Dark Star is absurd, surreal and very funny. John Carpenter once described it as "Waiting for Godot in space." (It's also, surely, one of the primary inspirations for Red Dwarf.) Made at a cost of practically nothing, the film's effects are nevertheless impressive and, along with the number of ideas crammed into its 83 minutes, ought to shame makers of science fiction films costing hundreds of times more. The story concerns the Dark Star's crew who are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets and make way for future colonisation. The smart bombs they use to effect this zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike Star Trek, in which order prevails, the nerves of this crew are becoming increasingly frayed to the point of psychosis. Their captain has been killed by a radiation leak that also destroyed their toilet paper. "Don't give me any of that 'Intelligent Life' stuff," says Commander Doolittle when presented with the possibility of alien life. "Find me something I can blow up." When an asteroid storm causes a malfunction, Bomb Number 20 (the most cheerful character in the film) has to be repeatedly talked out of exploding prematurely, each time becoming more and more peevish, until they have to teach him phenomenology to make him doubt his existence. And the film's apocalyptic ending, lifted almost wholly from Ray Bradbury's story "Kaleidoscope", has the remaining crew drifting away from each other in space, each to a suitably absurd end. --Jim Gay
Set ten years after the original movie, adventurer Rick O'Connell's son is kidnapped by the followers of his old nemesis The Mummy, in the belief that the boy can lead them to the tomb of the ancient and evil warrior The Scorpion King.
Edith and Phil are retired and in love. And when she finally agrees to marry him, they're all set to move to a place in the sun. But then Edith's son Roger crashes back into their lives. Fifty going on 12, Roger has had a mid-life breakdown and left his wife, children and job. As Roger and a host of other unwanted visitors cause havoc around their house, Edith and Phil's lives explode into farce. All they wanted was a quiet retirement filled with sea and sand. It's just a shame about the son.
The crew of the spaceship Dark Star are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets and make way for future colonisation by using smart bombs which zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike the orderly inhabitants of Star Trek's Enterprise, the nerves of this crew are becoming frayed to the point of psychosis. Their captain has been killed by a radiation leak that also destroyed their toilet paper. "Don't give me any of that 'Intelligent Life' stuff", says Commander Doolittle when presented with the possibility of alien life, "Find me something I can blow up". When an asteroid storm causes a malfunction, Bomb Number 20 (the most cheerful character in the film) has to be repeatedly talked out of exploding prematurely, each time becoming more and more peevish, until they have to teach him phenomenology to make him doubt his existence. And the film's apocalyptic ending, lifted almost wholly from Ray Bradbury's short story "Kaleidoscope" has the remaining crew drifting away from each other in space, each to a suitably absurd end. Absurd, surreal and very funny. John Carpenter once described Dark Star as "Waiting for Godot in space". Made at a cost of practically nothing, the film's effects are nevertheless impressive and, along with the number of ideas crammed into its 83 minutes, ought to shame makers of science fiction films costing hundreds of times more. --Jim Gay
Previously Banned!; ; In this former Video Nasty title, escaped mental patient George (Baird Stafford) repeatedly suffers a graphic nightmare that depicts the axe murders of a couple making love. In Florida, a prowler stalks a babysitter - when she is attacked the youngest child she is looking after just sits and laughs... George begins a journey of brutal murder, death and destruction until the final moment of truth when his nightmares come to frightening life!
Circus is a modern crime thriller of cross, double cross and triple cross.
Set ten years after the original movie, adventurer Rick O'Connell's son is kidnapped by the followers of his old nemesis The Mummy, in the belief that the boy can lead them to the tomb of the ancient and evil warrior The Scorpion King.
The modestly titled Ultimate Mummy Collection is an extravagant four-disc package that contains both The Mummy Ultimate Edition and The Mummy Returns Special Edition two-disc sets. For his breakthrough into the blockbuster big time, director Stephen Sommers was determined to avoid the hackneyed Hollywood Mummy clichés of flailing bandages, somnambulant zombies and wooden acting. If you're happy to settle for two out of three then the finished film could be your cup of Egyptian tea, fully delivering on its visual promise but occasionally mired in a quicksand of stilted dialogue and plot contrivance. Anrold Vosloo is disgraced high priest Imhotep, awoken from his ancient prison to unleash his vengeful wrath in a whirl of computer generated pestilence and plagues; Brendan Fraser brings an infectious boyish enthusiasm to his Indiana Jones-style adventurer, while supporting players Rachel Weisz and John Hannah are mostly eclipsed by the spectacle on offer. The lavish DVD extras include deleted scenes, a director's commentary and, most interestingly, veteran effects supervisor John Berton presenting a step-by-step guide to some of the film's most extraordinary computer generated shots. There's also the obligatory "making of" programme in which everyone insists their primary concern was to ensure the effects never superseded the story. Unfortunately, this only makes you more aware of the script's shortcomings. --Steve Napleton The Mummy Returns has an even more relentless pace and hammer headed tone than the first film--more explosions, more action and more mind-numbingly endless computer generated effects, set to a headache inducing surround soundtrack. The original cast are reunited and joined by WWF star The Rock (in a cameo role designed to plug his spin-off vehicle The Scorpion King) and young actor Freddie Boath who plays an English eight-year-old in the 1930s whose dialogue borrows from Bart Simpson. Still, despite the wearying relentlessness of its computer generated effects, endless chases and fights, this is undeniably fun popcorn fodder and provides some memorable scenes along the way, notably Rachel Weisz and Patricia Velasquez battling it out for the affections of nasty old Imhotep. Extras in this generous two-disc set include a decent commentary from the director and producer, DVD-ROM features, a 20-minute "making-of" documentary and a five-minute interview with the Rock. Best of all are the detailed special effects breakdowns of key sequences. --Mark Walker
Circus is a modern crime thriller of cross, double cross and triple cross.
Bumblef*ck, Iowa, USA, the present. The mysterious Alexa has arrived from Amsterdam with a backpack, her video camera and intentions to make a film about what it must be like to be gay in Small Town USA. On her first night in town, Alexa visits the gay club that her brother often frequented, and after partying all night, wakes up the next morning at Jennifer's place. A self-confident lesbian and artist, Jennifer and Alexa hit it off immediately, but while filming her documentary about homosexuality in small town America, Alexa experiences her own small town drama when she falls in love with Jennifer. Alexa has never felt this way about anyone, let alone another woman. Ultimately, Alexa discovers more about herself than she could ever have imagined.
A tragic death brings the old gang back to their hometown and they decide to spend the weekend at the vacation getaway from their childhood. What they don't know is that the home is host to a strain of mutant flies that feed on human flesh! One by one the flies claim their victims inhabiting their bodies and laying more of the deadly creature's eggs - and no one is getting out alive.
The Yards:'The Yards' is a tense thriller set in the vast New York City subway yards. After serving time in prison for taking the fall for a group of friends Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) just wants to get his life back on track. So he goes to the one place he thinks he'll be safe: home. There he takes a job with his highly connected and influential uncle Frank (James Caan) and is reunited with his long-time friend Willie Gutierez (Joaquin Phoenix) and Willie's girlfriend Erica (Charlize Theron). But in the yards where his uncle now pulls the strings safe is not how they do business. Unwittingly he's drawn into a world of sabotage high stakes payoffs and murder. And the secret he discovers will make him the target of the most ruthless family in the city: his own. Now in the name of justice he'll have to do everything in his power to bring them down. Brother:In Japan the sworn brotherhood of the Yakuza is described as being 'thicker than the blood of kindred brothers'. With his life under threat disgraced Yakuza hard man Yamamoto escapes to Los Angeles in search of his half-brother Ken a small-time drug dealer. Unable to speak the language and confused by his surrounding Yamamoto teams up with Ken and his friend and fellow gang-member Denny. Soon Yamamoto finds himself back in the old routine. His ruthless efficiency in terrorising and killing rival gang members shocks even the blood hardened Americans and before long Yamamoto's gang is strong enough to join forces with a rival Japanese crime lord called Shirase. Ghost Dog:Ghost Dog lives above the world alongside a flock of birds in a homemade shack on the roof of an abandoned building. Guided by the words of an ancient Samurai text Ghost Dog is a professional killer able to dissolve into the night and move throughout the city unnoticed. When Ghost Dog's code is dangerously betrayed by the dysfunctional mafia family that occasionally employs him he must find a way to defend himself without breaking the code of the samurai.
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