Coming of age films are usually for that life transition of teenager becomes a young adult or those pre-teens losing their innocence and growing through puberty hell. Usually they are of a feel good nature that can be looked back with either fond memories or terrifying angst! Films like The Breakfast Club (1985) Stand By Me (1986) The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) are a few in this genre. Continue reading
Is this science fiction? It certainly starts that way! Kind of post-apocalyptic. Maybe not following a nuclear war but some other world-wide disaster has probably happened. I got a sense and feeling of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 sci-fi thriller Children Of Men to start with. The bleak and the gloom, the underlying air of sadness. Yes that was soon to change and oh, how we all laughed that I could have thought such a thing! Hehe. But first…… Continue reading
What better film to follow up Them on a double bill than with another bunch of crazed, demented six legged psychopathic ant nut jobs, the 1974 film Phase IV. This feature is filled with visually luscious images and gorgeous landscape design, it’s quite the wonder to look at. But please be forewarned that you spend the runtime scratching like a shaggy dog. Oh my fur was twitching and an itching like crazy right through this creepy crawly movie. Even the eerie music gets under the skin. Essential item to have with you whilst watching is a personal back scratcher or two, down a bit, ooo to left a bit ooo that’s it, that’s the spot. A big thanks goes out to Lieutenant’s Nina Barry and Gay Ellis from UFO in helping me with my itching, you did a grand job…. Continue reading
When the best thing in a film is your own blooming terrier dog showing off and stealing all the top scenes right from under your nose. What was Humphrey Bogart to do with this camera hogging pooch Zero, well he had to up his game and show his four legged friend who the boss was! And work his ass off he did. Continue reading
I love the way Oliver Reed can go from the pure brute force anger filled badboy roles to lighthearted comedic sweet roles, Hannibal Brooks is by far the latter. Ollie plays reluctant soldier, Stephen ‘Hannibal’ Brooks, a captured prisoner of war, imprisoned at the Stalag VII-A camp near Munich. Brooks gets the chance to help out at the local zoo, feeding and shuffling poo, giant poo at that. The bringer of said big poo is Lucy the Elephant (Aida). Brooks is shocked by the sight of Lucy but it’s not long before the two become great friends. Lucy quickly warms to Brook’s sweet, calming nature and obeys every word he says. It’s not long before these two friends will be spending a lot of quality time together.
Can you judge a film by it’s cover? Yeah course you can in this case! Flicking through a few movie titles on a search for something different I stumbled across the intriguing title of Cul-De-Sac. What grabbed me in was the minimalist artwork from the cover of The Criterion Collection release and then the hook, line and sinker, Donald Pleasence. Oh I do love a good Donald performance and this film highlights his quirky style to the fullest. Continue reading
Big black baldy bail bondsman bounty hunter Truck Turner busts heads in this gloriously fun 70’s smasher starring that Hot Buttered Soul Love Machine himself Isaac Hayes. Not only does he get to trash a whole array of pimps and dealers, he gets to take on the soundtrack duties, adding the funk grooves to the proceedings. Nothing sounds better than watching crazy clothed pimps and hoes and wrecking ball car chases accompanied to the sound of wah wah guitar, dirty basslines, horn stabs and funky as hell drum breaks. Continue reading
When it comes to movie titles, The Exterminating Angel is pretty spectacular. Being that I only read a small synopsis for the plot I had imagined it would be in the vein of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There None” and that the exterminating angel was a description of some femme fatale who was unleashing her wrath on the unexpecting party guests. Haha how wrong could I have been! Continue reading
The award for most nut-job movie on my watch list this year so far has to go to the ridiculously controversial but equally brilliant A Boy and His Dog. To be honest I had imagined Brewster McCloud was going to hold on to that title for sometime but no this apocalyptic tale really took the biscuit. Continue reading
Maybe it’s because my surname is Shears and I channel the DNA of my ancestors of sheep shearers but I really enjoyed this tale of Australian sheepherders and gun shearers set in the 50’s. Then again it might just of been all the booze being drunk that channelled by inner lust for sweet liqueur? Either way the Aussies always make incredible dramas and even though it’s about shaving sheep and hanging around with almighty hangovers, Sunday Too Far Away is nothing short of compelling.
Tagline – Friday night… too tired. Saturday night… too drunk. Sunday… too far away.
Wolfmans Cult Film 