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Reviews
Star Trap (1988)
Dated but fun, spooky and mysterious
I recorded this onto VHS when it first aired. First off, the copyright notice in the end credits says 1989 not 1988.
This is very pleasant, though not the best production and the 80's synthesised music score sounds dated now.
But the plot and the humour should keep you going, and I doubt anyone will guess "whodunnit".
The village druids, misogynist ex copper turned crime novelist, mad actor and dotty posh MP's wife are all perhaps clichés but this is all very light hearted and not to be taken too seriously. Worth a look if you can find it, though I can see why it might not warrant a VHS or DVD release - especially nearly 25 years on.
Solyaris (1972)
What a beautiful film
Shame on me for not realisng the 2002 film with George Clooney was essentially a remake of a Russian film made 30 years previously. I ought to have known, I am that sort of person.
So comes December 2009, and Film 4 show both Solaris films. I sat transfixed by the Russian film. Visually it is a thing of beauty, and it is a rare thing - a film which requires input from the viewer. This movie requires you to think for yourself...and some people find that difficult.
I enjoy a rip-snorting entertaining action movie as much as most people, but rare films like Solaris leave me feeling so much more fulfilled. There are ambiguities, not so much loose ends untied as dots which the viewer is required to connect for himself.
Try Solaris. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs after 15 minutes then its probably not for you. If you find yourself glued to the screen then you know how I feel about this film.
Courting Condi (2008)
Thought provoking
Saw this on 13 November 2008 at a film festival in the UK. It starts out as a naive man trying to get close to Condi because he believes he's in love with her...touching comments from people who knew her as a child and young adult and more than a few humorous moments.
Later on, as the intrepid "hero" discovers what Secretary of State Rice has done to get to the top and in particular her actions post 9/11 the film becomes a somewhat savage attack on her, and sometimes discomforting even for a viewer who agrees with its sentiment.
But then worthwhile cinema isn't always easy going. This film is in parts funny, touching and savage...and is certainly unique.
Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993)
Crap, but charitable crap
Really, the only saving graces of this are that we got to see the five living Doctors on screen along with many past companions and 'monsters'. This could well be the last time we see certain characters, and was the last appearance of Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. Dimensions In Time was also John Nathan Turner's last Doctor Who production credit.
Otherwise the plot is totally incomprehensible, we don't see inside the Tardis (the set had been destroyed), the cross-over with East Enders seems silly and the 3D process it was shot in was only mildly impressive. At the time it was nice to see Doctor Who back, but I cannot imagine this would have turned anybody onto the show at all.
As it was a charity do it will never be released on DVD or repeated (that was a condition of its production) so you will only be able to see off-air VHS recordings. But truly it was an awful programme.
Fabian of the Yard (1954)
One of the first detective series
Having been born some 18 years after Fabian was broadcast I have only been able to see two episodes but it strikes me as a professional and proficient attempt at a very early crime/detective drama.
The series followed dramatised cases from the real-life Inspector Fabian of Scotland Yard, and as such provided 50's audiences with something more real than purely fictional accounts such as Dixon of Dock Green. Forensic science and logic were used and the 30 minute episodes always ended with the real life Inspector Fabian recalling the case - which seems usually to have been murder.
The series is dated of course, but like watching a 50's movie one can find it entertaining. I enjoyed the two episodes that I have seen, and having been shot on film I would assume many more still exist.
For All Mankind (1989)
Fantastic, essential viewing. A real gem.
I taped this off British TV in 1989 or 1990, and could never understand why nobody I speak to has ever heard of it! Even real space enthusiasts have not seen or heard of this wonderful film. Even today it remains unavailable on DVD except in the USA (buy an import from Amazon, well worth it!).
Quite simply there is no better way to tell the story of such a unique and special journey than in the words of those who undertook it. Here we have the live radio transmissions between the astronauts and Houston, reminiscences from the astronauts a decade or so after and no interference from any professional actor/narrator. There is footage even the most obsessed space enthusiast will not have seen, especially the 8mm film shot by the astronauts themselves.
This film presents, in a mere 80 minutes, the story of the Apollo missions from pre-launch preparations though the journey, their time on the surface of the moon to the take-off from the moon and safe return to earth. The views are as majestic as any on the earth, all accompanied by soft and appropriately ethereal music.
Why this hidden gem of a film is not constantly being broadcast on a documentary channel or even entertainment stations is totally beyond me - and also beyond those I have shared the DVD with. Seek out this film and watch it. As a friend said to me, "why is it we can walk into any shop and buy row upon row of rubbish and we cannot buy this, which shows a real achievement of mankind".
Bugs (1995)
Started well, declined.
The first series, apart from the epsiode "Assasins Inc." I thought was very good. For the first time in many years the BBC had applied a proper budget to a drama programme and added an element of SF/fantasy. Brian Celmins (who helped devise The Avengers) was a story consultant and the whole thing worked well.
After that things tended to go downhill, with the scripts getting less believable even though today, some years on, the idea of a computer virus attempting to take over the world through the internet isn't quite as far-fetched as we thought!
There were some entertaining episodes in later years but the ratings dropped from an excellent 9-10 million in the first series to more like 6 million I believe, and the BBC pulled the plug after four series.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Don't take it too seriously and you will enjoy
This is a fun film. It doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the viewer.
The plot centres around a pre-Robocop Peter Weller's character (the implausibly named Buckaroo Banzai) who is a scientist/rock musician/surgeon...seems to be talented at just about everything. In his lab he perfects a device for travelling through solid matter on the pretext that 'solid matter' is in fact 80% empty space. True enough and so far so good.
In the movie, the 80% of matter that is space turns out to be the 8th dimention, and Banzai unwittingly causes some nasty alien "lectoids" to enter our dimension. With the help of good lectoids he and his rock band have to save the day.
John Lithgow really steals the show with some excellent madcap lines. The big name actors clearly knew this was not to be taken seriously and though the plot is OK it is the one-liners in the script that make the movie so enjoyable. Special FX are early 80's par for the course, this is not the highest budget film ever! The only question is why didn't the advertised sequal ever make it to the screen?
Undici giorni, undici notti (1987)
Better than average erotic film
Not enough nudity to be classed as 'soft porn', not enough tension to be an 'erotic thriller' and not enough laughs to be a comedy. But Eleven Days, Eleven Nights stands out as one of the better erotic movies in that it has a viable plot, fair acting and the direction & photography are at times exquisite.
The softcore sex scenes contain something for everyone - flashing, sex in a public place, transvestitism, even briefly a threesome. The story centres around a young lady called Sarah writing a book about her 100 sexual conquests, played by the unbelievably mature 19 year-old Jessica Moore. Number 100 is an ordinary American guy named Michael who is working as an engineer on a construction site...the trouble is he's getting married in 11 days time.
As Michael falls for Sarah he doesn't realise that he is merely being used for this book and puts his fiancee (who first suspects, then later knows) through hell even as she prepares for their upcoming wedding. Trouble is, Sarah is falling for Michael too...who will Michael end up with?
This was the film that was an international video hit in 1987, and put Joe D'Amato back on the map as a director. Now available (in the UK at least) on DVD. The low budget is used wisely and rarely shows. Most of the principle actors seem to have had short careers which is a shame...and the opening 10 minutes will make every woman wish she owned a black plastic mac!!
Clockwise (1986)
Minor Classic
The most surprising things about this minor classic from the mid 80's are that it was director Christopher Morahan's first film since 1969, and Cleese's character is based on a real-life headmaster! John Cleese based the character on the head of his daughter's school, and I can tell you the real life head is just as delightfully nutty as Stimpson.
Time obsessed Mr Stimpton, head of an ordinary British state school finds himself chairman of the Headmasters Conference and has to get to Norwich to address their meeting. Everything goes wrong on the way, despite Stimpson's meticulous planning, and due to his obsessive nature he gets more and more frayed at the edges as things go wrong.
There are some great observations on human nature in a film which moves quick enough to keep you laughing but not so quick that you miss anything.
Not perhaps Cleese's very best work, but a minor classic nevertheless. Generally under-rated as most have already said. Chris Morahan went onto continue his film directors career with the excellent thriller "Paper Tiger" in 1990, among others.