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Sweet Sixteen, a review by Rich

Sweet Sixteen



Using a cast of unknown actors and newcomers, Ken Loach fashions another gritty social drama in SWEET SIXTEEN. In his acting debut, Martin Crampston plays Liam, whose mother is about to be released from prison on his 16th birthday. Liam recognises that the only chance for the pair of them to escape the poverty of their surroundings is to move away from the Greenock council estate they live on. However, to realise this dream he will need to get hold of some money. Roping in his friends to help, he sets out on a series of increasingly dangerous schemes to raise cash and soon finds himself out of his depth.

Typical Loach, gritty, at times depressing, a severely harsh look at modern society and it's youth stuck at the bottom of the pile. Incredibly difficult to follow some of the strong Scottish accents, to consider these were unknown actors the Director used is amazing as generally they were superb, especially Martin Compston in the lead role.
Completely unforgiving film, where the message that hope is futile and a better life does not exist for some of our society, is incredibly powerful and thought provoking. Not for the easily offended due to the continual coarse language and graphic violence, it is perhaps a film that should be seen as it is so raw and real.
 
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on April 24th, 2009)

The Unliving, a review by GSyren

The Unliving (802993-217508)

United States 2004 | Released 2015-01-27 on DVD from Retromedia, Bayview Entertainment

96 minutes | Aspect ratio Anamorphic 1.66:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo

Directed by Fred Olen Ray and starring Paul Naschy, Jay Richardson, Michelle Bauer, Stephanie Bentley, Stephanie Bentley

The last of the great horror legends, PAUL NASCHY, revives his most famous monster creation, the doomed werewolf, Count Waldemar Daninsky, in this blood-soaked Gothic nightmare. For the first time ever, Naschy brings his classic werewolf character to life in America as he ioins Scream Queen, MICHELLE BAUER and Late Night Cinemax favorite, BEVERLY LYNNE in director Fred Olen Ray's tribute to the great Spanish horror films of the l970s. The story begins as a TV crew makes its way to Castle Daninsky in search of a story. The Castle is rumored to possess a secret treasure hidden within its walls, but ultimately death is all they find as the eternal Countess Elizabeth Bathory seeks to sacrifice them in order to please the Lord of Darkness, bathe in their blood and revive Daninsky from his tomb.

My thoughts about The Unliving:

This movie doesn't get a lot of love, and I think I know why. People are expecting a Paul Naschy movie, but they are getting a Fred Olen Ray movie. Fred's movie are, to a large extent, an acquired taste. And this isn't even a very good Fred Olen Ray movie. I don't know how this movie came about, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like this: - Hey, Paul Naschy is coming to L.A. Let's see if we can get him for a couple of days to do a werewolf movie! - We're not going to get enough scenes for a full movie in a couple of days. You're not Roger Corman, Fred! - I know, but we can pad it out with something. Tits and ass, and some soft-core sex always sells! This was originally released as Tomb of the Werewolf, but the DVD that I got is the uncensored, uncut version, known as The Unliving. I suspect that the bits that were previously cut were some sex scenes rather than some horror scenes, so if you've seen the old version and was hoping for more gore, you're probably going to be disappointed. If you're a fan of Paul Naschy it's fun to see his last attempt to play Waldemar Daninsky. If you like T&A, there are some nice looking women here, but you'll have to overlook the werewolf bits. If you're a fan of Fred Olen Ray, you might find the mix of the two genres amusing, but you would still realize that it doesn't really work. I fall into the latter category, so if you don't, you might want to take my 2 1/2 star rating with a grain of salt.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on June 19th, 2015)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Odyssey 5: The Complete Series (2002/Canada) IMDb | Wikipedia Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 935 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Japanese, Portuguese

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Plot:
The crew of the Odyssey, a space shuttle orbiting above the Earth's surface, looks on in horror as the Earth explodes before their eyes. Commander Chuck Taggart (Peter Weller), a geneticist (Sebastian Roche), Taggart's son (Christopher Gorham), a TV newswoman (Leslie Silva) and an astronaut (Tamara Craig Thomas) escape on a shuttle into space, where they're met by a mysterious being who offers to transport them back five years in time to try to save Earth. Armed only with a bit of computer code referring to "Leviathan," Taggart is determined to save the planet. But when the Odyssey crew discovers that even the smallest action on their part can quickly change the course of history in unexpected and potentially devastating ways, they must band together and proceed with caution for their rescue mission to succeed.


Odyssey 5
1.01 Pilot
Writer: Manny Coto (Writer)
Director: David Carson
Cast

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 15th, 2012)