CALIBRE. (2018) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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CALIBRE. (2018) WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MATT PALMER.

STARRING JACK LOWDEN, MARTIN MCCANN, TONY CURRAN, KATE BRACKEN AND KITTY LOVETT.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

This horror film is currently on Netflix and I loved it. It feels a bit like THE RITUAL initially, one of my favourite modern horror films along with MIDSOMMAR and IT FOLLOWS. It uses one of my most beloved tropes: a couple of guys head off into the ‘wilds’ of somewhere to do a thing, and the trip turns into the nightmare of all time, from which none- or only one- will escape. Usually the nice guy.

In THE RITUAL, four lads jet from England to the wilds of Sweden (except that it was the wilds of Romania that actually showed up on our screens- no, it wasn’t a mistake, they did it on purpose, lol!) in honour of a mate of theirs who’s passed…

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THE BLOODY JUDGE. (1970) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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THE BLOODY JUDGE. (1970) DIRECTED AND CO-WRITTEN BY JESUS FRANCO.

PRODUCED BY HARRY ALAN TOWERS.

MUSIC BY BRUCE NICOLAI.

STARRING CHRISTOPHER LEE, LEO GENN, MARIA ROHM, MILO QUESADA AND HOWARD VERNON.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

I loved this robust seventeenth century romp, despite its being a tiny bit of a mess. It’s not really sure whether it’s a war film, a biopic of Judge Jeffries, an erotic nudie film, a film about a witch-finder or a film about the Inquisition.

Instead, it ends up being a mish-mash of all of these things, with the flavour of five different countries to boot, thanks to the tendency of the producer, Harry Alan Towers, to involve a load of different countries in the money-gathering stage of production, thus making this movie an Anglo-American-German-Spanish-French-Italian co-production. There’s a mouthful for you. It might explain, however, why the spoken dialogue in the film switched three…

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ONLY WHEN I LAUGH. (1979-1982) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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ONLY WHEN I LAUGH. (1979-1972) WRITTEN BY ERIC CHAPPELL.

DIRECTED BY VERNON LAWRENCE AND GRAEME MUIR.

THEME MUSIC COMPOSED BY KEN JONES.

STARRING JAMES BOLAM, PETER BOWLES, CHRISTOPHER STRAULI, RICHARD WILSON AND DERRICK BRANCHE.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

I absolutely loved every second of this bitingly witty hospital comedy, filmed from the point of view of the patients, rather than that of the staff. It comprises three patients-slash-perpetual-hypochondriacs, one womanising doctor-surgeon and an Indian orderly all the way from Delhi.

The title of the show, which has a terrific theme tune, is the answer to the medical question, does it hurt? The patients squabble endlessly- and hilariously- with each other and sometimes the doctor and orderly as well, with the great questions of the day being debated over a barium enema and two pints of fresh blood, please, milkman.

James Bolam plays Roy Figgis, the sort of ‘shop steward’…

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PUBLIC ENEMY. (2016-PRESENT) A CRACKING NETFLIX CRIME DRAMA REVIEWED BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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PUBLIC ENEMY. (2016-PRESENT) A TV SERIES CURRENTLY ON NETFLIX.

STARRING STEPHANIE BLANCHOUD, JEAN-JACQUES RAUSIN, CLEMENT MANUEL, PHILIPPE JEUSETTE AND ANGELO BISON.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

Have you ever loved a television series so much that you cried when it ended? That was me, with this, lol. It was so good, so engaging and contained such flawed, believable characters that it was a pleasure to watch, and, when I got to the end of the last episode, I bawled my eyes out. I couldn’t help it. It just hit me, repeatedly, in the feels.

A Belgian French-language crime drama, it started life as a series on Belgian television, and is now on Netflix, where it totally deserves to be going down a storm. Belgium is a funny country, isn’t it? It’s kind of like France: the Sequel. They speak French there, and chocolate (pricey Belgian chocolate) comes from there, and…

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TO LOVE SOMEONE. (2007) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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TO LOVE SOMEONE. (2007)

DIRECTED BY AKE SANDGREN.

STARRING SOFIA LEDARP, JONAS KARLSSON AND ROLF LASSGARD.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

I loved this ninety-minute Swedish language film about an abused woman called Lena. She’s in her late thirties and, when her violent ex, Hannes, is sent to prison for basically battering her half to death and putting her in hospital, she builds a new life and a new relationship with a kind and decent older man called Alf.

Now, however, Hannes has been set free, after complying with the prison’s therapy programme for domestic abusers. Lena is, unsurprisingly, on edge about his upcoming release, but Alf, a fish shop owner in his early fifties who has given her a secure home with him, assures her that she will be safe and he will protect her. Lena has clearly landed on her feet with Alf, a devoted boyfriend and unstinting…

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POSSESSION. (1981) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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POSSESSION. (1981) DIRECTED BY ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI.

STARRING ISABELLE ADJANI, SAM NEILL AND HEINZ BENNENT.

‘THE CREATURE’ DESIGNED BY CARLO RAMBALDI.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

I came to this movie knowing literally nothing about it beforehand. Can you imagine the shock I got as the film played out?

I was thrilled to see the gorgeous French actress Isabelle Adjani in the lead female role. She is utterly exquisite to look at, and was superb in Werner Herzog’s film adaptation of NOSFERATU in 1979, in which she played the frail but determined and gutsy Lucy to Bruno Ganz’s Jonathan Harker.

Sam Neill of JURASSIC PARK (1993) and THE PIANO (1993) fame is quite a dish himself, and is still very good-looking in 1981 when this film was made. POSSESSION is set in Cold War-era West Berlin at the time of the infamous ‘Wall,’ about eight years before it eventually comes down.

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LAP OF HONOUR: A CAT’S TALE BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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THE LAP OF HONOUR.

BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

I prepared for our last Movie Day with extra care. Freshly popped popcorn for the two of us, but no butter or melted caramel for Minx, just the plain warm stuff. Hot chocolate for me with a marshmallow on top, and a bowl of warm milk for Minx on the floor.

The film was an old favourite, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the 2005 version with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy. I could have cheated and put on the 1995 mini-series version with Colin Firth in it that would have lasted a satisfying five hours and twenty-seven minutes, and put off the evil hour by a considerable amount, but there could be no cheating today. Our appointment was for five o’clock and that was that. We could put it off, but, ultimately, it would only make things worse.

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ANNA NICOLE SMITH: YOU DON’T KNOW ME. (2023) A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY REVIEWED BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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ANNA NICOLE SMITH: YOU DON’T KNOW ME. (2023)

A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY DIRECTED BY URSULA MACFARLANE.

STARRING ANNA NICOLE SMITH.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

The world’s press sure do love a busty, charismatic blonde, especially if she’s happy to stand and chat and pose for photos that they can sell for big bucks to the tabloid newspapers. They’re happy to showcase her- often meteoric- rise to fame via a sex tape, raunchy ad campaign, sexy film, reality TV show, successful pop record or marriage to an established celebrity, and in return…? In return, she sells her soul to them in a transaction that can often end in death, disaster, disgrace and ignominy.

Sometimes the blonde bombshell lives to fight another day, as in the case of Pamela Anderson, who seems relatively happy with her life today. Other times, as in the case of Anna Nicole Smith, the subject of the…

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DEATH SHIP. (1980) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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DEATH SHIP. (1980) DIRECTED BY ALVIN RAKOFF. STARRING GEORGE KENNEDY, RICHARD CRENNA, SALLY ANN HOWES, NICK MANCUSO, VICTORIA BURGOYNE AND SAUL RUBINEK.

REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

Wow. This ghostly horror film completely blew me away. I’d been You-Tube-ing ‘ghost ships’ and related stuff, on account of having read some really scary true-life stories about same in John Robert Colombo’s TRUE CANADIAN GHOST STORIES, an excellent book I read over Halloween. Then a clued-in FB friend recommended DEATH SHIP, and I was intrigued enough to give it a go.

It stars George Kennedy as the main character, a Captain Ashland, the captain of a cruise ship who’s on his last voyage before handing charge of the ship over to Richard Crenna’s Trevor Marshall. I love George Kennedy.

He was one of those very masculine old-school actors like Paul Newman or Steve McQueen, although I’m not sure if he was ever…

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HUNGER. (2023) A NETFLIX FILM REVIEWED BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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HUNGER. (2023) A THAI MOVIE.

DIRECTED BY SITISIRI MONGKOLSIRI.

STARRING CHUTIMON CHUENGCHAROENSUKYING AND NOPACHAI CHAIYANAM.

This Thai movie is wickedly stylish, slick and laced with a razor-sharp social commentary on the haves and the have-nots. Don’t be put off by that last fact, though. It all fits together beautifully with the action and the stunning visuals of food, food preparation and the consumption of food. In fact, if you like food, and would like a sneak peek behind the scenes of both a high-class kitchen and a bustling street food restaurant, then this is the exact movie for you.

Aoy is the movie’s heroine. She’s a beautiful young woman who works in the second scenario as laid out above, the bustling street food restaurant owned and operated by Aoy and her family. They work hard, long hours and the money isn’t great, but the food is delicious and cooked with…

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