Because of the site crash mentioned last month, I’m writing this immediately after posting the February movies. As mentioned in that one, I “only” watched 19 movies in March (possibly a new low number, since I started counting a few years back).
But, as I also mentioned there, we’ve got some goodies here, starting and ending with SciFi (or SF, if you prefer) classics…
Ratings are out of five stars. Here’s what those stars mean to me…
* – This film is not good. Avoid it unless you tolerate dreck well.
** – A flawed film. You may enjoy it if you like this genre or the folks in it.
*** – A good solid film. If you like this genre, you’ll probably like this film.
**** – A superior film within its genre. Thoroughly enjoyable.
***** – An outstanding film on many levels. A great example of its genre.
Logan’s Run **** SFX very dated but society where people are either killed at 30 or become “runners” contains much for thought.
Time Machine, The ***** I never tire of this SF/Adventure classic. Man travels from 1900 to far future, discovers humanity’s unexpected fate.
Forbidden Planet ***** One of the SF greats (despite dated gender roles) crew lands on planet to find sole survivors, robot, & monster.
THEM! ***** The 1st & still best of the giant bug movies pits heroic men & women against giant ants in desert & LA sewers.
Black Cat, The (1941 – Sven) *** Comedy rules over thrills in this standard old dark house inheritance flick with good cast & cats. Lugosi underused.
Senna *** Biopic of Brazilian Formula 1 hero Ayrton Senna & his wins & struggles against sports politics & his untimely death.
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women *** Inventive re-cutting of Planeta Bur by Bogdonavich & Corman, plus zaftig new footage of models. Amusing.
Captain Marvel **** Carol Danvers fights to regain her memory & figure out which side she’s on in another fab Marvel hero flick.
Galaxy Quest ***** Both a brilliant homage & parody of Trek, this still holds up with great cast, clever script, & SFX. A SciFi classic.
Captive State *** Thoughtful grunge SF dystopia with humans, largely willingly, under the thumb of alien invaders. Son has credit. 🙂
4D Man, The (Sven) *** Out of jealousy, Robert Lansing completes his bro’s crazy experiment & gains ability to move through solid objects.
How to Train Your Dragon (3): The Hidden World **** People & dragons seek a new home & new love while being hunted. Good finale to the series if a bit predictable.
Lego Move 2: The Second Part, The **** The world falls into dystopia & the Lego characters must battle against cherry colored invaders & earworm songs.
Sphere *** All-star cast finds mysterious age-old ship containing a strange object under the sea. Starts well, turns standard.
Hercules (Disney) **** “Minor” Disney classic has great songs & music & interesting take on classical Greek Mythology. LOVE Megara!
Final Exam (1981) *** Unexplained killer with knife loose on campus at night, slaying creepy & sympathetic co-eds. Standard, well made.
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet ** Planeta Bur with some inserts of US stars to sell it here. Not as good as the original nor JttPo Prehistoric Women.
Battle Beyond the Sun ** Americanized version of The Sky Calls with a few inserts of cheesy vaginal monster, too dark to see really well.
Planeta Bur **** Classic Soviet SciFi flick is slow in spots but has great SFX & production, good adevnture, monsters, great robot.
I definitely recommend you check out Planeta Bur if you haven’t seen it. Watching SF from behind the Iron Curtain is fascinating — and some of the Special Effects were good enough that Roger Corman bought the rights to re-use them in US films. (Clever man, Corman!)
Will the life changes in March and April bring a higher movie count in April? Maybe not, as we have a vacation in mid month — though that vacation is to attend a movie premiere. 🙂 Oh, and a review of The Vampire’s Ghost — a 1940s monster film I’d never seen before!
Join me then, and keep commenting on the reviews on Facebook. You can use my page or Monster Conservancy — www.savemonsters.com .
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