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Tarantula!, a review by GSyren

Title	Tarantula! (5-050582-409741)
Director	Jack Arnold
Actors	John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott
Produced	1955 in United States
Runtime	77 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital Mono, German Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Overview	When a tarantula, which has been injected with a special nutrient formula, escapes from a scientist's laboratory, it grows into a 100-foot beast that menaces the Arizona countryside. Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) has been working on a special nutrient to help ease a predicted food shortage that is expected to come with the increase in human population. His experiments have been moderately successful but there have been some failures as a result. One day while he is gone, two of his colleagues inject themselves with the nutrient with disastrous results and die a few days later. One however goes mad and injects Deemer with the formula. During a struggle, a giant tarantula injected with the formula escapes its cage and grows even larger and starts to attack cattle as well as human beings.
My thoughts	Having recently watched Bert I. Gordons [Earth vs.] The Spider, I felt it was time to re-watch the other 50's spider movie, TarantulaTarantula is a better film than The Spider. In The Spider there is no explanation for the appearance of the big spider. In Tarantula it's a genetic experiment gone wrong. In both films the spider is very hard to kill, but in Tarantula the weapon that finally kills it  is at least believable. Tarantula has better actors than The SpiderTarantula is not really that scary. As a film monster, that is. If I had actually met it in real life I would certainly have felt differently. No chance of that, fortunately. How about the victims? How scary are they? Well, in Tarantula we don't see much of its victims. They are all just bones. Not that scary to see. The scares in Tarantula comes from the effect that the growth hormone has on people. Why it affects people so differently from how it affects animals is never really explained. What The Spider does to people looks scary, though: Tarantula has one of Clint Eastwood's first film appearances in a bit part as an air force pilot. Interesting, but certainly not memorable. John Agar is... well, he is John Agar. He had a few good roles under his belt, but he never became a star. Leo G. Carroll was always dependable is supporting roles, and this is no exception. Another fine character actor, Nestor Paiva, plays the sheriff. But a fine cast can't really save a somewhat lackluster script. Still, enjoyable if you like these old B-movie type films. I do. See this blog entry for more on The Spider vs. Tarantula.
My rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on March 13th, 2014)

Practical Magic, a review by Rich

Practical Magic



Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman sparkle in Practical Magic, adapted from Alice Hoffman's bestseller and directed by Griffin Dunne (Addicted to Love). They play Sally and Gillian Owens, sisters hexed by a centuries-old curse...and coping with a witches brew of events involving a possible love match (Aidan Quinn) for one, a zombie (Goran Visnjic) for the other and a need to resume the age-old witchcraft taught by two doting Owens aunts (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest). Sit for a spell and enjoy!

Cheery film, with a commendable cast, this is a good old fashioned feel good movie.
Average direction and oddly chosen music is rescued by an original storyline, which continually entertains, and the quirky Sandra Bullock delivering her typically top performance.
This is not a great film, and probably only reaches 'good', but I think it can be enjoyed by a broad audience on a rainy afternoon.
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on March 20th, 2009)

Doctor Who Marathon, a review by Tom

Doctor Who
Series 2.00 The Christmas Invasion
Writer: Russell T Davies (Writer)
Director: James Hawes
Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones), Daniel Evans (Danny Llewelyn), Adam Garcia (Alex), Sean Gilder (Sycorax Leader), Chu Omambala (Major Blake), Anita Briem (Sally), Sian McDowall (Sandra), Paul W. S. Anderson (Jason), Cathy Murphy (Mum), Sean Carlsen (Policeman), Jason Mohammed (Newsreader 1), Sagar Arya (Newsreader 2), Lachele Carl (Newsreader 3)

The tenth doctor makes a very good first impression, even though he is asleep throughout most of the episode. But when he wakes up, he steals the scene. And I like his interactions with Rose, Jackie and Mickey.




(From Doctor Who Marathon on February 15th, 2014)