“It is I who exists, Dr. Jekyll, not you. It is I who will be rid of you!”
The Scoop: 1971 PG, directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ralph Bates, Martine Beswick, Gerald Sim, Lewis Fiander, Susan Brodrick, Ivor Dean and Tony Calvin.
Tagline: This film is filled with… SHOCK! AFTER SHOCK!
Summary Capsule: Dr. Jekyll comes up with a potion, as you’d expect him to do. There are… certain subtle differences this time around. Read the rest of this entry »
A familiar term nowadays amongst TV watchers is the ‘Firefly effect’ – in other words, getting really into a new show only for it to be cancelled with breathtaking rapidity. When grumbling about this, though, it’s important to remember that it is not a recent phenomenon; it’s been happening since the invention of the TV and/or radio. A show will gain a loyal fanbase who are just itching to see what happens next, and then, out of the blue – nothing happens next, because the show is gone.
This is always a pity, but the mere fact that it has a loyal fanbase will keep it alive, if not active, thereby attaining the rarified status of ‘cult’. My question, therefore, is this – does the Firefly effect still apply when the show in question has been off the air for years, and I never saw it during its initial run?
Ah, well. I’m gonna review it anyway. Read the rest of this entry »
“We coulda been anything that we wanted to be/But don’t it make your heart glad/That we decided/A fact we take pride in/We became the best at bein’ bad!” 
The Scoop: 1976 G, directed by Alan Parker and starring Scott Baio, John Cassisi, Martin Lev, Florrie Dugger, Jodie Foster, and Paul Murphy.
Tagline: Every year brings a great movie. Every decade a great movie musical!
Summary Capsule: To my knowledge, the world’s only gangster musical that couldn’t get served at a bar. Read the rest of this entry »
Y’know, I been thinkin’. We sure do love ourselves some old cartoons, now don’t we?
Yessir, we sure do. And never has this been more so than recently, as Hollywood has started dipping into our nostalgia for such things in quite a dramatic way. Transformers, G.I Joe, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick on the way, that Thundercats movie they keep talking about – on and on.
While I have little personal stake in the matter (I didn’t have much TV access in my formative years), in principle, I am all for this. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to see some original content once in a while, but if they’re going to keep on making adaptations of every pop cultural artifact under the sun, said artifacts might as well include some cartoons. Cartoons are nifty.
So that being said, here are my Top Ten Old Animated Shows That Would Make Good Movies! (Is it just me, or are my titles getting longer?) Read the rest of this entry »
“My lady, I am a hero, and heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.”
The Scoop: 1982 G, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. and starring Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Tammy Grimes, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Lee, Brother Theodore, Robert Klein and Rene Auberjenois.
Tagline: There’s Magic in Believing!
Summary Capsule: A unicorn seeks to discover the whereabouts of the rest of her kind. Tragedy and adventure follow. Read the rest of this entry »
“I’m in mosquito heaven – and you’re an angel. A fat, green angel…”
The Scoop: 1986 G, directed by Yoram Gross and starring Robyn Moore, Keith Scott, Ashley Ayre, Lucy Charles and Leaf Nowland.
Tagline: None I can find.
Summary Capsule: Little Australian girl becomes much, much littler and frolics with insects. Read the rest of this entry »
“Colonel, how would you feel about being turned into a nice white rabbit?”
The Scoop: 1971 G, directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Cindy O’Callaghan, Roy Snart, Ian Weighill, Tessie O’Shea and Roddy McDowall.
Tagline: You’ll beWITCHED! You’ll beDAZZLED! You’ll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!
Summary Capsule: Amateur witch teams up with conman and small children to fight the Nazis. Read the rest of this entry »
Serial mediums, as most of us know, are very rewarding once you get into them – but getting into them can be a tricky thing. I refer specifically, in this case, to comics, which, as anyone will tell you, are having more and more trouble these days drawing in the casual fan.
This is where the animated TV show comes in. Few mediums in existence have proved themselves quite so complimentary as comics and cartoons, the partnership offering A: a way to introduce a complex mythos to comics newbies in a somewhat less challenging manner, doled out on a weekly basis; B: a way to present characters in an art style somewhat resembling their original conception, and C: a cross-pollination marketing bonanza. Comics plus cartoons equals spin-off cartoon-based comics, which in turn equals greater readership for the original! Good show all round.
So, without further ado, here are my Top Ten Comics That Would Make Good Animated Shows. Read the rest of this entry »
“Hello, my freaky darlings.”
The Scoop: 2003 PG-13, directed by Stephen Norrington and starring Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shaw, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng and Richard Roxburgh.
Tagline: Prepare for the extraordinary.
Summary Capsule: Characters from Victorian literature team up to save the world. Read the rest of this entry »
“I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I’ve lost my dwarves, my wizard and my way.”
The Scoop: 1977 NR, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., and starring Orson Bean, John Huston, Hans Conreid, Brother Theodore, Otto Preminger, Cyril Richard, Richard Boone and Glenn Yarbrough.
Tagline: None I can find.
Summary Capsule: What has it got in its pocketses? Read the rest of this entry »
