PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 748

Doctor Who 2 Series 10 Christmas Special - Episode 1

 

The Return Of Doctor Mysterio December 25 2016 Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Ed Bazalgette.

 

The Doctor returns to Earth after 24 years and winds up in New York. Nardole is with him, they are investigating a research company that's cover for the usual alien invasion. Along with a reporter and a superhero they defeat the aliens and send them packing.

 

It was an alright episode with a couple of decent story threads. I'm enjoying Matt Lucas.

 

The Pilot April 15 2017 Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Lawrence Gough.

 

The Doctor is now a university professor and Nardole is his assistant. A cafeteria worker called Bill Potts has an interview with the Doctor and becomes his student. Bill meets Heather and Heather takes her to a puddle with an odd reflection. The Doctor takes a look and discovers it's a living fluid from an alien spaceship.

 

The puddle has bonded with Bill and chases her through the universe. The Doctor figures how to break the bond and they return to the university. The Doctor goes to wipe Bill's memory but she figures out what he's up to and stops him. Bill becomes the new companion. An OK story.

There's a bunch of making of material and a commentary with Steven Moffat and Pearl Mackie that was fairly entertaining.

Friday Night Movies 948

Space Monster Wangmagwi 1967 Written by Byeon Ha-yeong and directed by Kwon Hyeok-jin. A South Korean movie that's been unseen in the West until SRS Cinema licensed the film in 2022, they released it on media June 13 2023. I bought the DVD that was on Amazon.

SRS ruins the experience by having one of the loudest menu screens I've heard in a while. Another annoying thing, the box lies by claiming the film is 1080p but it's really 720p. It's probably talking about the limited edition Blu-ray which they don't sell through Amazon. They only made 2000 copies and aren't making anymore. I find the limited edition treatment as annoying as any really annoying thing.

Some space aliens invade the Earth, the giant monster guy is their weapon. He stumbles around a bit, scares the locals, knocks over some buildings, and uses a gas spray in it's head to burn some other office blocks. Despite the collateral damage it's hardly exciting stuff. A jet pilot, his wife and a homeless boy fight the monster and win. The aliens leave with their tails between their legs. The subplot with the bride and her mother was funny but it was really mostly padding to get the movie to 90 mins.

There were some funny bits and some odd bits. Different sense of humor. In a crowded space in a building a man really needs to go, he decides to go on a newspaper in a corner, the monster bumps into the building and he's knocked over into his own pooh. Across the room a woman gives birth to a child. There are several scenes with two scared guys, they just aren't that funny for the amount of screen time they get.

I did like the part where the homeless kid pees inside the head of Wangmagwi. That's not something you see very often. All in all it was kind of fun but not great. A lot of people on the IMDb, 19 out of 51 voters, gave the movie a 6 or a 7, I'm struggling to give it a 5.

Notzilla 2020 Written and directed by Mitch Teemley. It's a parody of kaiju films that was made in Cincinnati.

The JSDF kills a monster in Japan. A paleontologist takes her egg and heads for Ohio. Through a silly accident the eggs gets out of his control. An idiot scientist and his more capable assistant find the egg, it hatches and they try to take care of it. The paleontologist finds they and despite his warning not to get the monster beer, the idiot scientist does so. The little kids size monster grows really big and gets out.

There's a struggle between the idiot scientist and the paleontologist, the idiot wants to kill the creature and the paleontologist wants to revert him to his original zine. There's plenty of running about as they put their plans in motion. A romance develops between the paleontologist and the assistant.

There were a lot of jokes but I wasn't finding them that funny. A lot of it fell flat to me. It's almost like they're trying too a little too hard. It's got a good size cast and they all have a quirky personality. A bit tiring. There were so many in jokes and movie references they became rather distracting. Someone gave me a download, I'll keep it but I might not get back to it anytime soon. You can watch it on YouTube.

Science Fiction Sunday 747

Doctor Who 2 Series 9 Episodes 11 - 12 plus Special.

 

Heaven Sent November 28 2015 Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay.

The Doctor is transported to a prison in an ocean. Something comes shambling after him. He stays there for 4.5 billion years. Lucky for me it wasn't in real time. He finds out he's on Gallifrey and he was imprisoned by Rassilon.

 

Hell Bent December 5 2015 Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay.

 

The Doctor kicks Rassilon off Gallifrey and takes over. He had the Time Lords pull Clara out of her timeline, steals a Tardis and takes Clara to the end of the universe. He doesn't care this could damage time. I guess he's gone a bit batty from being imprisoned for 4.5 billion years.

 

They find Ashildr at the end of the universe and Clara goes back to being dead. It's not healthy being the Time Lords companion and lately they've really taken a beating.

 

The Husbands Of River Song 25 December 2015 Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

 

It was fun seeing Greg Davis and Matt Lucas in the show. It's a goofy story and kind of funny. I'm getting rather tired of River and all her business. The Wikipedia that this was her last appearance.

 

There's several hours of making of material on the bonus disc. Some of it was entertaining.

The Black Adder - The Lost Pilot 1982

The Black Adder - The Lost Pilot 1982 Written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, directed by Geoff Posner. Richard and Rowan would go on to change a lot about the characters with the first series. The pilot was never shown until this documentary aired June 15 2023. Better late than never.

In the pilot it's somewhere in the Elizabethan Era in the 1600s. Rowan Atkinson plays The Black Adder, Tim McInnerny plays Percy and Philip Fox plays Baldrick. Tony Robinson was cast as Baldrick but delays in production meant he had to drop out to fill other obligations. He was asked to take over the character when the first series got the OK to go into production.

The Black Adder is rather like the character is in the second series. The pilot explains a lot of the thinking about that and the subsequent changes to the show for Series 1. After Series 1 Ben Elton came on board and changed the show once again.

I enjoyed the pilot and am glad they broadcast it. I wonder if they'll release it on DVD or repackage the series for a Blu-ray set. We'll see.

Friday Night Movies 947

Kratt 2020 Written and directed by Rasmus Merivoo. An Estonian film that mixes horror, local mythology and dependence on social media with a nice bunch of jokes.

Mia and Kevin are dropped off with their Grandmother for a few days while their parents attend an Ayhuasca retreat. The parents take the kids cell phones from their sleepy hands and forget to return them. There's complaining in the morning and Grandma tries to keep the kids occupied with chores around the house. On a trip into the town the kids meet up with Juuli and August, a couple of local kids. That's them in the picture, Juuli and August are in the identical stripped shirts.

Mia and Kevin learn about the Kratt, a local legend about a creature made from found objects that's animated by the devil. Grandmother finds the Kratt while the kids are calling the Devil to animate their creation. Grandmother tries to chainsaw the creature but winds up with a scythe through her head. She's turned into the Kratt and she wants some work. Kratt's like a bit of work, if you don't keep them working they'll strangle you. 

In another story thread the local lumberman wants to cut down a forest that's sacred to the town. The locals are protesting but the governor signs off on the permission form. Things aren't going well for the governor, other locals are using the sacred forest to turn the governor into a scapegoat for their ambitions. They've already got a guy in the wings to replace the governor. All their plans are disrupted by the arrival of the Kratt who's wanting to work.

It's a total delight in every way. There's plenty of gags and gore, social commentary on the state of social media and internet dependency, there's even a great fart gag. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and would want to see it again. You can see it on TubiTV or buy the Blu-ray. If you like movies like Rare Exports, you'd probably like this.

Mad God 2021 Written and directed by Phil Tippet. A stop motion animated film that Phil started working on 30 years ago, he worked on it for a while and quit for 20 years before returning to it. While mostly stop motion, there are scenes with actors and director Alex Cox has a part in the film, playing the Last Man.

There's no dialog and the story seems to have little connection to the reality we live in. A character called the Assassin is lowered to a place where creatures prey on each other. There's plenty of gore and torture. It's a dark unpleasant place.

It's ponderously slow, obtuse and deeply personal. That's a hattrick of film no-nos for me. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it or even understood it. It reminded me of the Quay Brothers work from the 1980s. I wouldn't pick up the film on Blu-ray or watch it again. It's on Shudder.

The Grand Tour Series 5 Eurocrash

The Grand Tour Series 5 Eurocrash Just aired on Amazon Prime.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond take a trip from Gdansk Poland through Slovakia and Hungary, and ends at Lake Bled in Slovenia. They picked that route because so many of the places they wanted to visit are filled with terrorists or they've been banned from them. There's plenty of scenery and antics. I smiled a lot and laughed out loud several time.

Das Geheimnis Der Drei Dschunken 1965

Das Geheimnis Der Drei Dschunken 1965 Based on the 1952 novel Les Gentlemen De Hong Kong by Georges Godefroy, screenplay by Hannes-Karl Kubiak, directed by Ernst Hofbauer. A German Italian production starring Stewart Granger. It was released in the US under the title Code Name Alpha. It's also been titled Red Dragon in the US.

Stewart is on the trail of some jewel smugglers. Rosanna Schiaffino is Stewart's co-worker and a romantic interest. Paul Klinger and Horst Frank play a couple of the baddies. Stewart and Rosanna poke into the baddies business and nearly get blown up. Eventually the case is solved and the baddies defeated.

It's more Italian spy film than German Krimi. It's kind of pokey and there's a not a lot of action until the last act. Plenty of walking and talking and driving around. I gave it a generous 5 and it's doubtful that I will bother with it again. I was still glad to see it. You can see it on YouTube.

5 Fingers 1952

5 Fingers 1952 Based on the 1949 novel Der Fall Cicero by Ludwig Carl Moyzish, screenplay by Michael Wilson and an uncredited Joseph L Mankiewicz, directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz. A British spy film set in 1944.

James Mason is a valet for a British Ambassador, he wants some cash and he approaches the Germans with some documents. They get real documents and they want more. Danielle Darrieux is a Countess who wanted to spy for the Germans but they didn't want her. She gets mixed up with James and his dreams of South America don't quite work out.

It's a bit slow in the pacing, there's a lot of talking. It was fairly entertaining despite not having anyone to root for, there's hardly anyone likeable. There are some good double crosses going on. I'd watch it again sometime. You can see a good copy of it on YouTube. Link in title.

3 Dev Adam 1973

3 Dev Adam 1973 Written by Doğan Tamer and directed by T. Fikret Uçak. A Turkish film also called Three Giant Men or Captain America and Santo Vs Spider-Man. None of the characters are used legally but Turkey doesn't care. They'd go onto steal more intellectual property to make their low budget crappy films.

Captain America and El Santo get called to Istanbul to put a stop to the evil Spider-Man. There's plenty of talking, some walking around, some fights, a car chase, a bit of near nudity and a few splashes of blood. There's a rudimentary story but it's not that good all around.

The copy on YouTube is poor but it goes along with the rest of the movie. I wouldn't recommend it but it's on YouTube for those that might want to give it a go.

Science Fiction Sunday 746

Doctor Who 2 Series 9 Episode 7 - 10

 

The Zygon Invasion October 31 2015 Written by Peter Harness, directed by Daniel Nettheim.

 

A splinter group of the hidden Zygons wants to take over the Earth. The Doctor joins up with UNIT to put a stop to that. Osgood returns.

 

The Zygon Inversion November 7 2015 Written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat, directed by Daniel Nettheim.

 

The Doctor deescalates the fight but not before many die.

 

Sleep No More November 14 2015 Written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Justin Molotnikov.

 

A scientist has invented a machine that replaces sleep. It doesn't so well for the Wide Awakes or the inventor. The episode is unusual as there is no opening credits.

 

Face The Raven November 21 2015 Written by Sarah Dollard, directed by Justin Molotnikov.

 

Clara and the Doctor try to help Rigsy stop his death sentence. We see the return of Ashildr, she's been maintaining a place for alien's to find refuge under the name ME. Clara thinks she's being clever but it's the death of her. ME has set the Doctor up and he's transported away.

There's a commentary with Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton for Sleep No More. It was OK. There were featurettes on the stories. About average.