In 1988 Killer Klowns From Outer-Space cost two million dollars (about ten million dollars in today’s terms – or £12.58 given the current exchange rate). Martin McGrath discovers that the amount of money wasted is the both the funniest and scariest things about the film.
Crossworlds is the story of a young man who discovers that his father came from another dimension and that he is the key to mysterious crystal that could end a war. It may well be the most exciting science fiction film ever made. I mean it might be. I couldn’t actually tell you.
20 Million Miles From Earth (1957) would be just one more instantly forgettable 50s b-movie if it wasn’t for the wonderfully engaging model work of special effects genius, Harry Harryhausen.
Television drama rarely specialises in big ideas. Amongst the comfortably circumscribed crises that litter soaps, medical dramas and police procedurals there is little room for questions about religion, identity or politics.
The real strength of the current incarnation of Battlestar Galactica (BSG) has been its ability to use its futuristic setting and the basic conflict humans and machines to place its characters in realistic, morally complex and ethically challenging situations. Its great achievement has been to create a set of multi-faceted characters who retain the audience’s […]
For the first time, watching In The Shadow Of The Moon, I came to understand why some people are so convinced that the Apollo landings were a giant hoax. Looking back on it from our more fearful times the whole Apollo project seems like an impossible dream. We have moved so far from the mindset […]
In a recent review of Heroes in The Times, Kevin Maher argued that it was a sign of the fundamental decline of American politics that superheroes were being used to address serious political issues. Can superheroes do politics? Does the very act of dressing serious issues in spandex and transplanting them into an artform that […]
One of the most common criticisms I’ve heard levelled against The Science of Sleep is that it is a “slight” film – that in it simplicity, wit and even innocence, somehow Michel Gondry’s new film fails to be serious enough. It isn’t intellectual. It isn’t grown-up.
I have a feeling that if I knew anything at all about the Mayan people that I would probably be deeply, deeply annoyed by Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto. It has the feeling of authenticity – from the idyllic jungle village to the fantastically realised city through to the subtitled language – there has been a great […]
Pan’s Labyrinth is a visually stunning film. The extraordinary imaginations of director del Toro and cinematographer Navarro have created a truly spectacular fantasy land full of images that will live with the viewer long after they have left the cinema. But there is far more on offer here than eye candy. As well as being […]