Movie review - "Predators" (2010) *** (warning: spoilers)

 Over time the reputation of Predator remained high so here's a late sequel, from Hungarian director  Nimrod Antal, which sends the action back to the jungle. Instead of tough guy stars however there's a bunch of good actors pretending to be tough guys. There's nothing wrong with the actors, everyone is talented, but the casting lacks an element of fun that make the first two films in the series so entertaining - Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, etc. I wish Trejo had played the lead instead of Brody. Brody does nothing wrong, neither does Braga, they're both just dull (haunted,  yep, basically decent, yep, whatevs).

The film's got some good ideas - it's on a foreign planet of the predators, they run into Laurence Fishburn who has been there for years. The film picks up. But they kill Fisburn too soon - they should have kept him alive.

The gang throw in some different sort of killers - crim Walter Goggins and serial killer Topher Grace - but they don't seem to fit. Also they don't reveal Grace is a serial killer until too late. And after a while it's clear people are just there to die which is frustrating.

Still not bad. Polished. Tries to elevate the material.

Movie review - "Life After Flash" (2018) ***

Fun documentary which focuses on the life of Sam Jones, in particular his Flash Gordon experience.Tricky up bringing (dad was a boozer, and they often tend to be for movie stars), he grew into a good looking dude which got him work in films, lept to fame with Flash Gordon, grew a big head which meant he went on strike (to make sure he got paid, he says, as if he shouldn't have been willing to do a film like this for nothing), got re-voiced, went into a career dip, bounced back (The Highwayman years), then dipped again, lost his way, had a problem with money, women and his temper.

Eventually found a good marriage, moved to the more psychologically healthy city of San Diego, and got a new career doing security - so he gets to be a he man and act in a way. Loves doing conventions - I enjoyed footage seeing him boss around the volunteers, and also praying to himself that he wouldn't lose his temper.

The running time is flashed out with people talking about the film and its impact on them - two comics are the most fun, perhaps too much time is devoted to random actors who had short roles in the movie. People like Robert Rodriguez talk as well as hard core collectors of things from the film.

I really enjoyed seeing Peter Wyngarde (as bitchily funny as you'd expect, though he seems to be sick... and indeed died not long after - it's funny to hear him talk about demanding his character live so he could be in sequels), Topol, Rafella de Laurentiis, Brian May, Melody Anderson (who seems a lovely person) and especially Brain Blessed, who is everything you'd imagine him to be - loud, boisterous, a bit naughty. Great fun.

Movie review – “Machete” (2010) ***1/2

Enormously fun Robert Rodriguez tribute to grindhouse – it comfortable carries for a whole feature, although it could do with 15 minutes cut out of it. The plot is good basic, exploitation: Machete is a Mexican cop betrayed by his colleagues and has his wife and daughter killed (though we never see what happens to the daughter). The baddies don’t kill him though and three years later he’s living on the streets (I felt we missed out on a sequence here). He gets drawn into a plot straight out of Shooter – an assassination where he’s double crossed so he goes on the rampage.

There’s plenty of action and blood (it’s called machete for a reason); there is some nudity and sex, but not a lot – the naughties were quite prim. There’s some boobs at the beginning and from Lindsay Lohan’s body double but that’s about it. The quality of the cast is astonishingly high; Lindsay Lohan is the best value, sending up her modern image (spoilt, drug addicted, sexy, fame hungry, making amateur porn) – it’s a real shame her part isn’t bigger. Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodgriguez were born for this sort of movie, especially the latter (I kept expecting the revelation one of them would be Machete’s daughter but it never happened); Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal and Don Johnson form one of the strongest trilogy of villains in recent memory… and you can throw in Robert de Niro too. Oh and Cheech Marin. Danny Trejo totally carries the film as a lead – I could really see him in a bunch of these movies as star.

Movie review – “Planet Terror” (2007) ***1/2

Takes forever to get going and I was about to dismiss it when it started picking up the pace and just got better and better. Again, like Deathproof, would have been really effective as a short feature, not a full length. Rose McGowan is extremely winning as the go-go dancer who wants to be a stand up comic (“people tell me I’m funny”). Short arse Freddy Rodriguez was a little odd as a tough guy but I got used to it and the support cast is excellent. Although these films are supposed to be exploitation and they don’t hold back on the blood and guts, there is quite a prudish attitude when it comes to nudity.