Magicians (2007)

Director: Andrew O'Connor

Writers: David Britland, Andy Nyman, Anthony Owen, Andrew O'Connor, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain

Composer: Paul Englishby

Starring: Robert Webb, David Mitchell, Sarah Hadland, Paul Mark Elliott, Karen Seacombe, Phil Nice, Jessica Hynes, Darren Boyd, Miranda Hart

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Don't ask how they do it, ask why?

Plot: A pair of rivaling stage magicians are forced to confront their falling out over a guillotine mishap when they compete in a magic competition.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

A friend of mine recently turned me on to a great British TV comedy called PEEP SHOW (2003) that's been running for 8 seasons and hopefully will keep going.  It's an odd show but I'm totally into it and I can't wait for series 9.  Anyway, the two fellas in that, David Mitchell and Robert Webb, star in MAGICIANS.  Having watched all 8 series of PEEP SHOW, I really enjoyed this picture.   When you spend about 21 hours (in 42 episodes) with two very funny people that you like, it doesn't hurt when you see them in anything afterward.  This picture is funny and it plays off the strengths of the two actors.  I'm a sucker for magicians and magic so there's that going for it, too.  And, like in PEEP SHOW, there is the odd uncomfortable situation or two that you see coming a mile away (as intended) and makes you cringe in embarrassment for the character.  There are lots of opportunities for some great gags and they take full advantage of them.  The magician names and acts are fucking hysterical.  If you haven't seen this or PEEP SHOW then do yourself a favor and at least give the first half dozen episodes of PEEP a chance before watching this.  They're both on Netflix streaming.

Shadow Valley (1947)

Director: Ray Taylor

Writer: Arthur Sherman

Composer: Walter Greene

Starring: Eddie Dean, White Cloud, Roscoe Ates, Jennifer Holt, George Chesebro, Eddie Parker, Lee Morgan, Lane Bradford, Carl Mathews, Budd Buster, Andy Parker, The Plainsmen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Song-Filled... Action-Thrilled With Eddie and His Horse White Cloud On The Trail Of NEW ADVENTURES!

Plot: Eddie and sidekick Soapy get involved in Gunnison's attempt to acquire the Jarvis ranch. Gunnison knows there is gold there and having already killed Mary Ann's father and uncle, he now tries to persuade her to leave. But Eddie gets her to stay and then starts his search for the killer.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Eddie Dean was a latecomer into the singing cowboy movie scene.  He's got a great voice and he's a wonderful singer but his screen presence is pretty low.  When he smiles, he's fun to watch but otherwise he's often as bland as they come.  He's got three songs in this picture, my favorite being, "Cornbread Country" only because I loves me some good Southern cooked cornbread made from scratch.  Mmmmm mmm!  Roscoe Ates plays Eddie's goofy sidekick, Soapy Jones. I'm really not a fan of these overly silly characters.  I spent a few days visiting my pop and we watched A LOT of Western movies and 50s/60s Western TV shows.  It was great fun getting to see a lot of classic shows I hadn't seen since I was a kid forty years ago.  This was right smack in the middle of the three day horse opera fest and I'd about had my fill of idiotic, stupid, incompetent, comic relief sidekick characters. The rest of the picture is pretty straight forward, a story used a gazillion times by 1947.  Eddie pissing off Mary Ann (Jennifer Holt) royally by simply not telling her that there's gold on her property.  I'm sure she would have kept it a secret.  The result is Eddie being a complete dick to her when he repeatedly says he'll tell her everything when the time comes.  He's a douche.  Make that a bland douche. Alright, a bland douche with a lovely singing voice.  The picture isn't much better than OK at best with at least one redeeming quality and that's having a running time of only 59 minutes.

The Reich Underground (2004)

Original title: Das Unterirdische Reich. Die Geheimen Welten der Nazis

Director: Michael Kloft

Writer: Michael Kloft

Composer: Clemens Winterhalter

Starring: Peter Buchholz

More info: IMDb

Plot: Near the end of World War II, the Third Reich constructed a secret massive underground tunnel system. Today, experts explore the contents of the tunnels and examine the inhuman conditions the involuntary workers were forced to endure.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's not shocking to know that the Nazis were big time into making these mammoth underground cave systems for factories, storage, etc. While they were being built early on in the war, in 1943 they really started to ramp up construction and on a huge scale.  Using forced labor, thousands upon thousand died during construction.   It's interesting to see these gargantuan underground systems.  Some are in great shape while others have been sealed and abandoned for nearly 70 years.  Architecturally, they're not attractive but very plain and functional so in the hour and forty two minutes of film you get to see a lot of them but don't expect an awful lot of variety.  With that, though, the film makers do a fine job in presenting the many locations and the uses they were built to serve.  And they built these things everywhere it seems.  There was even one under Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden but never used.
There's a music theme used over and over that I'd swear I've heard before and in another WWII documentary.  Despite used repeatedly in this film, it doesn't overstay its welcome which is surprising.  It's currently on Netflix streaming and if you're wanting to see a different aspect of the Nazi war machine then this will fit the bill.

Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell (2012)

Directors: Joey Figueroa, Zak Knutson

Writers: Kevin Smith

Composer: Daniel Sternbaum

Starring: Kevin Smith

More info: IMDb

Plot: Writer-director-comedian Kevin Smith conducts a riotous and outrageous Q & A session about the aftermath of his film Red State. His antics angered movie bloggers at the Sundance Film Festival and attracted the ire of Christian fundamentalists.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I REALLY Liked RED STATE (2011) and I really like Kevin Smith and his films, so, you know, that's how I got to this.  It's nothing more than Smith on a stage in front of an enthusiastic audience fielding questions and giving anecdotes about his experiences in creating, filming and the aftermath of the picture, particularly when it came to the real life religious nutters that inspired him to write it.  Like all of these Q&A films he puts out, it's fun.  This one is just Smith going solo and there aren't as many laughs as the others but then again, we're sticking to one topic and it is an interesting one at that.  Smith fucking LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to talk.  Unless my math is off, he spent nearly 90 minutes answering just four questions.  Last year I had the opportunity to see him interviewed and he spent a solid twenty minutes on one question.  He answered it in the first minute but continued to ramble about damn near everything for the rest.  It was no surprise to find out he has five weekly podcasts.  This man loves to hear himself talk...but then I love to hear it, too.

Cowboy (1958)

Director: Delmer Daves

Writers: Frank Harris, Edmund H. North, Dalton Trumbo

Composer: George Duning

Starring: Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon, Anna Kashfi, Brian Donlevy, Dick York, Victor Manuel Mendoza, Richard Jaeckel, King Donovan, Vaughn Taylor, Donald Randolph, James Westerfield, Eugene Iglesias, Frank DeKova

More info: IMDb

Tagline: THE REAL, TRUE STORY OF THE WEST!

Plot: Chicago hotel clerk Frank Harris dreams of life as a cowboy, and he gets his chance when, jilted by the father of the woman he loves, he joins Tom Reece and his cattle-driving outfit. Soon, though, the tenderfoot finds out life on the range is neither what he expected nor what he's been looking for.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

What a fun flick!  Glenn Ford never ceases to amaze me.  He's a wonderful actor and his performance in this is fantastic.  His character, Tom, much like Frank (Lemmon), goes through a transformation but through it all he's a fun loving, hard working man that doesn't like to mince words or waste time.  Ford embodies the cowboy persona.  He's the man. There are some familiar faces here that will put a smile on your face, especially a young Dick York.  Lemmon shows his chops as a believable hotel clerk turned rough and tumble cowboy.  From the beginning of the picture when Tom bursts into the swanky hotel after a cattle run to the end when it happens all over again, it's filled with cowboy action and drama that felt more salty than most of the typical Westerns of the day.

Age of Heroes (2011)

Director: Adrian Vitoria

Writers: Adrian Vitoria, Ed Scates

Composer: Michael Richard Plowman

Starring: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Aksel Hennie, Izabella Mikko, James D'Arcy, William Houston, John Dagleish, Sebastian Street, Stephen Walters

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They were Britain's commando elite

Plot: Based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando during World War II this is a story which takes our heroes from the edge of defeat on the beaches of Dunkirk to the mountains of Norway on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines that, if successful, could change the course of the war.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

Damn it! I didn't realize this was based on a true account of Ian Fleming's days in WWII until later as I write this.  That's what you get for going into a movie blind sometimes. It's on Netflix streaming at the moment and it was practically a no-brainer, a WWII action flick starring Sean Bean.  Stop.  That's all I need to know.  Being a British production, you know the acting is going to be good...and it is.  This low budget picture makes great use of locations and its performers.  The pacing is fine and it rarely feels slow but it's not loaded with action and it builds to the raid at the end which is satisfying. It's a good film and it shouldn't be overlooked.  It's nice that pictures like this are still being made.  We need more good WWII flicks and Westerns these days. 

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)

Director: Roger Corman

Writers: Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson

Composer: Les Baxter

Starring: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, Harry Ellerbe, David Andar, Bill Borzage, Mike Jordan, Eleanor LeFaber, Nadajan, Ruth Oklander, George Paul, Geraldine Paulette, Phil Sulvestre, John Zimeas

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Edgar Allan Poe's overwhelming tale of EVIL & TORMENT

Plot: A man, upon entering his fiance's family mansion, discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed her prematurely.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere in this picture.  The sets are warm and inviting, Les Baxter's score and everything else.  The cast is fine, too.  The only thing that bugs me is the pacing.  This is an incredibly slow film.  Even at an hour and 19 minutes, it's too long.  It feels like it should be about an hour but that's not necessarily a deal killer.  In some ways, the drawn out pacing feels rather comfortable, like something you'd find yourself quietly watching on a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon and fall asleep in your recliner.  It's one of those kinds of film.  I dig it more than the last time I saw it probably twenty years ago so I think I'll give it another chance someday.