hell comes to frogtown (1987)

"I've got to tell you that you are one weird dude."
It's a post-nuclear world with the usual mutants, this time mostly amphibians. Also most men are now sterile, but not our hero, Sam Hell (Roddy Piper). So needing some procreation action, the government send Hell to Frogtown, where the mutants are holding a number of fertile women hostage as sex slaves. Hell's mission is to rescue the women and give them the thrill of their lives. To encourage him to maintain his part of the bargain, he has to wear a codpiece bomb.
A low budget flick that proves against all the odds to be fun, chock full of quotable one liners.

inseminoid (1981)

aka Horror Planet.
"What's going on? Whatever it is it's weird."
Planetary explorers on a distant world come across evidence of an ancient civilisation. Following the discovery its team start having accidents, but is really disrupted when one of the scientists is raped and impregnated by an alien. This turns the normally mild mannered archaeologist (Judy Geeson) into a homicidal maniac, stalking and killing the rest of her colleagues.
Cashing in on the audience's frenzy for all things spacy after Star Wars, Warren delivers this gorefest, with more than a touch of Alien about it: low on budget, but high on pace and gore.

escape from new york (1981)

"You go in, find the President, bring him out in 24 hours, and you're a free man."
Enroute to a critical conference the US president's plane crashes in New York city, but being as this is 1997, New York is now a penal colony, walled off from the rest of the US, and housing the countries worst criminals. With the clock ticking a plan is hatched to send in Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), an ex-military man, turned criminal, who seems to be the presidents only hope, and is blackmailed into attempting a rescue.
Russell doing his best Clint Eastward impression leads us through an entertaining and action packed 90 minutes.

death race 2000 (1975)

"To recap those revisions: women are still worth 10 points more than men in all age brackets, but teenagers now rack up 40 points, and toddlers under 12 now rate a big 70 points. The big score: anyone, any sex, over 75 years old has been upped to 100 points."
The future (well it was in 1975), and the biggest sporting event is the transcontinental death race, where contestants gain points by killing pedestrians along the way. But whilst its a popular sport, some people have taken against it and are attempting to bring it to an end.
A cartoon action adventure, with pretentions towards political and media satire. This is chock full of anti-heroes such as Frankenstein (David Caradine) and Machine Gun Joe (Silvester Stallone). All in all good campy fun.

the bride (1985)

"I created your body, just as I created your mind. And I can uncreate it too."
Doctor Frankenstein (Sting) finally succeeds in creating the perfect woman, whom he calls Eva (Jennifer Beals), but not everyone thinks this is a step forward for science. Meanwhile Frankensteins original creation is making his way in life working in a circus...
A sumptuous remake of the classic horror Bride of Frankenstein, which takes much of the horror out of the story, prefering instead to concentrate on the love story between the creator and his creation.

peking opera blues (1986)

aka Do ma daan.
"The more men you command the more power you have."
Peking in 1913 and whilst the warlords fight for control of the city, looting takes place. During this chaos some jewels are stolen and end up in the Peking Opera. Whilst the thief tries to get the jewels back, some spys try and use the opera as cover for their attempts to obtain incriminating letters from one of the warlords.
A well crafted mix of comedy and action, makes for a Hong Kong classic featuring Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh and Cherie Chung.

the hours and times (1991)

"But I want it!"
Drama based around the real life trip John Lennon (Ian Hart) and Brian Epstein (David Angus) made to Barcelona in 1963. This uses the event to speculate on the complex relationship between freewheeling Lennon and the uptight and homosexual Beatles manager Epstein.
Low budget, edgy and claustrophobic double hander, as the two spar, and Lennon bristles at thoughts of homosexuality.

tomorrow at ten (1964)

"This fella is prepared for everything."
The police (John Gregson & Kenneth Cope) become involved in a child abduction. They apprehend his captor (Robert Shaw), but unfortunately he's knocked unconscious and suffers a brain hemmorage before revealing where he left the boy. Slightly problematical as the child has been left with a present, a toy with a time bomb inside, set to go off tomorrow at ten!
Comfort directs another b-flick with the discipline you come to expect from him. Nothing flashy, just a taut drama that builds the tension.

planet of the apes (1968)

"Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn."
A space mission goes wrong and the crew crash lands on an unknown planet after being catapulted into the future. They find the land populated by primative and mute humans, but are then captured by highly evolved apes. Apes that talk! Colonel George Taylor (Charlton Heston) is seperated from his crew and has to find a way to escape his captors and a way back home, if possible.
Popular sci-fi, that spawned a number of sequels and a beautifully made, but some what lacking re-make, but this version is blessed with a great script, good performances and great ape costumes. As is often the case, original is best.

backbeat (1994)

"What makes you such an arsehole?"
Having just re-watched the Beatles output, I thought I'd look at some of the mythmaking films. First up - Backbeat, which covers the Beatles early years in Hamburg, prior to their fame, and specifically the relationship between John Lennon (Ian Hart) and Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), which fractures as Stu becomed attracted to Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee), and how her artistic eye influenced the look of the band.
Well crafted film, that plays with, and establishes the Hamburg era story for what was to become The Beatles.

goodbye lenin (2003)

"You must protect her from any kind of excitement. And I do mean any kind, Mr. Kerner."
1990's Berlin and a young man (Daniel Brühl) struggles to maintain the illusion that the GDR is still in existance to prevent his mother from having a fatal shock when she comes out of a coma. To do so he enlists some friends and a lot of inginuity, but can he keep this pretence up?
A fine comedy, that touches on life in post-communist Germany, but only lightly.

are you being served? (1977)

"Is that your age or your bust measurement?"
The staff of Grace Brothers department store go on a holiday to the Costa Plonka and end up in the middle of a revolution.
The British sit-com spin-off, which proves the age old adage, that what you can put up with for half an hour on television, makes for a lousy ninety minutes sat in the cinema! The stock xenophobia, letchery and gay jokes abound, making you realise just how unfunny Britain in the 70's could be.

the princess bride (1987)

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
A grandfather reads a fairy tale to his grandchild, full of giants, dashing heroes, and a beautiful princess. What unfolds is a gentle mockery of the genre.
A well made comedy, packed with stars having fun.

the lives of others (2006)

aka Das Leben der Anderen.
"You don't know me, but I know you."
East Berlin in 1984, and a Stasi agent (Ulrich Mühe) undertakes covert surveillence on a playwrite (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend (Martina Gedeck). As he listens into their lives he finds himself increasingly drawn into their problems, and begins to compromise his position, as the writer begins to become disallusioned with life on the socialist republic, and determines to make a change.
A complex and involving subject, dealt with using an intelligent script and a deliberately slow pacing, building the menace and foreboding.

fun at st fanny's (1955)

"It's me your favourite delinquint."
Cardew Robinson is the oldest school pupil in the world, running rings around the Headmaster (Fred Emney). A spanner is put in the works when it comes to light that the school earns money for every year that Cardew is at the school and unfortunately it's starting to look like Cardew may pass the exams this year! Further complications come in the form of some hoods, (including Freddie Mills), looking to recoop the headmaster's gambling debts.
Be prepared for a string of bad puns in this sub-par public school farce. Though it is enlivened by some well placed in-jokes at television amongst others, (though like all in-jokes, you have to know what they are poking fun at to enjoy them).

S.F.W (1994)

"What's the deal? You mean, what am I sure of? The only thing I'm sure of is that everything's unsure."
Some people are held hostage in a convenience store for 36 days, the situation being broadcast live on TV. The only two people to survive the drama, Cliff and Wendy (Stephen Dorff & Reese Witherspoon), emerge as heroes, especially Cliff, whose nialistic 'so fucking what' attitude resonates with the public. But can Cliff deal with his new found fame?
Gen X slacker, has to come to terms with the media in the MTV world. Some sledgehammer directing aside, this is actually rather a fun flick.