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Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993)
Reminds me of my misspent youth
The only thing really surprising to me was that it was filmed in the Nineties and not thirty or forty years earlier. It was quite reminiscent of the films I used to sneak into the neighborhood theater to see on Saturday afternoon. Lots of action, outlandish characters, unbelievable situations and even cheesy swirling scene changes. It doesn't seem to pretend to be anything but what it is, and what it is is not bad,for what it is.
Cosmos (2019)
Probably too realistic for most film goers
The main problem with this plucky little film is its greatest strength. It's probably the best depiction in film about what life is like for researchers on the fringe of science. Anyone who has sat for hours in an old VW Bug at the edge of the woods on a cold winter's night waiting for a glimpse of a local monster or has spent a long fruitless night in the desert looking for Visitors from Beyond will surely appreciate this film.
Dainippon koroshiya den (1965)
Crime Film Parody
This crime comedy from Japan is a bit of a mixed bag where slapstick comedy and absurdist parody collide in a crime milieu of rival gangs and bosses. The appearance of a mysterious assassin prompts panicked bosses to adopt a "more is more" approach, hiring a whole bevy of eccentric assassins to both protect them and hunt down the enigmatic "Joe of Spades." The result is a film that is frequently amusing, occasionally funny and consistently engaging.
Le gladiatrici (1963)
I was prepared for the worst, but...
...but it was not bad at all. The situation is not unusual for the genre (strongman vs usurper queen/king to save oppressed populace), but the matriarchal setting sets it apart from most of the rest. I only recall one other, but that was deliberately staged as a slapstick comedy whereas this film, despite some humorous moments, is played in earnest. The historical accuracy...well, none of us really go to these films for a history lesson, do we? Besides, this film doesn't reflect an historical period or even pretend to. Existing outside the flow of history, the mishmash of elements (Phyrgian caps, Peoples of the Sea helmets, the names Thor and Babylon, the use of Greek lipstick, Egyptian khol eyeshadow, and steel weaponry) are not as jarring as they would have been in a more standard historical milieu. The pacing is not bad, but could have been better, as could have been the role of Thor in the actual overthrow of the Queen. Still, the lack of focus on Thor and reduced screen time does allow more character development among the Amazons and their women gladiators. While the Queen existed mostly to monologue the justification of her rule, the real characterization was developed through her eyes, the dead gaze of a sociopath no longer able derive any emotions from the wielding of absolute power and spectacle of atrocity.
Dead 7 (2016)
Dead Good
A wonderful weird Western incarnating The Seven Samurai as gunslinging zombie killers in a post-apocalyptic future. The gimmick is having pop musicians as the Seven. The acting ranges between hammy and heroic, both enjoyable. The film is more stylistic than the usual The Asylum fare, employing several eclectic storytelling and transitional techniques.
Shinkaijû Reigô (2005)
Kaiju Lite
While the special effects are not ILM quality, they are better than in many similar indie films. It is not, however, the special effects that drive the film, but the characters. Stylistically, most of the film is straightforward in its presentation, but the the film rides above a standard kaiju effort when it draws upon the conventions of kabuki theater.
Age of Tomorrow (2014)
Schizoid Film
I have never rated a film so low. We're I rating it solely on the first three-quarters, I would give the film a well-deserved cheesy 6 stars; but then the film ended and earned a single star...so I split the difference and have it two stars. I mean, really, why bother? Not what I expect from The Asylum.
The Dark Sleep (2012)
Strong Lovecraftian Elements
The filmmakers free on many elements that made Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch-House" such an effective story. High marks are given for the mostly excellent stop-motion photography and the visualization of the non-Euclidian dimensions of dream. Where the film falls short is in not establishing a haunting spirit of place and an enduring history behind the witch house. Still, for what it does and in the context of the protagonist's background, it is an effective, engrossing and entertaining film.
Terror in the Skies (2019)
Dark Skies over Illinois
This documentary explores huge birds, pterodactyls, thunderbirds and Mothman-like (but not Mothman itself) creatures seen by witnesses since the late Nineteenth Century. Almost all of the sightings come from Illinois. The cinematography of the film is just gorgeous. The interviews with witnesses and experts are well conducted. Though it's mostly free of the didactic flamboyance that mars other Fortean documentaries, it's clear that the witnesses desperately want to be believed and that the experts are, for the most part, true believers. The animated recreations used throughout the film, though well crafted, are more distracting to the skeptical than helpful. Overall, a very well made and thoroughly engrossing documentary.
Hammer the Toff (1952)
Faithful to the book
This adaptation of the book by John Creasey (who wrote 600+ novels) is very faithful to the original. While there is certainly something very Saintesque in the Toff, Creasey makes the character his own, lifting the Robin Hood motif a notch above the others popular in that era.
Danger Man: The Man with the Foot (1966)
The Heart of the Matter
An unusual episode in that there is no delineated espionage plot and no definite bad guys, but one that goes to the central thesis of the series as conceived by Ralph Smart. Usually, we start with Drake setting upon a mission and pretending to be anyone but himself. This time, we start with Drake's assignment busted and his identity revealed, and the sudden need to lay low for awhile. In "sunny Spain," Drake is recognized by the titular man with the foot. The trouble here, of course , is that Drake is Drake, not Drake putting on a mask. So, every innocent action becomes something else. Even when Drake tries to escape the duplicity of his profession, his past sins cling to him like an albatross.
Criminal Minds: 3rd Life (2008)
Solid episode marred by laziness
Well, we have to have some kind of setting for the script, so throw a dart at that map across the room and let's see what comes up. I don't know if Chula Vista was chosen that way, but the producers might as well have. The lovely art deco cinema was actually in Los Angeles, but they could have used the art deco Vogue Theatre in Chula Vista. Chula Vista has some nice noir locations. As much as I enjoyed the plot and performances, the fact that they made no effort to justify the setting annoyed and rankled me, and continues to do so after all these years. I forgive the writer for using my name for the duplicitous father, but not for not at least creating the illusion of a real place -- sorry, but throwing random non sequitur locations around higgly-piggly doesn't count. Yes, a small-town attitude, I know, but that's the nature of Chula Vista.
King of the Zombies (1941)
Zany Zombies
This WW2 film manages to mix zombies and espionage, resulting in a delightfully comic escapade. Mantan Moreland is given the best lines and delivers them with gusto in his trademark frenetic patter. Though the film is a lightweight vehicle, all the actors seem to give it their best, lifting the movie above the other zombie/spook/monster comedy films that were trending upward in this period. It may not be equal to Hope's "Ghostbusters," but it's a fine entry into the genre.
Forbidden Jungle (1950)
Pulp jungle tale
A straightforward and honest translation to the screen of the sort of story popular in the jungle-themed pulp magazines of the Thirties and Forties, a spin off of the Tarzan craze that started during the Great War with the publication of ERB's famous book. I'm that context, this film is well done and entertaining, though by modern standards it is terribly dated in terms of acting and production.
Sightings (2017)
Don't go in the woods
Some good performances, a brooding atmosphere and some effectively creepy background music help this film make a lot out of brief glimpses and not much action. BTW, the deer urine was a good idea, the aloe not so much...If such things were real.
Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998)
Best Film of the Series
Of the feature films stemming from the B5U, this is my favorite. Looking at it 22 years on, it's amazing how well it has held up. The way its various influences (HPL, Triplanetary, Quatermass, etc) are almost seamlessly incorporated into the mythos of B5 contributes the film's quality, its storytelling and its endurance. Despite the preponderance of CHI and plot-driven action, there are still some great characterization moments, in particular the elevator scene with Zach and Lyta, further establishing Zach as the hopeless romantic always finding (and losing) hope.
Flora (2017)
It's a toxic world
There's some gorgeous location filming here, in addition to very effective and evocative set pieces. The cast did a very good job portraying the immature, often irresponsible students of the jazz age who are forced by bizarre circumstances to become responsible for themselves and each other. Juvenile panic is replaced by scientific investigation. In this film are echoes of Lovecraft, Faulkner and Hawthorne, harkening to a time when the wilderness was unknown and a realm of peril, terror and evil.
The Mighty Hercules (1963)
Lots of fun
A fun cartoon series in the early Sixties. I was probably a little older than the target audience by a couple of years, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. At the time I was in love with mythology, and this was about the only cartoon that spoke to that enthusiasm, though, of course, I realized many liberties had been taken by the producers. Fifty years on, I find the series still has an enduring innocent charm.
Blonde for a Day (1946)
Lots of blondes, and a brunette or two.
Tightly plotted detective flick with Hugh Beaumont as Mike Shayne, one of five after taking over from Lloyd Nolan. Those only familiar with Beaumont as a television dad will be surprised by his hard edge and sense of humor. Good portrayal of the iconic character.
The Sheol Express (2011)
Ticket to Ride
An odd little film, not very long, only about a half-hour, but infused with mystery, with questions about life, death, faith and destiny. Most of the questions posed are understated, bringing a depth to the film that might have been lacking had the filmmaker chosen to take a more didactic or polemic approach.
The few glimpses afforded us of the Underworld are evocative and visually stunning. Most of the film is set aboard a sumptuously decadent train hurtling through Sheol (Hades) towards an uncertain destination, the windows boarded over so the travelers never really know what they're getting themselves into.
After boarding the train, our weary protagonist encounters two forces, one encouraging him to ride to the End of the Line where he will find a cessation to his wandering, the other advising him to disembark at the penultimate station to find a land that sounds too good to be true.
The film is a study in faith, not so much faith in others or in what others tell us, but faith in ourselves, in our own ability to discern the truth in a world (even an Underworld) where truth is elusive, where people are rarely what they seem to be. Not a film for those who need to be told the truth, but certainly a film for those who search for it.
Flight World War II (2015)
Slipping Time Tracks
The viewer will assume this is a time travel film, if only because the characters believe they have traveled in time, back to 1940. From the beginning, however, they are confronted with events that are apparently out of kilter, such as Dunkirk being a disaster rather than an inspirational evacuation, or Nazi jets, or Allied SAM weaponry, or the lack of British radar research, or...well, you get the idea--something is wrong, something even the professional historians aboard the airliner don't understand, and never really get. There is a temptation to dismiss the film as just a remake of The Final Countdown, but it goes past it in terms of theme, edging into more complexity, touching upon the idea of Intelligent Design, divine intervention, and the fluidity of time. Had the script actually addressed the issues directly rather than touching upon them tangentially, and also managed to remain above a certain level of pulpy mawkishness, the film would have been better. It might also then have risen above the mediocre acting. But the script writers did not, the director did not, and so we have a film that is highly entertaining and diverting, but is hardly challenging.
Darkest Africa (1936)
Batmen Over Africa
A wonderful early sound chapterplay that scores high on adventure and imagination. It features real-life animal trainer and bring-'em-back-alive specialist Clyde Beatty as a fictional version of himself heading into Darkest Africa. What he discovers is straight out the lost civilization genre that was so popular in the Nineteenth Century, but here the film makers get extra credit for creating a race of men who fly about on bat wings, a technique that would be put to good use in future Republic Studios chapterplay such as "Captain Marvel" and "King of the Rocket Men." Despite its faults, mostly brought about by a tight budget and the re-use of footage from earlier films, such as "The Lost Jungle" (tigers in Africa!), it is saved by energetic direction, an action-packed script, and incredible visuals. It drew thousands of young viewers back to theaters week after week, and still holds up well today as a vintage period piece. More than a generation later the chapterplay can back to amuse and enthrall youngsters as a silent home movie from Castle Film (even without sound the flying batmen looked great) and as a re-edited feature film for theater release and later television, losing a little coherency in translation but not enough to truly dampen the enjoyment.
Monster from Green Hell (1957)
Normal-Sized Wasps are Nasty Customers, So...
A solid B monster film featuring giant wasps and that favorite explain-all bugaboo of the Fifties, radiation. It also has a nice performance from Dallas star Jim Davis, a black actor in a sympathetic and intelligent role, and the "mysterious Doctor Satan" as a jungle sawbones. The film overcame some of the limitations of a small budget by incorporating footage from an earlier film, which required Davis to dress like Spencer Tracy. It also required some of the other characters to adopt odd garb from two decades earlier, and engendered some nonsequiter plot developments, but they do not harm the story. The monsters are a little hokey full-sized but are improved as stop action models. It is an entertaining and unpretentious film.
The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
Tense and Brooding Film
A tense and brooding British film about an alien invasion told from the limited perspective of several people of disparate backgrounds who come together in a small English village. The film begins creepily enough with people dropping dead, some at the controls of vehicles, others while waiting for trains or doing other mundane tasks. The characters postulate that it was a gas attack because the survivors who tell their backstories all were cut off from outside air--in a high-altitude aircraft, in an oxygen tent, squatting in a bomb shelter, etc. Some characters are vague about their backgrounds, but none more so than Taggert. He carries a gun, dresses nattily, is highly secretive, and can pick a lock in seven seconds. Some might guess him a hood, but I'm thinking government agent, perhaps MI5. The wholesale death that may encompass all England, perhaps the world, is a prelude to an invasion. Who's behind it? That's a question left to conjecture, both by the characters and the audience. It's a vagueness that, to me, works within the context of the story. This film has some connections unnoticed by IMDb, primarily "The Poison Belt," a Professor Challenger story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which the world succumbs to a gas zone through which it passes. The second connection is to another Professor Challenger story, "The Earth Screams," echoed in the film title. The theme is also carried in the film "Target Earth" in which several people awaken in a deserted city and are hunted by mechanical invaders. Connections aside, the film is engaging on its own merits and uses its limited budget to good effect. A great example of mid-century B- film science fiction, a last effort to appeal to an adult British audience before film studios realized the age of the average movie-goer was dropping, and dropping quickly.
Radio Patrol (1937)
Decent chapterplay derived from comic strip
"Radio Patrol" is a decent chapterplay derived from a comic strip and stars the stolid and dependable Grant Withers. The action revolves around the efforts to keep a radical new steel formula out of criminal hands. A standout in the serial is the city in which the story takes place. Not only does it have all the charm of a typical mid-century noir urban environment, it also has a thriving ethnic area. Instead of the usual Chinatown or European ghetto, we have an Arabian sector, a "Little Cairo" lifted from Egypt and featuring all the intrigue and exoticism you would expect from such an unusual locale. The chapterplay is fast-paced and action-filled. Fans of chapterplays, crime stories and comic strips will find "Radio Patrol" well worth the effort.