Reviews
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Dreadful. More like a computer game than a feature film. Sharknado.
Fans of the X-Men and Transformer type films should like this.
But I prefer the art and suspense of the Japanese made numbers.
I only viewed this at the cinema after reading reviews stating it compares well with Shin Godzilla. It doesn't.
It's so stereotypically Hollywood..
There's a boo-hoo backstory of a grieving, dysfunctional family.
No suspense or build-up. No arty cinematography.
The whole film is shot in gloomy lighting -scenes are either at night / in the rain / indoors with poor lighting. Maybe this helps with the CGI, who knows but it looks like continual twilight. Oh, and the general global population seem to have vanished; in the city scenes there are no people present apart from the main characters. Not even a stray dog.
Dialogue is cringeworthy, with predictable heartfelt speeches and clumsy ecological theories. There isn't even any humour.
One has little sympathy for any of the characters so there's no one to really root for. They all want squashing.
And Gojira.. oh, sorry -Godzilla seems to play a minor role in the film.
I found it to be total codswallop. Pleased for others who enjoyed it, though.
The Dust Never Settles (2010)
Pretty good if you like that sort of thing.
Nice, mostly visual record of a trip -sorry, 'journey' through the outback.
Very well matched and decent musical accompaniment.
Some footage is shot out of a moving vehicle which makes for some nauseatingly wobbly shots. I don't like wobbly-hand-cam and for such an undertaking I wish they'd invested in some stabilisation system.
Still, it's a very pleasing visual road diary made up of lots of set-pieces.
These consist of carefully framed incidental observations, visually rich scenery and also interviews with various communities they encounter along the way.
These interviews contrast just like the scenery and the interviewees are quite interesting too -from dodgery hermit types to eccentric artists and rednecks (for want of a better term).
Nice to see a few Aborigines featuring in the later half of the doc.
Streaming on Amazon, the image is sharp with vibrant colours.
If the moving shots were smoother, I'd give this a 9 I reckon.
Good background telly to have on when you have guests as it's not a conversation killer..
Appalachian Trial (2004)
Rotten. Rotten. Shocker!
I recently watched Nudist Colony Of The Dead which had Christian themes and amusingly cardboard 'acting'.
At first, I thought this film was going to be a jolly spoof until I realised that they were actually trying to act for real. 'Stilted' is a gross understatement.
I wonder how the casting worked for this film as the adults are clearly not cut out for delivering dialogue. Excruciating. The kids show them up pretty badly.
Some of the lines are truly shocking.
There are some strong Christian morals in the film. But I don't think it does much to encourage Christianity. It just makes Christians appear somewhat touched.
Overall, I just wanted them all to die or sell their souls or whatever.
Truly and utterly diabolical. Disturbing, even.
The Force on Thunder Mountain (1978)
Tragic
Yeah.. like the 'alien' is an old tramp wot forces the kid to lay down with him for the night. Umm.. see anything inappropriate here?
The kid actor must have nightmares about this fillum.
Dropping a tree by them looked a bit iffy as they actually looked in shot, unlike much of the film where other footage is just randomly interspersed.
Really diabolical.
Night of the Alien (2011)
Amusing road-trip, character-driven, quirky outing. Not action-packed sci fi.
I like quirky fillums; too quirky for many other viewers.
Repo Man (Alex Cox) is my fave fillum of all time.
And I think Rubber is superb.
Night Of The Alien is indeed a low-budget offering but very well played imo and not as cheesy as it could be like, say, Hell Comes To Frogtown or Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity.
It's almost like Little Miss Sunshine with drugs and an alien guest star.
But it does lack pace and any major action. It's laid-back, like many of the characters.
I think the characters are mostly attractive and likeable and it has a stonking soundtrack.
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)
Cracking Giallo
If you like Giallos this is a must.
If you don't know if you'll like the Giallo genre, give this a whirl.
Well shot and a good story that develops well.
You might also want to try: "What have they done to our daughters", "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" or p'raps "Deadly Sweet" (aka "Col Cuore in Gola")
Repulsion (1965)
A proper classic. Beautifully grim.
Not really a horror, more a superb study of a girl who clearly isn't the full shilling. More a psychological thriller, I suppose.
When seen through her eyes, her surroundings DO become horrific. Her predicament of loneliness and self-imposed emotional seclusion from the world is totally convincing.
I also like that the film is SO 1960s.
Although your regular horror fan more used to Hammer offerings etc. may find themselves muttering "Eh?" and "What the..?" but as a gentle diversion from the in yer face horrors this is sublime.
I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who likes a good, convincing, psychological thriller. Quite Hitchcockian.