, he turns up in this crap Brit zombie movie.And not only are we subjected to Fairbrass, but we get Danny Dyer too. A drug test trial goes wrong when the participants die and come back as....well...zombies. Seen it all before. Yawn. Nice Blu-ray picture, shit film.