Tuesday 25 June 2013

The Outisders

Dir: F. F. Coppola
Starring: Swayze, Dillon, Cruise, Estevez, etc.
Rating: Good

Arrested Development (Series Four)

Dir: Michael Hurwitz
Starring: Jason Bateman  
Rating: Average

Life at 24 Frames a Second

?: Radio series by David Thomson
Rating: Genius

Star Trek

Dir: J. J. Abrams
Starring: Zahary Quinto
Rating: Good

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Dir: George Clooney
Starring: Sam Rockwell  
Rating: Average

3:10 to Yuma

Dir: James Mangold
Starring: Russel Crowe, Christian Bale  
Rating: Average

Oblivion

Dir: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Crooz  
Rating: Poops

The Man Who Fell to Earth

Dir: Nicolas Roeg
Starring: David Bowman  
Rating: Terrible

Philadelphia Experiment

Dir: Stewart Raffill
Prod: John Carpenter
Starring: Michael Pene
Rating: Average

Starman

Dir: John Carpenter
Starring: Jeff Bridges
Rating: Good

The Thing

Dir: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell
Rating: Great

Men at Work

Dir: Emilio Estevez
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez
Rating: Good

80s films were much more simple. There's no reason for anything - two dustbinmen find a dead body, there's a beautiful girl, a crazy ex-soldier. Let's go crazy!

Exploding poop bags.

The Fly

Dir: David Kronenbourg
Starring: Jeff Gollum
Rating: Poops.

Ech. A sentimental horror romance about a human fly. Come on, Cronenborg.

If it wasn't for Goldblum's epic performance The Fly would lose all credibility and be a simple B-Movie.

Some great moments using models - the days before CGI were much more memorable. But a poor script and terrible idea for a film.

The Chase

Dir: Arthur Penn
Starring: Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda
Rating: Good

With such a top cast, it's hard to go wrong. But The Chase somehow just ends up being a bit dull, and you want it to end.

Brando again steals the show. He's tough, seems almost out of place in the Texas police station, but perfectly at home with his wife.

A slightly overblown picture.

On the Waterfront

Dir: Elia Kazan
Starring: Marlon Brando
Rating: Top Work

Kazan taught Brando to act, or so he claims. On the Waterfront is all about Brando - it's pretty much a one man show, although the Union boss tries to get some of the limelight.

It's a gritty tale, as all films set at ports are. The struggle between worker and authority. Brando plays the thug who changes his ways.

Interesting, captivating, but not massively enjoyable.

Seconds

Dir: John Frankensteiner
Starring: Rock Hudson
Rating: Top Work

Ah, the 60s. Psychological twists, loose plots. Seconds is a classic example of that.

Frankenheimer's great at making messed up films. Everyone's thought about this - and it stands as a perfect metaphor and parable, albeit with a sci-fi horror twist. Can you trade bodies, and begin again?

Watch Seconds and find out.