Sci-Fi September: Jodorowsky's Dune (2014)

Alejandro Jodorowsky's movie adaptation of Dune is a gorgeous film, full of big names, big ideas, and some of the best visuals that you've ever seen in cinema. It is also unmade, more's the pity. But that hasn't stopped it from being hugely influential, and almost mythic in status, as is shown in this documentary, directed by Frank Pavich.

Focusing on Jodorowsky himself, naturally, this fascinating feature also gains input from Nicolas Winding Refn, Richard Stanley, Michel Seydoux, H. R. Giger, Dan O'Bannon and many others, either in talking head format or thanks to snippets taken from archive material. Some people are discussing their own view on the movie that never was, while many discuss how the pieces were put in place to get the creative talent involved that Jodorowsky felt he needed for his vision.

As bittersweet an experience as any film fan could have, Jodorowsky's Dune is partially about a great movie that studios were too wary of dealing with, partially about the impact it made on the sci-fi genre, despite never being completed, and partially about Jodorowsky's enduring passion for stories and art. Whether he's describing the way in which he wanted every main planet to be scored by a different band, discussing a meeting with Salvador Dali, or showing the book, full of storyboards and designs, that was created to show how the film would be made, he's a man who doesn't seem to have been brought low by the whole experience. There's regret there, of course, but there's also a deserved love of all that stemmed from this one project.

Using the aforementioned book of storyboards and designs, this doc really brings Jodorowsky's vision to life in a way that also highlights the hard work and skill brought to the table by all of the major talent assembled by the director; H. R. Giger, Moebius and Chris Foss being the main artists.

Even if you don't think you're that interested in an unmade version of Dune, even if you're unfamiliar with Jodorowsky (although you SHOULD be), then I still recommend this to all lovers of film. Hearing the man talk of how he wooed Orson Welles, hearing of the training that he put his son (Brontis Jodorowsky) through, and hearing his love for art and artists in almost everything he says makes this a worthwhile viewing. In fact, it's worthwhile simply to hear him say: "I was raping Frank Herbert! But with love.”

And, for anyone still doubting the legacy of this unmade movie by the time the documentary is almost finished, there's a selection of clips from major blockbusters, showing a clear timeline from this one "failure" to a huge number of cinematic successes throughout the years. Help celebrate that fact by allowing this title to share shelf space with the other movies that owe it so much.

9/10

Feel free to check out the main website for the film here - http://jodorowskysdune.com/index.html

http://www.amazon.com/Jodorowskys-Dune-Blu-ray-Alejandro-Jodorowsky/dp/B00J5LXMTG/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1411295893&sr=1-2&keywords=jodorowsky%27s+dune

Ani-MAY-tion Month: Heavy Metal (1981)

An interesting, quirky, sci-fi anthology movie, Heavy Metal, with its gratuitous nudity, wish fulfilment moments and title-appropriate soundtrack, is pretty much designed for teenage boys. That's not to say that it's a bad film, but it does seem to fill many sequences by going for easy options and rather juvenile moments.

The stories in this movie are all connected by a deadly, glowing orb. The orb has intelligence, and also the ability to voice its thoughts, and the framing device of the movie is the orb relating some cautionary tales to a scared young girl. The stories all tend to show how the orb affects those it comes into contact with, for better or for worse, and violence occurs frequently.

Mostly based on material from a long-running magazine of the same name, Heavy Metal is easy to enjoy, even if it's not so easy to love. The stories often have a nice, old-fashioned feel to them, they're all pulp pleasures taking place in different environments, and sometimes developing interesting mythologies in the limited time they have. Screenwriters Daniel Goldber and Len Blum have a great selection of stories to work with, including some written by the great Dan O'Bannon, and they manage to keep the tone consistent while hopping from one story to the next, mainly by populating the tales with a mix of robots, space travellers and topless women.

Director Gerald Potterton keeps everything moving along nicely, helped by a voice cast that unexpectedly includes John Candy, Eugene Levy, John Vernon and Harold Ramis, among others, and it never quite outstays its welcome (running at just under 90 minutes), although it comes close during the last section.

And then there's the soundtrack, which caused the film to be unavailable for a number of years due to problems with the music licensing, apparently. The bands/artists getting to invade your ears include the following: Blue Oyster Cult, Stevie Nicks, Journey, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, and more. Okay, none of the songs will appear on any greatest hits album, but they're an extra part of the appeal to the target demographic.

It's not a great film, and the love that some people have for it surprises me, but it's enjoyable enough. And has plenty of those robots, space travellers, and topless women to keep me happy. Which may just be yet another sign of my struggle to keep wearing the disguise of a mature adult.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Metal-Collectors-Richard-Romanus/dp/0767836316/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1400860259&sr=1-2&keywords=heavy+metal

Dead And Buried (1981)

Dead And Buried is a great little horror movie. It's one of those films that's just so much fun, it's a campfire tale of a movie, an E.C. comic on screen and none the worse for it.

Things start off with a horrible murder and then get decidedly odd as we see people walking around who should be staying very still due to them being mortality-challenged, according to the information that the local sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) is receiving. Is there a conspiracy going on in the town? Voodoo hoodoo perhaps? Or does the local mortician (played by Jack Albertson) have some secret that he's managed to hide from the sheriff?

Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon wrote the script, based on a story by Jeff Millar and Alex Stern, and the publicity at the time made the most of the fact that these men were responsible for crafting the script of Alien. This is, of course, a very different type of movie but it's handled just as carefully and paced perfectly.

Director Gary Sherman mixes some proper shocks (which gained it enough attention to get it tagged as a "video nasty" back amidst that particular furore) with lashings of atmosphere so thick that you can almost smell the saltwater-mist as it rolls through the screen.

The acting is pretty top-notch from everyone involved. Farentino is very good as the leading man trying to figure out what's going on in his town but it's Albertson who steals the show as the mortician with a real pride in his work, often accompanied by his favourite big-band music. Other faces of note include Robert Englund, Barry Corbin (a tiny role but always good to see him), Glenn Morshower, Christopher Allport, the lovely Melody Anderson and Lisa Blount, who makes quite an impression with her limited screen time.

Perhaps it's a movie that feels a bit too cheeky by the time the end credits roll but it's a fine mix of black comedy and outright horror that I feel does just enough to assume the viewer is onside right up until it reveals it's punchline. It's a fun ride but also has moments of real horror there. It has a fine pedigree (Sherman had previously directed Death Line while Shusett and O'Bannon had given us that killer xenomorph) and I think that most fans should love it.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-And-Buried-James-Farentino/dp/B0002ADX0M/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1388784797&sr=8-6&keywords=dead+and+buried