Tag Archives: 2011

The Dambusters – Dated but excellent war movie, focussing on both ingenuity and bravery 8/10

The Dambusters (1955)  This movie is based on the true story of a raid by British bombers to take out the dams of Germany, used to power and aid in the steelmaking process, powering Germany’s war machine. It’s dated somewhat … Continue reading

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The Wicker Man (1973) Mysterious and unique horror movie 10/10

The Wicker Man (1973) In the Cinemas in 1973 but made a few years earlier, The Wicker Man is an exceptional and very classy horror movie, dealing with a seemingly gentle though unusual society, seen through the eyes of a … Continue reading

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TV Review: Doctor Who Regeneration 1 Series 003 – The Edge of Destruction 5/10

Doctor Who Regeneration 1 Series 3: The Edge of Destruction (aka Inside the Spaceship aka Beyond the Sun) This two-episode serial is quite unusual.  It only features the 4 main principals, and is set entirely on the Tardis.  The story … Continue reading

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Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman 7.5/10

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman This is my first time reading Neil Gaiman, having decided to give him a try after his excellent episode of a recent Dr Who, where the Tardis become personified as a woman. This … Continue reading

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Movie Review: 25th Hour – excellently made drama about a failed life 8/10

25th Hour 25th Hour examines the last day of freedom of a man before being sent to jail for 7 years. The main character is Monty Brogan, a drug dealer in New York City. He is played by Ed Norton … Continue reading

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TV Review: Doctor Who Regeneration 1 Series 002 – The Daleks 7.5/10

Doctor Who Regeneration 1 Series 2: The Daleks (aka The Mutants aka The Dead Planet) This seven-episode run was the introduction of the Doctor’s longest-standing and greatest enemies, the Daleks. Whilst it’s stagey and slow compared with modern drama, it … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Dark Tower (the series) by Stephen King 8/10

The Dark Tower (the series) by Stephen King  This sprawling epic of 4,000 pages, written by Stephen King, consists of 7 main books, and tells the story of Roland The Gunslinger and his friends as they quest to reach The … Continue reading

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TV Review: Doctor Who Regeneration 1 Series 001 – An Unearthly Child 6/10

Doctor Who Regeneration 01 Series 001: The Unearthly Child (aka 10,000BC aka The Tribe of Gum) This is the very first episodes of Dr Who, broadcast in November 1963. It consists of 4 episodes of about 23 minutes each.  The … Continue reading

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Shane – A beautiful looking, mature, complex Western 8.5/10

Shane Made in 1951, and I’d never seen it before. This was terrific, I was expecting a simple but enjoyable horse-opera, but what I got was much more; whilst old-fashioned in many respects, it was amazingly mature and sophisticated in … Continue reading

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They Live and top 5 Coolest Movie Characters Episode 016

In this episode, the guys discuss John Carpenter’s They Live, the coolest characters in the movies, the videogame Assassin’s Creed, and various movies including Attack The Block, The Magnificent Seven, and Crimson Tide.

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Movie: The Elephant Man – Beautiful, mesmeric study about beauty and redemption 9/10

The Elephant Man ——————————————————————————– Dr. Fox: Have you ever mentioned his mental state? Dr. Treves: Oh, he’s an imbecile, probably from birth. The man’s a complete idiot. I pray to God he’s an idiot. ——————————————————————————– The Elephant Man is a … Continue reading

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Movie: Attack the Block – A fresh fun B-movie – hoodies vs aliens 7/10

Attack The Block Attack the Block concerns itself with a group of South London street-kids who bring the wrath of an alien swarm on themselves when they kill the first one they meet. It’s a fun, short, punchy movie, permeated … Continue reading

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Wayne’s World and top 5 videogames that would make good movies Episode 015

In this episode, Mark and Sam review Wayne’s World, and discuss the videogames we’d most like to see turned into movies. We also discuss a number of movies, TV shows and games, including Red State, Dante’s Inferno, and South Park

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Movie: Bubba Ho-Tep – Subversive little pulp horror/action movie that is surprisingly deep 6/10

Bubba Ho-Tep Elvis is alive! Or at least he is in this film. The premise of the film is this: Elvis swapped places with an Elvis impersonator when he got bored with the fame and restrictive lifestyle, and while the … Continue reading

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Videogame: Dantes Inferno (XBox 360) – Excellent gameplay, visuals, artwork, a little repetitive 8/10

Dante’s Inferno (X Box 360 version) This game involves a crusader cast into Hell to try and rescue his true love, whilst fighting Satan’s minions and descending through all the Circles of Hell. So much for the story, let’s talk … Continue reading

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Movie: 28 Days Later – Fast zombies, excellent first half, not great second half 6.5/10

28 Days Later The whole premise of this film can be summed up in two words: Running Zombies. That’s not to denigrate this cool B-movie with A-movie ambitions, but that’s what it is. And it’s a great premise, even if … Continue reading

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Movie: Red State: Interesting but flawed horror-thriller, with excellent first half 6.5/10

Red State The latest film from Kevin Smith, and a big change of gear from his usual, jokey offerings, this is a film that changes gear about every 20 minutes or so – starting as a teen comedy, then switching … Continue reading

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Movie: The Battle of Algiers – Tense docu-style movie that remains contemporary 7/10

The Battle of Algiers This is a film made in 1965 about the late 1950’s uprising in French-run Algeria. It has a soundtrack by Morricone, and is filmed in an interesting and gripping documentary style, in order to try and … Continue reading

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Movie: This Gun for Hire: Tight film noir that is the prototype for all solitary movie assassins 7/10

This Gun for Hire (1942) Containing Alan Ladd’s first starring role as a stone-cold killer, this is an excellent, though twisty (and rather contrived) plotted piece apparently based on a story by Graham Greene. Ladd is magnificent here as Raven, … Continue reading

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Johnny English – Family-friendly Bond-spoof with solid laughs and sight gags 3.25/5

Johnny English (2003) Likeable, old-fashioned (in a good way) pastiche of James Bond, starring the man with the most expressive face ever, Rowan Atkinson. It’s fun, there’s reasonable laughs all the way through, and there’s even some quite good stuntwork … Continue reading

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Movie: Arthur (1981) A good comedy with an excellent first and third act 3.5/5

ARTHUR (1981) Arthur is a cool little romantic comedy about a playboy gagillionaire that is being shoved down a path of marrying a girl he really doesn’t love (Susan), and being forced to shape up into someone respectable to please … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Fear is the Key – A great overlooked 70s action thriller 7.5/10

Fear is the Key (1973) A good, twisty, jagged little thriller based on a book by Alistair Maclean where things are not what they seem. Barry Newman is excellent in this as the protagonist that is initially quite rotten as … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein – Top horror comedy, with monsters and comedians really delivering 7.5/10

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein This film marked the final film for several of the universal monster franchises, such as the Frankenstein, Wolf Man and Dracula series, and is touted by some critics (but by no means all) as some … Continue reading

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Alice, Sweet Alice – Interesting American Giallo with plenty of atmosphere and weirdness 7/10

Alice, Sweet Alice  aka Communion An interesting little thriller that plays like an Italian Giallo, but is set and made in America.  Got famous for the brief presence of Brooke Shields at a young age (and she never acted better … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Idiocracy – Broad-stroke satire about future America that’s like crossing Sleeper with Fox News 6/10

Idiocracy An interesting but not entirely successful satire of the state of America, where a reasonably likeable Army slacker and a prostitute are used in a cryogenics experiment that goes wrong, and they wake up 5 hundred years in the future. They … Continue reading

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The Thing and Favourite Stop-Motion Animation Movies Episode 014

In this one, Sam and Mark discuss John Carpenter’s The Thing and their favourite movies containing stop-motion animation, as well as a few other movies such as 13 Assassins and The Perfect Host

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Book Review: The Light Fantastic – Fun 2nd book in Discworld series, definitely a pleasing read 8/10

The Light Fantastic This is a direct sequel to Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld book, continuing the adventures of Rincewind the semi-failed magician, Twoflower the tourist,  and the walking luggage. There’s many funny moments and scenes in this book, but it … Continue reading

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TV Review: Battlestar Galactica miniseries and Season 1: Fantastic, gritty, funny, surprising space opera that really delivers here 9/10

The 3 hour miniseries set the scene very nicely. This was total war, and total losing, the cylons won this one outright. 3 very clear and outright awesome characters were established in this series: Commander Adama, Starbuck and Roslin. There’s … Continue reading

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Movie Review: 13 Assassins – exciting modern Samurai actioner 8.5/10

13 Assassins A quite enthralling hark back to 60s Samurai movies with a modern twist, solid all the way through. The bad guy is completely bad, and the good guys are tough, powerful fighters that need to take down 200 … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Fright Night 2 – rather poor 80s horror/comedy that isn’t very scary or funny 3/10

Fright Night 2 Okay Fright Night was recently made with David Tennant channelling Russell Brand as a vampire hunter, but this is a review of the sequel to the rather charming original. This sequel suffers from a number of problems.  … Continue reading

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