Attack from Space (1965)

A hilarious compilation of two Japanese sci-fi TV serials. Starman (Ken Utsui) in his rather unflattering outfit is sent to Earth to warn them of the evil Sappharians and their plans to conquer Earth and/or the Universe. Meanwhile Dr Yamanaka (Hiroshi Hayashi) has built a spaceship but before he can use it he is captured (along with his children) by Sappharian agents.

The prisoners are taken to the Sappharian super secret base. Starman seems to end up in flames after being blown up by missiles, then various sites on Earth are blown up. Can Starman make a dramatic entrance to save the Earth?

As with all condensed versions of serials the storyline is rather confusing and disjointed with the frequent cliff hangers. The Sappharians, who are rather Nazi like even down to the salute, are rather useless. In one ridiculous scene a whole bunch of them are defeated by a teenage girl. 

Starman fights and defeats an entire army of the bad guys in what must be one of the longest single fight scenes in history. Campy nonsense for sure but a lot of fun.

The Mighty Peking Man (1977)

A superbly weird film just as you imagine the HK version of King Kong would be. Johnny Fang (Danny Lee) heads to the Himalayas to track down the mythical Peking Man or Utam, some sort of gigantic (although the size seems to vary between scenes) monstrous ape. Finally he discovers the creature but he is about to be crushed by it... until the arrival of a female Tarzan called Samantha (Evelyne Kraft) who was lost as a child in a plane crash in the Himalayas and bought up by Utam in the ..er.. jungles of the Himalayas.

Samantha falls for Johnny and he persuades her to bring Utam to HK so the whole world can see him. Utam ends up in a show but you just know it will end up badly...

An epic in monster mayhem, the destroyed buildings are so obviously models but the action scenes are tremendous set pieces. Samantha is a terrifically strange character, the fact she seems to hate wearing clothes adds to the sheer camp of much of the film. However amid the camp there is a lot of darkness in this film, Utam dies with honour, many of the humans die after being crushed by his giant feet. In fact Samantha (and maybe Johnny) apart, the humans in this film act terribly.

Tarzan of the Apes (1918)

The very first Tarzan film made only six years after the original novel was published, Edgar Rice Burroughs being an adviser on set. The story is of course very familiar and this version is very close to the novel. After Lord & Lady Greystoke's are marooned off their ship by mutineers and later perish their young son is bought up by Kala the ape as her own. Tarzan (Gordon Griffith) grows to a young man (Elmo Lincoln) and becomes the king of the apes.

Meanwhile reports of this strange white man who rules the apes has reached England and an expedition sets out to find him. Tarzan avenges the death of Kala and later romances Jane (Enid Markey)...

Elmo Lincoln was pretty imposing physically though didn't look much like he'd spent his life swinging between trees and fighting wild animals. This is an impressive film and a good version of Tarzan though especially considering how early it was made.

Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1976)

Crafty chappy cockney sexcapades with taxi driver Joe (Barry Evans) who's life revolves around birds, bonking and avoiding his fiance Carol (Adrienne Posta). He leaves home, his battleaxe mum (Diana Dors) and annoying half-siblings, and moves in with a stripper called Nikki (Judy Gleason) and her pet python (of course)...

That is it really, the film is more of less just a sequence of quite amusing and often fairly erotic adventures for Joe. Some of the adventures are ridiculous but genuinely funny, such as when Joe has to take a nun on a fare but he hasn't got any clothes on... after his previous adventure with a married woman (of course).

It is all a load of low-rent and predictable nonsense, with 70s stereotypes and misogyny galore. The nostalgia of 1970s London and all it's associated grime and sleaze makes the film highly enjoyable and very watchable, as does appearances from the likes of Robert Lindsay, Ian Lavender and Stephen Lewis. It is crap but a particular kind of British crap, so I loved it.

A Star Is Born (1937)

A story told many times, a young hopeful from humble beginnings comes to Hollywood to try and become a star. However this was one of the earliest and also one of the better versions of that tale. Esther (Janet Gaynor) leaves her honest rural home with a starry eyed dream in her heart - and more usefully a handful of dollars from granny. Esther finds it virtually impossible to get any work though...

Then she meets movie star Norman (Fredric March) at a party. Norman marries Esther and helps her get into the movies. But Norman's losing battle with the bottle is taking his career on a downwards trajectory just as Esther's is moving up...

A lovely film in Technicolor, the inner workings of Hollywood and the wonder of the magical place are so well portrayed. As is the darker under belly. For every realised dream there were a thousand broken hearts. Like in so much of life.