7th Voyage of Sinbad. (1958) Directed by Nathan H. Juran

 Ray Harryhaussen and Charles Schneer were had made several films together before making this fantasy/adventure but this film was in colour and had a higher budget. The studio seemed to think "period films" were a risk at the time and didn’t notice the fantasy elements for some reason. Their fears were unfounded, the 650 000$ budget made them 8 million dollars on release worldwide. 

This is, in my opinion of course, the best of the 3 Sinbad films they made together and one of the best they made throughout their careers. The story isn’t complicated or particularly consistent but it is tons of fun and made to show off Harryhaussen’s stop motion monsters in a way that still looks amazing. It took him 11 months to do the animations by himself and showed the world that fantasy films were bankable and could be done in a way that drew you in and didn’t look cheap or unintentionally funny. The creatures in this movie are cool they still are decades and new special effects techniques later. 

There are some clunky bits. The villain is so obviously the bad guy but no one notices for a good part of the film. The heroes also have use of a Genie that could have cut this film in ½ if they just asked him to help a little more. None of this really matters because these plot holes lead to Sinbad fighting a skeleton! A fight between a cyclops and one of the best dragons on film! The plot is just a medium to show off the monsters and that is more than fine. The Bernard Herman score helped bring the action to life and will stick in your head.

This film is rightly credited for inspiring a whole film genre that was done well almost exclusively by Harryhausen and Schneer for the next few decades.  Kerwin Mathews worked with again, but not on the following Sinbad films, he might have been considered too old as they were made over a decade later but he is a treat to watch and sells the effects scenes like no one who followed him. 

Note: The Sinbad movies were without a doubt a product of their time and I am well aware of that. Women’s roles weren’t very much more than damsels in distress, though all of the main women showed streaks of independence and were crucial to the story. The cast in all the films is almost completely white with rare exception despite being set, in effect, in the Middle East and no one looks like they are Middle Eastern in any way. It’s pretty obvious none of these problems are malicious in any way, just things not thought about in movie making of the time and I could see this trilogy being remade as a streaming series with better plotting in the same storylines with actors that match the locals better and maybe all three strung into one three season storyline with the same Sinbad and  and princess/love interest having more equal roles with modern effects that pay homage to Harryhaussen’s aesthetics. Netflix, Apple TV, whatever I am waiting for your call to develop this idea and bring this character back to modern day thrill seekers! 

Dune 2 (2024) directed by Denis Villeneuve

 

There will be some spoilers in this one. 

Starting immediately where the first film left off, Denis Villeneuve hits the ground running with no recap of the previous film and manages to make a film that looks like it filmed at the same time as the first part. All of that is to the credit of this sequel which had a lot to live up to after the huge critical and financial success of its predecessor. 

I am a long time Dune fan I could say, I reread all three of the books in the original trilogy before part one came out and that was maybe the fourth time for all three. I was not a huge fan of the Lynch film in the 80s while liking some things in and thought the SciFi channel miniseries was OK. Neither really captured the story but that is a tall, if not impossible order for such a complicated and galaxy sprawling story of political intrigue and complex cultures. I am a Montrealer and have been admiring Villeneuve’s films for a long time and was excited to see how he would handle Dune and was not disappointed. I would not expect a word for word recreation of the book and didn’t get that. As a filmmaker myself I know that sort of thing isn’t possible or even a good idea. That said this second film strays pretty far from the text in ways I would not have expected. sometimes this worked for me, Lady Jessica switches from concerned mom to villain which takes three books to happen and I can see the reasoning for that. The story is compressed into month when it should have taken place over years and this is a detriment to the story telling. Jessica is pregnant at the end of the first film and still is at the end of the second meaning one of the book’s best moments and most intriguing character, her daughter born with generations of past knowledge, doesn’t really appear and worse, (spoiler warning again) doesn’t kill the Baron and that crucial scene is given to another character leaving her role in future films nebulous. 

This is not the say the film doesn’t work, while losing my favourite part of the book is annoying it didn’t kill the movie for me. Its a HUGE beautiful film and the almost three hours past before I knew it. I think Timothy Chalamet looks the part but lacks the charisma Paul Atreides should have. The rest of the cast is fine to great and the film does a lot of interesting cinematography that might have failed in a lesser production. 

Babylon 5: The Road Home (2023) Directed by Matt Peters

 While waiting for a rumoured reboot of Babylon 5 the groundbreaking TV show from the 90s we were treated to a surprise animated movie with the original characters and starring the voices of the surviving cast. 

The story revolves around a time travel/ alternate universe concept that has new Interstellar Alliance president John Sheridan leaping around reality because of an accident involving a new power source starting up. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski who created the original show and all it's various spinoffs. The animation is pretty good and some of the shots are beautifully done and while it might be heavy on fan service, seeing these characters in a new adventure that takes place before the end of the series was nothing short of wonderful. This will limit it's appeal to newcomers but it obviously wan't made for anyone not familiar with the original but it also likely added new enthusiasm that the reboot, long spoken about but never materializing might actually be coming. 

I admit I am a fan of the show and this was at treat for me even though multiverse/time travel plots are not my favourite thing in the world. The proposed new show will not be a continuation so this was a last chance to see it in it's old form with the characters and actors fans like me love so much. 

TV series: Monarch - legacy of Monsters

 

Evidently I have been n a Japanese monster kick lately. We had a chance to watch the Legendary TV series Monarch - Legacy of monsters recently. Legendary is the studio making the new American Godzilla and King Kong movies which have been getting worse with each one. I have to say the Series was much more interesting and better put together. There are damn few monsters but much more interesting characters and situations and mysteries to get you involved. 

A young  San Franciscan woman goes to her father's in Tokyo and discovers he  has another family there. She meets her new brother and the two go on hunt to find their father with the brother's ex girlfriend and get caught up in the history and intrigue of Monarch, the organization that is trying to control the giant monsters appearing over the earth since Godzilla attacked in 2014. The series at the same time follows the beginning of the organization by following the scientists and military man who founded it. 

I won't spoil much but everyone seems to be related and no one is to be trusted. It moves along and throws in enough monsters to remind you they are still there and it has Kurt Russel and his son playing the same character in different time periods. Like most of these mystery mongering plots, it takes awhile to find anything out but it's not boring. I will say the last 2 episodes basically cover everything in the first 8 and you could watch those two and be pretty much up to date and not have missed too much. It, of course ends on cliffhanger and I will watch if a second series comes around. I liked everyone in it more than anyone is any of the films and while not earth shattering, it did leave me curious for what happens next. 

3000 years of Longing (2022) directed by George Miller

 

This fantasy film starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba took me by surprise. Not because of the actors, having them both in a film was enough for me to want to see it, but more because of my idea that it would be a simple, low budget film more psychologic in nature when it was an extravagant looking, beautifully filmed piece that definitely landed more on art film than blockbuster but nevertheless managed to include some amazing effects. 

Swinton is a narratology expert and begins to see disturbing visions while talking at a conference in Istanbul. She finds an antique bottle and while cleaning it find a Djinn has been trapped inside. 

I don't want to spoil the film too much but I will say the interaction between the two main characters as the Djinn tells his life story to convince Swinton to ask for 3 wishes, the first being "her heart's content" really pulls you in. All the performances are great and the film doesn't drag during it's 106 minutes. 

I will say there are some elements that bugged me. The Djinn is described as being electromagnetic in nature. Fine. But when he begins to suffer from information overload in London because of all the cell phones etc etc it was confusing. Istanbul is at least as full of tech as London and we see that clearing at the start of the film. It's that old only European and the USA are first world nations prejudice rearing its ugly head. I also found the leads character's sudden need to be loved and less lonely made me angry. She was self sufficient and not lonely at all until suddenly she was.. another trope. All women are supposed need a family and man to be happy and if they say they don't they are fooling themselves. There is a potential issue of what is real and what isn't for some viewers. In some instances the Djin is clearly real and in the world while others, including the end, he might be all in her head. This bothers me less since I like that sort of discussion it brings but it did seem the film wasn't sure what to do with the magical elements. 

Well worth seeing despite the plot holes and missteps. I have not read the story it was based on and that might clear up some of the problems but films should stand on their own, even if based on outside material. 

Poster: The Man Who laughs (1928)

 

Drawn with Krita, part of my movie monster poster series. 

Shin Ultraman (2022) directed by Shinji Higuchi

 While not as familiar as Godzilla, Ultraman was a huge hit in Japan in the 60s and has a continuing fandom to this day. When I was very young in the 60s my dad and I would go to church and then to my grandparents house. They had a TV, probably the first I ever saw, as we would watch Ultraman before my mom came by later for the Sunday family lunch. So I do have some nostalgia for this character and was happy to see some of the references that are al over this new reboot. 

Unlike Shin Godzilla, this was not a hardcore, serious reimagining of the franchise but more light-hearted. Also unlike Shin Godzilla it doesn't really work. The story follows the TV show lore with some nicely updated elements but it really goes all over the place. It starts with monsters attacking then moves into some sort of alien taking over the world by discrediting Ultraman, to another alien going to take over the work in another way to a giant robot spaceship showing up and about to destroy the planet. It's really a mess and too long. 

The cinematography has been given high marks and I honestly don't know why. 40% of the film takes place in a board room where people talk constantly and don't do anything while camera angle wildly change and they seem to be using webcams and surveillance cameras to do it. So much is shot through legs, chairs on the floor, at woman's feet... it is really hard to figure out what is happening. The characters have no real connection to each other and Ultraman love of humanity seems to have no basis. 

I HAVE to talk about to 2 super weird things you can't miss if you watch the film. The lead woman out of nowhere slaps her own butt hard enough to break a hip throughout the movies... for.. motivation? And the human form of Ultraman smells her for some reason, she look uncomfortable and she should he even smalls between her legs! WTF?

The fight scenes, monsters (who disappear after the aliens arrive) and other effects shots are well filmed. The look of the hero is a nice update but the movie itself is too rambling to hold your attention fr the over 2 hour runtime. 

Super fans of the TV show and other versions of Ultraman will surely get a lot to chew on some scenes are shot by shot from the TV show, there are graphic, sound and musical elements taken directly from the 60s as well and they might be fun to spot. 

Godzilla Minus 1 (2023) directed by Takashi Yamazaki

 

I will admit that after seeing trailers for this film, I was excited. It looked AMAZING and the setting, post WWII Japan was intriguing since Godzilla was not supposed to appear until the 50s when the first film was released. 

This is, in many ways, a return to the tone of the original Japanese film although I was glad to see it was not as big a downer as I anticipated. It's no laugh riot, but in a film about lost hope, lost honour and loss of everything, it had its uplifting moments. I was not sure what the title meant but (thanks to my friend George) it was cleared up for me. Japan is literally starting at the lowest point in its history... zero at the film begins and then it manages to drop even lower, to minus 1 when Godzilla arrives and makes things even worse. 

The leads are a Kamikaze pilot who is dishonoured by living through the war, a homeless woman who has found and decided to take care of a baby which makes her also dishonourable in may people's eyes who assume she is a prostitute and how they eventually come together as a family of misfits trying to figure who they are after the devastating war. In my assessment, Godzilla is the representation of that devastation and loss after the war as he comes in keeping anything from being rebuilt and no one can move on while he is proving how small and weak humanity is compared the the terrors the have released on themselves like the bomb, the war and of course Godzilla itself. 

Despite the heavy subject matter, this movie is still, at is roots, a giant monster movie. The integrate the original Godzilla theme music, come up with ridiculous ways to destroy the menace, destruction is everywhere and it even manages to reference previous films without being too "canon driven". There are extremely sad parts and the willingness to talk about the how the Japanese government put very little value on human life while fighting the war was refreshing. The Americans are not shown as being all that much better in the end. It's a rare kaju film where the human characters are not just front and centre but the  driving force of the plot. It really works. There is real drama in here without Godzilla having to show up at all, but boy does he ever show up. Massive and looking better than I have ever seen despite a low 15 million budget as opposed to the American Godzilla films which I believe average 200-300 million each and are not nearly as interesting to watch. He is massive, scary and his look references not just past versions but mythological dragons. It is an unstoppable force of nature brought to life by atomic bomb tests and is now asserting its dominance over us. It is treated as a real living creature and as our punishment for being into being in the first place. 

Of course no movie is perfect. I would say 20 minutes could be cut not because it drags but because I think a quicker pace would make it even more exciting to watch. I also found the end a little too Hollywood for me which robbed it of some of it's most powerful scenes of loss. There is also a very clear leading into a next film, which I will see 100% but I don't think we needed it. 

Polish posters: Barbarella

 

Jane Fonda gets top billing even over the title which makes me thing this was made long after the film was. Not sure where she is or why she is pressing that button, or why she has starfish on her nipples. These are questions that might never be answered. 

Walked with a Zombie (1943) directed by Jacques Tourneur

 

Started October Horrors with an early Zombie flick and so ending with another seemed appropriate. I am not a Zombie fan to be honest, but this and "White Zombie" do tick some boxes for me. 

While this film about a nurse sent to take care of a woman with zombie like symptoms after a fever damaged her spinal cord does not have Bels Lugosi to give a fantastic performance, it does have Frances Lee as the nurse and was produced by "Cat people" Val Newton. Somehow, Lee doesn't get top billing despite being the lead and the strongest performer. I had forgotten how fearless her character is on trying to help the mysterious woman in her charge. She doesn't flinch in situations I think all of the male characters would have run screaming from. 

The lower budget in this is made moot by a really interesting story that never really says if the voodoo depicted is real magic or not, even though it is strongly hinted there is something supernatural going. There is a scene where a practitioner is pulling a doll made to look like the stricken woman on a string while almost preforming a sort of dance. It's hard to describe but i have seen similar in real ceremonies. It is a very effective scene. 

I won't go too much into the plot as it's fair to say it's better to watch this unspoiled. I will warn the ending isn't exactly a happy one and a little shocking they went there.