My Favourite Films #50: Flash Gordon

Camp isn't really something you get as a kid. For example, I used to settle in every afternoon and watch the Adam West Batman series, and I was gripped by it. Sure, I thought the villains' schemes and gizmos were ridiculous, but I'd still tune in to see if Batman would escape. Similarly, when I …

My Favourite Films #49: The Running Man

It's always interesting watching old sci-fi movies and seeing how quickly they imagined we'd balls everything up. George Orwell thought that by 1984 we'd be living under a totalitarian regime, constantly observed. John Carpenter went for 1997 as the year by which New York had become a prison colony. Of course, some of the joy …

My Favourite Films #48: Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Years ago a friend of mine recommended I check out Brian Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim comics. I was told they were fun and essentially about a Canadian version of me. I read the series and loved it, although I realised that being compared to Scott wasn't a compliment. When Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the …

My Favourite Films #47: A View to a Kill

Last month saw the passing of Sir Roger Moore. I was really saddened by this news because he always seemed like a decent bloke and due to his time as James Bond was a familiar face and part of the pop culture landscape I grew up with. I'm not getting into which actor has been …

My Favourite Films #46: The Return of the Jedi

In Clerks, Dante Hicks dismisses the third film in the Star Wars trilogy saying "All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets". It's a harsh assessment of the movie, but highlights a problem that some viewers have with the movie. The Ewoks. This alien race, who look like teddy bears, are the kind of thing …

My Favourite Films #45: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars was a game changer in many ways, in terms of blockbusters and memorabilia but it's the second movie in the original trilogy that's impact is still felt. Countless film series made since has attempted to follow the Empire model with the second movie having a darker, more downbeat ending that leaves the heroes in poor …

My Favourite Films #44: Star Wars

Disclaimer: Before any fans get narked, I know that's not the full title, but putting it all in would be awfully long and you all know which movie I mean. I must have seen the Star Wars films as a little kid, but I can't really remember much from those childhood viewings apart from the …

My Favourite Films #43: The Princess and the Frog

Long time readers will know that I've been doing the Disney Classics films in order, but I'm going to jump ahead to include this on my list of favourite movies. This movie was Disney returning to their roots with a fairy tale inspired story rendered in traditional animation and introducing the latest Disney Princess. And …

My Favourite Films #42: Serenity

In the early '00s there was a horrible affliction that devastated the geek community. Like a vampire, the infected would be unable to stop themselves from passing it on and forcing others to endure their curse. And, to mix my monsters, like zombies it was often the ones you loved that you hurt. You'd resist, …

My Favourite Films #42: The Thing (1982)

My Dad introduced me to the films of John Carpenter, and this is one of my favourites, a tense, gripping sci-fi horror. Set almost entirely on a remote Ameeican research base in the Arctic it deals with a group of scientists and their support team who must confront a shapeshifting alien beast that assumes the …