Happy Feet

Animated film in which Penguins find their soul mates via song but Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman's Son can't sing but can dance which infuriates the elders and gets the blame for a loss of Fish. When you see the trailer advertised for it's Cinema release, you got the impression that this would be awesome and be a massive and popular hit but it doesn't reach it's potential and it has a strong environmental message at the end.

Rescuers Down Under

Sequel to an under-rated Disney Film in which our heroic Mice travel to Australia in order to save a Boy kidnapped by a Poacher who is after a rare Eagle. I loved the original and whilst good, it doesn't reach the same heights.

Tequila Sunrise

Mel Gibson is a Drug Dealer who is friends with Police Detective, Kurt Russell and they end up in a Drug Investigation whilst trying to romance Restaurant Owner, Michelle Pheiffer. This was a very slow film and it only livened up when Raul Julia appeared. There wasn't much Action, which to me was a disappointment, considering it's a Mel Gibson, Warner Bros Film, from the 80's.

Attachment 230199
THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (1957)

Smashing and funny comedy in which a couple inherit a old cinema complete with the long term staff. The cinema, named 'The Flea Pit' is sandwiched between two railway lines and tries to compete with the modern 'Grand' cinema who's owners wish to buy the old cinema (also using underhanded methods) and build a car park on the site.
A comedy treat for lovers of the old cinemas. The scene in which the Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna come across the old staff watching and remembering the silent movies is heartwarming.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/images/libr..._on_earth2.jpg

Night Of Terror (1986)

SOV. A rather unsubtle take on the Spiral Staircase/ Gaslight genre. Though the slightly crazed and bleak ending made up for it's shortcomings. MAAAAAAAAAAAN, the Eighties were shit tbh :xmaslol:
Great ST. Bleep bloop bleep etc. Vaguely giallo vibes, like if a child made one cough.

Disappointing double bill this Boxing Day, started off with Tenet which is Nolan's recent big screen outing, all loud bangs and quiet dialogue and some scientific mumbo jumbo to confuse everyone viewing it. If this film could be described in one word it'd be 'GREY'

Then I settled down to watch Disney Pixar's new one Soul which features a lovely Reznor & Ross soundtrack but very little else. Started off ok but then turned into the usual 'let's talk about our feelings, man' story, about a jazz musician trying to find the meaning in his life.

I should have finished my Lord of the Rings trilogy rewatch with Return of the King instead, oh well I can do that tomorrow I guess.

Decemberdike # 25
 

Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties (1978)

Now this is how to finish Christmas Day. Late night entertainment courtesy of Jess Franco.

And what entertainment it is. Watching Lina Romay bursting out of the tiniest gold bikini (with matching swim cap) being pursued by a machine gun wielding blonde in a helicopter.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

I'm overdue a rewatch of this one, very enjoyable and titillating fun!

I watched the dubbed version. (Didn't want the subs to get in the way ;))

It was just like a piss take. I'm sure the impressions dude from Police Academy saw this and it inspired his 'dubbed movie' routine.

Words were spoken but lips never moved followed by the actors (loose term) talking and no audible dialogue.

I know this may be sacrilege but i almost always watch dubbed versions as it adds to the bizarreness and charm of foreign films for me.

:psychosanta:

It depends on the film maker, but Fulci, Argento and Uncle Jess I'll always watch an English dub over an 'original' language track. Although a lot of the Jess Franco films coming out these days which have been dug up from under the floorboards or what have you, only seem to have original language on them as they are fairly obscure titles.

I usually put on the English track and the English subtitles to compare what's being said.

If someone like David Warbeck, ie - an English speaking actor, is the lead i'll usually always go with the English dub as they'll have dubbed themself. I really don't think it's any use listening to an Italian dub over an English speaking actor. It really depends on what i think following a few scenes of chatter.

In the case of Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties yesterday night, the subs were just getting in the way.

A few that I saw ...

Repo Man
Revisit this old warhorse. Still very funny. His best film? Maybe ....


The Screaming Skull (1959)
Suburban Gothic, as a new bride trepidatiously enters her new home. Everything seems pleasant, but still .... hadn't seen this one before, and whilst tis a bit flat in places, I enjoyed this , the last embers of the old guard on the cusp of a new and exciting departure just around the corner etc ...
Ahem.


My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Documentary. Nothing like Costeau :xmaslol:. Would have made a great Ghibli film tbh. You'ld all be going "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" and t'ing. An oddity.


Spawn Of The Slithis (1978, Stephen Traxler)
Good old fashioned monster movie, with 70s concerns thrown in. Several familiar elements bubble up in this particular eco stew. Reminded me a tad od Doomwatch and a few DW episodes tbh. Will revisit this one again certainly ...

Decemberdike # 26
 

Mandy (2018)

WTF? I was not expecting this nor did i want to watch something like this last night. Being a Nic Cage film i was expecting, nay, hoping for something on the lines of Drive Angry (2011). You know all out shit kicking Cage mayhem. Not some arthouse flick crossed with Rob Zombie which was either bathed in red or too friggin' dark to see anything.

I'm not saying if it was good or bad as i really didn't want to watch this style of movie so i'll give it another go when i have another extremely slow two hours to spare and feel more in the mood.

I've been curious about this one for ages but held off as it's been very hyped up, hardly ever a good sign tbh

And I’ve held of because it stars nic cage who I’m not a fan of.

Pish and tosh fellow Labbers. Mandy is Exploitation gold disguised as arthouse cough.

REWATCH!!!!!

I'm pretty sure i'll enjoy Mandy on rewatch when i know what i'm letting myself in for.

recent watches...
 

recent rewatches..all enjoyable...im too full of Christmas cake to write a reviews...

True that. :xmasnuts:

Hell Spawn (1993, Alan Joseph Michael )

Another half decent effort this, I say half because the dialogue is that muffled, it took two watches to get the actual story right haha. It's all really quite bittersweet this one tbh. A local legend has some truth to it, as a group of friends find out to their cost. Fun here. Recommended.



Phantom Brother (1988, William Szarka)

More SOV. The first intentional comedy horror one as well it seems, as familal matters come to a head when the oldest son finds a new love. A hoot. Some familiar ground here certainly, but it's in the telling ...

My Lovely Burnt Brother & His Squashed Brain (1988)

Jodorowsky on a budget of $1.75 (plus tax!!)
Fisher Price psychodelia from the hinterlands. To describe it blah blah blah Ebert said it was pond scum blah blah WHATEVER. RECOMMENDED.
Once every 15 minutes comes a motion picture .... this is one of those ones. Revenge and dentistry and the KKK and Spanish dialogue?? UUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Made Things seem quaint :xmasbanana:

My lovely burnt brother and his squashed brain
Sound like your describing your brother in hospital with brain damage due to a fire incident.:xmaslol:

That seems quaint compared to the film :xmaslol::psychosanta:

Decemberdike # 16
 

10 Rillington Place (1971)

The true story of John Reginald Christie set in the grimy streets of post war London. Richard Attenborough as Christie gives a tour-de-force performance that oozes menace throughout.

Part gritty kitchen sink drama and part horror film, 10 Rillington Place and director Richard Fleischer re-create the grittish atmosphere of the time superbly, but the most memorable thing is Attenborough's exercise in terror and despite lacking much in the way of bloodshed, the murders Christie acts out on local women are grueling to watch and extremely effective.

There's barely a chink of light in 10 Rillington Place, it's a movie that is so utterly bleak and is one hell of a spine chiller.

John Christie and Kris Kringle. It's the same fella you know. Let that sink in for a while!

And back to Christmas Day...

Michael Ball & Alfie Boe: Back Together – Live in Concert (2020)

Wasn't as bad as i feared. As a rock fan there were parts that were pretty cool such as covers of John Farnham's You're the Voice and a Queen medley comprising Who Wants to Lie Forever, The Show Must Go On and the hideous Friends will be Friends.

It's undeniable that both are excellent singers, especially Alfie Boe, and their in between song banter is fun, however, despite this being pretty decent it's not the sort of thing i'd choose to watch frequently. But, you know, Christmas and all that

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

An old favourite for Christmas Day night, basically because i can never be bothered with something new...especially after watching all two hours of Ball and Boe : Back Together, as a treat for my mum, from 7pm-9pm.

As a footnote. I'm so far behind with my reviews this year it's becoming embarrassing

Decemberdike # 17
 

It! (1966)

Bang average attempt to bring the classic Golem up to date, or at least into the sixties anyway.

Roddy McDowell channels his inner Norman Bates is a museum curator living with the corpse of his dead mother as he brings the Golem back to life in order to carry out random acts of murder.

The fact the movie tries to do too much really doesn't help here especially as it basically achieves very little and what could be a creepy tale of horror plays out as a riff on Hammer's Mummy films with elements of Psycho thrown in.

Tainted Image (1990)

An updated Repulsion lite with fair to reasonable results, wavering as it does betwixt the two. A tad more conventional than some in this genre, much like ....

Fatal Exposure (1989, Peter B. Good)

A nasty wee thing this one. A maniac targets women etc. Bleak tone throughout mainly. Decently structured, this is also Recommended. Decent claret and plenty of it.

Nearly done!! :xmaslol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyxfXQ4MGLQ

It's another shitty Christmas for John when he goes to pick up his wife from the airport and gets involved with ex specials forces turned terrorist . Once again it's up to John to save his wife and many others this festive season. It's not Christmas until you see William Sadler doing naked exercises! 9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXoAVi4FPk

A Christmas classic , if this doesn't bring a tear to your eye, your already dead. 9.5/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q8fG0TtVAY

Probably my favourite DC movie, the beautiful Gal Gadot captures the spirit of wonder woman perfectly , I did enjoy the world war one setting and was a great piece of escapism when wonder woman enters no man's land. 9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW2E2Fnh52w

While not awful it's not a patch on the first and is very slow , we have Pedro Pascal of Mandalorian fame as Maxwell Lord the main villain who wants to control the world but really couldn't take seriously, especially with that hair peice. More time should been spent on the character of cheetah. Chris Pine returns as Steve Trevor. Average but worth watching for the post credit scene which was by far the best bit of the movie. 6/10

Now watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHXIBQ8y3o0

976 Evil

A bullied Teen finds a business card which gives a phone that when dialed unleashes an evil force that takes care of his problems. Never seen this before and it's pretty decent but not totally in love with it.

V.F.W

A group of War Veterans help defend a girl from a group of murderous Drug Dealers and Junkies after she steals some highly potent Drugs in order to get revenge for her murdered sister. This is the movie that The Expendables should of been, highly violent and entertaining with a cast of B-Movie Actors such as William Sadler, Martin Kove, Fred Williamson and Stephen Lang.

Jubilee (1978)

I remember seeing Derek Jarman's unusual Jubilee back in the early days of Channel 4 and i found it fascinating stuff.

The story, about Queen Elizabeth I (Jenny Runacre) who takes a trip into the future to witness anarchy in the UK and the disintegration of society from the viewpoint of a group of mostly female punks living together in god knows where, led by Bod (Runacre, again) is almost irrelevant in comparison to the pseudo documentary vibe about chaos running through it.

Although portraying something of a nightmarish world there's beauty to be found throughout in their cesspit society of violence and sex, indeed i found the majority of this film erotically charged.

Jubilee is an inventive and experimental work and uses plenty of New Wave music throughout the film (The Slits, Siousxie and the Banshees, Adam Ant, Chelsea) with Amyl Nitrate's (The excellent, Jordan) rendition of Rule Britannia especially memorable.

For me Jubilee is a film to get lost in, to immerse myself in, a time capsule of a long gone era full of an energy not seen since and i think it's brilliant.

Great British classic film, love films like these extremely well made .

Decemberdike # 28
 

Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019)

A well made if slow moving mystery starring Tuppence Middleton as a young woman who returns to her home town of Niagara Falls haunted by fragmented memories of witnessing a kidnapping there as a child.

Quietly atmospheric and held together by a good performance by Middleton who i could watch in anything, with an added bonus being a rare acting gig by the great David Cronenberg himself.

With better script editing this could have been very good indeed but even without it was still an absorbing little drama thriller

Cronenburg is also in the new season of star trek discovery of all things!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHXIBQ8y3o0

A petrified corpse is found in the ruins of Pompeii. The corpse comes back to life and goes on a killing spree it also has a psychic connection to a young woman who looks like the woman it loved 2000 years ago. Really a variation on the original mummy . 5/10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o4fdX8gUMY

A scientist and his wife are contacted by aliens whom want too take over the world , the scientist rushes to find a weapon to destroy the aliens and stop them from taking over. A classic piece of 50s sci-fi with the wonderful 50s sound effects and Rays wonderful special effects that still stand up today. 9/10


Now watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7I00n98JAw

Attachment 230299
WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2019?, 2020?)

Oh man, what a disappointment. Clocking in a 2hr 30mins, the movie started okay with a flashback to young Diana and the Amazons. Then when we see Wonder Woman action for the first time as she foils a robbery in a shopping mall the scene became laughable. A comedy fight with comedy villans.
In fact, much of the WW action is stretched pretty far and I found myself shaking my head.
The shining light is Dr Minerva but even the long awaited Cheetah appearance is fleeting.
The movie is long and it feels like it. Long stretches between anything happening, and some of these scenes with Diana and Steve are cringe incuding how can a WW1 pilot fly a jet fighter? Just like that!
Add to that your usual dose of all men are sexist nonsense.
Director Patty Jenkins also wrote the screenplay this time and it's a mish mash of ideas and for us, WTF moments.
After the success of the first movie I would say that this is a franchise killer but WW3 has been greenlit.
Damn! I was really looking forward to this movie. If I want to see this movie again it will be from the Blu ray bargain bin or sale. "sigh"

The whole jet bit was just stupid, really don't think I'll pick this up till it's in the bargain bin. Could of done with being trimmed , get rid of max Lord and his hilarious hair and just focused on cheetah. Also should of had a more 80s feel with music etc.

Post credit scene was the best thing about it.

Let's hope the third is more like the first.

Edit

After this I'm worried about the rogue squadron movie she's directing

Give me the Lynda Carter tv series over these movies any day.

Gal Godot is a good wonder woman but she can on!y work with what she gets , she was great in the first and had a few good moments in this but the awful script that was all over the place let her down.

But yes, Lynda will always be my favourite. Both very beautiful woman.

You are spot on!

Part of me thinks the whole max Lord bit was a poor excuse to get Steve Trevor in the film, should of either found a better way of just not borthed with him because for the most part he was pointless.

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Unknowns Harry Hamlin and Judy Bowker lead a stellar cast including Burgess Meredith, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress and Laurence Olivier in this big budget epic of Greek mythology.

Ray Harryhausen's brilliant stop motion effects work bring to life a whole plethora of weird and wonderful creations from the mighty Kraken, classic giant scorpions, the two headed Dioskilos, R2D2 substitute Bubo the clockwork owl and the superb Gorgon, Medusa.

Amidst many great moments, the trip across the river Styx to the edge of the Underworld and the confrontation with Medusa is a standout. Tense in the extreme and bathed in atmosphere the Gorgon attack is up there with the best of Harryhausen's achievements.

Although perhaps not the best Ray Harryhausen movie, Jason and the Argonauts (1963) remains my personal favourite, however Clash of the Titans stands up well today and as Ray Harryhausen's final work is one hell of a way to go out.