MogwaiMovieReviews

There hadn't been a science fiction film to follow up the philosophical questions thrown up about man's place in a universe of strange female creatures since Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey back in 1967, but then, all of a sudden and unannounced, in 1992 came this addition to the cosmological conversation, and it has been the benchmark to beat ever since, though no-one has yet been able to.

Technically, it is flawless, and it's amazing that over thirty years later the special effects still stand up and convince as well as they do, though they never eclipse the storytelling, which is as it should be.

Like Star Trek before it, GNFOS offers a vision of our future that is visionary, progressive and aspirational, and one that, Lord of The Brown Rings willing, we will survive long enough to one day make a reality.

Eerie supernatural tale, once considered Mexico's greatest film, and one that still holds up very well today, though it's hard to find a good quality copy of it. The story revolves around the poor and hungry woodcutter Macario who, on the Day of The Dead, does a favor for death and so is granted a healing gift that brings him wealth and prestige. But, of course, it was never going to be as simple and easy as that, and no such gifts come without consequences and costs.

The film feels very much like an ancient fable placed unaltered onscreen; a sort of cross between Bergman's Virgin Spring and The Singing Ringing Tree. There are some colorized versions going around, but this is one that really needs to be seen in black & white.

One of my favourite ever comedy shows; a preposterously bad fictional sci-fi horror hospital soap opera from the 1980s, intercut with modern day commentary from the alleged actors and producers today, all in character. The whole multilayered ludicrosity supposedly springs from the mind of the megalomaniacal control freak horror author Garth Marenghi, a very, very, very cut-price Clive Barker or Stephen King. The cast, including Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry, were never better, and I think Berry's Dr Sanchez may well be my favourite comedy character ever. The boys from The Mighty Boosh also make appearances.

Some people I know really just don't get it at all, and I've never been able to grasp why, but if you are able to find Alan Partridge, Police Squad and anything with David Hasselhoff in it equally hilarious, I see no lawful reason why you should not also take this to your heart.