There are a slew of Tarzan movies, and movie Tarzans, out there – but the indisputed king was Johnny Weissmuller. I used to watch Tarzan movies as a kid on Saturday afternoon TV. I have no recollection of whether I’ve seen this one, but it probably screened back then. Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, released in…
Metropolis
Fritz Lang’s 1927 dystopian silent sci-fi classic is one of the most iconic movies in cinema history. Its photography style and production design has been hugely influential, both on a great many sci-fi movies (Blade Runner etc etc) and music videos (Queen’s Radio Ga Ga). Possibly the most famous image is of the robot, seen…
Silkwood
Meryl Streep gives one her best, most naturalistic performances in 1983 true-life drama Silkwood. It tells the story of Karen Silkwood, a union activist and whistle blower at a nuclear plant, who died in mysterious circumstances in a car crash. She and other workers were contaminated by radiation, which she discovered was the result of…
Peur Sur La Ville
1975 French thriller Peur Sur La Ville (aka The Night Caller in the US and UK) was the first time French acting legend Jean-Paul Belmondo played a police officer. With exterior scenes shot mostly in Paris, it got mediocre reviews but was a box office hit in France, and it proved one of Belmondo’s most…
The Curse Of Frankenstein
Hammer’s first gothic horror remains a true classic. Peter Cushing stars in his most memorable role as the Baron, with a pre-Dracula Christopher Lee as the monster. Director Terence Fisher set the tone for many future Hammer horrors with this feature. Compared to the Universal monsters series, the focus is on the creator rather than…
Fitzcarraldo
It is quite remarkable that Fitzcarraldo (a story of one man’s crazy obsession) got made at all. It is a story of a man determined to drag a steamship over a mountain in Peru. To film it, director Werner Herzog (himself known as a crazy obsessive) chose to drag a full size steamship over a…
Rebel Without A Cause
Rebel Without A Cause was James Dean’s second and arguably most iconic leading movie role. Nicolas Ray’s classic 1955 film was a social commentary on disaffected middle class teenagers, going through emotional trauma, and the generation gap to their parents. It was shot in the new widescreen Cinemascope format and released a month after Dean’s…
High Noon
High Noon is one of the the most famous Westerns of all time. Gary Cooper (who won as Oscar for the role) stars as the upright sheriff awaiting a posse of bad guys to arrive on the noon train. The cowardly townspeople refuse to help him so he (and ultimately his new wife, played by…
Jekyll’s Inferno
Jekyll’s Inferno (aka The Two Faces Of Dr Jekyll aka House Of Fright) is one of the very few early Hammer horrors I’ve never seen, despite it featuring Christopher Lee in a supporting role and being directed by Terence Fisher. The twist on the old Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde formula in this 1960 release…
The Terminator
“I’ll be back…!” It is one of the most famous line in cinema history, as endlessly recycled by star Arnold Schwarzenegger in his subsequent movies. James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi was made on a limited budget compared to its sequels, but it remains for me by far the best of the Terminator series. Before Arnie started…