Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)

The first big screen outing for Dr Who, though in this carnation he seems to be merely an eccentric human inventor rather than a Timelord. Dr Who (Peter Cushing) has developed a time and space machine called the TARDIS. He is showing this to his grand-daughter's new boyfriend Ian (Roy Castle) when they - along with Barbara (Jennie Linden) and Susan (Roberta Tovey) are accidentally sent to another time and space... to a desolate planet.

Amid the desolation they discover a city... inhabited by cruel machines called Daleks. The Daleks hold a vital part of the TARDIS which means Dr Who and company can't escape. They encounter the Thals led by Alydon (Barry Ingham) and team up to defeat the Daleks and save what is left of the Thals' world...

An enjoyable science-fiction romp, unfortunately a little comedy was added to lighten the tone (not that it really needed it and this usually falls quite flat). As a straight forward Dr Who adventure it works pretty well, lacking much of the wit of the canon Dr Who but retaining some of the awe and fun and the slightly larger budget helps of course. 

Breaker! Breaker! (1977)

Chuck Norris fighting a bunch of in-bred hicks. Young trucker Billy (Michael Augenstein) ends up in a one horse town hilariously called Texas City, California. He is fitted up with various crimes by the drunk judge Trimmings (George Murdock) and beaten up by his pet corrupt cops Strode (Don Gentry) and Boles (Ron Cedillos). Billy's big brother J.D. (Norris) comes looking for him. He immediately gets into trouble with moonshine runners, who apparently have the blessing of the Trimmings regime.

Indeed the whole town is in on the scheme, except for Arlene (Terry O'Connor), but J.D. has little trouble in beating up the cops and the town's menfolk with his martial arts skills. However, the tricky rednecks finally capture J.D. but Arlene manages to call on other truckers using CB radio and they end up wrecking the town!

A silly film which is unintentionally hilarious, the lazy sterotypes are laid on a mile thick. Chuck Norris despatches various dudes with bad facial hair over a banjo soundtrack. It is equally terrible and brilliant.

Saps at Sea (1940)

Some consider this the last good Stan Laurel and Olivier Hardy film (the last for Hal Roach) though if truth be told their powers were already on the decline. 

Ollie suffers a nervous breakdown while working at a horn factory, the sound of horns driving him into a frenzy. He is told to seek sea air but he resists, but after Stan semi-demolishes their apartment, Ollie decides that maybe he does need to get on a boat after all...

Meanwhile, tough escaped con Nick (Richard Cramer) is looking for a place to hide. He chooses Stan and Ollie's boat... which gets cut loose from the dock thanks to a hungry goat and heads out to sea. Faced with the menacing Nick, Stan and Ollie concoct a plan to knock him out by making him eat a meal of string, fly paper and sponge...

Although not the best Laurel and Hardy film it is still very good, with the usual facial expressions and slapstick destructions. There isn't quite the energy and freshness of their earlier work due to age and worsening health and some of the comedy situations are stretched a little too far. Enough of the magic remains to make this very worthwhile though. This was also the last film by well-known silent movie star Ben Turpin.

Vital Signs (1986)

A TV movie dealing with addition. Top surgeon Matthew Hayward (Edward Asner) has two problems, he is an alcoholic and what makes it even worse is that he will not admit it. His son (Gary Cole) arrives to work in his father's hospital, he tries to get his father to address his problems but the son has an addiction problem of his own, he steals morphine and other drugs for his own needs. This affects his mood and his relationship with his wife Kristi (Kate McNeil).

Kristi's relationship with her in-laws is also strained, as she also wants the alcoholism addressed. When she witnesses her father-in-law drunk driving and nearly kill a kid she demands some action and the son confronts his father in a fishing boat to no avail. But the family slowly falls apart...

A fair melodrama and has a powerful message, which is laid on thick. Well structured and perfectly watchable.

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)

Warner Oland's last outing as Charlie Chan (and indeed his last film). Charlie Chan and Lee (Keye Luke) - the Number One Son - are in Monaco. They get involved in a murder investigation and a complicated plot involving rival financiers, bonds, blackmail and expensive women. 

The local police chief Joubert (Harold Huber) enlists Chan's help after the murder of a courier carrying bonds, which is just as well as he is pretty hapless otherwise. The bonds are owned by Karnoff (Sidney Blackmer), who has a bitter rival in Savarin (Edward Raquello). 

Karnoff's wife (Kay Linaker) meanwhile, is being blackmailed by the bartender Rogers (George Lynn) who indeed has had some of Karnoff's bonds. When Rogers winds up dead too, could Karnoff be the culprit or is it Karnoff's assistant Gordon (Robert Kent), who is mixed up with Savarin's female acquaintance Evelyn (Virginia Field)...

This is classic Charlie Chan fare. A complicated crime, the usual semi-comedic antics from the son, and cod-Chinese philosophy. Charlie Chan discovers the only clue that can uncover the true culprit. The Monte Carlo setting adds a bit of extra glamour to a wonderful little film.