Back in 2001, I was living in Japan. It was there I had the somewhat surreal experience of attending the world premiere of Pearl Harbor, in the company of director Michael Bay, star Ben Affleck, and around 40,000 Japanese. (I have no idea quite what they made of it). It is, frankly, a crappy movie…
Supergirl
I remember going to see Supergirl in 1984 to review it for my university newspaper. I don’t recall any specifics, other than it being an unholy mess! Helen Slater plays the title character (before vanishing from our screens), with Faye Dunaway chewing the scenery as the evil witch baddie. Brits Peter O’Toole and Peter Cook…
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen this 1950 gangster/noir, but I like this image of tough guy star James Cagney, seen here on the Belgian poster. The movie had the distinction of being banned in Ohio for “a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and an extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission….
Dracula
Hammer’s 1958 Dracula was their follow-up to the hugely successful The Curse Of Frankenstein, and together they set the template for “Hammer horror”. Director Terence Fisher is once again at the helm, and his steady hand delivered a new take on gothic horror. Notable in particular is how Christopher Lee’s Count sweeps down the stairs…
Jaws
Jaws is one of the greatest movies ever made IMHO. It was also the first time I was properly scared in the cinema. Although it was released with an “A” certificate in the UK (meaning all ages could go), there are a number of gruesome shock moments (notably the half-eaten corpse that pops out of…