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Discovering the films of Peter Watkins was something of a revelation for me. Both Punishment Park and The War Game were the best films I watched in November. Eager to check out his other films when things get quieter.
Two recent gems which won my approval and revealed 2023 hasn’t been a total write off were When Evil Lurks and LOLA.
Lastly, the lavish 4K of the Italian horror Black Magic Rites and a VHS rip of the rare British thriller Deadly Strangers were two holy grails that I finally got to tick off the list. Both of which being captivating films.
Film:
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Fritz Lang, 1922)*
Fear and Desire (Stanley Kubrick, 1952)*
Beyond the Time Barrier (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1960)*
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961)
The War Game (Peter Watkins, 1965)*
Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 1971)*
Black Magic Rites AKA The Reincarnation of Isabel (Renato Polselli, 1973)*
The Internecine Project (Ken Hughes, 1974)
Deadly Strangers (Sidney Hayers, 1975)*
The Killing of America (Sheldon Renan & Leonard Schrader•, 1981)*
King of New York (Abel Ferrara, 1990)
Divergent (Neil Burger, 2014)*
The Creator (Gareth Edwards, 2023)*
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, 2023)*
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber, 2022/2023)*
LOLA (Andrew Legge, 2022/2023)*
The Killer (David Fincher, 2023)*
When Evil Lurks (Demián Rugna, 2023)*
Television:
Doctor Who - Various Episodes (Donald B. Wilson & Sydney Newman, 1963 - 1989)*
Doctor Who - Season 1: The Daleks in Colour (1963 - 1964)*
An Adventure in Space and Time (Terry McDonough, 2013)
Doctor Who "The Star Beast" (Russell T. Davis, Pat Mills & Dave Gibbons, 2023)*
Louis Theroux Interviews - Series 2 - Episode 3: Dame Joan Collins (Louis Theroux, 2023)*
Mastermind - Episodes 11 - 14 (Bill Wright, 2023/2024)*
Only Connect - Series 19 - Episode 19 (Chris Stuart, 2023)*
*First time viewings.
• Uncredited.
Dada Debaser Notes:
- The two positive things about Kubrick's first feature film are its cinematography and Virginia Leith making her acting debut in it. Her final role was as the eponymous brain from The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962). A far better and less pretentious film, in my opinion.
- Took three sittings to get throught the four and half hours of Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler. Definitely appreciated it for its innovation, but it's needlessly way too long.
- The new Dungeons & Dragons film borrows heavily from James Gunn's movie making formula. Not a bad film, but the best live action representation of this I.P is still from a Brazillian car commercial.
- Found How to Blow Up a Pipeline a disappointment after Goldhaber’s tech thriller Cam (2018). Gavin Brevik’s Vangelis/Tangerine Dream synth style score made it bearable, however.
- Can't help but think The Creator is more like a two hour VFX tech demo rather than an actual film. Visually phenomenal, but completely let down by its bland and clichéd script.
- The Killing of America was a major blind spot for me. Would have hit harder had the documentary with the God tier narration dealt with more contemporary examples of the nation’s decline.
- Watched a veritable gaggle of Doctor Who episodes (mainly the very first season of the show) in celebration of its sixtieth anniversary. The Sensorites turned me into an instant fan of them thanks to their creepy faces, combover beards and dinner plate looking feet:
Other highlights this month were: drizzle's 20 films of the 2020s list; The Martorialist's 50 One Song Wonders; and Messer Chups' cover of the Blood & Black Lace theme. Zombierella still the finest bass player. ♥︎
Nope is bad enough, but Avatar??? Damn, Drizzle.
ReplyDeleteThe Joan Collins episode is the only Louis Theroux interview I've watched too. Anthony Joshua and Pete Doherty? I'll pass, Louis m8.
Re: the Sensorites, a couple of years ago I was browsing my local B&M and was gobsmacked to see this. Turns out B&M are now the main supplier of Doctor Who figures now Woolworths and Toys R Us are gone.
They were all films rated with ★★★★ or above. Out of curiousity, I tried to apply the same metric with my picks and determine if I had twenty contenders. No luck, only got as far as twelve films - with 2023 only having one worthy film.
ReplyDeleteJoan Collins was the only person I was interested on Theroux's new series, too. I went looking for any info on I Believe in You (1952) which she has a poster of on her wall and I can't work out it's some Brit melodrama, an Ealing comedy or a juvenile delinquency expoloitation movie after watching the trailer.
Used to pass the old Doctor Who shop when it was around in East Ham during the early nineties. Place was packed with books, VHS tapes and Who figures. Probably worth a fair bit now, I bet.
Never seen The New Kids, but keep meaning to as it's a Sean S. Cunningham film.
ReplyDeleteThe vintage Doctor Who figures look really good, tbh. Really good detail for their time. Did they ever do one of the Kandy Man?
Unfortunately not. No Sheila Hancock's Thatcher-inspired baddie either. They did do a Davros with two hands and a Green K-9 tho 🤦♂️
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of The New Kids before it was on Talking Pictures a few weeks ago. James Spader totally steals the movie playing a ridiculously arrogant arsehole. He really was great at those characters.
Spader turned playing a preppy douche into a fine art. Even did it when he played Ultron ��.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a cool but ridiculously expensive garage kit of Davros on eBay. The old look before RTD turned him into a nazi looking Rigsby very recently. Would cop if it were a hell of a lot cheaper.
State of that price!
ReplyDeleteFunny how the original Genesis of The Daleks Davros played by Michael Wisher still looks and sounds better than all the future incarnations of him. That's why this is the only figure I'd ever be tempted by:
https://merchandise.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/doctor-who-bm-2022-the-creation-of-the-daleks-collector-set/
Probably gonna go Genesis of the Daleks after I finish the rest of the Hartnell planned.
ReplyDeleteBeen watching the Daleks' Invasion Earth episodes and noticed there's no Brockley in it (so far, at least). There's a cool creature called the Slither, though, and the Robomen don't look like Daft Punk. Also, the alligators lurking in London's sewers was really novel.
Yeah, the stuff in the sewers is great. If I remember right, Brockley was inspired by the Ashton bloke from the TV version.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, Ashton was essentially Brockley. He didn't turn traitor, though.
ReplyDelete