5 Reviews (2 New)
A Dark and Scary Place
The scientist colloquially known as Doctor Cyclops is on the brink of a big discovery. However, one thing is getting in the way, and his eyesight is deteriorating rapidly. He invites three renowned experts in their field to aid in his work. They make the long journey by donkeys to his remote location. As soon as one of them identifies his mistake Cyclops loses interest in the three, summarily dismissing them. Indignant at their treatment they refuse to leave. Cyclops appears to mellow, offering to show them his experiments which are powered by mined uranium ore. But he traps them in a radiation chamber and reduces them to a fraction of their normal size. He attempts to use them as controlled experiments, but they escape vowing to expose him. When you’re tiny though where is there to run to?
The back story to this movie is at least as interesting as the feature itself. Many people will not have heard the name Ernest Schoedsack, but when I remind them that he also directed the all-time classic King Kong (1933), it will instantly be elevated to somewhere near the status he deserves.
Doctor Cyclops is a 1950s B-Movie style production, except it is extremely well made and years ahead of its time in concept and execution. Bearing in mind this was 1940, not only is it in Technicolor (unlike many of the aforementioned 1950s films) but it was Oscar nominated for the excellent effects which Schoedsack made certain looked as realistic as possible. And talking of colour, it’s not only bright but vibrant to the point of creating more movement to the piece.
Cyclops was played by Albert Dekker. Much as in retrospect he seems to be the ideal candidate for the part, he was blacklisted in Hollywood for some years as a result of criticising anti-communist speaker Senator McCarthy. Dekker was found dead in 1968 in a compromising and somewhat ritualistic setting.
It’s easy to dismiss Doctor Cyclops as just another giant and small people mash-up; however, we need to remember that this came years before The Incredible Shrinking Man, Land of the Giants, The Borrowers, and all those others we have come to accept. It’s an enjoyable little piece with only two scripted moments bringing wry smiles of ridicule. To be hustled into the radiation room (with even the man looking after the donkeys invited in) they are proved to be naïve beyond belief. Even the most ‘green’ would recognise the danger of being locked in. The other situation is the raising and lowering of the drill in the grounds. The disappearance of Cyclops to periodically make a minor adjustment is merely a writing plot device for our pint-size heroes to instigate their escape and fight back.
All in all, this movie – based on a short story by Henry Kuttner – is a well-crafted pleasure. I welcome its first release on DVD.
Dorothy is a young woman who is finally reunited with her mother, only to find her dead. A huge twister is tearing-up Kansas City, and she finds herself caught up in it and transported to a strange land ruled by magic. She reluctantly teams-up with a warrior she names Lucas, who has lost his memory, and a German Shepherd police dog who was brought from Kansas in the storm. In order to return home, and for Lucas to regain his memory they travel to the City of Oz for council with the all-wise Wizard. However, when they are tortured on the way by a powerful witch, Dorothy manages to trick the witch into shooting herself, and from that moment on, she is a target. Not only does the Wizard want her, but so too do the sister witches. But there is unrest in Emerald City. A past disaster is prophesied to return, and a neighbouring kingdom has declared war on Oz. The wizard has outcast magic in favour of science, but he may need the help of magic to save his city from The Beast Forever. Furthermore, Dorothy could prove critical in his salvation. But can he be trusted...
Let me say from the outset that V For Vendetta is a genuine classic. Like synergy, all the planets are in alignment for this one. This is a movie that can never be experienced again for the first time. As obvious as this sounds, I mean it can never have as profound an effect on the viewer on subsequent revisits. That doesn’t mean you won’t want to re-run the movie. Believe me, you will! This is a film which has everything. There is mystery, action, intrigue, love, politics, deception and truth. This is essentially about people, belief and being true to ourselves. It teaches us that we are the future – not governments, societies, establishments and symbols of power. More definitively, the film has ‘heart’. It’s ultimately a feelgood concept, too; the age-old fight against oppression, but told in an exciting and refreshing way.
Emerald City first aired in 2017, but it’s conception was three years earlier. The pilot script was written by Matthew Arnold, and promptly commissioned for a ten-episode season. Although Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) was brought on as the showrunner, he quickly fell-out with the studio, causing the series to be cancelled. David Schulner was employed to replace Friedman, with Tarsem Singh directing all ten episodes. The series was cancelled after the first season. But was that decision justified? It is intriguing, and you don’t feel as if you’ve wasted your life watching it. However, it fails to reel you in and grip to the point that you can’t wait to see the next installment. It’s partly down to the concept. It’s the correct decision to abandon the admittedly brilliant but very fluffy 1939 film version in favour of something closer to L. Frank Baum’s harder-edged children’s Oz books. If anything, this isn’t gritty enough. There are a few shocks. But you don’t sympathise enough with the lead characters.
Adria Arjona is kind of okay as Dorothy, but doesn’t have enough charisma to carry the show as the lead protagonist. Again, Vincent D’Onofrio is fine as The Wizard, although he’s not compelling enough to be the ambiguous hero/villain of the piece. The strong roles are Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Lucas the swordsman, who portrays confident or lost with equal aplomb; Gerran Howell as Jack the part-human part-clockwork boy, who you believe and feel for in every relevant scene; and Rebeka Rea as the little girl witch Sylvie. A wonderful performance considering her age. There are radically different versions of The Scarecrow, who is Lucas (partly because of his loss of memory, and a greater connection near the end of the season), The Tinman who is Jack (he has metal parts and occasionally requires oiling), and The Lion, played by Mido Hamada, a less than cowardly soul. Quite the opposite, in fact. The whole has a kind of Gulliver’s Travels-like feel to it, rather than The Game of Thrones look it promises. However, I did enjoy the Victorian Cyberpunk aspect to parts of the show – particularly the repairs made to Jack, and the multiple masks of the queen he befriends.
It’s not fantastic but it is well worth checking out. Fans of The Wizard of Oz will be intrigued as to how the concept has been updated for the new age. We also get to see a brief backstory for The Wizard. It would be interesting to know what was planned for Season Two. We do know that it involves more prominently The Beast Forever. The epilogue scene for this season is slightly corny; perhaps it was tagged onto the end when the show was cancelled. Extras include: Deleted Scenes, and Oz Reimagined: The Making of Emerald City.
Four boys, Henry, Beaver, Jonesy and Pete, save a mentally challenged boy from being taunted and beaten by older boys. Douglas Cavell, soon known as Duddits because of his hands raised exclamation of "I duddits" instead of "done it", now sees the boys as close friends. Duddits is discovered to be more than he seems when he imparts certain abilities on them, including telepathy and uncanny seeing skills, which help them find a missing girl. Years later, and now adults, the four are enjoying their annual reunion when a sick man staggers from out of the woods. Inside him gestates a worm-like parasitic creature, which leads to an early confrontation with a large alien to become known as Mr Gray. All the natural creatures inhabiting the mountainous areas flee and are quickly superseded by the army, led by Colonel Abraham Curtis. Curtis quarantines the region and incarcerates all those who carry the rust-like infection of the aliens. An attack on a crashed spacecraft triggers its self-destruction, but the menace is far from over. Curtis plans on sterilising the entire area, but the four friends have other ideas. When Jonesy is possessed by Mr Gray his subconscious retreats to the Memory Warehouse, the only part of his mind that the invader can't penetrate. Henry realises that Duddits' extraordinary abilities means he knew this would happen from the time they were boys, and that he was always the focus of their group. But Duddits is older now and is sick with leukaemia...
In previous reviews I have revealed that I am not a fan of Stephen King on the printed page. A wealth of original ideas are often tainted by the need to describe the floral wallpaper and regency furniture, information most readers simply don't want to know. Film adaptations are another matter, however. Although there have been some derisory attempts to convert King's fertile imagination to celluloid form, a handful of films based on his books have succeeded spectacularly: The Dead Zone, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile, to name but a handful. Whilst Dreamcatcher is not as emotionally compelling as these, it is gripping all the same. You get the impression that all the stops have been pulled out to produce the best film possible from the book. Acting, special effects and scenery combine in a not often seen synergy.
Question: How do you show alien parasitic creatures gestating inside human or animal hosts without seeming to emulate the science fiction classic Alien? Answer: you make the connection obvious by having the military nickname them "The Ripleys". Much as this description may make you think otherwise, appearance and motives are not even close to the Alien movies, and even Mr Gray turns out to be a shape-changing creature which uses the standard alien look, albeit on a much larger scale, for its own nefarious motives. The scene with the worm parasite in the toilet is both hilarious and chilling, and was said to have been used as a location in the book by King because he felt it was the only room left in a house which people don't want to see beyond in a movie.
The Dreamcatcher of the title is mainly a metaphor for the prophetic bonding of the four friends. As a child Duddits creates an image in the air of a Red Indian dreamcatcher (which is said to have had the ability to prevent bad dreams from taking form, or allowing evil spirits through) in the air. The four friends later create the real thing; four circles with another in the centre representing Duddits. It hangs in the cabin where they meet yearly. Donnie Wahlberg, as one of seven headlining names in the film, will no doubt receive plaudits for his portrayal of the adult Duddits, when clearly Andrew Robb as the young version is so much better. He is a little aloof, somewhat strange and yet very friendly, and all of this comes across extremely well.
The mass exodus of animals from the forest looks Jumanji-like, when this kind of CGI was in its infancy, but as we witness the movements from a distance the shortfalls are not so evident. There is so much to appreciate here. The spiral architecture of the Memory Warehouse, packed-out from floor to high ceiling with dusty boxes, and labelled with subject information, is impressive, as is the way we see Jonesy inside the room protected from Mr Gray, even though he is possessed by the creature.
The picture and sound quality on this widescreen version is superb. Extras include five alternate or extended scenes, an interview with writer Stephen King (in which he comes across friendly and enthusiastic), a behind the scenes feature, a visual effects feature, a film trailer and DVD ROM stuff. Coupled with the film running time of 134 minutes, all on one disc, this makes for an impressive and cost effective package.
An engineering scientist called Thomas Jacobs invents a device which records and places you into your own memories. The purpose is to help people with psychological problems, and to separate real from false memories. He is approached by a backer representing the Justice Department, which wishes to invest. In return for making him and his family very wealthy, he is persuaded to adapt his device to place someone mentally into the memories of another person. The test subject is a dangerous criminal convicted of brutally killing his girlfriend. Thomas agrees to demonstrate the machine himself, and spends time watching the man’s memories from within. However, when the time comes to leave, Tom finds he is trapped inside the man’s head. For four years, he is obliged to repeatedly witness past events from the point of view of the convict. But then a slight malfunction in the system allows the convict to notice his presence. The desperate man is convinced he is innocent of the charge of murder, and so forces Tom to uncover the truth or stay imprisoned within his head forever...
This is another one of those films which surprises you with its originality and inventiveness. This is no big budget blockbuster, and works all the better for it. It is well crafted and tightly edited so that it hits the ground running and is constantly evolving and picking up pace. The plot is intriguing, but the background gives it just as much substance. I like the fact that, within the scene of a given memory there are points of detail which have been forgotten. These are filled-in by the programme, and Tom has to carefully trigger the clarity of these details. Whilst initially taking for granted what he is told about the situation, Tom becomes guardedly sympathetic to the convict’s plight as more information is uncovered and doubt overcomes him.
In retrospect, the storyline of Extraction allows for many of the memory scenes to be repeated with only minor alterations, without ever seeming like the movie is scrimping and saving on its costs. This consequence may have also reduced the filming schedule. Nevertheless, it’s well worth a look for those who enjoy technological science fiction or murder mystery thrillers, as it straddles both genres.
Against a backdrop of a future totalitarian Britain, a young woman called Evey has her whole interpretation of society changed when she is rescued from thugs by a charismatic vigilante wearing a stylish Guy Fawkes mask. Known only as “V” the figure is viewed by the establishment as a terrorist, but V is a freedom fighter skilled in the art of combat and deception, who detonates London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves. As Evey learns more about herself she also discovers there are multi-facets to her new companion...
Let me say from the outset that V For Vendetta is a genuine classic. Like synergy, all the planets are in alignment for this one. This is a movie that can never be experienced again for the first time. As obvious as this sounds, I mean it can never have as profound an effect on the viewer on subsequent revisits. That doesn’t mean you won’t want to re-run the movie. Believe me, you will! This is a film which has everything. There is mystery, action, intrigue, love, politics, deception and truth. This is essentially about people, belief and being true to ourselves. It teaches us that we are the future – not governments, societies, establishments and symbols of power. More definitively, the film has ‘heart’. It’s ultimately a feelgood concept, too; the age-old fight against oppression, but told in an exciting and refreshing way.
There hasn’t been too many stories – either documentary or dramatic in content – depicting Guy Fawkes. The film opens with a scene depicting his capture and public hanging at the time of the infamous Gunpowder Plot to blow-up the Houses of Parliament. Although the film proper is set in a fictitious future Britain, our anti-hero utilises a costume and very striking mask to portray the essence of Fawkes, representing a fight against corruption. It is not giving too much away to reveal that the face behind the mask is never unveiled, though there are clues as to what he may have looked like many years before. This is very clever, as we all accept that the unknown is far more frightening or intriguing. Once something or somebody is seen and understood, it loses much of its power. V himself is articulate and literate, quoting not only the ‘Remember, Remember the 5th of November’ rhyme, but relevant Shakespeare and the odd bit of French (for some reason).
There is a veritable plethora of notable British actors on show here. Aside from the peerless John Hurt, there is Natalie Portman, Tim Pigott-Smith, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, and many others spotted in cameo roles. It is good to see Roger Allam (Endeavour’s Inspector Thursday) and Ben Miles from the excellent sitcom Coupling, too. V For Vendetta is based on the outstanding graphic novel written by Alan Moore, illustrated by David Lloyd and published by Vertigo/DC Comics. The film was written and produced by the Wachowskis, who made The Matrix trilogy, and directed by James McTeigue.
This set contains a 4K Ultra HD and High Dynamic Range version of the film for the first time. Being that a new scan has been produced using the original film negatives, the picture looks fantastic – crystal clear and sharp, with a wider colour spectrum allowing deeper shades to be clearer. For those who have the appropriate speaker systems, the disc features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the soundtrack without that equipment, but you will need a 4K TV and a 4K player – essential, I think, for the seasoned film buff. New special features on this disc include V For Vendetta Unmasked (a Behind-the-Scenes making-of featurette), James McTeigue & Lana Wachowski in Conversation, and Natalie Portman’s Audition.
There is also an HD Blu-ray included in this set, the previously released extras of which are made available again here. They include: Freedom! Forever! – Making V For Vendetta featurette; Designing the Near Future featurette; Remember, Remember – Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot; England Prevails – V For Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics; Cat Power (good surname!) Montage – the song played against images from the film; and an Easter Egg Hidden Bonus of a Saturday Night Live Short. Additionally, there is a Digital Download copy of the movie.
An excellent film, brilliantly presented, and in three formats… How could you go wrong? Take my word for it: Add this to your collection. You won’t be sorry.
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