This Island Earth (1955)

An influential 1950s sci-fi film directed by Joseph Newman and Jack Arnold, shot in beautiful Technicolor. It's more talky than many genre works from the era, spending much of its time exploring concepts with a central character who's as intrigued by the mystery behind the changing events as we are, namely Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason), a competent pilot, scientist and owner of a handsome voice. While not a typical invasion scenario, amid some neat FX the film nevertheless has the expected alien creature to wow the audience.
If you enjoy the charms of 50s sci-fi and haven't yet seen This Island Earth, it deserves a place on your to-watch list, imo.

3 high brows out of 5

The Beguiled (1971)

Wounded in battle, Yankee Corporal John McBurney (Clint Eastwood) is taken to a Confederate girls' school in Mississippi to recuperate during the American Civil War. Headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Geraldine Page) plans to turn him over to the Confederate army once he's well enough, but McBurney has other ideas. Luckily for him, many of the female residents are more than happy to have a male visitor to turn their various attentions towards.
The disingenuous McBurney makes for interesting viewing from a storytelling point of view, but I don't feel that the necessary balancing and blurring of sympathy and disdain that the script was aiming for was as good as it could've been. Conversely, the more clear cut clash of experience and innocence of the headmistress and schoolteacher (Elizabeth Hartman) characters was for me a highlight, shouldering the film's strengths more effectively.

3 unlocked doors out of 5

Saturn 3 (1980)

Not the third part of a trilogy, the film's title refers to an orbiting space station within which the majority of the story takes place; positioned near Saturn's third moon, its role is to provide food research for an overcrowded Earth.
Sitting pretty in the isolation is old man Adam (Kirk Douglas) and his three-decades younger lover Alex (Farrah Fawcett). Adam's dirty old man utopia is threatened when a visitor from Earth (Harvey Keitel) arrives, bringing with him a robotic device that could make the existing duo's role obsolete.
The darkly lit corridors and believable space suits are great, but I won't pretend for a second that it's a good film. It's pretty terrible, especially the acting of all three stars, but for some reason I'm still able to enjoy it. As such, the scoring below is very much on the generous side.

2½ direct inputs out of 5

Bodyguard (2011)

Salman Khan stars as Lovely Singh, the titular bodyguard hired to protect the daughter (Kareena Kapoor) of a man to whom he owes an enormous debt.
It'll probably surprise no one to learn that romance rears its head, and that it isn't as simple as it should be. Alas, comedy plays a large part, ranging from tongue-in-cheek stupidity to woefully mocking folks that don't fit the 'beautiful people' template Bollywood favours. The farcical bullshit does eventually lessen to a more tolerable level, but the absurd action doesn't.
Barring the ridiculous The Matrix (1999) rip-off scene, what saves the film from itself is primarily the closing half hour, wherein it turns attentively to the kind of bittersweet matters that rouse the human heart.

2½ private numbers out of 5

The Unforgiven (1960)

It's perhaps an unpopular opinion to have, but I don't have the affection for Audrey Hepburn that many, many other folks appear to have. Also, from a non-technical POV, the films of the much-revered John Huston often leave me disappointed. Nothing in The Unforgiven caused me to reevaluate either of those viewpoints. It's a story of racism and family set in the old west that had the potential to be extremely hard-hitting, but the stilted acting too often fails to give the topic adequate support, even when allowing for trends of the era. Burt Lancaster's character starts to fit in more comfortably during the final third, but the saving grace for me was the wonderful Lillian Gish.

2½ night musics out of 5

Rise of the Footsoldier Part II (2015)

Carlton (Ricci Harnett), looking even more like the bastard offspring of Guy Ritchie and Peggy Mitchell, has changed little from before. The murder of his comrades preys on his mind, compounded by his heavy drug use. Leaving the circles of organised crime behind, he starts to rebuild his reputation with a small group of friends, but the bigger fish are rarely ever far away.
Harnett's default state is moody silence, which is just as well because the script is full of such, but the Carlton character is even more bare-bones than he was previously. The attempts to show that a sliver of sensitivity with regards his family exist behind the patina of hardened violence falls deathly flat. And the recurring slo-mo club scenes are an embarrassing fill in a crass and boorish story, as worthless as tits on a bull.

1½ best interests out of 5

The Vengeance of She (1968)

None of the major stars from the first She film return for the sequel, but given that it's set in a more contemporary era it makes sense that they'd not be included. The plot, however, is almost the same but reversed, so it's now a male ego-maniac waiting for his female companion (i.e. Ayesha) to be reborn and return to the hidden city of Kuma. The unlucky lady in that scenario is Olinka Bérová. There's some guff about the astral plane, magic circles and robed mystics, none of which is much good, but it does at least allow Derek Godfrey (as Magi Men-Hari) to be somewhat Mocata-like; and extra credit to him for keeping a straight face during the ridiculous chanting scenes.

1½ guided steps out of 5

Mitsuko Delivers (2011)

Single, nine months pregnant and financially broke, Mitsuko (Riisa Naka) is running low on options. But she's strong-willed and has a personal philosophy that keeps her afloat when life seems determined to drag her down. To the people she meets, such as the unmotivated, the unlucky, and the hopeless, Mitsuko is an inspiration. When she moves into a rundown tenement, populated with a number of such folks, she has her work cut out for her.
It's a Japanese comedy drama from Dir. Yûya Ishii with just the right amount of heart and quirkiness to make it fun and warming. The flashbacks to fifteen years previous add welcome depth to the oddball characters.

3 fair winds out of 5

Joe Kidd (1972)

Written by author Elmore Leonard, it's the story of ex-bounty hunter Joe Kidd (Eastwood) and his dealings with a (not very) Mexican revolutionary (John Saxon) and the rich landowner (Robert Duvall) who wants the latter man dead. It essentially boils down to a manhunt, but the uneasy working relationship between the titular Joe and his employer gives it an additional tense edge.
Eastwood's cowboy persona is as captivating as many of his more famous versions of the same; he makes it seem effortless. Duvall is also great as the wealthy and pitiless land owner who wants to eradicate his opposition.
It's not the best revisionist western that I've ever seen, but nor do I feel that it's as bad as some critics claim. And there's a Lalo Schifrin score to consider.

3 poor judgements out of 5

The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

A sequel to Romancing the Stone (1984) that continues the story of Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas) and romance author Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner).
Joan, suffering from writer's block and bored with travelling the world in Jack's boat, seeks adventure (and inspiration) further afield, but once there discovers that it's not the creative plain sailing she was hoping for.
Danny DeVito also returns as Ralph, the incompetent villain hoping to acquire the titular jewel for his own purposes; i.e. a quick and easy profit.
The location is changed but the blend of bickering lovers and adventuring that characterised the previous film is retained. For a while it seems like it'll tick the same boxes, but it's not quite as much fun the second time around.

2½ umbrella tricks out of 5