Movie-a-Day: Month One Review
I figure on pausing at the end of every month's worth of reviews during this little project of mine, in order to take stock of the best and worst of what I've seen so far. So without further ado, and little ceremony, here we go.
At the start of the project, I'd decided that part of my goal was to finally watch the small pile of un-watched films which I own on DVD (some of them for several years now.) This also includes the remainders of several box sets, mostly purchased for the sake of one or two movies, the inclusion of several other films being viewed by myself as "special features." For example, January contained four out of five films on "The Boris Karloff Collection," which I had purchased primarily for a copy of Tower of London, a terrific de-Shakespeared rendition of the story of Richard III, played up for all its Grand Guignol and costume adventure potential. Boris plays the king's cruel executioner, King Richard is played by the great Basil Rathbone, and Vincent Price is one of his noble murder victims. Knowing it was a good film by reputation, I watched it shortly after purchasing it last year. The other four... not so much. A result of this is that the first month or three of the project will be weighed down a bit by "obligation films," movies viewed not so much because I want to, but because I feel, for some reason, that I should. By current count, I still have 14 un-viewed movies on my shelf, and I haven't purchased a DVD since last November.
Now for a quick list of the 5 best films of January, in order of viewing, not necessarily in quality:
6: Think Fast Mr. Moto
9: From Russia With Love
11: Executive Koala
17: Island of Lost Souls
25: In Bruges
A better month might have squeezed Executive Koala and Think Fast, Mr. Moto off that list.
As for the bad end of things, I'd peg Raffles as the film out of these 31 with the least to offer. Other stinkers like Terror of Tiny Town and Ruby in the Smoke have at least a minor element to recommend them to those with nothing whatsoever to do with their time. I can't imagine what enjoyment anyone would get from Raffles, which is both dull and dissatisfying.
And on the weird end of things, the standout is probably War of the Robots, which is chock-full of hilariously insane dialogue, ineptly executed action and FX work, and a spot-on sense of pulp action entertainment despite all this. It edges out Sh! The Octopus and Executive Koala (the latter of which will have to be consoled by its placement on the "best" list.)
A final mention for Twitch of the Death Nerve, which still defies my attempts to categorize it as "good" or "bad," but I am in no doubt that it is "interesting" and "memorable," and skillfully made.
Tomorrow, back to reviews hopefully. Got to pull out of this death-spiral my blogging is being sucked into!
At the start of the project, I'd decided that part of my goal was to finally watch the small pile of un-watched films which I own on DVD (some of them for several years now.) This also includes the remainders of several box sets, mostly purchased for the sake of one or two movies, the inclusion of several other films being viewed by myself as "special features." For example, January contained four out of five films on "The Boris Karloff Collection," which I had purchased primarily for a copy of Tower of London, a terrific de-Shakespeared rendition of the story of Richard III, played up for all its Grand Guignol and costume adventure potential. Boris plays the king's cruel executioner, King Richard is played by the great Basil Rathbone, and Vincent Price is one of his noble murder victims. Knowing it was a good film by reputation, I watched it shortly after purchasing it last year. The other four... not so much. A result of this is that the first month or three of the project will be weighed down a bit by "obligation films," movies viewed not so much because I want to, but because I feel, for some reason, that I should. By current count, I still have 14 un-viewed movies on my shelf, and I haven't purchased a DVD since last November.
Now for a quick list of the 5 best films of January, in order of viewing, not necessarily in quality:
6: Think Fast Mr. Moto
9: From Russia With Love
11: Executive Koala
17: Island of Lost Souls
25: In Bruges
A better month might have squeezed Executive Koala and Think Fast, Mr. Moto off that list.
As for the bad end of things, I'd peg Raffles as the film out of these 31 with the least to offer. Other stinkers like Terror of Tiny Town and Ruby in the Smoke have at least a minor element to recommend them to those with nothing whatsoever to do with their time. I can't imagine what enjoyment anyone would get from Raffles, which is both dull and dissatisfying.
And on the weird end of things, the standout is probably War of the Robots, which is chock-full of hilariously insane dialogue, ineptly executed action and FX work, and a spot-on sense of pulp action entertainment despite all this. It edges out Sh! The Octopus and Executive Koala (the latter of which will have to be consoled by its placement on the "best" list.)
A final mention for Twitch of the Death Nerve, which still defies my attempts to categorize it as "good" or "bad," but I am in no doubt that it is "interesting" and "memorable," and skillfully made.
Tomorrow, back to reviews hopefully. Got to pull out of this death-spiral my blogging is being sucked into!