AFI 100 Movies #64 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

This was one of the entries that I have seen before, however, I must have been 10 or so when I watched it last, so my memory was a little hazy in places.

Steven Spielberg's movie still delights all these years later.

The movie begins in a desert in Mexico, where Claude Lacombe, played by Francois Truffaut, leads a team, who have discovered a squadron of planes that went missing during World War II, the planes are intact and even have reserves of fuel left, but there is no sign of the missing pilots.

Back in the U.S.A. Barry Guiller, a three year old boy, is stirred from his sleep in his room by his toys springing to life, and working of their own accord. His mother, hearing a noise investigates and sees Barry running off on his own, she follows him and rescues him just in time to stop him being run over by a truck driven by Roy Neary.

Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss, is a worker for the local electricity company. He ends up being called out late at night, due to power outages.

While still recovering from the shock of the near miss they witness a close encounter with a group of U.F.O.s.

Roy has a hard time convincing his wife of his experience, and his increasingly erratic behaviour drives her to distraction, leaving her with no choice but to leave in a hurry with their children as meanwhile Barry and his mother get a visit from the U.F.O.s which results in Barry going missing.

All the various plot threads come together as the main characters are all drawn toward the eerie Devil's Tower national monument.

Watching this in crystal clear quality, thanks to the Blu-Ray transfer, the special effects still stand up remarkably well. In this time of computer generated effects, there is a lot to be said in favour of the quality of the models and camera techniques used in bringing the U.F.O.s and their alien pilots to life.

The score by John Williams is very impressive, and there are decent performances from the cast, particularly Richard Dreyfuss, who carries the film, even though he was not the director's first choice for the main role.

I think it is deserving of it's inclusion in the AFI's list, even though it came out in a year which boasted an even greater sci-fi smash hit.

Pecorama 2011

On Sunday the 10th of July, some friends and I attended a mini convention at Pecorama in Beer, Devon.

Pecorama offers some beautiful gardens and a selection of model railways, but for me, a confirmed Doctor Who nerd, the appeal in going on that particular Sunday was the opportunity to meet sixth Doctor Colin Baker, former companion Sarah Sutton, and visual effects expert Matt Irvine.

Q&A Session with Sarah and Colin

Colin and Sarah offered the assembled fans the opportunity to ask them questions, they were both very charming and eloquent. Colin, when asked "where does the TARDIS go?" instantly came up with a perfectly plausible answer involving particle physics and multiple universes, which earned a round of applause.



In a rather touching moment, Colin spoke of his most enjoyable experience while working on Doctor Who, which was the chance to work with Patrick Troughton in The Two Doctors, he was very complimentary about his predecessor, whom he described as a very generous actor.

He also revealed that Patrick along with current Doctor Matt Smith were the two best actors in his opinion to take on the role.

On the day there were U.N.I.T. firing ranges, a dealer room, full of essential Doctor Who memorabilia, and for the many who arrived in costume, there were competitions to decide who had the best outfit, the winner of the children's section was a child dressed as the TARDIS, complete with the lamp on their head!

Chipper Colin gets signing

After the Q&A session we were given the chance to get autographs, and credit to Colin and Sarah, who must have spent ages signing for everyone, they remained cheerful and friendly throughout.








To round off the experience, we went into a room featuring ephemera from the classic series archives.

The Cyber Controller

Amongst the items on display were an Ice Warrior costume, the sixth Doctor's blue cloak from Revelation Of The Daleks, a mask from The Robots Of Death, original designs for Mr Sin from The Talons Of Weng Chiang, the Cyber Controller's head from The Tomb Of The Cybermen, some spiders from Jon Pertwee's final story Planet Of The Spiders, and the original K9 prop.

On hand to discuss all matters about models and special effects was Matt Irvine, who was very chatty and friendly, and has a great deal of knowledge about the series.

The Doctor's faithful friend

After all the Who related japery was over there was still plenty of time to wander around the gardens, and check out the many model railways on display, yes, I know what you're thinking, nerd heaven!

I never had a train set as a child, but I have to admit, the hard work and level of detail that goes into the sets on display is of a very high standard, and you can understand why someone might want to take it up as a hobby.

I really enjoyed my day out, and if another similar event was organised by the Exe-Wing charity fund raisers, I would certainly go along, and if you like Doctor Who too, I would recommend it.

AFI 100 Movies #8 On The Waterfront (1954)

Marlon Brando gives an amazing performance, in what is regarded by many, as his finest screen portrayal.

Brando Plays Terry Malloy (no Doctor Who fans that's Terry Molloy), a dockworker in Hoboken, New Jersey. He lives out a humble existence, unlike his wealthy brother Charlie (Rod Steiger), who is the lawyer to local union leader "Johnny Friendly", a man who has more than a passing acquaintance with the local organised mob.

At the start of the movie, Terry is unwittingly used by Friendly to flush out Joey Doyle, who is preparing to testify against Friendly in court. Doyle as a result is murdered, and Terry under duress from Friendly's henchmen has to agree to keep quiet, or to quote the phrase used in the movie to remain D&D (Deaf & Dumb).

Terry later meets Doyle's sister Edie and there is an instant attraction between them. Edie encourages local priest Father Barry to lead a campaign to bring down the mob.

The film plays out with Terry wrestling with his conscience, being urged on by Father Barry and Edie to do the right thing.

When Johnny Friendly arranges an "accident" for a fellow dockworker planning on testifying against him the pressure on Terry really starts to tell.

As Terry finally comes to terms with what he has to do, Johnny makes a last ditch effort to silence him. He sends Terry's brother Charlie to try and convince him to stay silent, during their conversation Terry recalls his youth when he dreamt of being a championship boxer and, we discover, Friendly had Charlie talk him into taking a dive as he had a lot of money riding on the un-fancied opponent. The emotion in this scene is incredible and a real testament to the acting abilities of Brando and Steiger. This scene is probably the most famous one from the whole film.

With Terry determined to do the right thing and testify, this leaves Charlie in a tricky situation, and events take a downward spiral until the climax at the end.


I loved this film, I had only seen Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, and was keen to see him in a more "everyman" role. I can understand why people raved about his performances, he was brought through the actor's studio system and schooled in the method style of acting. He comes across as tough but reveals an inner tenderness. His acting style captures the reality of the moment, and is naturalistic.

The supporting cast are good, especially Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint as Edie, and Karl Malden as Father Barry.

Highly recommended.

First Few DMCG3 Test Shots

As a follow up to my review of the Panasonic DMCG3, I thought I would post some early efforts.

ISO 160, F7.1, 1/500

This first shot was taken using the Creative Control feature, in the Expressive setting, which offers a pop art style colour effect.

I chose to get in close to the bark to capture the detail, and push the background into soft focus.

ISO 160, F5.6, 1/250

The next shot was taken using Intelligent Auto mode.

I nearly squished this little dude, as I rushed to get home as it had started to rain. But I couldn't resist having a go at capturing a shot.

The camera selected all the settings for me.

ISO 160, F8.0, 1/400

This was also taken in Intelligent Auto mode, and I thought I would put the camera in to monochrome mode to ad a touch of atmosphere.

Grumpy Old Man

This last shot was taken in Grumpy Bugger mode :)

Doctor Who: Revelation Of The Daleks

This one certainly divides opinion in our household.

I rather like it, but my wife absolutely detests it. The cat, as ever, remains neutral.

The story takes place on the planet Necros, The Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) are there to visit a funeral home run by the mysterious "Great Healer" called Tranquil Repose, in order to pay their respects to the recently deceased Arthur Stengos, a friend of The Doctor.

Things, however, are not as they seem. It takes practically the whole of the first part of this story for our heroes to actually get into Tranquil Repose, and while they are wandering around outside there are several other story elements taking shape.

Mr Jobel (Clive Swift) is the man in charge of the funeral home, he is a very vain man (with no real reason to be) who is assisted by an impressionable junior called Tasembeker (Jenny Tomasin) she is devoted to him and is desperate for his affection, but he is not the least bit interested, and he treats her terribly.

Two intruders have broken into the catacombs, one of them is Stengos' daughter. They have been led to believe that he is being kept in suspended animation, upon opening his cryo-chamber they discover his body is missing. When they finally find him, he has been the subject of a gruesome experiment to turn him into a human/Dalek hybrid.

Meanwhile, Kara (Eleanor Bron) is a high flying business woman, who, trying to run her food business, is getting increasingly frustrated by her business partner, The Great Healer, who is revealed to be Davros the creator of the Daleks. She has had enough of Davros' interfering and hires a pair of assassins to put him out of the picture.

The assassins are Orcini (William Gaunt) a knight of the grand order of oberon and his loyal squire Bostock (John Ogwen) they take the job on not for the financial reward on offer, but for the honour of despatching Davros.

By the time The Doctor and Peri finally get inside the facility (after encountering a decidedly naff statue of The Doctor), everything is really kicking off.

The intruders, having destroyed what was left of Stengos, have been captured by security guards. The Doctor lets Jobel escort Peri around the complex, while he seeks out whoever commissioned the staue. Peri ends up with Tranquil Repose's very own resident DJ (Alexei Sayle), who is on hand to keep those in suspended animation in touch with what is going on in the world of the living.

Orcini and Bostock encounter a Dalek and destroy it alerting Davros, who is sure that Kara is out to get him. Davros, growing tired of Jobel, lets Tasembeker watch him flirt with the younger, prettier female members of staff via closed circuit television, making her incredibly jealous, he orders her to kill Jobel and offers her immortality by promising that she will be selected to become a Dalek.

This is a very dark story for what was a teatime kids show on BBC1. The themes covered are rather gruesome. The director of this story, Graeme Harper, deserves a lot of credit as do, by Doctor Who standards, a rather stellar cast. Certainly one of Colin Baker's best TV adventures.

William Gaunt is the stand out guest actor for me, he plays Orcini in a very understated way, and avoids going into the sort of hammy acting that others have done in the past (yes I'm talking about you Graham Crowden!).

If you are familiar with classic series who and you feel like a dark, creepy horror tale, then this is for you.

Laurel & Hardy in Going Bye Bye (1934)

In this short Stan and Ollie are the star witnesses in a big court case, they provide the damning evidence that will see Butch Long sent to prison for the rest of his life. Butch is understandably rather annoyed about their willingness to come forward and seal his fate, this isn't helped by Stan asking the judge "aren't you going to hang him?"!

In the ensuing court room chaos, Butch resolves that if he ever gets out of jail, he will track them down, break their legs and tie them around their necks!

The boys fear the worst and desperately try to get together enough money to make their escape, they come up with a genius plan which involves advertising in the local newspaper for a traveling companion who will pay for the expenses of traveling out east.

Their prayers are answered when they get a response to their ad from Mae (played by L&H regular Mae Busch), who by sheer coincidence happens to be Butch's girl. Things get even more out of control when Butch turns up, having just broken out of jail, he needs to leave town as soon as possible and the unknowing boys agree to let Mae's mystery friend along for the ride "the more the merrier!".

Through a fairly unbelievable twist, Butch ends up locked in Mae's trunk, Mae tells Stan and Ollie that her friend is trapped inside "he fell in whilst packing" the boys mull this over for a moment and agree that it sounds like something that could realistically happen!

Cue an amusing set piece involving Stan & Ollie trying various means to try and open the trunk.

At the film's climax all hell breaks loose, and the cops turn up a little too late to save our two heroes, who in the final shot are in a reflective mood about the turn of events with Oliver exclaiming "Well, that's another nice mess you've gotten me into!".

Although I get the impression that this isn't held up as a classic Laurel & Hardy short, there are some great scenes. The business when Stan arrives at Ollie's home and proceeds to send him flying so that his head gets stuck in the bed frame, and the business played out when Stan is looking for his glasses when attempting to read the newspaper ad are great.

The scene with them using the drill, blow torch and hose to try and get the trunk open is a hoot.

I think this goes to prove that even some of the lesser Hal Roach made films stand up well to the test of time.

Could you give a loving home to a cat?

With the demands of modern life meaning that in many cases the average household has both partners working full time, those in search of a pet are increasingly considering owning a cat because they are relatively self sufficient and don't tend to suffer anxiety as much when their owners go out to work for the day compared to other popular pets such as dogs.

A sad reality is that some owners don't consider their responsibilities when taking on a cat, particularly the need to get their pet neutered in order to stop unwanted kittens from being born. This leads to some of them being abandoned to fend for themselves, or being taken to an animal shelter where they can be re-homed.

We recently adopted an 18 month old cat from our local Cats Protection centre at Axhayes near Exeter. She had been there for six months, the staff at the centre deserve great commendation for the important work they do, it's obvious to see that they love the animals in their care and do everything they can to make sure the cats are given the very best treatment.

When we adopted our cat, the Cats Protection centre had already ensured that she had been spayed, having already had two litters of kittens at the tender age of 12 months, she was barely a kitten herself.

Our cat also had a month of free pet insurance courtesy of Cats Protection, which I must stress is very important, as vet bills can be very expensive, so it is vital that any potential owner should continue to pay for this important service which would stop any potential suffering of your new pet.

If you are interested in giving a loving home to a cat that has had a bad run of luck, get in contact with your local Cats Protection centre, they will arrange for a home visit, and once the formalities have been attended to, you can call in and find a cat to take home and become a part of your family.

The biggest problem you are likely to encounter, is which cat to choose. It was really difficult to do, there were lots of lovely friendly cats all vying for our attention. The one we chose was a very pretty black and white cat, who was initially very timid, and didn't come blustering out of her pen when we opened the door, as many of the others did.

Pyewacket

There was something about this dear little creature (now named Pyewacket) that endeared us to her, it seemed obvious that she was affectionate but she was very nervous and shy at first. When we first got her home we followed the advice given to us by the staff at the centre, we kept her in our spare room initially so that she didn't get stressed, having gone from a pen enclosure to a big house would have been a big shock for her.

For the first few days she would hide behind some boxes in the room, but after some gentle coaxing she graduated to sitting in the bedroom window surveying the world outside. After what seems like no time at all, she now wanders around the house as though she owns the place! She loves to jump up on the sofa and snuggle up to us, where she can get lots of attention and love.

When we first had her we were advised to block off our cat flap incase she was to get out and run away, we have more recently been leaving the cat flap open on a more regular basis and she will now disappear for sometimes up to a few hours, which I must admit had us worrying the first time whether she would  find her way back, but she seems to know where she is loved :)

If you think you could give a loving home to a deserving cat follow these links: Cats Protection UK
                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                   Axhayes Centre