The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

For the one hundredth review on this blog one of my all time favourite films... 

Buckaroo Banzai is a very strange film. It is a science-fiction comedy involving a team called the Hong Kong Cavaliers (who are a mixture of advanced technology engineers, special forces and rock stars of course) led by Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller).

Banzai is our hero and what an incredible hero he is too. He is a test pilot, rock star and brain surgeon. He is such an icon they even make comic books about him. How on Earth does he find the time?

Red Lectroids from the Eighth Dimension, rather unpleasant aliens led by John Lithgow, became marooned on our world in the 1930s. Now they plan to steal Banzai's technology to return to their own dimension. The only problem with that is, their enemies the Black Lectroids don't want them back and threaten Earth with nuclear war if Banzai doesn't stop them!

The result is an amazing meander from strange sci-fi situation to situation, drenched in 1980s weirdness and sarcasm. The film is chaotic, various plot threads appear out of nowhere and then don't develop. Sometimes you wonder if you are watching a film or a very long 1980s pop video. The film is chock full of weirdness and randomness. The likes of Jeff Goldblum dress as a cowboy for no apparent reason. You have aliens who sound like rastas. There is also plenty of lampooning of the US state. So what does it all mean? I couldn't really tell you. I've seen this film dozens of times, each time I discover something else I missed but it often still doesn't make much sense.

But that's why I love this film and have no hesitation in proclaiming this one of the best movies ever made. Now that is a controversial statement to make of course but this is my review and I can make it!

Mr Wong, Detective (1938)

The first of a series of films on the Chinese detective Mr Wong starring the somewhat non-Chinese Boris Karloff. Mr Wong investigates the murder of the owner of a chemical company who has been apparently killed by poison gas. Grant Withers plays the police chief who blunders all over the place until Mr Wong solves the case for him.

Although a pretty low-budget affair this is a highly entertaining detective film. There are quite a few twists and the crimes are quite ingenious.

Karloff's Mr Wong is an interesting character, lets just say there are quite a few old stereotypes on show.

Alice in Wonderland (1903)

Lewis Carroll's classic story has been made into a film many times but this is the first and is a very impressive piece of early cinema, restored by the BFI. Starring May Clark as Alice, she follows a large rabbit down a rabbit hole and... well I'm sure everyone knows the story.

The use of special effects, especially when Alice shrinks and grows to full size again is very impressive. It was, at the time in 1903, the longest film yet made in the UK.

The film has a real charm about it (especially the army of children as playing cards), portraying the somewhat trippy tale with the right amount of dreaminess.

The Black Abbot (1934)

The Black Abbot is a highly enjoyable quota quickie. As it is a film of that type then of course it was rather cheaply made and sometimes a bit rushed in the case of this crime drama it makes it all the more enjoyable.

A criminal gang use the legend of a ghost in the home of stately home of John Hillcrist (Farren Soutar) to lure him into a position where they can kidnap him for ransom.

Assisted by an American detective who just happens to be on holiday over here (Ben Welden) the plan is to pretend to pay the ransom then catch the gang in the act. However suspicion falls on Frank Brooks (John Stuart), the fiance of Hillcrist's daughter Sylvia (Judy Kelly), is he really behind the plot and was he just with Sylvia to arrange the terrible crime? As the hilarious toff Lord Jerry (Richard Cooper) might say, "What a rotter!"

It is a fun little film, light hearted and silly rather than dark and menacing. The tiny budget means that most of the action takes place in just a couple of different scenes and action is saved in favour of talking most of the time. It doesn't detract from the film in this case.

Action Stations (1959)

Quite a bizarre little (indeed it is rather short) film where random action is soundtracked by what sounds like a hammond organ. The story involves the daughter of a top forger being on the run from the bad guys and helped by a couple of smugglers (including Paul Carpenter) with a heart of gold.

If the story sounds reasonable the execution is hilariously bad and very low budget. The dialogue seems to have been dubbed post-production, unfortunately at times it seems like the actors were given a different script to the dubbers. Then there is the sheer randomness of some of the scenes, including a strange man on a bicycle. A very odd and confusing film, unfortunately not in a good way. The organ music is good though.