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Martian Child, a review by KinkyCyborg

Martian Child



Title:Martian Child
Year: 2007
Director: Menno Meyjes
Rating: PG
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
John Cusack
Bobby Coleman
Amanda Peet
Sophie Okonedo
Joan Cusack

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned


Pretty predictable but I liked it very much nonetheless. Hard not to like those heart felt movies with happy endings.

John Cusack plays a widower who tries to fill the void in his life by going through the process of adopting a troubled young boy who thinks he is a Martian. The boy, played by an inspiring Bobby Coleman, uses his made up fantasy world as a coping mechanism in trying to understand why his parents disappeared.

The ups and downs of their relationship are often comical, sometimes frustrating and at times very sad. This movie does very much convey the message of never giving up.

Amanda Peet is the most amazing, beautiful woman on the planet as although she hasn't been told yet, she needs to be with me. 

Much deeper than one would expect at first glance and a great movie for a lazy afternoon.

KC

Rating:


(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on July 8th, 2011)

Octaman, a review by Jimmy

Title: Octaman (1971)

Genre: Horror
Director: Harry Essex
Rating: NR
Length: 1h19
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Pier Angeli   
Kerwin Mathews
Jeff Morrow
David Essex
Jerome Guardino

Plot:
A scientific expedition to a remote fishing village discovers high levels of radiation as well as a strange mutant-like small octopus that walks on land and has bizarre human-like eyes. The leader of the expedition teams up with a circus owner who wants to exploit the weird creature but trouble ensues when the two men discover their crew has been slaughtered and the mutant is missing. Tales from the villagers come to light describing the local legend of a half-man, half-sea serpent, but what the expedition finds is an astounding seven-foot-tall walking octopus that has a lust for human blood! Now, the hunters have become the hunted and the race is on. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

This one was directed by the man who wrote the screenplay for Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space amongst other thing, so he knows how to write 50s creature movie. But this film lack something really important for that type of movie, a good creature costume. Not that it wasn't created by future famous FX artists (Rick Baker and Doug Bestwick began their career designing it), but it lack a feeling of reality because the head is a mask (the eyes have no expression and the mouth is a hole) and the tentacles doesn't move. The story also isn't that interesting and hard to follow (mexican accent without subtitles are sure hard to understand).

Nothing to write home about, I've seen better. but the remastering works is good.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 8th, 2013)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Danger UXB

Dead Man's Shoes
Newly-promoted Second Lieutentant Brian Ash joins his new regiment only to find that they are assigned to bomb disposal in London. Ash is thrown in at the deep end when he and his men are sent to a bomb site.



When a young Royal Engineer Officer is killed trying to defuse a bomb, he is replaced by raw officer recruit Brian Ash. Ash is shocked to discover that his new unit, the 97th Tunnelling Company, is in fact a hastily formed bomb disposal squad. With the Blitz devastating London every night and making massive demands on Royal Engineers' manpower, he is to take command of 347 Section forthwith. It's not long before he's facing the real thing at close range, with his men looking on from a safe distance, making bets as to whether he'll go the same way as his predecessor...

An enthralling series we never missed on its original showing on TV, and having rewatched its original episode, glad to say the tension, depth of character, and superb writing (upstairs,downstairs creator) have not dated negatively. In fact if you excuse the opening titles and credit rolls it is hard to believe it is 30 years old.
I realise better now it is also historically accurate for this WW2 era, the backdrops are realistic, and the storylines genuinely factual. The acting is spot on, very in-depth and interesting characters from all ranks, and the background storylines behind the bomb disposals are interesting.
Not sure who blindly would get into the series, possibly those interested in history or WW2, or those interested in more modern period costume dramas? For me it is a bit of all of the above, and my nostalgic return to a childhood favourite.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 25th, 2009)