I've seen You Only Live Twice countless times now, but the same question always pops in my head. How does a pudding bowl wig and a shave turn a burly six-foot Scotsman into a Japanese? And how come the indigenous population of the island he sneaks onto don't stand and stare at him? He doesn't look the slightest bit Asian – he looks...

Read More...

Personally, I find the idea of climbing a mountain about as appealing as repeatedly watching The Sound of Music for seven days. Both would leave me cold, dizzy and rather nauseous. But although I'm a lazy city-dweller that hates heights and who is far from physically robust, I can understand the appeal. To be able to scale such heights must fill an individual...

Read More...

Duel in the Sun is David O.Selznick's attempt to top Gone With the Wind. Like that film it sticks to the formula of breathtaking visuals, lavish production values and bright, shining stars. But like Gone With the Wind it also contains a heroine so annoying, so exaggerated, so overwhelmingly vile and shallow that the film doesn't move the viewer one iota. In fact,...

Read More...

I have it on good authority that The Beastmaster is a cult film in America. Apparently it’s been shown about a million times on cable TV. But here in England, where in times past we were bombarded with Bond films, Carry On films and The Great Escape, it’s less well know. Hell, until it was mentioned to me, I’d never even heard of...

Read More...

One thing that amazes me about Young Guns is that it must be one of the few films where the bad guy is an Irishman and the good guy is English. Surely I thought all Limeys were dastardly rapscallions. Apparently not.But then again, read between the lines and John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) might not be all that he seems. Here’s a guy who’s...

Read More...

As a teenager I always thought it would be a great idea for the Aliens to wreak havoc on Earth. How cool would that be? But then I grew up and realised it was a stupid idea. Unfortunately, though, the creative geniuses at 20th Century Fox thought otherwise and greenlit this clagfest. I guess if I had to make a decision between the...

Read More...

There’s something grimly enjoyable about watching wretched people tear themselves to shreds. And I think a lot of people would agree with me. How else to account for the success of reality TV programmes such as Big Brother and Survivor? We all like to sit back and watch people stab one another in the back as we tut-tut from our sofas. If anything...

Read More...