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Thunderball, a review by Rich

Thunderball



The thrills never stop as Agent 007 (Sean Connery) goes above the call of duty - and to the bottom of the ocean - to track down a villainous criminal who's holding millions hostage and threatening to plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust!

Overboard on the gadgets with this outing, and the plot suffers accordingly, but this is still a fun movie which i enjoyed. It is not a personal Bond favourite for me, the villain was not as convincing, the bad girls not as bad, although Claudine Auger is eye candy of the highest order. Connery seemed to become a parody of the Bond character, the lines too predictable and delivered with an apparent monotone disinterest, and the underwater scenes never-ending.
However despite the cheesy one-liners, sexual innuendos, exotic backdrops etc, I find as with the other early 007 films more realism in the storyline and characterisation than in later attempts. The music as always is top notch, and although the action is somewhat dated, in context to production year it is easily appreciatable.
 

(From James Bond Marathon on February 17th, 2009)

Shadow of the Wraith, a review by Eric

Shadow of the Wraith


Overview:Two brothers are plunged into the realm of psychic horror, one tormented by a stalker, and the other involved with a girl whose home is the site of eerie occurances.

Asaji is in love with Ryoji. Ryoji senses his presence wherever he goes, but he figures it's just a crush and that it won't go much further, but he couldn't be more wrong as Asaji begins stalking Mariko, Ryoji's girlfriend. When a female friend of Ryoji is killed in an accident while talking with him on phone, her last word is, "Asaji ...". But, she couldn't be involved, she was with Ryoji at the moment of her death ...

As soon as Naoko moves into room 505 of her new appartement, she hears sories about strange accidents and eerie phenomena surrounding appartements with the number "5". She runs into Kazuhiko, Ryoji's brother, whom she saw taking photos of her condo. He won't say what he was doing, but he warns her to be careful.Accidents continue to happen in condos with the number "5" and something in Naoko's closet is taking a gruesome form.

My Thoughts: I guess Horror really isn't my cup of tea.  I actually dozed off a few times during that movie.  Actually it's not 1 movie.  It's split in two parts but except for a few characters that appear in both they not related whatsoever.

My Score:




(From Eric's 2009 "Best Effort" October Horror Marathon. on October 12th, 2009)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Big Deal - Series One

Episode 1 - Red Lady, Black Night

Complete first series of the 1980s BBC comedy. Robbie Box (Ray Brooks) is a family man and an all-round nice guy, apart from one little problem - his gambling habit. Addicted to the bookies and to gambling dens, Robbie starts to make a concerted effort to give up. Also starring Sharon Duce and Ray Brooks.



Excuse me whilst I get some nostalgic 80's Britishness out of my system.....Tartan bitter, pound notes, bottled milk on every doorstep, choppers, harrington jacket, individual high-streets, mullets, sideburns and pints of skol - good times.
Back to the days when a middle aged, non-working gambling addict could be a hero, this series was a must see and it was good to revisit this programme. Ray Brooks was perfect for the role as the means good but always missing the big one lead, and his gorgeous girlfriend (I used to love older women) Sharon Duce who puts up with his antics.
Totally incorrect politically and ethically in todays age (unfortunately) it is entertaining stuff for 80's Brits, but I doubt it would hold much interest beyond this.
 


(From My PILOT Marathon on September 2nd, 2009)