The War of the Worlds

Ah, 1950s science fiction films! How I love them! The (retrospectively) cheap-looking special effects, the dashing hero - so often a non-dorky scientist, the bad ass military, the girl that needs saving, the psychedelic 'alien' noises.

In the 1953 film adaption of the H. G. Wells classic you get all of the above.

First, however, a spoken intro set to paintings of planets and stars before the real action starts. About 50 minutes into the film, as we make a jump from the early days of the war to vast devastation, this voice of authority will give as the gist of what happened.

What is thought to be a meteor lands near a small California town, witnessed by many town folks and a group of scientists fishing in the area. Everyone and their grandmother comes out to have a look and they are nearly celebrating, already counting money that can be made out of the event. In sweeps the dashing hero, a handsome, if bespectacled, scientist by the name of Dr. Clayton Forrester. The first person he encounters at the scene is the girl that will soon need saving. She is scientifically interested and well aware who he is. Her bravery in the face of the mounting danger diminishes over the course of the film and she turns into a hysterically shrieking little girl frequently.

Anyway, the meteor is not a meteor but a spaceship that brought enemy forces with it - weird looking machinery and three-eyed aliens that have a mind to kill everything and everyone that stands in their way. This first spaceship is followed by many others across the globe and the title-giving war of the worlds begins.

No bombs, no tanks, not even the A-bomb have any effect on the invaders.There is no chance but to evacuate the destroyed cities as all hope dwindles. In the end, it is not humans that defeat the enemy, but rather the enemy falls out of the sky (literally) and dies because it cannot handle the earthly microorganisms.

Whereas the outline of the film is very close to the original text, it adds in some religious pathos, with a heroic priest and a church as shelter, which do not appear in the book.

5/10

Diamonds Are Forever

Ah, yes, Sean Connery is back. Phew! Glad that Mr. Lazenby was replaced again (I am not a fan).

We start off with the wonderful Shirley Bassey singing the title track. And then...Blofeld dies! Or does he? Of course he doesn't. He is, once again, the über-villain. This time around we are following a diamond trail. Everyone that comes into contact with the stones tends to die of unnatural causes.

The bad people come in twos. First, the dorkiest ever villains in a James Bond film, surely. A gay couple. Not sure what message it sends that you make the first gay people in the franchise overly comical. And while we're at lack of political correctness - very much a sign of the times, of course - again a black woman is likened to a primate. Whereas the black Angel of Death in the previous film ate nothing but bananas, here we go even further. A black woman that turns into a gorilla. Nicely played. (*sarcasm*)

Anyway, back to the villainous duos. Then two beauties beat up James Bond for a bit, before he gets the upper hand on them (literally). They are called Thumper and Bambi, along with Plenty O'Toole yet more specimen of strange names for women in Bond films. The two try to keep Bond away from the missing and illustrious gazillionaire (one assumes), Mr. Whyte, whose properties and general wealth have been used by Mr. Blofeld to start off a nuclear war (yet again).

And speaking of twos: There is more than one Blofeld, thanks to the wonders of plastic surgery. Having a double has, however, not made him any smarter. He lets Bond slip through his fingers yet again when he has the chance to shoot him. He should by now know better than to keep him alive as a possible bargaining chip (or whatever).

In the end, 007 saves the day and the diamonds - now part of a satellite - revolve in space.

6/10

Mrs Henderson Presents

This is based on real events.

Mrs. Henderson, after having lost her son in the first World War, is bored after burying her husband as well. Her well-meaning friend's suggestion of taking up a hobby leads her to purchase a run-down theater in central London. With the help of Mr Van Damm, she puts on a revue that initially is very successful, but only until all the other theaters in town do likewise.

To get back on top, Mrs Henderson decides to put nude women into their sing-and-dance productions. This causes quite the stir and - of course - quite the success. The theater continues to run its shows throughout WWII. Although it is underground and therefore relatively safe from the German bombs, it does suffer its tragedies.

Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins are wonderful in a sort of love-hate relationship. This also features Will Young (singing, of course) and Christopher Guest, who adds a few laughs to the film.

6/10

The Twilight Zone: The Mighty Casey

During tryouts for the Hoboken Zephyrs, the desperate team meets a left-handed pitcher named Casey. He has the strongest arm ever seen and pitches with unbelievable precision. The only problem is - Casey is a robot.

The coach - played by Jack Warden, who I can hardly remember as anything else than a baseball coach - and the man who built Casey decide to keep this little bit of information to themselves.

Alas, it had to come out eventually. When Casey gets hit in the head by a ball, the following check-up reveals that he is not human. A baseball official is called in and it is agreed that he would be allowed to continue playing if he is equipped with a beating heart.

When he returns to play he doesn't have the heart (Ha!) to strike out any of the opponents. He goes off to do charitable work.

5/10

The Master

I must admit that the first 30 minutes of this were rough for me. It seemed all so tedious and I was waiting for the film to get going. Not what I expect from a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. He is one of my favorite directors and has in the past spoiled us with his works. Hence, I was a bit cautious at first.

However, as soon as Philip Seymour Hoffman enters the stage (so to say) the film does become the master piece (no pun intended) it is by so many said to be. For a long while it was lauded as the best film of 2012 and groomed as a sure thing for award season. But the film year is a long one and the attention span of the members of various academies and associations is rather short. What it did get, in the end, at the big one (Oscars), was recognition for the stellar acting of the main characters. Of course, they never stood a chance and the Academy did not dish out any surprises this year.

This is the story of a lost young man named Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), disillusioned after the war and prone to violence and his unlikely friendship and devotion to Lancaster Dodd ('The Master'/Hoffman), who may or may not be fashioned after L. Ron Hubbard. The cult (no, no, not a cult, surely) is known as The Cause and it doesn't seem to do any actual harm but enthralls the followers in regression therapy and lulls them with words spoken (made up?) by Dodd. There is some minor legal trouble of the financial kind, of course, but then there always is.

Dodd now wishes to help Freddie through his aggression by having him repeat either answers or short walks from one end of the room to the other and loudly stating what the wall or the window feel like when he touches them.

The scenes with Hoffman and Phoenix in them, mostly in conversation, are wonderful to watch and are what makes this film so special.

Joaquin Phoenix really is a gorgeous man and Philip Seymour Hoffman sings!

8/10

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes

A comedy about the early years of aviation.

Pioneers of flight from all over the world come together in England to participate in an air race from London to Paris. Like any classic 1960s comedy, it exploits ever single country cliche imaginable but - also like any classic 1960s comedy - does this in the most charming manner.

The main players are a dashingly handsome - if slightly dorky - Englishman, a daredevil American (the two also vying for the same lady as well as the prize money), a group of German military men (doing everything by the book, of course), a happy-go-lucky Frenchman, a conniving Englishman (manipulating everything and everyone whenever possible), a mysterious Japanese, an Italian with his entire overly emotional family as well as some bit players.

Have seen this forever ago and it still makes me chuckle throughout. Gert Fröbe in a bathing costume is quite the sight.

7/10

Utopia - Season 1

This thriller in six parts evolves around a mysterious manuscript of a graphic novel called "The Utopia Experiments", that is detailing a large scale conspiracy that involves a big corporation, a secretive "network", politicians, a socially awkward killer and a group of unsuspecting graphic novel fans that end up in the middle of a murderous roller coaster ride.

Initially, it follows a man who searches for the manuscript on behalf of 'The Network', killing anyone (literally) in his way and putting forward the question, "Where is Jessica Hyde?". Jessica herself has contacted a group that more or less accidentally acquired the manuscript.

They quickly realize that they have gotten entwined in a very precarious situation there is seemingly no way out of and any person they encounter on the way may be friend or foe and they have no way of knowing who to trust. What is also not clear is whether or not Jessica Hyde herself is hindrance or help. As if their conundrum weren't severe enough, they also end up having to care for a couple of young kids, Grant (graphic novel fan, the one who gets a hold of the manuscript first and is being framed for a school shooting) and Alice (hides the manuscript for Grant and witnesses her mother being killed over it).

The series is colorful and fast paced with shifting loyalties and many a twist and turn, which keeps it interesting and the audience guessing. The end then is a rather bleak one for all involved (or rather, the ones still alive). Channel 4 also put up a pretty nifty website to go with the show.

7/10