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Tag Archives: 2014
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter 4/5
Made at the tail-end of the Hammer era of horror movies, this is a rip-roaring, swashbuckling horror movie, with Captain Kronos killing vampires with a Katana many years before Blade got to it, this is just a lot of fun. … Continue reading
Oblivion – Odd One Out 051
3.5/5 A decent enough scifi actioner, but it does cram about 5 hours of story into 2 hours. It also suffers because it successfully conjures up other, better scifi movies. You can detect 2001, Moon, Wall-E, Planet of the Apes, … Continue reading
Treasure Planet 2.5/5
A middling Disney effort, with some effective, if maybe a little jarring, mixing of traditional animation and CGI. It’s too long (15 less would have been better), but the main characters are well developed and charming, there’s some fun stuff … Continue reading
Stoker 4/5
This is an outrageously good-looking film, and every scene has tantalising and enthralling composition. It engages and keeps your attention. However… The motivations and character development of the main focus of this story is just odd. I will avoid spoilers … Continue reading
Galaxy of Terror 2.5/5
Well, it’s really cheap, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, basically ripping off Alien and throwing in a good dose of Solaris as the driver for the mayhem. And some yucky alien-worm rape. However, to break it … Continue reading
Doghouse 3/5
Goofy horror movie that just about works. Some of it isn’t great – the dialogue is not good (it’s clichéd) but delivered with some gusto, and you can tell some of the scenes probably seemed much better on paper than … Continue reading
Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell 3/5
A Q and A with Kevin Smith of distinctly two halves. The first half (or more like, first hour) is pretty great, where he talks about his interaction with the Westboro Baptist Church, and the making of Red State. The … Continue reading
Thor The Dark World 3/5
A decent sequel to the impressive first one…and I say impressive, because it really shouldn’t have worked, Thor as a comic book character works, but I just couldn’t see how it could possibly work at a serious level when put … Continue reading
Visit to a Small Planet 3/5
Pretty good early Jerry Lewis movie, where there’s a distinct lack of mawkishness and plenty of goofy fun. The supporting cast is pretty good and energetic too, and there’s some nice touches, such as Jerry walking up a wall and … Continue reading
Submarine 3/5
Rather fine coming of age/emo drama that required a little patience to get used to during the first act, but actually quietly satisfying by the end. Rather nice direction, sound, acting and script.
Caddyshack 4.5/5
Superb comedy, so filled with gags and funny moments that it may just be the most rewatchable comedy ever. Everyone’s really on form, from Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and the fantastic Ted Knight. When I watch this, I … Continue reading
In The Loop 3.5/5
Rather fine comedy, and a successful transfer of the small-screen ‘the thick of it’ to a big screen version. It never really flags, and because it’s so fast and furious, it stays fresh for a rewatch. Capaldi is brilliant in … Continue reading
National Lampoon’s Vacation 4/5
Very funny movie that started the Vacation series, which clearly peaked at Christmas Vacation. The Griswalds are fully-developed characters from the off (well, Clark and Ellen anyway, the kids were always changing actors/ages), and it’s also fun to see Cousin … Continue reading
Battle Beyond the Stars 3.5/5
Very fun scifi version of Seven Samurai from Roger Corman, with solid music, a decent script with witty touches (and a few laughs), and some thought and imagination showing through in the ship designs, different kinds of creatures that make … Continue reading
Uncle Buck 3.5/5
very solid John Hughes comedy, with an excellent turn by John Candy, and little Macaulay Culkin stealing scenes like there’s no tomorrow. The only problem I had with the film was the casting of the parents. They seemed not great … Continue reading
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy 2.5/5
A lesser A&C comedy, with some of their typical gagging, but nowhere near as good as their best work. Passable.
Stripes 3.5/5
A film of three parts really, and the first part isn’t as funny as I remember it. The first part is we get to see Bill Murray and Harold Ramis before they sign up. It’s a short segment, but I … Continue reading
David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3.5/5
Pretty solid documentary, where the incomparable David Attenborough lets you about the life histories of various exhibits that belongs to the National History Museum, London (a truly beautiful building, by the way). They realise this by using CGI to animate … Continue reading
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Tagged 2014, 3.5/5, D, documentary
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Evil Roy Slade 3.5/5
This is, I think, one of the best TV movies ever made, definitely the best TV-movie comedy. John Astin is in fine form, cackling and grinning his way through the goofy action, and also in fine form is Mickey Rooney, … Continue reading
Abby 3/5
This was a film of that was a distinct mix of good and bad (fittingly). Condemned to purgatory by legal threats from Warners about it being a ripoff of the Exorcist, it’s been hard to catch, and even now it’s … Continue reading
Book Review: Rage by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) 9/10
This is a fierce book. I can understand completely why King decided he didn’t want it in print any more…the reality that’s happened that echoes this book is too soon, it makes sense. But it’s too good a book to … Continue reading
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Tagged 2014, book review
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It Conquered the World 2.5/5
Passable scifi with a solid cast and one of the worst monsters I’ve ever seen. Lee Van Cleef in an early major role is solid, as is Peter Graves, and the acting quality is fine, and it was reasonably entertaining … Continue reading
Transylvania 6-5000 1/5
Pretty bad comedy that has the writing to blame. The talent is here: Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Jr, Carol Kane, John Byner, that guy from Seinfeld, but the actual jokes fall flat. As the film proceeds, you get a whiff … Continue reading
Barbarian Queen 1.5/5
Goofy sex and sandals exploitation movie, done 80s style. Which means lots of tops getting ripped off, rapey middle-aged guys in silly outfits, and women who, no matter what hell they’ve gone through, look like they just got out of … Continue reading
Trekkies 3.5/5
Documentary about Star Trek fans which contains some great parts (the stars of Star Trek telling their stories about the fans…highpoints being Nichelle Nichols and Jimmy Doohan; the trekkies telling how Star Trek inspired them to go into various careers), … Continue reading
Stalled 2.5/5
While extremely low budget and with some technical issues, it does have a certain charm that reminded me of Peter Jackson’s early efforts, like Bad Taste and Dead Alive, and the central performance was solid. The issues were some of … Continue reading
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3/5
Gleefully goofy Ghost Rider movie that’s propped up by Edris Elba as a French special ops monk and Christopher Lambert as a walking walloftext, we have the fiery spirit of vengeance going at it with Eastern European gangsters, arms dealers … Continue reading
Pusher 2012 3/5
A remake of the Nicolas Winding Refn movie of 1996, this does not reach the same levels of intensity and claustrophobia as that one, but it’s not a bad crime thriller in its own right. Richard Coyle is pretty damn … Continue reading
Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United 1/5
This was rather poor, but I admit I was kind of excited to see a Hulk/Iron Man pairing, so perhaps my expectations were too high. To break it down – Good: a few (a very few) of the shots and … Continue reading
Bad Day At Black Rock 3.5/5
Solid drama with a quite outstanding cast (noticeable as town toughnuts are Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine!). As I watched it, it seemed quite wordy, and I became convinced it was based on a stage play, though searching the intertubes … Continue reading