I've mentioned it a few times before, but it's worth stating again: I love watching old movies, especially cheesy old B-movies which hardly ever see the light of day on TV.
Luckily the Internet is goldmine for Westerns, sci-fi flicks and other odds and ends which would otherwise vanish into the archives, and a lot of it can be seen for free.
In my mission to uncover some gems, here are a few choice cuts from AMCTV B-Movie Classics, a website which has a bundle of golden(ish) oldies to choose from. My top three from their selection is as follows:
The Ruthless Four (1968)
Giorgio Capitani's Spaghetti Western (so-called because they were filmed on the cheap in Spain, usually doubling for the American Wild West) stars Van Heflin and Klaus Kinski in a tale of greed and guns which probably didn't give Clint Eastwood too many worries on its original release. Although rough around the edges, it is an antidote to the usual glossy Westerns.
Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
I first saw this movie last year on the big screen at the Edinburgh Film Guild and thoroughly enjoyed its oddness. It's been described as a precursor to Blade Runner, but only in that in that it features robots as humans who often don't know they're actually robots. Bonkers, but great fun.
The Hellfire Club (1960)
This one is co-written by Minder creator Leon Griffiths and co-stars Last of the Summer Wine’s Bill Owen and, as the blurb puts it, a deposed aristocrat, Satanists and Peter Cushing.
I'll have a look around for more oddities over the coming months, in the meantime feel free to let me know of any other good freebies out there in the comments below.
Book reviews: Yippee Ki-yay Moviegoer and The Film Experience
Two new film books have recently been published which, in their own distinct ways, manage to channel the magic of cinema through their pages to leave the reader remembering just why it is they continue to shell out their hard-earned cash for a night at the movies, or buy another DVD to add to their already-toppling collection.
First up is Vern's Yippee Ki-yay Moviegoer (Titan Books), a book culled from the web pages of geek central itself, Aint It Cool News, which allows the author's views on Die Hard, Mad Max, Predator 2 and the death of the R-rated movies to reach a wider audience.
And what views they are. Whether he's ripping into the makers of Die Hard 4.0 and their decision to go for a PG-13 rating, wondering whatever happened to waiting patiently for a film to start or going off on tangents about the world at large with the odd mention of movies, Vern is every Internet fanboy rolled into one but with a lot more style. And swearing.
That's perhaps unfair, as he's actually every movie viewer rolled into one, at least every one who's ever had a moan to their friends about the quality of big budget films made in the last decade (I'm talking about you Transformers) or the attractiveness of Mary Poppins.
It's hard not to get caught up in his excitement and, while this might not be a deep and meaningful treatise into the mechanics of filmmaking, it's certainly more accessible for the average (and not-so average) film fan who just wants to read about some great films and feel like they're in on the joke.
Also out now is the slightly weightier tome, The Film Experience: An Introduction (Palgrave Macmillan) by Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White, which goes deeper into what it means to enjoy a film through the various lessons learnt from watching them.
Rather than the often dry or unwelcoming books on the history of cinema which occasionally appear to daunt the budding film scholar, this book recognises that not everyone goes to watch French arthouse films in darkened cinemas with just a handful of others.
Instead, the authors are well aware that modern viewers are just as likely to watch a downloaded film on their iPhone or boot up a DVD on their laptop as go to the local multiplex. They also know that we've all seen enough films to know what certain visual or aural clues mean - if it's too quiet in a horror film we can be pretty sure a cat will come out of nowhere to scare the life out of us in a few seconds time - and that we've been learning about films since the first time we watched one as children.
With chapters covering editing, sound, genre, critical theories and how to write a film essay, this is a fantastic starting point for anyone who perhaps wants to take their love of film a step further to take a course on the subject or even become a critic.
In fact, grab a copy of both these books and you'll be on your way to becoming the next Barry Norman, Jonathan Ross or even Vern, none of which is a bad thing.
Offering a new slant on the touchy subject of suicide bombing, Adoration (New Wave Films) is the latest film from Canadian director Atom Egoyan. Best known for his 1995 reflection on grief and loss, The Sweet Hereafter, Egoyan covers similar ground, albeit on a smaller scale, as schoolboy Simon (Devon Bostick) becomes embroiled in a complex web of deceit plotted by his French teacher, Sabine (Arsinee Khanjian).
When Sabine tells her class the story of a terrorist who secreted a bomb on his pregnant girlfriend with the intention of blowing up a passenger plane, Simon is particularly drawn to the tale, owing to the fact that his father was a non-US national who died in a car crash with his mother.
Deciding to tell acquaintances on the Internet that it was his parents (Noam Jenkins and Rachel Blanchard) who were the real-life characters in the terrorist plot, Simon doesn't foresee the problems that will be caused when a seemingly harmless white lie gets out of control.
Moving back and forth through Simon's memories of events - his parents and manipulative grandfather (Kenneth Welsh) appear in flashback while his uncle Tom (Scott Speedman) is both in the past and present - this is cleverly structured film which asks its viewers to work out for themselves the exact sequence of events.
Told at a sedate pace by a director concerned with exploring each repercussion of an event rather than rushing to move to the next scene, Adoration is touching without ever feeling cloying or manipulative, a memorable film which will appeal to anyone looking for a film which makes them think.
Staying with the theme of memory and family, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's Still Walking (New Wave Films) is a snapshot of a day in the life of the Yokoyama family who gather each year to remember the life of youngest son Junpei, who died many years ago while saving a child from drowning. Retired doctor Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) is the family's patriarch who does little to welcome surviving son, Ryoto (Hiroshi Abe), and his new wife and stepson when they arrive, the father still angry the Ryoto gave up being a doctor to become an art restorer.
As the family prepare meals, visit the grave of their son and become reacquainted with each other, Kore-eda ensures that they never turn into stereotypes: these are real people in a situation which could affect anyone and their grief is palpable throughout.
It's also a very funny film, many moments punctuating the tension so that we're not simply left with a sad tale of woe. The Yokoyama's may live in Japan but they could be any family and that's perhaps what makes the film so recognisable. It may not be loud or flashy, but Still Walking is all the more impressive for that.
From Japan we move to Thailand for new portmanteau horror, Phobia (Icon Home Entertainment), four stories with only one thing in common: death.
The stories are set-up simply enough: Happiness is a silently-told drama set in the bedroom of a young schoolgirl as she receives texts from an unknown admirer; Tit for Tat takes place in a school where a group of kids try to take revenge on the classmate who unwittingly got them into trouble for pot smoking; In the Middle follows four friends as they go white river rafting, only to encounter stormy waters; and Last Flight takes us on board a plane with a sole passenger and stewardess who have something, or someone, in common.
From the slow-moving Happiness to the hyper-kinetic Tit for Tat and onto the lighter In the Middle, it takes a while to get used to the change in styles forced on the stories by the four different directors. While the non-stop action and CGI-trickery of Tit for Tat does get old fast, the differing feel of the mini-films does give Phobia a unique feel and shows just what can be done in less than 30 minutes.
Of all the films it's In the Middle which shines the brightest, the combination of a witty, movie-buff in-joke filled script and smart performances making it stand out and it might have been interesting to see this expanded to a full feature, even if the ending is obvious to those who have watched too many horror films. Perhaps, with a bigger budget and more ambitious stories, Phobia sequels could become an annual treat for those willing to sample a few tasty morsels of Thai filmmaking.
Best known for his legendary animated adaptation of JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi preceded that epic with another sword and sorcery tale in the shape of 1977's Wizards (Eureka!), which now arrives in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray.
The complex story begins somewhere in the future of our planet, where the remnants of a society destroyed by terrorists who blew up New York have shunned technology and allowed magic to once again return to Earth.
The hero of the piece is kindly wizard Avatar (Bob Holt) who, along with friends Elinore (Jesse Welles) and Weehawk (Richard Romanus) is on a mission to find his evil brother Blackwolf (Steve Grayers) after the latter discovers a film projector which he is using to show footage of Hitler and the Nazi hordes to his evil minions. The more that the images of death and destruction permeate the world, the more chance magic, and democracy, will be eradicated forever.
Wizards is a strange concoction which at times hits the mark (images of Hitler and deadly weapons killing the innocent) while occasionally leaving the viewer confused and unsure of what exactly is going on.
That this is a kids film says much for Bakshi's singular vision and the way animated films have changed over the years – you wouldn't see a Nazi monster eating a pig emblazoned with the Star of David in a a Pixar movie.
Helping to put Wizards into some sort of context is Bakshi himself, present on a fascinating directors commentary which explains many of the in-jokes viewers would otherwise be ignorant off. The films also looks gorgeous, a new transfer making the 34-year-old film look as good as new.
Love it or hate it, there's no denying Wizards is unique, offering an alternate view of the world of animation which is today dominated by CGI and 3D effects.
Another unique film is director Jonathan auf der Heide's Van Diemen's Land (High Fliers Films), a dark tale based on the true story of convicts sent to Australia from Scotland, England and Ireland who became the victim of serial killer Alexander Pearce in 1822.
Following a group of convicts who escape into the wilds of Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania), we watch as one-by-one they fight with each other and fall victim to the violent actions of their fellow escapees.
Caught up in the dark and unforgiving landscape, the rain and mud mixing with the blood of Pearce's victims as they try to escape an inevitable death, this is tough viewing, though played well by a strong cast who seem happy to get down and dirty with the landscape.
Van Diemen's Land is a refreshingly dark film which never gets too gory but is still adults-only entertainment. A lack of director's commentary or substantial extras is noticeable on this bare bones disc.
Finally, take a trip back to the 1950s for Joseph Pevney's light-hearted romantic comedy, Tammy and the Bachelor, in which country girl Tammy (Debbie Reynolds) encounters the unconscious Peter (Leslie Nielsen) near her home and promptly falls for him as she nurses him back to health.
When Peter bids Tammy and her grandfather (Walter Brennan) farewell to return to his privileged lifestyle, it's not long before events conspire to send Tammy searching for him and a new life.
A hit on its original 1957 release, it's fair to say that Tammy and the Bachelor probably wouldn't have won any awards for realism even back then. Tammy's ignorance at the world at large is handled nicely enough by Reynolds but there's just not much of a character there to believe in. Neilsen is on good form as Peter, his leading man status well deserved, but again their isn't anything to latch onto.
It's important to remember that this is a rom-com, with logic perhaps less important than a series of moments designed to get the main couple together, something this film succeeds in. Bright and breezy throughout, there's little to actually dislike here and romantic comedy completists will no doubt lap it up.
We go from the sublime to the ridiculous this week as Charlie Chaplin takes on Hitler and the Boondock Saints return to wreak havoc on audiences everywhere.
We all know Charlie Chaplin. Silent clown. Moustache. Cane. Funny walk. For many of us, that's all we need to know, enough clips shown on TV over the years to give even the most casual film fan a feeling that he was probably quite funny, but now we've got Will Ferrell to make us laugh.
Thankfully two Chaplin films, in the shape of 1921's The Kid and 1940's The Great Dictator, have just arrived on DVD from Park Circus to prove everyone wrong.
Finding an abandoned baby in an alley, Chaplin's classic Tramp character does his best avoid having to take care of the child, only to become its surrogate father. Years later, the child (Jackie Gleeson) and his new father, are living their lives on the streets when the boy's mother comes looking for him, only to have the Tramp decide he doesn't want to let him go.
At nearly an hour in length, The Kid is certainly more ambitious than many of Chaplin's earlier shorts, but it never outstays its welcome. Adept at visual humour, Chaplin not only ensure the comedy routines are sharp but also manages to make the viewer feel the attachment the pair have for each other, no mean feat when not a single line of dialogue is uttered.
With a lovely performance from the young Gleeson and Chaplin at the top of his game, this is undoubtedly a classic of both silent cinema and cinema in general, a comedy which still holds up today against the raft of pictures churned out by Hollywood.
The second Chaplin film re-released on DVD is the anti-fascist satire which appeared at a time when the world was witnessing the rise of Adolf Hitler but America was still not at war with Germany.
The Great Dictator sees Charlie play duel roles of politician Adenoid Hynkel and a simple barber, both of whom bare an uncanny resemblance to each other. When the barber returns from fighting in the First World War to his shop, he discovers that his country is now ruled by a cruel despot in the shape of Hynkel, a man who has his eye on at some point holding the whole world in his hands, in more ways than one.
As the barber falls for local girl Hannah (Paulette Goddard), he must also try to avoid being arrested by Hynkel's soldiers as the dictator plots the invasion of various neighbouring countries alongside fellow fascist ally Napaloni (Jack Oakie).
While the film was being made, the full extent of Hitler's machinations were still unknown to the general public, making Chaplin's vision of concentration camps and persecution of the Jews eerily prescient. The result is both a humorous take on the rising threat in the Europe of the 1940s and an example of the power of film to comment on the real world, a power which is too often diminished in modern filmmaking.
The novelty of being able to hear Chaplin speak is brought home in the film's final moments when his speech to his countrymen – and the camera – brings home just how little has actually changed in 70 years.
Both films are important entries in the Chaplin canon and in cinema history and deserve rediscovery by a new audience. Both available in DVD or Blu-ray, the films each come with a welcome number of extras, including modern filmmakers looking back on their production and behind-the-scenes footage from the vaults, including gorgeous shots from the set of Dictator.
Returning to the scene of the crime 10 years after his first moviemaking experiment, cult favourite The Boondock Saints, the success of director Troy Duffy's 2009 sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) depends entirely on just how dear you hold the idea of a film making any kind of sense whatsoever.
With the original MacManus brothers, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) finished with their days of crime and now living with their father, Il Duce (Billy Connolly) in rural Ireland, the murder of a priest in Boston forces them out of retirement and back to America to avenge his death.
Taking over as the boys' police acquaintance is Detective Eunice (Julie Benz), a woman determined to ensure the Saints evade justice. Also along for the ride is Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr) and the ghost of Rocco (David Della Rocco) who appears to offer support along the way.
Once more veering wildly in styles between one scene to the next – is this a thriller, revenge drama or comedy? - All Saints Day doesn't claim to be anything other than an excuse to fire a lot of bullets, spout a variety of cliched dialogue and entertain fans of the original without offering much new. Switch off your brain for a few hours and you might just get through this unscathed.
Commentaries, deleted scenes and a discussion between Connolly and Duffy are just some of the extras on offer.
Based on a true story of atrocity during World War II, Massacre in Rome (Argent Films) stars Richard Burton as a Nazi officer ordered to kill 335 civilians as a response for the murder of 33 German soldiers by Italian Partisans in occupied Rome.
Impressively shot by director George P Cosmatos, who handles the tension well in the early sequences as the Partisans attempt to keep streets free of innocent bystanders, Massacre in Rome tells a tragic story well.
Richard Burton is on good form as he plays against type as a man given an unenviable task, while the depiction of the Vatican, as they refuse to get involved in the situation, doesn't do much for their reputation.
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