Recent viewings

Crimson Force (2005) - SciFi channel cheapie with C. Thomas Howell and Tony Amendola (Master Bra'tac from Stargate SG-1)

Bad corporate types seek unlimited power supply on Mars (the science is kinda stupid), only they don't know that there is a secret civilization living underground. Seems they sent some of their criminals to Earth aways back and they bred with Neanderthals creating the homo-sapiens. There is a rift between to factions, one wants to make nice with the humans and the other wants to destroy us.

Anyway, C.Thomas Howell for some reason to me seemed to be channelling Jim Carrey as the evil corporate toady Captain of the mission. There is a cameo by Jeff Fahey as the Howell's boss.

28 Days Later (2002) Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) Stars Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston (Dr. Who)

A group of animal rights nuts breaks into a lab to free the chimps being experimented on and unleashes a virus that turns people into raging homicidal maniacs in about 20 seconds.

A bicycle messenger named Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in the hospital 28 days after getting hit by a car to find himself evidently all alone in London. He doesn't know what's happened until he runs into a group of the 'infected' and is rescued by a pair of unifected folks.

The virus is spread through contact with body fluid and the results are instant.

This movie does have it's share of scares, but the main crux of the story is what the uninfected people are willing to do to each other to survive. Not all the gory action is shown on screen, but that doesn't keep what you think is happening from bothering you.

A good movie with a lot of symbolism. I do wonder how they manage to get all the shots of empty streets and motorways.

The Thing From Another World (1951) Directed by Christian Nyby (or Howard Hawks) Starring Kenneth Toby, Dewey Martin, James Arness

I don't have to say much about this movie, it's a classic that started a whole sub-genre in SciFi and Horror. A small group of people in an isolated place menaced by a seemingly unstoppable creature.

Based on a story by John W. Campbell the famous writer and editor of Astounding magazine, the movie changes a great deal about the nature of the creature. Given the F/X capabilities of the time they would have had a hard time replicating the creature from the story. James Arness does a good turn as the Thing (what little we see of him).

There has always been a controversy over who actually directed the movie. James Arness says Nyby did, Tobey and Martin say Hawks did it all. Nyby himself, said jokingly that Hawks did allow him on the set a couple of times. Hawks is said to have let Nyby have the credit so he could get his directors guild card. Whoever directed it, it is studded with Hawks directorial touches.

Another theory is that Hawks didn't want to tarnish his career by letting it be known he directed a Science Fiction movie. Remember SciFi was looked upon as being for children at the time.

Whatever happened, the result is one of the great gems of the genre and when I saw it on TCM's schedule I had to watch.