Things I've been watching on TV and on-line, good and bad (Pt 3)

This post is going to be all about the things I have been watching on YouTube. I will start with Films (both full length and shorts).


I thought I would start with the bad, or good depending on your point of view 😀


Let us start with an old horror, by old I mean 1969 and by horror I mean the cast and acting more than the story 😀 I stumbled across this film whilst looking for another, better, 60's British horror film. The film I found is called The Haunted House Of Horror (also known as Horror House). It is an American International Pictures film, but is a very British film. The first thing you have to get past is the casting of Frankie Avalon as a thuggish druggie, along with his druggie friends played by Mark Wynter, Richard O'Sullivan, Julian Barnes and Robin Stewart. Then there is George Sewell as a creepy, dirty old man and Dennis Price as the police Inspector. The plot, what there is of it, is fairly basic 60's/70's horror fodder with no great surprises. It is not very well written or acted, on the whole it has all the factors needed to make it a brilliantly bad film, unfortunately it just doesn't quite reach those high standards. Here is a link for you to judge for yourselves, if you want to:-
The Haunted House Of Horror


Ok, sticking with horror but moving on to short films, here are a few of the many dozens that are on YouTube that I've watched and liked. Firstly there is Rasp, a fairly decent short shock film that is well made and works well. It almost feels like part of a longer, bigger budget film. Here is a link to it:-
Rasp

The next one is called So Pretty, an interesting short film about the romanticism around vampires. Again very well made, if a little lacking in some areas of acting and dialogue, but on the whole very good. Here is a link to it:-
So Pretty

The last horror, although it is listed as a thriller, is called Amy. While some of the acting isn't as good as it could be, the story is good and it is filmed well. Here is a link to it:-
Amy


As a break from the horror stuff I watched a few other films, one of which that I liked was called Plastic. It is a look at the obsession with looking 'right' and is a really well made film with excellent effects. Here is a link to it:-
Plastic


Now we move on to Sci-Fi and start with two full length B-Movies that are worth a look for different reasons. The first is called 4D Man. I really don't know what to say about this film. It is a 1959 Universal-International film, starring Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether. The plot sounds better on paper than it looks on film and the film itself is more than a little slow and dull. A sort of Sci-Fi/Crime film I honestly wasn't sure I would be able to watch it to the end, I did make it and when the film finishes and on the screen comes up "The End?" all I could think was "I really hope so!" Here is a link for you to judge for yourselves:-
4D Man

The second full length Sci-Fi B-Movie is called The Giant Claw. This is a well known monster movie with brilliantly awful special effects and not much better acting. It is a 1957 Columbia Pictures film starring Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday. It is one of the best bad movies I've seen in ages and is more than well worth watching. Here is a link to it:-
The Giant Claw


Next is a full length Sci-Fi film which is amazingly good. I have always been a fan of time travel and this indie film works the time travel/paradox theme brilliantly. It is called 41. It is an Australian film starring Chris Gibson. I was blown away by how good the story is and how well put together the film is. I would recommend this film to anyone, especially if you are into time travel stories. Here is a link for you to see it:-
41


And so on to Sci-Fi short films. I have watched a few of these and are the ones I liked best. After watching 41 I decided to start looking at time travel films. The first one I watched is called Stealing Time. Again it deals with time paradoxes, this time in a more amusing way. Here is a link to it:-
Stealing Time

The next one is called Beyond and this deals with time travel in a more serious way but also covers time paradoxes. Here is a link to it:-
Beyond

Another more light hearted, although at the same time making a good serious point, in called One-Minute Time Machine. Here is a link to it:-
One Minute Time Machine


Ok, so now on to TV shows on YouTube. Here I have been watching something a little different. I saw an American clip show on YouTube which was all about TV pilots that were not picked up and made into full series. There was some odd stuff on it, especially in the Sci-Fi part, so I decided to look for some of the full pilots and managed to find most of those I was interested in. So here they are.

Firstly, as some people might know, I recently posted on Facebook asking what old TV series people thought should be brought back, one I chose was Time Tunnel. Imagine my delight to find that a new pilot had been made for Time Tunnel in 2002, unfortunately it wasn't picked up. Having now seen it I can see why that might have been but I still think it had, and as an idea has, many possibilities for series development. Anyway, here is a link to the pilot for you to watch:-
Time Tunnel (2002)

Next is a brilliantly laughable idea that was basically just a vehicle for British actor Trevor Eve to break into America, it didn't work. It is called Shadow Chasers and, like all of these shows, is worth a watch even if it's just for a laugh. Unfortunately, as with many of these things, I could only find the opening credits and trailer. Here is a link to the opening credits:-
Shadow Chasers (opening)

Not all of the series pilots I watched were Sci-Fi, this one is a crime/detective series starring David Rappaport, it is called The Wizard. I don't have much to say about this one, just watch. Here is a link to it:-
The Wizard

Another non Sci-Fi pilot is called Six O'Clock Follies. I'm still not completely sure exactly what this was really about or who it was aimed at, but it's worth a look. Here is a link to the opening credits:-
Six O'Clock Follies

Back to the Sci-Fi now and a thing called Time Express. With Vincent price in it, it should really have worked but obviously didn't. Some of these series, even though they weren't picked up, had more than just the pilot made. From what I can work out they made at least two episodes of this show but I could only find clips and opening credits on YouTube. Here is a link to the opening:-
Time Express (opening)

Staying with the Sci-Fi theme we move on to a series with one of the most laughable titles and intros I've ever seen, it is called The Man With The Power. A half alien that becomes a government agent, why wasn't this huge? Anyway, here is a link to the opening titles:-
The Man With The Power (opening)

Another series that I find it incredible that it wasn't picked up is called Exoman. He was the Tony Stark of his age. For some reason this pilot has been put up on YouTube in parts. Here is a link to part one:-
Exoman (part 1)

A much more bizarre series is one called Steel Justice. A man's son is reincarnated (not sure that's the correct term) into a toy metal, electric dinosaur which grows to massive size in order to protect him from the bad guys. I don't know why they said no to this one. This is another one that is in parts. Here is a link to part one:-
Steel Justice (part 1)

Next is a "people shifted out of time and trapped" romp called The Outlaws. A bunch of gunslingers from the Wild West moved to modern America. Here is a link to it:-
The Outlaws

Well, that's about all from the YouTube files for now, and the last part of these blog entries. Please feel free to leave any comments at all about my blog or these films/TV shows. Thanks.

Things I've been watching on TV and on-line, good and bad (Pt 2)

Continuing my look at some things I've been watching recently, I am going to move on from superheroes to other films and TV series.


I am, to a certain degree, a creature of habit, as are we all I suppose. With films and TV this means that I often like to re-watch things, especially those things I liked in my youth. This habit can bring both happiness and disappointments. I was recently reminded of a few shows that I watched as a child and so decided to revisit them, to my joy I still found H. R. Puffenstuff a complete load of nonsense that raised a smile and even the odd silly laugh, I was also pleased to find that I was still entertained by Land of The Giants though maybe not as much or in the same way as I was as a child. Timeslip, on the other hand I found dull and slow and really not very good, and I found The Champions boring and cheesey. I may try again with some other series but I think I might leave it a while and choose carefully. While revisiting old TV series may not always give the results you expect, most of the time, the same is not true of films. I have been re-watching some films that I saw as a child and loved, and also some that I have seen as an adult and loved. First up is the absolutely brilliantly surreal Rubber, I would urge everyone to watch this film even if it's only once. I am not going to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it but let's just say that it is an interesting film with a unique take on serial killers. Another film by the same people who made Rubber that I also watched again is Wrong, whilst it is in a similar style to Rubber it is a very different and slightly more surreal film in many ways, but equally worth watching.


And now to new ground, well in some cases old new ground. Moving on to films and TV series that I haven't seen before. Let's start with TV shows.


I missed out on watching Broadchurch when it was on TV so have now made up for it by binge watching all 3 seasons. I now understand why so many people were praising it so highly. Brilliantly written and filmed, the editing, soundtrack and cinematography were second to none. Added to that was a fantastic cast that acted their socks off. One of the best things on UK TV for some time. Another great series that I watched and then caught up on the older seasons was Line Of Duty, again it was brilliantly written and well made with a strong cast, I am hoping they do another season soon. I have also dipped into a few other programmes but not watched as fervently, one of the better ones is Night Shift which reminds me a little of MASH with a big helping of ER mixed in. My good lady wife introduced me to a series called Master Of Photography, which is a competition between European photographers where they are given set tasks each week, it was really interesting, as was Landscape Artist Of The Year.


Now on to films. I must admit that most of the films I've watched of late have either been superhero films or will be covered in my next blog entry, but I did watch a few other films. One was London Has Fallen, it is (to parphrase a footballing term) a film of two halves. The first half of the film is a well thought out action movie that has a good story that is moved on well by the action sequences, but the second half is more like action for action sake, too much unnecessary violence that didn't move the story on and just seemed to be there to add to the body count. Another was the film of Spooks, I loved the TV series and was looking forward to the film, I must say it was ok. It wasn't as good as the series but, by keeping connections to the series in a number of places it worked as part of the whole. Lastly there was the James Bond film Spectre, while I don't think it was as good as either Skyfall or Quantum Of Solace, it was a good film with some excellent set pieces and was made to the high quality that you would expect from the Bond series.


Well, that's it for this time, the next post will be entirely about films, TV shows and odd bits I have watched on YouTube. As usual, if you have any comments please leave them on here. Thank you.

Some things and some not.

I have been watching, reading and listening to some stuff that I'm going to discuss here and now.

As far as watching goes, I was interested by comments on social media about the Netflix series of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The general consensus of opinion seemed to be that it was crap. I loved the books but I wasn't a fan of the UK series so an American series seemed interesting, so I decided to watch it to see just how bad it was. Now, my personal opinion is that it has about as much to do with the novels as I have to do with being a fish. To be honest, apart from the title and name of the lead character, there is nothing that really connects them. Having said all that, I think it's brilliant. It's well written, well acted, we'll made and had me gripped from the first episode. If you forget about any connection to Douglas Adams and watch it purely as a bizarre, funny, action comedy, it is good and I hope they make another season.

I was lucky to be one of the few that braved to severe weather to go to The Underdog Gallery on Thursday and got to see, not only a couple of unique short films by Billy Chainsaw and Jason Atomic, but also the UK premiere of the fantastically crazy Frankenstein Created Bikers. This film is brilliant, it's mad in many ways, it's full of great gore and fighty stuff and also completely insane scenes and plot points, many of which make less than no sense. It is well worth a watch and should raise a smile or two on any face.

I'm happy to see No Offence back on TV, it's an excellent programme that straddles the fence between comedy and drama beautifully.

Looking forward to, what will probably be, my only visit to the main stream cinema this year when the final film in the Resident Evil series hits the UK. I am excited and hopeful that it won't be a disappointment.

I final read The Billy Fidget Letters and it is a good but strange book, worth a read but keep an open mind.

I have started reading the first of Danny Baker's autobiographys To Sea In A Sieve and, although not far into it, I can already see similarities in his and my youth, it will be interesting to see where it goes.

I've been listening to some new folky stuff a lot of which hasn't really done much for me, and some thrashy metally stuff which has been, to be honest, really not my thing. So on the whole most of the newish music I've heard has been less than interesting or exciting or worth it.

Well that's about it for this time, be back sometime.

Recent things: some old, some new.

I have been reading, listening to and watching a few things recently that are new (at least to me) and a few things that I have revisited. I thought I would share them with you and my thoughts about them.

Starting with books. Continuing my trial of new books and authors I have taken a few books out of the library recently which I thought could be interesting. The first is called 'Me And You' by Niccolò Ammaniti. It is a really well written story of family fragmentation. There is a full review on GoodReads but it is worth just reading it without prior knowledge (which I think is true of most books, the discovery that is part of the enjoyment). The next one is called 'Falling Out Of Time' by David Grossman. I found this a little hard going at times, partly because it is written almost like a play. It is a well focused book about loss and community. The third book is 'Bar Balto' by Faiza Cuene. It is a brilliantly written crime novel with a difference, all you read are the statements of the witnesses and suspects. I am about two thirds of the way through the excellent book 'The Billy Fidget Letters' by Nick Battle and Eric Delve, which is about conversations with God. Then I have the first of Danny Baker's autobiography 'Going To Sea In A Sieve' and 'Festival Of Insignificance: a novel' by Milan Kundera, that I am looking forward to reading. All of these books are well worth a read and I would recommend them to everyone.

Moving on to TV and I've been watching quite a bit of stuff lately, both on normal TV and on Netflix. So let's start with comedy. On Netflix I've been watching a series called 'Danger 5' it is a bizarre adventure comedy from Australia that is difficult to describe but it has elements of many other shows including The Mighty Boost and Police Squad but with an originality and strangeness all of it's own. On normal TV, BBC to be exact, I really like 'Two Doors Down' an excellently observed sit-com set in Scotland with a set of odd neighbours. On the drama front, I absolutely loved series 2 of 'The Missing', a brilliant story that was well made and had a fantastic cast. On the BBC iplayer I'be watched a great series, another Australian import, called 'Deep Water' which is a interesting crime show that has a few twists and turns that make it more engaging. On Netflix I've been watching 'How To Get Away With Murder', season 1 was excellent and I'm pleased to say season 2 is just as good, and a tad confusing in parts. I have also watched the new season of Charlie Brooker's fantastic 'Black Mirror' and it is just as great as always, brilliantly made and acted, we'll written and thought provoking, and a little worrying too. All of these shows are well worth a watch if you get the chance.

I haven't seen many films of late, except on TV and most of those are old ones, but I have been listening to a bit of Radio. Alexei Sayle has been back on the BBC with a great short Radio series called 'Imaginary Sandwich Bar', it is still on the BBC Radio iplayer and is his usual mix of shouting, political insight and social comment mixed with some personal stories, and is just great.

We'll,  that's about it for this post. If you have any comment or suggestions for me to watch, read or listen to please feel free to leave a comment here. Thanks.

The Good, The Bad...ish, And The Other Stuff

As a break from doing my lists I thought I'd post about my recent likes, dislikes and other things as far as TV shows go.



Firstly, I know this is going back a few weeks, I loved The Night Manager. Not necessarily my usual thing but it was well written, well acted and brilliantly made, a real treat and I found myself really wanting to know what happened next. On the flip side I was a little underwhelmed by The People Vs O. J. Simpson, it seemed to be heavily weighed on the side of O. J., and whilst I have to admit the authorities made some major mistakes in the case, there seemed to be a real attempt to show them in the worst possible light. Not that O. J.'s lawyers were shown as being perfect and without flaws. In the end it really felt like they were trying to make the viewer feel sorry for O. J., who made left looking like a sad and lonely man. While the programme was well made and well acted I did feel it wasn't necessarily as good as it could have been.


On the comedy front I have been bemused and amused in equal parts by the BBC series Two Doors Down. It is a fairly standard Sit-Com but with a slightly surreal and chaotic edge. I find it really funny as well as, more than a little, bizarre. Definitely worth a watch.


As far as kids TV goes I would recommend that all adult watch the brilliantly odd, and childishly toilet humoured, Larva. I was treated to it by my LB on Netflix, but it is on TV too, and watched about five episodes (they are only short) with my mouth open and my eyes wide. I love it, it is great, there really isn't any more I can say.


I loved the programme on last night about Shakespear. It showed how his writing has to map ted just about every form of entertainment in one way or another. Some brilliant documentary parts, mixed with dramatic scenes, great musical interpretations and good comedy pieces. Well presented and with the inclusion of many of the greats of stage and screen, a real treat and exactly what I always remember BBC2 being best at.

Out With The Old, In With The New

As you may, or may not, be aware I had an entertainment blog on another blog site that had basically the same name as this blog. I have had to abandon that blog because the site it is on is rubbish and I now cannot gain access to my blog at all. I hope to be able to import the posts that I put on that blog at some point as I am not going to repeat them on here unless there is no possible alternative. Anyway, I was part way through, for those of you that don't know, an A-Z listing of songs. The tracks, and things, that I list are not my favourites necessarily but are just songs, or whatever, that I know and that stand out for me either in a good or bad way. So I will be carrying that list on from the point I stopped on the other blog.



As a welcome to this, new....ish blog, (maybe I should have added a V0.2 to the end of the blog name😄) I am going to post some random links to some songs and music I like. So here goes and welcome to the new home of my entertainment blog.



Leornard Cohen - I'm Your Man



Beth Orton - I Wish I'd Never Seen The Sunshine



Cradle Of Filth - Dusk And Her Embrace



Spoiler - Electrifying



Gregory Issacs - Night Nurse


That's it for this introduction, more soon.


Any comments always welcome, thanks.