What I Watched This Week (w/e June 8th 2008)

DVD

The Horror of Frankenstein - This 1970 film is a loose remake of The Curse of Frankenstein with Ralph Bates in the Peter Cushing role. Sadly, he has none of the charisma or screen presence of Cushing and Dave Prowse is no Christopher Lee. :|

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb - Based on the Bram Stoker novel Jewel of the 7 Stars, this revolves around Margaret, who is the doppelganger of Queen Tera whose body lies in her father's basement. Torn between the two IDs, she witnesses the curse of the excavation with those involved dying of gruesome neck wounds. There are many 'mummy' films with some great, some not so great. This is one of the latter, but it's not terrible. :|

Straight on Till Morning - This begins as a drama set in London during the swinging seventies where Brenda has moved from Liverpool after lying to her mother that she is pregnant. Once in the capital, she sets about trying to get pregnant but is too naïve and gullible to properly look after herself and so shacks up with psychopathic Peter, who insists on calling her Wendy as a result of a Peter Pan fixation! This is better than the typical late Hammer output and is a fine psychological horror. :)

Fear in the Night - Recovering from a nervous breakdown, Peggy marries Robert, a school teacher in a private school in the country. After several attacks by a one-armed figure, she is convinced that someone is trying to kill her but no-one believes her and the school seems oddly empty of children and staff. The Headmaster (Peter Cushing) has a false arm and his wife (Joan Collins) seems very pally with Robert, who casually tells Peggy that the school and its grounds are worth a fortune but the Headmaster doesn't want to sell. It's obvious what the plot twist is going to be but the film is watchable, mostly due to the four leads. :|

Demons of the Mind - Baron Zorn takes parental discipline to a new level - imprisoning his adult children in his castle whilst local women are being murdered in the nearby forest. The children's relationship appears to be incestuous whilst Zorn summons a doctor (Patrick Magee) to rid him of demons. Incredibly silly and boring at the same time, this doesn't really know where it's going en route to an unsatisfactory conclusion. :(

To The Devil a Daughter - Quoting Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist on the poster, this adaptation of the Dennis Wheatley novel of the same name incensed the author so much that he told Hammer that he would not allow them to adapt another one of his books. Also incorporating elements of The Omen, this moves along quite well but the ending is a complete mess, ruining everything that went before. :(

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - Steve Martin plays a PI in this film noir spoof which incorporates footage of The Killers, Double Indemnity, Dark Passage and a host of others as he interacts with the actors in the stock footage. Silly, clever and funny in equal measures, this is a smart homage to film noir. :)

Deliverance - Referenced in countless films but never bettered, John Boorman's famous (and infamous) story of man against nature has a timeless feel to it that means that it stands up to repeated viewings. The four leads, especially Jon Voight, are excellent and the footage of them canoeing down the river shows why they were not able to secure insurance prior to shooting. :D

Paris Lockdown - Review to follow shortly.
The Cars that Ate Paris - Review to follow shortly.
Picnic At Hanging Rock: Deluxe Edition - Review to follow shortly.
Hamburger Hill - Review to follow shortly.

Cinema

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - I read Jean-Dominique Bauby's book over ten years ago and didn't re-read it prior to seeing this at the local Arts Centre. I thought the book would be unfilmable but Julian Schnabel does a first rate job of bringing Ronald Harwood's screenplay to the screen. In the lead role, Mathieu Amalric is superb, playing Bauby before and after his stroke with stunning realism. Playing his father, Max von Sydow almost steals the film, especially in a heart wrenching scene where he phones his son in the hospital and breaks down during their conversation. :D

Television

USA vs. England Saxons - The Churchill Cup got under way on a windy ground in Ottowa as the US Eagles put up stern resistance to the England Saxons (the 'A' team) before the fitness of the professional team told as giant Bath wing Matt Banahan ran in a hat trick to make England comfortable winners.

New Zealand vs. Ireland - In all the meetings between the two countries, the best Ireland have managed is a draw and if there was any opportunity to break their duck against the All Blacks, this was it. With players like Anton Oliver, Chris Jack, Carl Hayman, Jerry Collins, Aaron Mauger and Luke McAlister all unavailable as they are playing in Europe, Graham Henry didn't have much in the way of strength in depth. In torrential rain at Wellington's Cake Tin, the Munster-dominated Irish pack were fancied to do well but were comprehensively second best in terms of both physicality and skill with the ABs more incisive behind the set piece and breakdown.

South Africa vs. Wales - After New Zealand showed Ireland that southern hemisphere rugby is still boss, the Springboks took Wales apart, scoring more tries against them than the five teams in the Six Nations collectively managed. Even with Victor Matfield and Percy Montgomery on the bench, the Boks were very impressive.

Kelly Pavlik vs. Gary Lockett - The man from Cwmbran wasn't expected to trouble the World Middleweight Champion who, to be honest, was given an easy night that he so richly deserved after tough fights against Miranda and Taylor (x2). Like with the proverbial lamb to the slaughter, Lockett was out-boxed, out-fought, out-powered and mercifully stopped in the third round before he could be seriously hurt.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix - This looked like it would be eventful when the track began to disintegrate during Saturday's qualifying and so it proved. The 'marbles' made many of the corners treacherous and when Hamilton slammed into the back of Raikkonen, who was minding his own business at a red light in the pit lane, it opened the door for Robert Kubica to win his first Grand Prix leading to a BMW 1-2. I wonder if any action will be taken against Hamilton in what may be seen as a 'preventable accident'. I'm getting more than a little sick of the pro-Hamilton bias in the ITV coverage.

Also watched the usual: NFL Total Access; The Rugby Club (last in the series); Peep Show (a great ending to a great series) and HIGNFY (very funny but not the best in the series).