Back in 1978, a virtually unknown young musician named Jeff Wayne shocked everyone when he released a concept album based on H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. And not just any concept album, but something unprecedented: the one that defined what a concept album was supposed to be. He’d been a producer and had […]
Read more "Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of ‘The War of the Worlds’ (2006)"This is a strange one. To put it mildly. What we have here is a heavy metal sci fi musical Ozploitation film. Not that that really suggests just how strange this film is. We’re talking a decaying near future, a repressive government out to get our hero, a robot, time travel, a sword and sorcery […]
Read more "Sons of Steel (1988)"It isn’t enough to say they don’t make movies like this anymore. The only place anyone ever made films like this was in Mexico, and even they didn’t make that many. This is one of the silliest movies ever made. Ever. It is also a lot of fun. I think the general idea here must […]
Read more "La nave de los monstruos [The Ship of Monsters] (1960)"“Welcome, androids! We have resurrected you for a highly sensitive mission.” “How much do highly sensitive missions pay these days? We don’t work for free, you know.” “Your payment will be the knowledge that you have helped usher in a new age of enlightenment and prosperity.” (General Laughter). I have to confess that I have […]
Read more "The Killer Robots! Crash and Burn (2016)"There are some films you know you have to see long before they ever reach the theaters. For me, anything made by Cory McAbee and The Billy Nayer Show is quite high on that list. His first film, The American Astronaut remains one of those inexplicable pleasures of life – an often surreal lo-fi Western/Sci Fi/Musical/Comedy/Performance Art […]
Read more "Stingray Sam (2009)"This is a movie based on Einstein’s theory of relativity. That isn’t necessarily a good thing. On the first test flight of a high altitude balloon, the comedy relief tries to hide the fact that he’s smoking and ends up sending the balloon rocketing far into space at incredible speeds. When it returns, the two hapless […]
Read more "Croisières sidérales [Sideral Cruises] (1942)"Ultimately, this one felt unsatisfactory. Perhaps that’s because it never quite delivered the film it was supposed to be: Japan’s loudest Rock band squares off against aliens and zombies, with lots of splatting zombie heads and loud music? Well, that was all there, but… It’s hard to say just what went awry. I find myself […]
Read more "Wild Zero (1999)"