I Bury the Living (1958)

A creepy film though most of that atmosphere is generated an excellent soundtrack. Robert Kraft (Richard Boone) has been made chairman of the cemetery, his job mostly entailing putting pins into a map of the graves and telling the strange caretaker Andy (Theodore Bikel) what to do. However to Robert's surprise he accidentally puts black pins into the burial plots of two friends who die soon after...

More black pins are put into the map, some when sceptical friends challenge Robert, and more deaths soon follow. Robert fears it isn't just a load of coincidences and that he has become an angel of death...

A simple film mostly filmed mostly in a somewhat run-down cottage. The film is tense and works well with it's low budget. The film has a twist though it isn't one that will surprise you. The twist changes the whole direction of the film, for better or worse depending on your point of view.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1970)

No doubt as the drug induced haze of the end of the 1960s began to slowly disperse, the idea of making a vaguely psychedelic and low budget version of a fairy story must have seemed a good idea.

So of course the story is very familiar, Jack (Mitch Poulos) is tricked out of selling his cow by Honest John (Chris Brooks) for a handful of magic beans instead of money. Mum (Dorothy Stokes) is displeased at this and throws the beans out of the window... but lo... the beans suddenly become a "giant" beanstalk (a rope with a few leaves tied onto it!)

Jack climbs the beanstalk and enters a magical realm inhabited by a grumpy giant (Renato Boracherro). Jack steals the giant's golden hen, but of course this puts the giant on Jack's trail...

A strange film that looks more like a filmed school play. The fairy tale is slightly modernised and the dialogue has a touch of late 1960s modernisation. It is a bit groovy, not brilliant but certainly different.

Tiger on the Beat (1988)

Tiger on the Beat is not that original a film, a veteran cop and a rookie have some mis-matched adventures but all comes right in the end to face the big baddie. Sgt. Li (Chow Yun Fat) is the veteran, a tough cop who eats whole slices of ham in one go and always has an eye for the ladies. Officer Tso (Conan Lee) is the rookie, eager and ready to use his martial arts skills.

Obviously the pair do not get on, but Li needs Tso to help him bust a big case and get his career back on track. After a good deal of humour and traditional HK movie oddness we get down to a decent showdown with the criminals, including a chain saw fight with Gordon Liu.

A good fun film if a little messy at times. Like many HK action films it could do with a little less. Chow Yun Fat plays a great role, cool and cocky, with plenty of humour. Conan Lee pulled off some incredible action scenes.

Diamonds are Forever (1971)

For our seven hundredth review, we enter the world of 007...

The seventh James Bond film, Sean Connery returning to the role after George Lazenby made his first and only appearance in the previous film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Bond is sent to investigate a diamond smuggling ring, though of course as this is a Bond film there isn't as simple a reason for smuggling diamonds such as greed. Bond discovers that SPECTRE are using the diamonds to create a powerful orbital laser weapon. The laser is used to destroy nuclear weapons in the US, Russia and China...

Bond discovers this in his usual way, mostly wearing a dinner jacket in various nice bars and casinos. Bond befriends (and beds of course) the diamond smuggler Tiffany (Jill St. John), he also tangles with arch-nemesis Blofeld (Charles Grey). Bond also steals a moon buggy and it all ends up in a final battle on an oil rig. The usual campy and over the top 007 nonsense we love.

This was Connery's final "official" James Bond film, 1983's Never Say Never Again being not part of the Eon produced canon of course. It is a fine film which depicts the ridiculous stylised 007 spy game better than most. The title song by Shireley Bassey surely has to be one of the very best Bond themes.

Cynara (1932)

A compelling story of how an affair rips apart a "perfect" life. Jim (Ronald Colman) is a successful barrister married to Clemency (Kay Francis). Their marriage is happy though Jim's life maybe lacks a little excitement. When Clemency is away Jim meets Doris (Phyllis Barry), a young shop girl. Despite Jim's misgivings (and love for his wife) an affair with Doris begins...

But when Clemency returns home, Jim realises his mistake and tries to end his affair but of course these things cannot be ended as easily or as swiftly as they can begin.

A highly enjoyable drama. The film opens with the collapse of Jim's and Clemency's marriage, and Jim prepares to head abroad in exile after his disgrace, the affair is told in flashback. The affair is treated with shades of grey which elevates the film into something special. It is clear that Jim loved Clemency throughout and the film will tug your heart strings for sure.