Battle Taxi (1955)

A decent film about the Korean War.

Stacy (Arthur Franz) is a helicopter pilot in the US air-sea rescue force, saving injured men and downed pilots from the brutal Communists. However, Stacy was an ex-fighter pilot jock and feels frustrated he isn't blasting around at the speed of sound. His daredevil attitude brings him into conflict with his commanding officer Edwards (Sterling Hayden).

Things come to a head when Stacy is injured himself while rescuing a pilot. With the Communists closing in, Stacy has to rely on Edwards to save him...

Not a bad film at all, though padded out with a lot of USAF stock footage (not a bad thing if you like your Sabres and Shooting Stars). The focus on the air-sea rescue force is an interesting one and gives the film a bit of novelty. 

Live and Let Die (1973)

Roger Moore makes his debut as Bond in this bonkers epic of voodoo, the occult and flares.

Bond has gone to New York to investigate why various agents have been bumped off and by whom. He heads to Harlem and stands out like a sore thumb but knows drug lord Mr Big has some connection, as well as a link to Dr Karenga (Yaphet Kotto), the head of a tiny corrupt Caribbean country. Karenga's island is a centre for the voodoo cult led by Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), Karenga though gets his advice from the tarot card reader Solitaire (Jane Seymour) - though naturally her powers are diminished after Bond has had his way with her...

This is Bond goes blaxploitation and its terrific. The suave bow ties and tuxedoes of the 1960s have been replaced by flares and pimpmobiles. It is all complete nonsense of course but has some of the most stand-out stunts and action scenes in Bond history. It has an excellent henchman for Karenga in the shape of Tee Hee (Julius W Harris) with his metal arm...

The film also has a soundtrack by Wings, what is not to like about this film? One of the best in the series.

Cavalry (1936)

An interesting Western set just after the American Civil War.

The South has has lost the war. After his home is burnt down by bandits, Confederate Colonel Harvey (Earle Ross) and his niece Betty Lee (Frances Grant) head West as they assume Betty Lee's father General Harvey (William Welsh) is dead. 

However, the General is merely wounded and saved by Union officer Thorne (Bob Steele) and then promises to find the General's family. He is heading West anyway to protect a new telegraph line. Bad guy Leeds (Hal Price) wants to form his own nation out West and doesn't want the line, or anyone coming from out East. Harvey and Betty Lee are soon under attack by Indians recruited by Leeds...

A decent B-movie Western, the action is nothing too special but the Civil War setting gives the storyline a bit of novelty and depth.

Fate is the Hunter (1964)

A film with surprising depth and heart.

An airliner crashes shortly after take-off with a near complete loss of life. With no technical reason for the crash detected, suspicion falls on the pilot Jack Savage (Rod Taylor) who had a bit of a reputation and was spotted in bars the night before. 

His old war buddy Sam (Glenn Ford) is investigating the crash and doesn't believe Jack was to blame, as he unravels Jack's complicated life, he discovers more and more surprising facts about his friend.

This is a film that surprises you, it starts with a tense air crash and then develops in unexpected ways, with wartime flashbacks helping to reveal more and more about Jack's life. A very well constructed story with superb performances and multi-dimensional characters.

The Adventures of the Masked Phantom (1939)

A rather poor if unintentionally funny Western.

The Barton gold mine is being used to launder gangster gold bullion. When Barton (Matty Kemp) discovers the nefarious scheme of the foreman Murdock (George Douglas) he threatens to go to the law, though obviously a foolish move as  Murdock and his gang make him their prisoner. 

Meanwhile, Alamo (Monte Rawlins) hears the tale of the Masked Phantom and becomes that Phantom to fight Murdock's gang and rescue Barton...

This isn't a good film by any means, being rather shoddy and cheaply made. However, it is funny at times (if not always intentionally) and has some charm, plus some reasonable Western tunes. Boots the wonder dog is the real star of the show of course.

Chopping Mall (1986)

A simple but effective horror film, perfect if seeing a killer robot wipe out annoying young people is your thing.

A shopping centre has deployed a number of rather sinister looking robot sentries to guard the centre at night. The manufacturers of course reassure people that nothing can go wrong but we all know something will. A lightning strike on the central computer turns the sentries into homicidal maniacs.

Meanwhile a group of young shop workers are having an after hours party. As they have fun including lots of sex they are unaware the robots are on the way. Soon the group, led by Alison (Kelli Maroney), Ferdy (Tony O'Dell) and Rick (Russell Todd) are having to fight for their lives as the robots pretty unstoppable...

A highly enjoyable film. The human characters are probably as annoying as the robots are sinister with their red wrap around vision and arsenal of weapons (including laser cannons for some reason). The plot is pretty straight forward but the thrills are well delivered with some impressive horror high-spots. The title is great as well.

The Shanghai Cobra (1945)

A reasonable though oddly at times somewhat sombre entry in the Charlie Chan series.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is called in to help investigate a mysterious murder caused by cobra venom. Chan links the crime to a similar murder which took place in Shanghai a few years before. The suspect had escaped that time so maybe this new crime was caused by the same man. A nearby bank where a fortune in radium is held is linked to the crime and this mysterious murderer who is known only by his name not his appearance...

This is a decent crime drama with some interesting twists. However, some of the actors including Toler seem a bit down in the dumps at times which robs the film of some energy, though we do get a couple of excellent examples of Charlie Chan's cod-Chinese philosophy. Benson Fong plays Chan's son this time and Mantan Moreland is also on hand with his usual comedy antics.

Interestingly a telephone jukebox is a major plot point in this film, as it was in the film X Marks the Spot. Though in the case of the Shanghai Cobra the jukebox is augmented by the new technology of closed circuit television...