Madness of the heart 1949

Starring: Margaret Lockwood

A blind girl marries a French aristocrat and has to cope with a jealous neighbour

A reasonable effort. Margaret Lockwood plays blind very effectively and is a likeable character. My main issue was that there was just no chemistry between her and her husband, maybe it's a time thing, amybe it was because he was from a well to-do French family, it just made the whole marriage a little unbelievable. Different as a movie though and that's always interesting.      5/10

The Limping man 1953

Starring: Lloyd Bridges

An American leaving his plane at Heathrow sees another passenger shot by a limping man.

After a promising start, this becomes a bit single paced and lacks any real excitement. A reasonable twist about 15 minutes from the end, but the actual finish itself was quite frankly a let out and a huge disappointment. Watch it on Youtube to see what I mean.      4/10

Annapolis 2005

Starring: James Franco

Set against the backdrop of boxing at the Naval Academy, centers on a young man from the wrong side of the tracks whose dream of attending Annapolis becomes a reality.

Basically, a rip off of An officer and a gentleman but I loved it. Basically, it focused on the failings of various recruits and headed towards the 'Brigades' boxing competition. The love interest was a slight irritant as it would never happen, but  you found yourself routing for the characters and it was a reasonable storyline. Predictable but it didn't stop my enjoyment.            8/10

She's out of my league 2008

Starring: Jay Baruchel

An average Joe meets the perfect woman, but his lack of confidence and the influence of his friends and family begin to pick away at the relationship.

Watching a teen movie every now and then is good for keeping you young. I worried that it would be too crude or silly, but I really loved it. Excellent leading performances with amusing back-up rolls. Just left me with a smile on my face.                  9/10

Mac and me 1988

Starring: Christine Ebersole

A family of aliens is inadvertently dumped in California

An unashmed complete rip-off of ET, the aliens even look almost identical. Nice touch having one of the kids in a wheelchair, not something that you see too often. How do grown men in suits run for such huge distances without ever seemingly getting tired? Rubbish but quite good fun.       7/10

Assignnment K 1968

Starring: Stephen Boyd

The European head of a toy firm is also head of a special spy unit.

Lots of spy movies made in the 1960's, this one has interest due to the roles played by actors who subsequently became famous. Not a great script and some very wooden acting, but the locations were easy on the eye and the plot continued to move along with lots of double-crossing. Not a bad effort.   5/10

Son of Robin Hood 1958

Starring: David Hedison

Robin's daughter joins with the Regent's brother to overthrow the Black duke.

Standard swashbuckling drama set around Sherwood forest. All the familiar merry men are there but drawing their pension. all reasonably light-hearted and although plot is week, it's a harmless enough jaunt.                  5/10

Charade 1963

Starring: Cary Grant

A Parisienne finds her husband murdered, four strange men are after her, and she is helped by a handsome stranger....But is he hero, spy or murderer?

Such a great cast, I was expecting great things. Sadly, I was disappointed. Okay, I could sit and watch Audrey Hepburn all day long, but the plot never caught my imagination, the characters were uninteresting and I'm afraid the whole thing dragged on way too long.      4/10

Meet Dr Christian 1939

Starring:  Jean Hersholt

A dedicated small-town doctor has no concern for financial reward.

A likeable movie set in a small-town community that turned into a short series of films. Until the last 10 minutes, it was all much ado about nothing and the drama at the end was hardly edge of the seat stuff. But it was easy viewing and I found myself at the end, wanting to watch more from the series.     6/10

The Man behind the gun 1952

Starring: Randolph Scott

A cavalry officer is sent to quell a rebellion and helps to found Los Angeles.

Standard civil war drama, not great acting and the plot is a little confused. But every now and then there are surprising moments of comedy or action that are completely unexpected and make you raise an eyebrow. Interesting for that reason alone.       4/10

Glorifying the American girl 1929

Starring: Mary Eaton

A chorus girl rejects her boy friend for the sake of stardom

Always fascinating to see films this old, more of a review show really. Not my thing but interesting in places.     3/10

Cause for alarm 1951

Starring: Loretta Young

A housewife tries frantically to retrieve a posted letter containing manufactured evidence which may put her on a murder charge.

Takes a little while to get going and is a bit single paced early on, once you get to the meat of the plot, this is not a bad little thriller where you feel the wife's frustration and desperation. Ending leaves you wondering a bit. Not a bad movie and nice and short.        6/10

The Big hit 1998

Starring: Mark Wahlberg

To payoff his second girlfriend's debt, hitman Melvin Smiley undertakes a kidnapping job with his usual associates. In a world of prospective Jewish in-laws and late movie fees, the hitman falls in love with the victim and must settle the score with those out to double-cross him. 

I'm not the biggest fan of black comedies but I actually really enjoyed this one. After a slightly tiresome, shoot-out start, this settled down to be an amusing story with Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips and China Chow all really likeable. A few bits missed the spot but as black comedies go, this was right up there.          6/10

Thicker than water 2005

Starring: Melissa Gilbert


After discovering her late father once married a rodeo queen, an attorney travels into horse country and finds more family.

I love Hallmark movies. The stories are simple, easy to follow and you always end up with a smile on your face. Lindsay Wagner puts in the strongest performance here as an aging cowgirl but all the performers are watchable. Not high drama, not edge of the seat stuff but thoroughly enjoyable.       9/10

Miami Blues 1990

Starring: Alec Baldwin

A dogged policeman follows the trail of a murderous criminal who pretends to be an undercover cop.

Kind of a black comedy / action movie. Alec Baldwin is very watchable although you're never quite sure of his motivation or whether he's just psychotic. Excellent chemistry between him and the lovely Jennifer Jason Leigh with Fred Ward also turning in a good performance.         7/10

Voodoo man 1944

Starring: Bela Lugosi

A mad scientist kidnaps young girls and reduces them to zombies.

Complete nonsense but great fun. A sheriff who looked like he should have been retired for 10 years, 2 goons who were so bad that they were amusing and a bunch of pretty girls walking around in white sheets. What's not to like?     7/10

The man in the white suit

Starring: Alec Guinness

A scientist produces a fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. Unions and management are equally aghast.

I loved the idea of this story, but it never got going for me. Considering it's billed as a comedy, I only actually laughed once. I'm trying to work out why I didn't engage with the movie and think it's because I didn't ever feel any empathy toward Guinness's character. He was just too cold for me and therefore,  I never found myself routing for him.   4/10

The Bandit of Sherwood forest 1946

Starring: Cornel Wilde

Robin Hood frustrates the Regent who plans to usurp the throne from the boy king.

Basically, son of Robin Hood. But they kept it simple, a plot similar to the original Robin Hood story, all the old familiar characters and all the elements that you want in a good swash-buckler. I really enjoyed it.       8/10

Ladies who do 1963

Starring: Peggy Mount

Charladies form a successful company from tips they salvage from wastepaper baskets.

It's difficult to ever empathise with Peggy Mount and that harsh, booming delivery that she had. Having said that, this was a bit of fun. As implausible as the plot was, it made you smile and it was nice to see Harry H Corbett in his prime and Robert Morley was almost bearable to watch.        7/10

Jeremy 1973

Starring: Robby Benson

A music student falls in love with a ballet dancer.

A lovely chemistry between the two actors with a perfect music underscore. You realise how well this is being done as when it becomes intimate, you feel like you're intruding. I'd never heard of this before seeing it but it's a really beautiful movie.          9/10