Sometimes the most obscure films make for the most fun posters. Let’s face it, I’m never going to watch ‘Karate Motos’, but this cool, kitsch poster is simply bonkers! This 1973 Hong Kong martial arts action thriller also goes by the title The Deadly Chase. I’ve no idea what its about, but the only synopsis…
Destroy All Monsters
I know I’ve seen a bunch of the original run of Toho Godzilla movies on afternoon TV many, many years ago, but they all rather blur into one. So I’m not sure if I’ve seen 1968 monster mash-up Destroy All Monsters or not. The plot, such as it is, involves Godzilla and ‘friends’ living in…
The Dam Busters
The 1955 Dam Busters is one of the most famous of all classic British World War II movies. It tells the true story of how Barnes Wallis developed the famous ‘bouncing bomb’, and the pilots who (spoiler alert!) successfully flew at very low altitudes over water to use it to destroy a strategically vital German…
The Fly
The original 1958 version of The Fly starts with a wife crushing her husband’s head in a mechanical press and is told in flashback from there. The 1986 David Cronenberg version is better known today, but the concept is essentially the same: an over-dedicated scientist attempts to teleport himself, only unknown to him a fly…
Moulin Rouge
John Huston’s 1952 Moulin Rouge is, frankly, quite a boring movie. I watched it on YouTube last year and was expecting something of the pizzazz of Baz Luhrmann’s jukebox musical version, but its a rather serious affair, centred around Toulouse Lautrec (Jose Ferrer). Yes, there is some can-can dancing, and it has some nice atmospheric…
The Hunger
If you like your vampires stylish and sexy, you probably like The Hunger. This was the directorial debut of Tony Scott, and its very much a case of style over substance – all billowing curtains, slow motion and expressionistic lighting. The ho-hum plot involves centuries-old modern-day vampire Catherine Deneuve and her partner David Bowie, who…
Flash Gordon
“Flash – aha! – saviour of the universe!” Even if you’ve never seen the 1980 version of Flash Gordon you’ve probably heard Queen’s bombastic title song. Its a knowingly ludicrous movie, which somehow manages to be both respectful (sort of) of the original 1940s movie serials and at at the same time firmly tongue in…
City Heat
City Heat is undeniably a very stupid, throwaway movie. Its all instantly forgettable, and ended up being a box office disappointment, but it has some fun moments. Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds co-star as, respectively, a cop and a private eye in 1930s Kansas City. The plot is irrelevant, though. Its all about the chemistry…
Foreign Correspondent
1940s Foreign Correspondent isn’t one of the best known Hitchcocks but it’s one of my favourites of all his movies. Joel McCrea stars as the wise-cracking US correspondent sent to Europe in the days before World War II who encounters kidnapping, murder and treachery across the continent. There is also fine and funny support from…
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is perhaps the most famous the late 60s/early 70s wave of American counter-culture movies. Dennis Hopper’s movie was both hugely successful and influential. I saw it at the cinema years ago, but I must admit I didn’t really “dig” it. Hopper and Peter Fonda play two hippie bikers taking a road trip through…