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Road Games, a review by Jon

Road Games
3 out of 5



Stacy Keach is Pat Quid, driving a truck (but not a "truck driver"!) across the Outback. Prone to making up stories about his fellow road users, he begins to suspect one could be the serial killer he hears about on the radio. He picks up a hitchhiker, Jamie Lee Curtis, who feeds into his theory and tries to help. But then she disappears and the police think he may be the killer...

Another serial killer film that I took a chance on fitting in the "horror" genre and there's a couple of shocks and dark humour enough to count. I think.

This film is great fun, but caught me out somewhat. The first half is almost a comedy! Keach is brilliant as Quid, riding along making up stories about the other cars, chatting to his pet Dingo and quoting poetry. Does that sound weird? Well it does I suppose, but actually the mood is like a laid-back western and very enjoyable (If you're familiar with Aussie films beyond Mad Max, this balance between styles isn't unusual). Quid is just a well-read, friendly loner. And some genuine shocks and inventive camera work lift it well away from the mundane. I particularly liked the way the first victim is plucking at a guitar, which forms her own tension building theme.

Along the way he meets a variety of funny characters with their own oddities. Eventually he picks up a seriously under-used Curtis, although a running gag means we'd seen her twice already from behind, if you pardon the expression. Although while I'm bringing filthy innuendo into this, there is none at all in the film. Odd, for an early Curtis role. If you're not going to use the Scream Queen to scream, at least get her top off! I mean, it's almost slasher movie law!

After a roadside altercation with the two worst cops in film (just awful) and a campfire scene with a genuine spine-tingling shock worthy of any ghost story, she manages to get herself kidnapped by the suspected killer and Quid goes off in pursuit. Here, it all goes a bit wrong. It's like they were trying to reverse the vibe of Duel and that's just too high a target. Other variously good ideas will be bettered later by the marvellous The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer.

After a seriously daft chase the finale manages to involve all the same characters he met on the road in a sort of Cannonball Run cameo reunion. I really felt let down by that. Why would all these people be going to the same location? He's covered the distance between Melbourne and Perth. And so did everyone else?

It all finishes up in typical TV drama style and annoyingly never gives any kind of reason for what the villain is up to. Worse, the girl with the guitar is the only one killed on screen. So as a pure serial killer film, it's lacking. While it's certainly a film of two halves, the first being much better than the second, the whole thing has a tongue in cheek cartoon style that means it's never boring. And the final gag is bloody brilliant!

Note: I bought this DVD from Play.com and noticed a review from Ninehours (small world this Internet!) saying how awful the image quality was. It is bad. Sound too. I think it's just acceptable though and comparable with a lot of cheap bare-bones releases, but then thanks to Ninehours, my expectations were very low.

(From October Marathon: Horror! on October 16th, 2008)

Iron Sky, a review by Tom

Iron Sky (2012/Finland) IMDb | Wikipedia Revolver Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Timo Vuorensola Writing: Johanna Sinisalo (Story By), Michael Kalesniko (Screenwriter), Timo Vuorensola (Screenwriter) Length: 93 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: PCM 2.0 Stereo, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles:

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Stars:Plot:
In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space programme evaded destruction by the Allies and made a daring escape to the Moon. 70 years later they have re-colonised, re-armed with devastating new technology and silently plotted their revenge.

Witness the ultimate battle for humanity and civilisation as space-age Nazi hordes are unleashed on an unsuspecting Earth. In this time of chaos can the world unite against the Nazi UFO armada, or will history be re-written forever?

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers
• Photo Gallery
• Featurettes
• Digital Copy

It is very noticable that this is not a Hollywood production. The Americans are made fun of just as much as the Nazis are. The American president here is obviously a parody of Sarah Palin.
I am very glad that they used German actors for the Nazis. If it were a Hollywood movie, they probably would have used actors trying to speak German, or have the Nazis switching to English for the audience's convenience.
A very silly movie. I enjoyed it, but I must say I expected a little different kind of movie. Only towards the end it became the movie I expected, when the Nazi fleet came towards Earth.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on December 16th, 2012)

Veronica Mars Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Episode 1: Pilot
Murder casts a long shadow. As Veronica and her father try to establish a new life in Neptune, the supposedly solved Lilly Kane murder case keeps pulling them back to the past.

My Thoughts:
The episode that started it all... when this originally aired I was hooked from the very first episode! This pilot episode not only sets up the main season long mystery very well... it shows how her and Wallace becomes such close friends as well as the start of the understanding and back and forth favors between her and Weevil. An awesome start to a great show that ended before it's time (in my opinion).

Episode 2: Credit Where Credit's Due
Slap the cuffs on Grandma. Weevil's grandmother is accused in a credit card scam. Veronica clashes with Logan's spoiled-rotten girlfriend and meets a great guy who belongs to the in crowd.

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... Besides a good story of the week... it also brings the season long mystery a little further. The thought of letting an old lady... especially one you are related to... to take the fall for something like that... I just couldn't imagine. I do like they way it was handled in the end. Very satisfying.

Episode 3: Meet John Smith
How many John Smiths are there in the world? Veronica tries to track down a classmate's long-lost father, an undertaking that brings her a step closer to finding her own vanished mother.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode.... this one has a good surprise ending twist to it that I wasn't expecting the first time I watched it. But I won't go into that to much here because I want to do this with the least amount of spoilers as possible.

Episode 4: The Wrath of Con
Veronica turns cybersleuth when Wallace's wish-she-were-my-girlfriend loses cash in an internet fraud run by game geeks. Troy asks Veronica to homecoming, which stirs memories of last year's dance.

My Thoughts:
This was yet another good episode. One thing I really enjoyed on this one was all the flashbacks to when Lilly was alive... and all the fun she and Veronica had together. The mystery of the week was cool this time too... this is the episode when she really starts to get Wallace more involved in what she does. Very good episode!

(From Veronica Mars Marathon on August 24th, 2007)