Lima

The first episodes were slightly above average, but over time it turned out to be an affair to which it’s not difficult to develop an addiction. There’s simply no other series as good, with such a sophisticated psychology and at the same time so masterfully strumming the dark side of the human soul. Review of the final season: it should be said that this is the weakest season. The screenplay is clueless, clumsy, with nonsensical random situations, with even more nonsensical plot twists, and with a logic that has more holes than a Swiss cheese. But then came the final episode, which at least partially corrected the dull impression, when the resolution of Dexter's and Debra's fate got a fantastically emotional charge and was the most logical and only right one (although if I were in the creators' shoes, I would’ve been even more uncompromising). It's admirable how believable the psychological development of Dexter was throughout the series, which has maintained (with some rare exceptions) a continuous quality that many competing TV series could only envy.

Poster tagline: THEY WERE LOOKING FOR CHICKS….TO GO ALL THE WAY!! The film contains only one interesting idea, when one of the Martians tells the visitors of the Earth observatory about Mars (after the explanatory tape breaks), without them knowing who they are dealing with. Otherwise, it's completely useless and boring, despite a premise (Martians come to find human females to breed) that had the potential to be promisingly developed, but unfortunately that was beyond Larry Buchanan's strength. The sci-fi props are almost entirely absent, the Martians only flicker about in unintentionally comical outfits with antennae for a few minutes, otherwise they parade around Earth in pressed suits, and the search itself is a constant stream of frozen glances at potential victims, or glances directly into the camera that substitute for hypnosis. The first half-hour is filled with an overabundance of documentary footage of terrestrial military equipment, borrowed from TV archives somewhere, and two generals, a.k.a. actors, who clearly don't know what they're supposed to be playing. The film isn't offensively stupid, or even entertainingly cheesy, unfortunately, it's just so terribly sluggish and slow that even the merciful 80 minutes are a trial of the viewer's patience.

Jaden Smith is a supremely unlikeable brat who happens to have a charismatic dad who’s burying him a successful career by pushing him hard into production and acting. And the film itself? An embezzlement of a 130 million budget, though better than Shayamalan's last three flicks, but that’s nothing to be proud of.

Poster tagline: A DEAD MAN’S BRAIN IN A HIDDEN LABORATORY TOLD HIM TO KILL! KILL! KILL! THE HANDS BELONGED TO THE HUSBAND, BUT THE BRAIN BELONGED TO A MAN NO LONGER ALIVE!!! As usual, the advertising exaggerated, but it wasn’t that bad really. The premise, a brain removed from a dead patient, placed in an aquarium it gradually grows, luminesces and controls the mind of the protagonist, is appropriately pulpy, but it's nothing to scoff at; this is a very professional piece of work. The filmmakers make do with two rooms for more than half of the runtime, but it's still quite a pleasure to watch, thanks to the great performances of the central trio of actors and the focused direction. The atmosphere gradually thickens properly into slightly horror-like, perhaps a bit disappointing only at the very end, when one would have expected a more intense build-up. The main character, a kind of "Jekyll and Hyde" in one, thanks to the goofy idea of a brain controlling him, could tempt unwanted self-parody, but the great Lew Ayres handles it with honor, his transformation is believable and the reactions to his behaviour by the other actors are adequately played. I really have nothing to complain about.

Poster tagline: THE BOMB CHANGED HIM AND HE WANTED TO KILL!!! Ever since I read about the making of this legendary film and then watched it, I feel that Coleman Francis really wanted with all his heart to make a proper adventure flick where a man mutated into a beast by an atomic bomb runs around the countryside killing, with government agents searching for a mysterious briefcase, trained killers with sniper rifles firing at a poor victim from a plane, and two little boys lost in the countryside and in mortal danger!!! Huh. The ambition is commendable, but the result, thanks to Francis's total lack of filmmaking talent and skill, is exemplarily inept, a massive 50-minute piece of chaos. Scenes don't follow each other, the camera work is terrible, often taking in the sunlight with actors out of the picture, so it's not clear what they are doing. Tor Johnson runs confusedly around the landscape for the whole film, and everyone is confused, so many times it is obvious that they don't even know what they're supposed to be playing, and Francis uses his own voiceover to explain what's happening on screen (!). Yet the premise is beautifully B-movie, if a more capable filmmaker had taken it on, it could have been a classy flick (I can imagine a version by Robert Rodriguez, it would have been awesome!). I’m not giving it a Boo! rating out of pity, out of my innate sympathy for the outsiders who wanted so much and so badly, but it just wasn't meant to be – like Coleman Francis.

Smarter than most viewers are willing to admit. Rogen's humor goes over the edge many times, but who can be mad when it's done in such a self-deprecating and ironic way. The studio execs must have freaked out at the test screening, which makes me wish Rogen and his crew all the more for the commercial success they've had overseas. Deservedly so, it’s probably the most sincere A-film to come out of the "dream factory" in years.

Poster tagline: THEY WERE ALL A MAN DESIRED! BEAUTIFUL – KISSABLE – LOVABLE! BUT DEADLIER THAN A BLACK WIDOW SPIDER!!! This is one of those films that it’s better to read how it was made than actually watch it. Ed Wood Jr. was not the biggest hack of his time, he merely acquired the status of the most famous in later years, and the director of this piece would give him a serious run for his money. It was originally supposed to be a horror film with a killer spider named "Tarantula" (the same name as Jack Arnold's classic), but the result was so gruesome that a new director was hired, Ron Ormond, who cut out a lot and added midgets, wild dancers and a mad scientist. It's a wonder what a terrible product was made, because the rest of the crew was certainly not to be sniffed at. The cinematographer was an Oscar winner for Munrau's classic Sunrise, the absolutely awful soundtrack (a cartwheeling guitar motif, that will burn a hole in your brain after five minutes) was the work of the author of the catchy theme song for the then popular TV series The Flintstones, one of the actors would later go on to be the screenwriter of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry series, etc. The film lacks logic, the scenes do not follow each other, the plush giant spider on wires, the main attraction on the posters, only appears for a few seconds, and the last half hour is absolutely unbearable, with actors just wandering around the studio forest in total darkness, so you can't see anything, and a brief shot of the face of one of the "evil" midgets repeated about ten times. I don’t give many Boo! ratings, but I couldn’t resist here.

Poster tagline: FANTASTIC! FEARSOME! THE INCREDIBLE SPACE BRAIN INVADES A HUMAN BODY WITH ITS DESTRUCTIVE EVIL POWER! Nathan Juran was a contradictory filmmaker. He could be skillful when he wanted, as evidenced by his collaboration with special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, with whom he made proficient films, but when he was given an assignment, he didn’t enjoy it very much and would do it half-assed. This film is one of those, and the lack of budget is a beauty to behold. Juran made do with one house, a cave in Bronson Canyon near Los Angeles (where many low-budget films were shot, including the legendary Robot Monster) and one room where all the "threats to humanity" take place. The script is appropriate to the nature of the genre of the time: the protagonist, an atomic scientist, is attacked by an "evil" alien in the form of a floating brain with glowing pupils (transparent front projection) that possesses him by mental control, turning him into a sexually aggressive "brute" with a lust for power and control of the universe (lol), he then destroys two transport planes and triggers an atomic explosion (the famous footage of an atomic test used in many films of the time). Then there’s the "good" alien, also a flying brain, who, with the help of the scientist's sweetheart, tries to stop his colleague’s plans. You cannot judge it through the lens of today's times, otherwise you'd have to tear the remains of your hair out from the naivety and slight stupidity, but the hour is quite survivable, thanks to the charismatic acting of then B-movie star John Agar, and also due to the fact that Juran almost completely abandoned the overuse of blatant rear projections. It's the kind of inoffensive crap that fits right in with the times.

Poster tagline: FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL IT CAME!!! TO HOLD ALL MEN PRISONER AND EVERY WOMAN A SLAVE!!! The monster-horror films of the 1950s and 60s are overwhelmingly similar in concept: something or someone hideous is awakened by something (more often than not, radioactivity, electricity or natural disaster) and a young, likeable bachelor tries to stop it, together with a professor and his young, charming daughter. Then the young guy and the daughter fall in love with each other, the monster abducts her, etc., etc. This is pretty much what happens here. What works in favour of this quite likeable horror film is the fact that it was shot entirely on location (after all, a nice pine forest creates a better atmosphere than a studio with a rear projection and a couple of artificial trees) and the originality of the central monster, a Spanish conquistador awakened from the grave after five hundred years by lightning. I know, it sounds a bit silly, but apart from the fact that he looks like an unwashed and bearded hobo, he's quite an imposing, six-foot-tall figure, and when he's kidnapping a voluptuous bitch, killing his opponents, and gleefully writhing until his eyes light up, it's a priceless sight. His escapades, especially in the last act, when he runs around the woods and throws rocks at his opponents, have the potential to be quite entertaining, albeit unintentionally. You need to equip yourself with a great detachment (which I don't lack after watching dozens of similar monster-flicks), which is needed especially in the final showdown, when the filmmakers give us one truly awful special effects shot. Turning two blind eyes, and in the context of the time of its creation, I would rate it as "a decent, inoffensive and quite entertaining romp".

Poster tagline: SOMEWHERE IN THIS WORLD STALKS A THING THAT IS... NOT FROM THIS EARTH!!! It's no wonder why this film, considered by many to be Corman's best, has such a massive cult status in America. The film has hardly any special effects, no eye-candy scenes and the production design is nothing remarkable, and yet it’s great fun. The story itself – an alien under the guise of a weird rich guy secretly killing earthlings and collecting blood samples from them to send via beam to his home planet – has this sweetly bleak, horror overlay, and Corman's favorite actor Paul Birch as the alien is fantastic. He has a sinister expression, which does not show even minimal emotion, and machined monotone diction, yet he does not overact, although the role would tempt him to do so, and his minimalist acting is impressive. Corman directs economically, but despite the fact that you may not be a fan of conversational films (which this one partly is), you want to know what's coming next, what kind of poor bastard the alien will lure to his basement, where he burns his victims in a big oven, and the film builds to a show-stopping conclusion. Then, with an indulgent smile, you can safely overlook the unintentionally comical attack of the alien monster (a kind of bat with a jellyfish-like fan), where Corman didn't bother to retouch the ropes the monster was hanging by. The last shot, which hints at an open ending, or a never-ending battle with the alien race, is a delightful humorous wink by the director.