Movie review - "The Castilian" (1963) **

 Sidney Pink is best known for his sci fi efforts but this is a medieveal (well, tenth century) epic about a Spanish hero - a kind of El Cid knock off. There's plenty of production value. I didn't recognise the Latin actors but there's cameos from Alida Valli and Broderick Crawford, Cesar Romero is the hero's BFF and Frankie Avalon is a strolling troubador.

Movie review - "Drums of Africa" (1963) **

 Producer Al Zimbalist re-used Kong Solomons Mines footage for Watusi and does it again here, to even less effective results. To give him his due, the script does try  - Robin Estridge did it and there's lots of chat between Lloyd Bochner and Mariette Hartley about love and stuff, which implies ambition. But it lacks decent exploitation - pace, sex, twists. Foreigners are dodgy, whites know best, the black Africans try. The action is unexciting. A comic evidence is underutilised. Hartley's nude swum is lively.

Michael Pate is in it as a dodgy Portugese and Ron Whlenis in it as a ship's captain. Frankie Avalon is professional, charming and can sing but sorry he just looks weird in Africa. His part could've been cut out. Bochner has a deep voice but that's it, really.

Torin Thatcher plays a version of Allan Quatermain who is given a different name for some reason. Hartley does her best.

Script review - "Juno" by Diablo Cody

 Read this just for fun - warm, simple, unplotty. Great dialogue of course but also consistent - Juno and Leah talk different to Juno and Bleeker and Juno and her parents. Complication provided by the two yuppies. Cody doesn't demonise either not even Mark - it's clear Vanessa doesn't get him either.

Movie review - "One Way Wahine" (1965) *1/2

 More obscure beach party movie despite starring Joy Harmon, Anthony Eisley and Edgar Bergen. Harmon has this weird red tan and seems to be mentally off. Combieds some bech stuff with a robbery plot. Filmed on location but it stil looks cheap and studio bound. I am a soft marker on beach films but the indeptness of this got me down. Bergen's role is very small.

Script review - "Fletch" by Andrew Bergman

 Not the final transcript bc there are some key admissions (narration, some famous lines, the legendary "I billed it to the Underhills" line). But the core of it is all there and many famous lines were scripted. First rate mystery. Great villain - the scary cop. Charming relationship with Gail. Colourful characters. Escape sequences. It's a series of encounters but it's well plotted out.

Movie review - "Winter a Go Go" (1965) ** (warning: spoilers)

 The stars of Swinging Summer go to work for Columbia - photography looks great, neat ski action, sluggish story (they start a ski lodge). It as a TV vibe - goons try to wreck business - interspersed with musical numbers. Racist comic cook. The leads get married. Had trouble telling people apart.

Movie review - "A Swingin' Summer" (1965) ** (re-watching)

 A "lake paty" movie - the beach party set at Lake Arrowhead, Surprisingly heavy and serious - lots of talk about needing money, pressure, and a big brawl that is very seriously done involving James Stacy. More fun is William Wellman being pursued by Raquel Welch, a nerd determined to have a boyfriend for the summer.

Jerry Lewis' son performs in this. Michael Blodgett dances. The lake is pretty. Quinn O'Hara has to be too serious.

Movie review - "Thunder Alley" (1967) **1/2 (re-watching)

 Solid car film. Maybe benefits from having Fabian rather than Frankie Avalon - he's more serious, gritty, chip on his shoulder. He's sleeping with Diane McBain but falls for Annette Funicello who has one of her better roles. She's still the girl but she drives, sings, fights of Warren Berlinger, has a lot of swagger, and there's a nice father-daughter relationship. The film could've done with a little more star power - John Ashley at least. But strong score, pretty good film.

Movie review - "Alien: Romulus" (2024) ***1/2

 The first decent Alien film in a long time - made by a director who clearly knows what he's doing. Sets up a strong world, and flows it through logically. The Easter eggs for fans are a little annoying. Some excellent acting.

Random list - pop stars whose parents were movie stars

- Gary Lewis from Gary Lewis and the Playboys - son of Jerry Lewis
- Peter Lewis from Moby Grape - son of Loretta Young
- Crispian Mills from Kula Shaker - son of Hayley Mills
- Dino, Desi & Billy - sons of Dean Martin and Desi Arnaz
- David Crosby son of Floyd Crosby the DOP

Movie review - "It's a Bikini World" (1967) ** (rewatching)

 Deborah Walley is a cutie. Warm, gorgeous, plucky. Tommy Kirk is fine - better as the nerd. There's not enough story. Needs at least two more plots. Great photography and music.

Movie review - "Empire of the Ants" (1977) **

 Giant ant movie from the 1970s. Joan Collins shows some potential land buyers around, they're attacked by giant ants, they run to safety, but find the townsfolk are under thrall of the ants. I really liked this twist.

Interesting cast - Collins, Robert Lansing, Robert Pine (Chris' dad, the sarge from Chips).

It's not a very good movie but it's impossible to dislike.

Movie review - "Trap" (2024) ** (warning spoilers)

 Gets off to a strong start, playing with audience sympathies. Josh Hartnett has his best role in ages and rises to the occasion. M Night Shamalan clearly loves his daughter. The film does run out of ideas. Shifts POV twice - to his daughter and Alison Pill. I think we could've done with one. Shame they had to lead the stadium. Hayley Mills is a profiler and she's quite good!

Book review - "I am Pilgrim" by Terry Hayes

 Admired this more than liked it. Hayes has done a lot of work, done his research, come up with sequences of imaginaiton. But it's got a black heart. I didn't care about the hero or his protagonist or anyone really and the cracks about how easy it was for immigrants to move around got annoying. A book that demands respect though.

Movie review - "A Christmas Frequency" (2023) **

 Ansley Gordon is a solid lead. Novelty in seeing Denis Richards. The male lead has a literal mop of hair.  Awkward blocking.

Movie review - "Acquaman and the Lost Kingdom" (2023) **

 Big, loud, dumb. Who cares about Jason Mamoa and Patrick Wilson being brothers? Who cares about the random villain being bad. Some interest in seeing Amber Heard's role being minimised - I guess she'd be too heroic? They may as well have killed her. Or kidnapped her. And Nicole and Dolph.

Dull.

Book review - "Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld's Last Star" by Chris Connelly

 Definitive book on Morgan, a singer I was mostly familiar with because of Showboat and that film about her. Hollywood was kind of obsessed with that twenties Broadway period with Texas Guinan, Morgan, Ziegfield etc. It sounds like fun with everyone drunk and getting raided and making huge amounts of money. Of course there was a dark side and Connelly is strong on that - he's strong on everything, even Morgan's legal troubles, her complicated upbringing (lots of step dads).

Impossible to imagine a better book about Morgan.

Movie review - "Ski Fever" (1966) **

 European version of beach party/ski movies. Shot in Europe with Curt Siodmak as director! Martin Milner is a dull hero. Claudia Martin is pretty as an American at a ski lodge. There's some lecherous Europeans. The girl who had dream sequences were funny. Nice ski shots. Some songs. A pool scene.

Movie review - "Stop Making Sense" (1984) ****

 I finally saw it! Understated direction. The band are very talented. David Byrne is a clear star. Changes visual look.

Movie review - "Sergeant Deadhead" (1965) ** (rewatching)

 Some bright moments but the film never seems to make up its mind what the story is. There's a bumbling soldier who gets shot into space - fine - but then he has a big head and so they get in a look alike, which is a whole new movie, then the lookalike tries to avoid having sex with Deadhead's fiance. Then the lookalike disappear and they go to meet the president.

It's unsatifactory. Some songs are alright. The players try. Frankie Avalon gives his all. Deborah Walley is sweet. Why is John Ashley in this? Harvey Lembck. Donna Loren gets some lines. Bobbi Shaw is wasted. Buster Keaton gets  a joke. Eve Arden gets a song.

Movie review - "Fireball 500" (1966) ** (warning: spoilers) (re-watching)

 A transitionary film from beach party to stock cars - I've seen this a few times and now I'm used to it and it's more enjoyable. The acting is very good, Fabian helps make it more serious, the conflict between he and Avalon feels real, I like the moonshine stuff, Harvey Lembeck is excellent in a serious role.

I think it was a mistake to resolve "who caused the fatal accident" before the big final race. There should have been some sabotage - Fabian found out but the audience didn't and the baddies tried to kill him or something.  

An odd mishmash but endearing.

Movie review - "Puppy Love" (2022) ***1/2

 Sweet rom com which actually has a point of difference in that it's more about the guy - the lead, a screenwriter surrogate most likely (Grant Gustin) has bad social anxiety, is very used to being alone. He mets hot mess Lucy Hale and they dislike each other but in a cute twist their dogs hook up so they're stuck together.

Hale is always good in these roles, and she and Gustin have genuine chemistry. There's a range of "turns" from wacky people the lead run into each other. Some of these go over the top, others work.

But you genuinely sense the leads fall in love and it's all very sweet.

Movie review - "The Last Lion" (1972) **

 I know little about South African cinema - mostly Jamie Uys and various films shot there in the 70s. This one has a script by Wilbur Smith though not based on one of his novels. He did use part of it for A Time to Kill because like that this is about a dying man determined to kill a lion. He's accompanied by a woman only not his daughter bu doctor Karen Spies. Jack Hawkins is the guy, only a short time from death, with his voice dubbed. He's playing a dying man so that's moving.

Most of it is chats with Hawkins and Spies. Spies is pretty but her role is "you shouldn't be doing this". There's another guy who is a guide who I expected to have a romance or die but he doesn't. There's no development. No twists.

It's novel. Just a little dull.

Movie review - "The Spoilers" (1942) **** (rewatching - warning: spoilers)

 Much better than the 1930. Much clearer. Better dialogue. Acting. The lot. Okay the blackface scene isn't great - Wayne putting on boot polish to rob a bank.

But the other stuff is good. The set. John Wayne young and sexy playing off against Marlene Dietrich. Harry Carey, who I expected to die. Richard Barthemless shines as Dietrich's offsider. Randolph Scott, firm and tough, a surprise villain. Margaret Linsday lots of fun.

Everyone wants to have sex in this. Dietrich and Linsday want to have sex with Wayne. Wayne wants to have sex with Dietrich and Lindsay. Barthemless and Scott want to have sex with Dietrich. Dietrich wouldn't mind having sex with Scott.

Movie review - "The Spoilers" (1930) ** (warning: spoilers)

 First sound version of the famous tale. Not very widely seen. Not bad. Confusing. Gary Cooper has youthful charisma. He still plays a sook when he thinks a woman has betrayed him.

Cooper aside lacks stay power - Kay Johnson is a bland heroine, Betty Compson a dull saloon gal, William Boyd a bland baddie. The death of Cooper's friend had an impact. The brawl at the end is fine.

Director Edwin Carewe doesn't do much of a job. The tension going to sound is an issue but the movie didn't have to be as confusing as it was.

Movie review - "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) *** (re-watching)

 The last really strong AIP Beach Party movie - energetic, confident. Weird moments like that moody ballad Frankie Avalon sings and the Deborah Walley fake rape plot. Odd that John Ashley is Frankie's rival.

The romance between mermaid Sylvia Kristel and Jody McCrea (who is the lead as much as anyone) is charming because both. are dumb - but then he gets with Linda Evans? Confusing that both are blondes. Unsatisfactory.

Linda Evans gorgeous and sweet. The double act of Bobbi Shaw and Buster Keaton is funny. Fun silent era chase and climax. This was peak Mac Sennett period at AIP.

Don Rickles' night club act isn't funny. Paul Lynde is funny.

Movie review - "The Secret of Nimh" (1982) ***

 I'm not that familiar with Don Bluth films. The animation is very fine, and there are memorable sequences such as visiting the owl and going underground - all the spooky stuff. There's some full on scenes of animal testing, people getting crushed and stabbed, and adult flirting. 

The story lacks momentum - it's about staying still, inside because a kid has pnuemonia. 

Really interesting voice cast including Wil Wheaton, Shanneon Doherty, Elizabeth Hartman and Aldo Ray! Hartman took her own life only a few yers later.

Movie review - "Tudor Rose" (1936) ***

 British view on Lady Jane Grey. It doesn't have much time to settle into anything other than Jane and her husband were sweet and naive, and Edward VI was manipulated and the adults were prats... but that's basically true, so why not? There is no central core relationship - at the very least it could've dug into the love story more.

 Nova Pilbeam briefly became a star playing the lead. John Mills didn't playing her husband - he just is too young looking. Cedric Harwicke is a terrific villain. I liked Desmond Tester, from Sabotage, as Edward VI.

Very stylishly shot and directed by Robert Stevenson.

Movie review - "Out of Sight" (1966) *

 There's no reason why a mash up of Beach Party movies and spy films couldn't have worked. AIP could've pulled it off - they mixed it with haunted house films and sci fi. This is just a bad movie. Jonathan Daly is hard work as a spy's butler who becomes a spy.  He' s a drag. Maybe he was famous at the time. But Frankie Avalon in this role would've been so much better.

There's some terrific music - versions of "Baby Please Don't Go" and "It's Not Unusual". I did really like the three female assassins

But on the whole this is a dull movie.