Manhandled (1924)

A top draw actor can lift an otherwise average plodder of a film into something decent, as happens with this film starring Gloria Swanson as a shopgirl (Tessie) with a talent for mimicry. She manages to escape her dreary job thanks to her talent for pretending to be other people. She ends up pretending to be a snooty Russian aristocrat in order to attract customers to a posh establishment.

Tessia soon forgets about her boyfriend Jimmy (Tom Moore) but when he becomes a success himself he comes back for her and accuses her of letting herself be taken advantage of (manhandled as per the title)...

Truthfully this is a fairly forgettable comedic morality play but Swanson's comedy performance is well worth watching, especially the crowded subway train scene.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

A very clever and witty showcase for the Monty Python brand of humour (though not quite as clever as they think it is). 

King Arthur is looking for knights to join his Round Table at Camelot and then help him on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Unfortunately finding these knights isn't very easy. Finally, he does have his knights and he sets off on a quest, crossing bridges of death, fighting killer rabbits and finding a nice shrubbery...

It is all very silly of course and has a number of iconic comedy moments shown often in clips or skits, if you haven't seen this film before you probably have seen quite a lot of it already in clips and memes. It doesn't make much sense, correction it doesn't make any sense. Maybe a little more coherence would have improved the film, but 'tis but a scratch!

All the gang (John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones) are here in various roles. It's liberties with English history are rather large, as is the inventiveness.

Man With 100 Faces (1938)

A fun crime caper. A mysterious criminal, who is the master of disguise, called Crackerjack has gained notoriety. He also raises the ire a gang of US crooks led by Sculpie (Noel Madison), when he beats them to a bag of diamonds on a mid-air heist. 

Crackerjack is Jack Drake (Tom Walls) who uses his ill-gotten gains to fund charities like childrens' hospitals and also to live the high life in a posh hotel, he even writes about his exploits in a best selling book! In that hotel is his ex-beau the Baroness (Lilli Palmer) who feels that she knows who Crackerjack is...

Crackerjack foils another of the US gang's heists and, with their society backers, hatch a plot using the Baroness to lure Crackerjack to their country home hideout. However, the master of disguise is always one step ahead...

A great little film, light and breezy. A ridiculous and endearing tale of a gentleman thief and a luscious look at the high life in the late 1930s.

Target Earth (1954)

An interesting take on the 1950s "alien invasion" theme. Nora (Kathleen Crowley) awakes after an attempted overdose, she finds all her neighbours seem to have gone, in fact the whole city seems to be empty! Finally she runs into Frank (Richard Denning), who also had been out of it for some time - though in his case due to a mugging. They explore the eerie empty city, finally they hear piano music and discover Jim (Richard Reeves) and Vicki (Virginia Gray) getting hammered in a bar!

Soon after the four discover something else is stalking the streets. The US has been invaded by a mysterious army of robots from outer space. The foursome flee to a hotel and hole up there until escaped convict Davis (Robert Roark) forces them to help him facilitate his own escape from the alien robots. Meanwhile the US Army races against time to find a counter to the robots, if they don't... well they are going to nuke the city!

This is a great sci-fi film, full of suspense with it's empty streets and air of mystery. A lot of that mystery is lost though when we finally see the robots, which are ridiculously clunky. However, this film is elevated above other films in it's sub-genre by how it explores the human reactions to an alien invasion not just lots of laser gun firing. A great little film.

Blood Theatre (1984)

Quite simply one of the most baffling films ever made. Murdock (Rob-roy Fletcher) adds another movie theatre to his chain, unfortunately it is one which was the scene of a massacre on the opening night. Murdock, when he is not being bullied by his "assistant" Miss Blackwell (Mary Woronov), sends some of his employees to prepare the theatre for re-opening. Jennifer (Jenny Cunningham), Adrian (Andrew Cofrin) and Malcolm (Daniel Schafer) all encounter much weirdness, such as flying movie film canisters and Jennifer even encounters a strange old man (Jonathan Blakely) who tries to strangle her.

The deaths begin as opening night nears, including sassy employees Selena (Joanna Foxx) and Darcy (Stephanie Dillard) - which is a bit of a shame because they are probably the best part of the film. Opening night itself becomes a bit of a blood bath with various and innovative methods of execution including decapitation by a projection room shutter. Jennifer encounters the old man again, and apparently she reminds him of someone from his past...

By then you won't really care as the film makes zero sense. It is hilarious though (and intentionally) with randomness and weirdness throughout. The film includes a fake trailer for Clown Whores of Hollywood. To be honest that film would probably have made more sense. A kind of genius.