cottage to let (1941)

AKA Bombsight Stolen.
"You a disciple of Sherlock Holmes?"
Wartime and Mrs Barrington is doing her bit by letting a cottage on her Scottish estate. Due to a mix-up it ends up as home to Ronald (George Cole) an evacuee, a wounded fighter pilot (John Mills), who is recuperating and Charles Dimble (Alastair Sim), an eccentric new tenant. Mrs Barrinton's husband is a famous inventor (Leslie Banks) and holed up in his lab in the main house developing military applications. Unfortunately his last invention was quickly in use by the Germans. The only conclusion is that there is a leak in his staff. Someone is spying for the Germans, but who?
A fine whodunit, with great turns by Cole as a precocious kid with a Sherlock Holmes fixation, who makes a fine foil for Alistair Sim's crumpled and permanently worried eccentric.

zatoichi meets the one armed swordsman (1971)

AKA Shin zatô Ichi: Yabure! Tôjin-ken.
"We're both human beings, but we still can't communicate."
Wang Kong (Yu Wang), the One-Armed Swordsman arrives in Japan and witnesses an attack on a family by some samurai. He kills some whilst trying to protect the child, who runs off, only to be found by Ichi (Shintarô Katsu). Ichi tries to look after the child, eventually meeting up with Wang, who has been blamed for the atrocity. Unfortunately misunderstandings develop between the two which can only lead to one thing, a duel to the death.
A Japanese hero meets a Chinese one and sparks fly. Another great chapter in the life of Zatoichi.

vlad (2003)

"There are worse things than death."
Four students trek to Vlad Dracul's castle to get first hand experience for their thesis on the man and the myth. They are helped in their mission by Adrian (Billy Zane), as the university's representative. And boy do they need help as Vlad pops up looking for his amulet, which one of the students just happens to have!
A strangely uninvolving and uninteresting film, which I admit to zoning out on at one point. Never a good sign. But I did notice how Billy Zane got into character, method style, by dressing up as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin!!!

doa (1950)

"I don't think you fully understand, Bigelow. You've been murdered."
Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) walks into a police station demanding to be heard. He tells the sceptical desk sergeant how he has come to be poisoned and destined to die within a few hours. Not knowing who did it or why, Bigelow embarks on a frantic odyssey to find his own murderer.
A classic Noir, driven by the lead characters need to know why and soon!

skyscraper (1996)

"Well, excuse me for still believing in Sunday walks in the park and little babies!"
Ace helicopter pilot Carrie (Anna Nicole Smith) gets caught up in a hostage/bank robbery situation, and saves the day.
Well if you can buy Smith as a helicopter pilot you have more imagination than me! This is a grade one clunker, from the rip-off script, think Die hard meets Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds? Well yes because the acting in this is more wooden than any Gerry Anderson project. Truly only watchable as a drunken laugh along as you marvel at just how little emotion Smith can put into reading her lines.

Lost Colony (2007)

AKA Lost Colony: The Legend of Roanoke. Wraiths of Roanoke.
"Don't go into the forest..."
1587 and English colonists land on Roanoke Island to find the fort built by previous colonists deserted. Then people start to die in horrible ways, and an unease spreads. Ananais Dare (Adrian Paul) is placed in charge, whilst his father returns to England, and soon realises the island is haunted by Norse spirits. Can Dare placate the spirits and save the colony, or is all lost.
A Sci-fi channel TV movie, with a passable story and acting and nothing more.

tunes of glory (1960)

"Colonel, there's a tradition here..."
Conflict arrises in the mess when the acting senior officer Major Jock Sinclair (Alec Guinness) is replaced by Lt. Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills) as head of a highland regiment. Will the ranks follow one of their own, or submit to the rule of an outsider?
Powerful performances dominate this wordy drama where personalities, egos and politics clash with disastrous results.

zatoichi in desperation (1972)

AKA Shin Zatôichi monogatari: Oreta tsue.
"Without a stick, you can't cross the river to hell."
Ichi (Shintarô Katsu) meets an old woman on her way to Chosi to see her daughter (Kiwako Taichi), when he inadvertently causes her death. He decides to complete her journey and tell the daughter about the accident. Thus he gets involved in her life, finding her trapped in a Geisha house working off a debt, and comes up against local boss Mangoro (Asao Koike).
Number twenty-four in the series, sees no let up in the action, but also shows a darker and deeper sense of humanity, hurt and injustice. Ichi finds himself crippled and unable to hold a sword, knowing he has to confront his foes.

doctor in distress (1963)

"I am a model. It's just like being a doctor, I'm always on call."
Sir Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice) returns to St Swithens and develops an acute case of love. It comes down to Dr Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde) to diagnose the trouble and help find a cure. Meanwhile he has romantic problems of his own, with his model girlfriend (Samantha Eggar).
Dirk Bogarde returns for one last outing as the Dr Sparrow, and oversees a charmingly polite and light comedy.

clash of the titans (1981)

"You dare compare your daughter's beauty to mine and in my own sacred sanctuary? You will repent your boast and the cruel injury you have inflicted on my son, Calibos."
Perseus (Harry Hamlin) is the son of the god Zeus (Laurence Olivier), who has fallen for the Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker). But unfortunately she used to be engaged to the godess Thetis's son Calibos (Judi Bowker). On being slighted once too often Thetis (Maggie Smith) demands that Andromeda be sacrificed to the dreaded Kraken in one months time. Thus Perseus sets out on a quest to find a way of killing the Kraken and releasing his true love.
A boys own adventure take on the Greek myth, with mechanical owls and Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation. Nothing startling but still good sunday afternoon fare.