Bulldog Drummond’s Secret Police (1939)
Article 5483 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-26-2017
Directed by James P. Hogan
Featuring John Howard, Heather Angel, H.B. Warner
Country: USA
What it is: Bulldog Drummond thriller

Drummond’s impending marriage to Phyllis Clavering is interrupted when it is discovered that a hidden fortune can be found in the house… and that a desperate man is willing to kill anyone in his way to get his hands on it.

I’ve covered most of the other Bulldog Drummond movies from the thirties because one of my sources listed them, though they’re all pretty light in terms of fantastic content. Actually, I’m surprised this one was omitted; given that the climax of the movie takes place in spooky underground passages in an old mansion with skeletons and torture chambers, this one seems to have a greater degree of horror content than any of the others. At any rate, I’ve always been fond of the series, and it’s fun to encounter the various characters from the series again, even if they do have to fill in the edges of the running time with clips from the previous entries of the series. It was also fun to encounter the always welcome Leo G. Carroll as the main villain here; I was almost tempted to describe him as a “young” Leo G. Carroll when I checked his birth date and realized he was into his fifties when he made this one. This one is one of the most exciting entries in the series, so I’m glad I’ve finally gotten around to covering it.

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016)
Article 5473 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-22-2017
Directed by Rick Morales
Featuring the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar
Country: USA
What it is: Animated retro Batman

Batman and Robin must contend with the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Catwoman, who have joined forces in a plot involving a duplicating gun.

Since I’m no longer restricted to a given hunt list, I’ve opened up my series to anything I see that qualifies as genre, so I’m covering this animated Batman movie that revives the campy style of the mid-sixties TV series, and even nets three of its original actors to do the voices. Those who never liked that TV series will find little of appeal here; me, I always prefer my superheroes with a humorous approach, and I quite liked this one. It does manage to capture the feel of the original series, and it even takes a couple of good-natured stabs at the “Dark Knight” portrayal of the character. The original actors featured are all in their seventies or eighties, but only Adam West sounded old; fortunately, his sense of humor was still intact, and he delivers his character’s “goody two-shoes” dialogue with the proper aplomb. No, it’s not a modern classic, but it’s not trying to be; it’s more of a laid-back nostalgia piece, and it hits the target close enough that it works on that level. At least one sequel is planned, though the recent death of Adam West may end the series after that one.

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Article 5468 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-3-2017
Directed by Peter Hewitt
Featuring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler
Country: USA
What it is: Multi-genre comedy

A would-be dictator of the future sends a pair of robots into the past to kill off Bill and Ted and take their places at the Battle of the Bands. Can Bill and Ted return from the afterlife and set the path to the future on its correct course?

I never saw the first movie of the series until after I saw this one; there was something about the vibe of this one that drew me into the movie theater several times. They had a bigger budget this time out, and they upped the ante considerably by concocting a dizzy and bizarre plot that spans all three fantastic genres – science fiction (a future society, several robots, time travel, and an alien that can split into two beings), fantasy (the character of Death, a visit to heaven, and the Easter Bunny) and horror (part of the story takes place in hell, and there’s a seance as well). The supporting characters are a lot of fun this time as well; William Sadler is wonderful as Death, who desperately tries to hold on to his dignity while dealing with Bill and Ted but is eventually won over by them. Joss Ackland is also memorable as the villain of the piece, a gym teacher turned revolutionary named De Nomolos (spell each name backwards and compare to the list of writers). My favorite scene has Bill and Ted challenging Death to a game to win their right to return to the land of the living. This one is a personal favorite.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Article 5467 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-1-2017
Directed by Stephen Herek
Featuring Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, George Carlin
Country: USA
What it is: Science fiction comedy

Bill and Ted want to form a rock group, but if they fail history, the group will be split up when one of them is sent to military school. However, an envoy from the future gives them the use of a time-traveling phone booth that will allow them to go back in history and bring back historical figures for a final project.

I have a soft spot in my heart for movies about dimwitted innocents; though I’ve heard Bill and Ted described as stoners, there is no evidence in the movies they take drugs – they’re just naturally the way they are. I also have a soft spot for movies with comically absurd premises; the reason the envoy from the future is seeking to help them is that the entire future society of the world is built on the popularity and the message of Bill and Ted’s rock group. The movie sat on the shelf for a couple of years when the original backers went bankrupt, and it was almost dumped into cable TV, but fortunately, it got a theatrical release and became a cult classic. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves have a great rapport, and much of their interaction is inexplicably hilarious. Overall, the movie is inconsistent, but for every moment that falls flat there are a couple that work, and the colorful array of historical characters chosen (Billy the Kid, Napoleon, Socrates, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, etc.) adds to the fun.

Big Fish (2003)
Article 5466 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-31-2017
Directed by Tim Burton
Featuring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup
Country: USA
What it is: Drama…sort of

The son of a man dying from cancer tries to rebuild his relationship with him. He wishes to know the true story of his father’s life, but his father had a penchant for exaggeration and wild story-telling.

In some ways, this movie was a bit of a departure for Tim Burton, but in other ways, it is not. It is primarily a drama about a father/son relationship (though there is plenty of humor in the story as well), which is a novelty coming from Burton. However, since the story is laced with the father’s elaborate exaggerations, it gives Burton a chance to incorporate many fantastic elements; before it’s all over, you’ll encounter witches, giants, mermaids, Siamese twins and werewolves. The best performances come from Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney (both in the same role as the father, younger and older versions). The movie is packed with other familiar faces and names; I especially like Steve Buscemi as a poet turned bankrobber turned tycoon and Matthew McGrory as the giant. It’s an engaging and unusual film in which the central question becomes just how extensive the father’s exaggerations are; there’s a great scene near the end of the movie where we find that perhaps there was more truth in the father’s stories than you might have expected. I’ve not seen all of Burton’s oeuvre yet, but this ranks near the top of the ones I’ve seen.

Britannia Hospital (1982)
Article 5458 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-21-2017
Directed by Lindsay Anderson
Featuring Leonard Rossiter, Malcolm McDowell, Brian Pettifer
Country: UK
What it is: Satire

A British hospital is the site of an underground documentary, a union strike, violent protests due to the the presence of an African dictator, mad experiments, and an impending visit from the queen.

This movie is the third of an informal trilogy that includes IF…. and O LUCKY MAN; all three share certain thematic elements and the presence of Malcolm McDowell, who plays a character named Mick Travis in all three (though they may not be the same character). I’ve already seen the other two in the trilogy (both of which are marginally genre), so I had an idea of what to expect stylistically; Anderson’s movies can be fragmentary, episodic, politically themed and often include a bewilderingly large cast. This third movie is generally considered the weakest of the three, but it is the one that is perhaps the easiest to follow, as the impending queen’s visit provides a thread from which one can follow the story. It’s also the one with the greatest amount of fantastic content; one of the doctors at the hospital is engaged in Frankenstein-style experiments, and the movie in goes into full horror mode during one sequence. The movie feels like a bizarre cross between Monty Python (though less overtly humorous) and a Robert Altman film, and I must admit that it doesn’t quite have the impact of the previous two films. Still, it does make for an interesting watch.

Brazil (1985)
Article 5455 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-18-2017
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Featuring Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro
Country: UK
What it is: Dystopian satire

In a Dystopia overrun with bureaucracy, a clerical error causes the death of an innocent man, and a day-dreaming clerk gets caught up in the fallout from the event, and an encounter with the girl of his dreams only makes things worse.

If I would pick the one film in my life that I had the greatest eagerness and anticipation to see, it would be this, Terry Gilliam’s follow-up to TIME BANDITS. It ended up being a long wait; Universal loathed the film and refused to release it for the longest time, and this simply whetted my appetite. I once read that Gilliam considered this movie the middle section of an informal trilogy along with the earlier TIME BANDITS and the later THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN; the former was about childhood, the latter about old age, and this one was about adulthood. In it, Gilliam envisions two bizarre worlds – the quirky and ominous real world of the movie, and the protagonist’s fantasy world where he plays a flying hero doing battle with a giant samurai. It’s Gilliam’s version of 1984, and quite frankly, I’d rather watch it than any version of that movie, if for no other reason that it is infused with the Pythonesque humor I love so much and an eye-catching visual splendor. Still, I must admit that I never watched it as frequently as I do TIME BANDITS or his work with Monty Python; in fact, this is only the third time I’ve seen it. However, for first time viewers, I urge them to avoid like the plague the bowdlerized commercial TV version that I caught, in which Universal tried to leave the viewer with the impression that the movie had a “happy” ending. Personally, I think the original ending could be considered the only honest happy ending that, given the circumstances, the movie could have had.

Born of Fire (1987)
Article 5454 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-17-2017
Directed by Jamil Dehlavi
Featuring Peter Firth, Suzan Crowley, Stefan Kalipha
Country: UK
What it is: Islamic horror

A visit by a woman astronomer, aural hallucinations of strange music, the eruption of a volcano in Turkey, and the death of his mother send a flutist on a quest to find a Master Musician who is seeking to inundate the world in fire.

This horror/fantasy is steeped in Arabic mysticism, and it involves Arabic creatures such as Djinns and Shaytans. There is a story of sorts, but I suspect that’s not the primary focus of the movie. It’s beautifully photographed, and it’s full of surreal and grotesque images; my favorite is of the sun being eclipsed by a skull. What does it all mean? Perhaps someone familiar with Arabic mysticism would be able to answer that; I’m not. Curiosity is the main thing that kept me watching, and it does have one jump moment till the end. However, I can’t exactly say I found this one quite satisfying. It might be worth revisiting should I ever become more familiar with the mystical elements; for now, I’d say it’s mostly a curiosity piece.

Blade Runner (1982)
Article 5453 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-16-2017
Directed by Ridley Scott
Featuring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
Country: USA / Hong Kong / UK
What it is: Noirish science fiction

In the future, four illegal androids (called replicants) have come to Earth. A former blade runner (replicant destroyer) is blackmailed by the police to “retire” the replicants.

I’d seen this movie years ago, and was, quite frankly, deeply underwhelmed by it, and for many years I was quick to consign this one to the ranks of the overrated. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this project over the years, it’s that the passage of time can modify how you see things, and that it can often be worthwhile to give things you didn’t appreciate a second chance. So, as I watched the movie this second time, I found myself responding positively to many of the things I didn’t appreciate in my first viewing. For one thing, the world of the future as envisioned in this movie is truly stunning; I love the textures, the complexities, and the sense that this is a real place. I also like that the movie doesn’t spell things out for you and allows the plot elements to be subtle; I didn’t have the patience for that sort of thing back then. The themes certainly seem a lot deeper to me nowadays as well, though I should point out that one thing that happened in the interim between the two viewings is that I read the original Philip K. Dick novel as well. I also really like the performances of Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer; the latter’s final speech may be my favorite moment in the movie. The only thing I really didn’t like was Ford’s narration; it seems poorly integrated into the action, and very rarely did it tell me anything that I wouldn’t have more enjoyed to have figured out on my own. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure I saw the original theatrical cut; I know there seem to be umpteen different cuts of the movie anymore. I was really glad to see this one with fresh eyes.

Black Cat (1981)
aka Gatto nero
Article 5452 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-14-2017
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Featuring Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck
Country: Italy

What it is: If it were from Japan, the first word in the title would be “kaibyo”

A psychic is trying to record the voices of the dead. Meanwhile, his cat is running around killing people. What’s up?

Anyone who has read the original Poe tale from which this movie was adapted should know that the original is fairly bloody itself, so I could see why Fulci might be interested. However, it’s unlikely Fulci would settle for a straightforward version of a story that has one murder, so here we get a plot involving psychic control, communication with the dead, and a cat who dies and returns as a mysterious supernatural ghost-cat who can teleport at will. There’s also a scene where the heroine is terrorized by a floating bed that seems like something out of THE EXORCIST; those waiting for an explanation will be disappointed. That being said, this is actually one of Fulci’s more restrained outings; most of the gore involves cat scratches. He also does eventually get around to including the events in the original story when the movie is nearing its end, so you can’t really say it isn’t an adaptation. However, I can’t really say that the movie as a whole makes much sense, and once it gets around to the original story, it seems to lose interest in much of the extra stuff added to the story. Still, the cinematography is excellent, and that generally counts for a lot more than plot among Fulci fans and Italian horror enthusiasts. Fulci claimed that this movie was made as a favor to the producer.