It was third time unlucky for the Austin Powers franchise, an adventure too far as the franchise came to an end with the most self-indulgent, smug and incoherent of the three films. Again written by Mike Myers – who also this time plays no fewer than four different roles – and directed by Jay Roach, … Continue reading
Dr Evil is back and this time he’s got his sights set on stealing Austin Powers’ “mojo” in this bigger budgeted but otherwise business-as-usual follow-up to the hugely popular Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). Most of the original cast are back – some in little more than extended cameos – but the introduction … Continue reading
Before he started to make crowd-pleasing but bloated blockbusters like Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), James Cameron had a knack for making streamlined low and mid-budget action films. OK, so he also made Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), but like everyone else we can safely ignore that for now. The crowning glory of his early … Continue reading
Having decided to stick with established foes after Gojira vs. Biorante/Godzilla vs Biollante (1989), Toho started making Godzilla films with old enemies being re-imagined for the Heisei era. Gojira vs. Kingu Gidorâ/Godzilla vs King Ghidorah brings back the much-loved eponymous three-headed alien dragon and pops him straight into one of the most bizarre and endlessly … Continue reading
In Nick Dunning’s The Lorelei – made for BBC Two’s Screen Two strand and first broadcast on 19 March 1990 – lonely Kate (Amanda Redman), a school teacher from London, is on a walking and photography holiday in Wales when she pitches up at the remote Lorelei boarding house. The owners, the Walkers (John Nettleton … Continue reading
Warning: Contains spoilers for the first film, The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980) Play for Today‘s uncharacteristically light-hearted and whimsical 1980 offering The Flipside of Dominick Hide, about a time traveller (Peter Firth) who ends up becoming his own great-great-grandfather, was a hit with the public and two years later the original writers, Jeremy Paul … Continue reading
The Flipside of Dominick Hide, written by Jeremy Paul and Alan Gibson, directed by Gibson (who had previously shot the last two Hammer Dracula films, Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)) and first broadcast on 9 December 1980 was something of a departure for the normally terribly serious and worthy … Continue reading
