Round Numbers (1992)

A strange little drama set in the diet industry, insert weight loss related pun here.

Judith (Kate Mulgrew) suspects her husband is cheating on her with a model (Hope Marie Carlton) at the local health spa. She decides to go to the spa and see what is going on, confront the model and gain some revenge. However, she finds the spa a bizarre cult-like organisation packed full of strange characters and an endless and unfulfilled desire to be "better" by the inmates. Judith's desire for revenge changes to something else...

A satire on the obsession with the body beautiful though you may find this film rather slim pickings. It is a pleasant enough watch, though the social commentary is rather skin deep and could have done with some bulking up. 

If you are a fan of Kate Mulgrew you will enjoy seeing her in this Earth bound film though others may need to weigh up whether this film is for them or not.

Murder in Greenwich Village (1937)

A rather messy and confusing murder mystery.

Advertising photographer Steve Jackson (Richard Arlen) spies a young woman in her underwear jumping off a fire escape. The woman, Kay (Fay Wray) is a heiress, who accepts Steve's help though won't say much about what she was doing. 

Later on it transpires that an artist in the apartment Kay was seen escaping from is found dead. While the police are sniffing around Steve and Kay pretend they are engaged (despite a more hate-hate than love-hate relationship). Meanwhile the brother of the dead artist, Morgan (Marc Lawrence), a gangster, is also looking for the murderer of his brother, and he doesn't intend to take any prisoners...

So, this sounds like a promising murder / crime drama. Unfortunately it is not, the film is stuffed full of eccentric characters and is more comedy than crime drama. The actual crime indeed does not seem to be that important for most of the film! The film is watchable though frustrating.

It (1927)

The film that turned Clara Bow into a superstar and created the concept of the "It girl", but is it any good?

What is "It"? A concept beyond beauty, a quality that draws people to them, a charisma that people find irresistible. 

Shop girl Betty (Bow) has a crush on her handsome boss Cyrus (Antonio Moreno). Unfortunately Cyrus is engaged to Adela (Jacqueline Gadson) who is in his social class while Betty is not of course. Betty finally gets Cyrus to take her on a date, to the joys of Coney Island! Cyrus falls in love with Betty (who has It!) but circumstances throw some hefty obstacles in the way of true love...

So, an important film and it is indeed very enjoyable, after all Clara Bow was the It girl and had a magnetic quality on screen. The story is light and fast paced, the comedy is fine if a little too cute at times. Without Clara the film probably wouldn't have worked quite as well but thats why some are stars and most are not.

The Wizard of Mars (1965)

A rather plodding science-fiction tale, saved by some lovely visuals.

Steve (Roger Gentry) is leading a mission to Mars. The mission runs into trouble when it reaches the red planet and crashes. The crew of four are stuck on the planet and only have a few days oxygen supply left. They find Mars barren except for a few bizarre monsters. 

Finally, they find a cavern inhabited by a Martian collective conscienceness in the form of the Martian Wizard (John Carradine)...

The film is all rather slow though pretty atmospheric. This isn't a standard 1960s science-fiction film, indeed it is all rather psychedelic and at times pretty inventive though it is also a bit dull. Not a great deal happens and the characters are rather annoying. It isn't great and unfortunately isn't terrible enough to be truly entertaining!

The City (1977)

A basic but enjoyable crime drama starring two actors who would soon be huge names.

Troubled youth Eugene (Mark Hamill) snaps after receiving a letter and commits the first of a number of murders and attempted murders. This sets him off on a hunt for country music star Wes Collins (Jimmy Dean) whom Eugene thinks is his father (as the letter tells him, not actually true), and who battered him as a baby (this bit is actually true!) Hunting for Eugene are detectives Lewis (Robert Forester) and Scott (Don Johnson). The hunt is personal for Lewis as Eugene's second kill was Lewis' partner Burt (Paul Cavonis)...

The plot of this TV movie is fairly straight forward, as the identity of the felon is known early on so it is a man hunt rather than a detective film. It is well structured and paced (basically feels a feature length episode of a detective TV show) and keeps your interest having plenty of action. This film was released a few months before another Mark Hamill film that did quite well at the box office, Star Wars...

The Wall Street Mystery (1931)

Part of the Carr & Crabtree crime series, and a very decent little tale in less than twenty minutes!

Two stock brokers are found dead in their office. Inspector Carr (John Hamilton) and his friend Dr Crabtree (Donald Meek) investigate, deducing that the crime in a double murder not murder-suicide. There are two suspects, Dorothy Paige (Frances Dale) and Martin Hill (Hobart Cavanaugh), whom Carr suspects is the culprit mostly by shouting at everyone.

Dr Crabtree has a more cerebral approach and we see a nice bit of detective work, this culminates in the murders being solved, and there is a rather nice twist here.

One of the better entries in the series of crime short features, this has a nice straight forward story that has room to breathe even in the reduced running time.

Touch and Die (1992)

A complicated if not very exciting thriller.

Frank Magenta (Martin Sheen) is a investigative reporter who is looking into the candidacy of presidential hopeful Scanzano (David Birney). Scanzano is doing well in the polls but is running out of money. 

Magenta discovers that stolen plutonium is being used to raise funds for the campaign, a deadly conspiracy which leaves a trail of dead bodies behind (some due to radiation poisoning and other quicker methods). Magenta and his family including his daughter Emma (Renée Estevez) are also in the firing line...

This is a long drawn out TV movie and could have done with some editing. The story is fine and certainly well travelled taking in Rome, Paris, NY and ..er.. Africa. The story is interesting but too long winded to maintain much level of excitement.