filmbforever

Even out in the far reaches of country Australia only morons and half-wits talk anything like the characters in this film. These kinds of parochial insulting "parodies" of Australian life are what killed the Australian film industry. We are not a bunch of "bushies" or "surf low lives" we are, for the most part, well educated, intelligent urbane people who live on a giant dry island. Our culture is made up of British, Scottish and Irish immigrants mixed unhappily with the indigenous population and topped up with people from everywhere on earth. To try and "capture" the essence of Australians with these degrading, ill conceived attempts to pump the lowest common denominator (The Castle, Kenny, Razzle Dazzle etc) just shows how skewered the Arts are in Australia to w*nkers - it's truly f***king terrible.

If Martha Stewart herself wasn't behind this piece of absolute propagandist garbage I will buy one her companies magazines. So according to this account Martha was not guilty of anything, was beloved by her family, friends, employees and then fellow inmates - hence the cool poncho. For the love of anything - you can't seriously believe anyone who makes a billion bucks anywhere is not guilty of insider trading and countless other moral, ethical and legal transgressions. Big money business is contacts and networks - unfortunately only few of the top players get caught and humiliated. Martha must have peed off a powerful crony to get this light but embarrassing spanking - just 5 months for criminal corporate fraud "the victimless crime". One star for the poor crew (good job) who had to shoot this crap.

I enjoyed this MOH episode (although it was not the season opener in Oz). I believe the whole oil / Texas / Iraq / madness embodied by a demon connection could have made a good horror feature - not for the obvious reasons but for what made this episode so watchable. That is, the people who are responsible and those who subsequently benefit are held accountable - fair or not. Good to see Tobe Hooper plugging away as I always like his work (Dance of the Dead on MOH season one was excellent). Hooper appears to be much more an actor's director than a "horror guy". See his fantastic Salem's Lot miniseries and you will get the picture. Cheers!

After not being able to watch the film in its entirety I clicked onto the special features to see if anyone would apologize for its creation (ala CHILDREN of the LIVING DEAD's director)but to my dismay it was a C level Hollywood DVD love/crap fest. They had 2 directors (that's either disaster or cowardice) who both had no clue how to direct (and I mean set ups, actors, special effects, blocking – you name it). Let's just face the fact, with more than one director (yes, even the Cohen's and the Farrelly's admit one is better suited to directing than the other) or a compromised one it rarely, if ever works. I believe that one dedicated mind is essential to maintain the vision, look, tone etc or you end up with a committee driven mess - AND THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE. This film is truly terrible, it is chock full of Hollywood hacks and wannabees and especially crappy writers and director(s) who live on the fringe of real film-making. FWI - If you are going to try and rip a brand name then at least have the decency to attempt HOMAGE properly and realize low budget films work because the makers feel they have something to offer or to better the source material they are cashing in on.

Apart from the fact this is one of the best and most comprehensive special edition DVD's ever produced the film itself is an absolute classic bordering on masterpiece. Staying true to the spirit of Joseph Campbell's short story WHO GOES THERE? (the basis for Howard Hawks' original b/w version) Carpenter's THE THING brought Rob Bottin's mechanical special effects into the realm of high art. The original story is an allegorical tale of the fear and paranoia created by the anti-communist sentiment pervading the 1950 / 60s USA. Communist paranoia was transposed into Sci-Fi / monster movie in Hawks' version but Carpenter, having no need for this in the 80s, brings a contemporary fear to his version - that of illness. Carpenter's version plays on our fear of what may be inside us or those close to us (a type of left wing horror - fear of ourselves as opposed to right wing horror - fear of them) whether it be disease such as aids or mental illness, it is this kind of atmosphere that saturates this film and is made manifest by Bottin's truly viscerally terrifying special effects. Every aspect of the film is top notch: the acting (with the ever excellent Kurt Russell and a magic ensemble cast), the cinematography from Australian DP Dean Cundy (long time JC collaborator), the effects (as mentioned), the amazing snow covered exteriors and Carpenter's effective, intelligent, economical directing. One of the best horror movies ever made that stands up today as if brand new - a true keeper, enjoy

Forget all that "nothing new here" stuff - just face facts; there is nothing new to be made. The makers took a crap 70s TV show template and redacted it into an absorbing contemporary narrative. Gen X filmmakers - now in our mid 30s - are well educated, salty, cynical and rabid story lovers. Granted this style of film-making isn't for everyone (obviously it is targeted at a specific audience) and bears little if no resemblance to its source material. To be called derivative of Star Wars is pointless; the Lucas films are the most blatant plundering of Sci-Fi / film culture there is (Dune, Hidden Fortress anyone?). The CGI sequences in BG were successfully employed in the brilliant Firefly and they work spectacularly well (for the intended viewer). This is the stuff we want to see - gritty, violent, uncomfortable but still tenacious in its search for hope (remind you of the 2000s?) and we are prepared to back that vision all the way - good stuff people and keep it up for the series going into production.

When an enigmatic unnamed scientist accidentally infects himself with a lethal engineered virus he unwittingly spreads it world wide via air travel. Focusing on London, England we see the effects of the virus as millions succumb and civilization collapses accordingly. The story hones in on a handful of emotionally scarred survivors who come together and attempt the difficult and painful reconstruction of a new society no longer able to depend on supplied science and technology. In one episode entitled "Law and order" the survivor's group are faced with a rape and murder of one of their number following a raucous celebration. An intellectually disabled member is falsely accused and sentenced to death with the killer himself voting for the man's execution. After one of the group leaders carries out the killing, he learns the identity of the real killer and is forced to allow him to stay in the group and withhold the information as the news of the tragic error would permanently splinter and destroy what they fought, against enormous odds, to create. Survivors is gripping stuff; well acted, cleverly written and creatively directed - if you like character driven Sci - Fi drama then this is for you.

No CGI or green screening here - actuall pilots flying real bi / tri-planes. The Blue Max is an intelligent absorbing WW1 film featuring a striking lead performance from George Peppard and amazing flight photography. A fantastic widescreen DVD that allows the home theatre buff to relive the incredible panavision photography sadly bleached and ruined as a style in contemporary filmmaking - Go buy it!