revisited

seen or listened to before but not reviewed, this time give a review

Lost in space?

| peteswriting

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Corporeal flesh courtesy of an ever-growing alien looking for its next meal and corporate shenanigans which is sneakily inserted into the story, in this out of their depth space movie set on a commercial cargo ship — the crew which find themselves in uncharted terrain is played by Tom Skerrit, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto.

The ship is heading back to earth, unbeknown to them what will lie ahead as they make an unexpected stop off, awaiting is an alien lifeform.

Life has its unexpected twists and turns, and decisions are made for whatever reason, some have agendas to pull others in, others just tag along thinking it is business as usual. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has the instincts to know better than respond to the SOS message that will inevitably lead them to the alien (they do not know this, but the audience probably does) but no one on the crew will listen especially the creepy little scientist (Ian Holm) who Ripley is suspicious of.

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Clash?

| peteswriting
Harry Hamlin as Perseus, before L.A. Law.

* * 1/2

Greek thinking is not on my wavelength (but some would say that Westerners have been brainwashed by the Greek philosophical invasion), but the 1981 original of Clash of the Titans, itself a Greek myth and action story, is a small-medium sized blockbuster (the 2010 remake was bigger but not better) so I was reasonably happy.

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Friends

| peteswriting
Hilary (Barbara Hershey) and CC Bloom (Bette Midler)

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Beaches (1988) is about being ‘unlucky in love’ – not an apt choice to watch on this Rose Day, February 7 – nevertheless Beaches may be an alternative choice from the usual Valentine week offerings. Beaches is alternative viewing for those disillusioned by the sweet aroma of thorny roses as well as saying something interesting about—beaches.

The key characters, in Beaches, throw themselves at the men in their lives. But once CC Bloom (Bette Midler) is advancing in her acting and singing career John (John Heard) feels left behind and divorces her. You are left feeling sorry for CC. Hilary (Barbara Hershey) marries lawyer Michael Essex (James Read) but when Hilary spies on her man having an intimate moment with another woman in their house that is the end of her marriage. Poor Hilary.

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Quirky

| peteswriting

* * 1/2

The story goes that Buck Rogers (Gill Gerard), an astronaut from 1987, has been frozen for 400 years, and ends up in the 25th century. At the same time, the blue and green planet faces the arrival of a space city who claim they are on a peace mission to earth. The space city’s leader (Henry Silva) and seductive princess (Barbara Hensley) appear to be quite friendly, while a refreshed Buck wants to find out more about these new arrivals and their intentions.

No doubt that the fantasy elements of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) will appeal more to boys inclined to that sort of thing.

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Sad

| peteswriting

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Explorer slash adventurer Charles Muntz, voiced by Christopher Plumber in this Pixar animation, was in South America, (the fictional?) Paradise Falls to be precise, in his Spirit of Adventure flying machine. He brought back home the skeletal remains of a rare, tall, two-legged bird, but scientists smelt a phony and Muntz is stripped of his awards and heads back to Paradise Falls to withdraw from the world.

Years later, Carl (Ed Asner), an elderly man, finds his family home is scheduled for the property developers, but loving his home, he concocts a plan to escape, and lifts off the ground, heading for Paradise Falls, where the explorer Charles Muntz resides…

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