leadbelly (1976)

"You see it's easy."
Roger E. Mosley plays Huddie Leadbetter, a resident of US prison service, for murder, who finds a way out through his ability with a song.
A fine dramatisation of the life of the blues maestro Huddie Leadbetter, better know as Leadbelly. From his life on the chain gangs to fame.

bulldog drummond escapes (1937)

aka Bulldog Drummond Saves a Lady.
"It begins..."
Captain Drummond (Ray Milland) is taken prisoner when he tries to protect a beautiful heiress (Heather Angel) from a crook after her money.
Entertaining romp, with Milland playing Drummond as a adolescent, adding humour, that the rest of the series lacked.

bulldog drummond comes back (1937)

"How come every time I see you someone has either been kidnapped or murdered."
Captain Drummond (John Howard) is on the trail of an enemy who has kidnapped his girlfriend (Louise Campbell). Along his friend Colonel Nielsen (John Barrymore) they are determined to bring the cad to heel.
Boys own take on the detective thriller that breezes past.

world war z (2013)

"Whatever goes to hell, stays in hell!"
A viral outbreak hits the world, and spreads like wildfire, infecting all those bitten. The virus leaps around the world, landing in New York, where Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family witness it first hand, and are lucky to escape. In shock, Gerry is called into action, and revive his past career as a UN fixer, and protect a virologist as he attempts to find out where the pandemic started. Their first stop: South Korea.
Entertaining, roller-coaster of a thriller, as long as you don't stop to think about the plot!

son of paleface (1952)

"This sounds like an intellectual joint."
Junior Potter (Bob Hope), is the titular son, who arrives in Sawbuck Pass to claim his inheritance. Unfortunately there isn't any, and the whole town is owed money by his father and expects to be paid. He then finds more trouble in the shape of Mike (Jane Russell), the head of a gang of outlaws, but help is on hand though with Marshal Roy Barton (Roy Rogers).
A fine follow up to The Paleface.

the paleface (1948)

"Keep traveling."
Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) goes undercover to find who has been selling rifles to the Indians, along the way she hitches up with innocent dupe Peter Potter (Bob Hope) as part of her cover.
Russell provides the gun slinging action, whilst Hope provides the fish out of water comedy. And both prove to be fine at it.

the ghost breakers (1940)

"I'm through mixing with murders, my own and murder of others."
Crime journalist Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope) accidentally gets caught up in a shooting, and mistakenly believes he has killed a racketeer. Fleeing the scene he is persuaded by Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) to hideout at her ancestral home, a reputedly haunted castle, on a small island off Cuba.
A successful blend of comedy, thrills and chills.

bug (1975)

"I wonder if they can breed?"
An earthquake unleashes a bug that feeds on carbon, and can start fires in order to create it. Biology Professor James Parmiter (Bradford Dillman) discovers their destructive power and intrigued he starts to investigate the creatures; soon becoming obsessed with them.
Movie that initially follows the standard creature feature path, but flips into Phase IV territory and looses the plot towards the end.

the keep (1983)

"This place was not designed to keep something out."
A Nazi platoon are tasked with guarding an old fortress but when one of them accidentally releases the malevolent force held there the dying starts. To understand what is happening they bring in a Jewish professor and his daughter. And for good measure a Greek stranger senses the force and travels to the keep to fight it.
A script with much promise, that gets mired in plot holes, and an overwrought soundtrack from Tangerine Dream.

the adventures of tin tin (2011)

"How's your thirst for adventure?"
Tin Tin (Jamie Bell) gets involved int finding Red Rackham's treasure. The lost treasure of an infamous 17th Century pirate. But he is not the only person on the trail.
A live action film, with computer generated performance capture, which makes the film a composite, which replicates the comics, but also puts everything at a distance from the characters and the story.

locusts (1974)

"I won't be seeing action ma'am."
It's the height of WWII and Donny (Ron Howard) returns home to his family farm is disgrace, having been chucked out of the navy. But soon there are bigger things to worry about, as there are increasing reports of swarms of locusts heading in their direction.
Small time drama, wrapped around a disaster movie.

the cocoanuts (1929)

"Three years ago I came to Florida without a nickel in my pocket. Now I've got a nickel in my pocket."
Hammer (Groucho Marx) runs a hotel in Florida, badly. Things can only get worse when Harpo and Chico turn up and a lady's diamond necklace goes missing. A script that betrays its stage origins, throwing in some chorus line work and some songs between the Marx Brothers quickfire patter, in their first outing on the big screen.
Whilst the musical interludes offer nothing much, it's the Marx Brothers that you come for and they offer up some tried and tested routines that never fail to entertain.

escape from l.a. (1996)

"You might have survived Cleveland. You might have escaped from New York. But this is L.A."
It's 2013 and Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is called upon to repeat his feat of daring do. This time in L.A. which has been turned into a prison colony after a devastating earthquake. Once inside he's called upon to recover a doomsday device from this hell hole.
Either a re-hash of Escape from New York with bad special effects, or a spot on satire on American politics, either way it still adds up to an entertaining thriller, though it was never going to out do the original.

thor (2011)

"Whatever I have done to deserve this, I am truly sorry."
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is bannished from Asgard by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), due to some trickery by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and his own stubborn and warlike ways. Odin plans for Thor to learn some humility and be less warlike, but doesn't account for Loki's treachery and desire to be king. Now powerless on earth Thor is taken in by Jane (Natalie Portman), who is handily a physicist studying wormholes. Can she help him to regain entry to Asgard and save his father?
Branagh delivers a wham bam story, full of betrayal, hunks knocking lumps out of each other, and a brunette to die for.

aeon flux (2005)

"I have to end it."
2415: A dystopian future where Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is a resistance fighter to overthrow the government. When she is a sent to kill the Chairman, she soon realises that there is something not quite right with the situation...
An incredibly good looking film, but one that is more style than substance and betrays its origins as a cartoon, lacking a certain humour that should be inherent in this sort of action/adventure.

the last man on planet earth (1999)

"The carpet's Persian handsome, I would like to avoid bloodstains."
Made for TV film, that like most TV films lacks rather a lot. Following a war with Afghanistan, 97% of men are killed by a virus and with the world taken over by women, the 3% of men left are outlawed. Twenty years later, a scientist (Julie Bowen) clones a man (Paul Francis) without the capacity to violence, but when he's discovered, he ends up on the run with the male underground.

war of the worlds (2005)

"We're under attack!"
Everyday working joe, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) struggles to keep his family together, especially when earth gets invaded by aliens!
Despite all the CGI and modern day tweeks to the story, (like the addition of a disfunctional family with annoying kids), this is still no match for the 50's original.

the day will dawn (1942)

aka The Avengers.
"Scoop me for once."
1939 and Metcalfe (Hugh Williams) a racing correspondant is placed as a foreign correspondent in neutral Norway. There he comes across German activity within Norweagan waters and tries reporting these facts with the help of Kari (Deborah Kerr), but he is kidnapped by the Germans...and thus starts his many adventures.
A love story wrapped up in the openning salvo's of the Second World War.

pet sematary II (1992)

"It's no blood condition, the dog is dead."
Jeff Matthews (Edward Furlong) gets involved in the zombie-raising cemetary from the first film, when he moves to the town with his dad (Anthony Edwards). Jeff hears of the legend when a friends dog is buried there and comes back, and then it attacks the friends mean old step-father and they bury him...
An unevenly paced sequel, that ups the gore, but not the entertainment.

fear in the night (1947)

"Last night I dreamt I killed a man..."
Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley) dreams he kills a man, in a mirrored room. Whats more, his body is covered in the physical signs of a struggle. His family dismiss the story. Until one day they shelter from the rain in an abandoned mansion. A mansion with the exact same mirrored room!
A minor, but entertaining noir, where we watch a man's mind unravel.