Jules Verne's Mysterious Island

Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, a 1961 film, is based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne is a loose sequel to 1954's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea staring Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill and Herbert Lom. The movie was directed by Cy Endfield.

The story is about a group of Union Civil War prisoners who escape prison just as Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army capture Richmond at the end of the war. They take a balloon and capture a Confederate soldier while they make their getaway. Unfortunately they are caught up in a severe storm, which blows them thousands of miles off course, deep into the Pacific Ocean. Yep, all the way from Richmond to the Pacific. Record time. World records broken. When the storm has finally ended, they find themselves on a bizarre island which is inhabited by huge, fearsome creatures, and a mysterious host behind it all.

The Bernard Herrmann score was brilliant, one of his best works. It takes some of the best elements he used in Citizen Kane with cues from North By Northwest. Not at all bad.

But the truly amazing thing about this film is the effects. This is a Ray Harryhausen film. It has all of his trademark stop motion photography, and for the most part it's well done, especially when you consider that they did all of this without the aid of computer technology to assist them. The only downside are the flock of seagulls that for some reason were animated (as in cartoon) instead of just going out and finding a bunch, or going without them altogether. The same issue crops up occasionally in Hitchcock's The Birds so it may be more about the time than anything else.

One striking thing to note about the film is that the explanation behind why the creatures were actually there/made wasn't really explained, well at all. Some make a certain amount of sense in that you would want to experiment with some creatures to see if it was possible, but I would suspect that most people would consider giant bees to be, well, not the best idea. For those who watch the film, you'll catch my drift about two specific creatures near the end of the film. The book may explain this, but somehow I never read this particular movie.

If anyone recognizes the director's name, Cy Endfield, it's the man who who directed Zulu 3 years later.

Verdict *** 1/2 out of *****

What a weekend for Beer!

Well the weekend was quite an epic experience.

Friday night was kicked off at 9:00 with me headed off to my friend Seth's place for a large scale beer tasting. At least 15 people were there off and on throughout the night, and everyone appeared to bring beer, none the same if I recall (aside from my 2004 Old Guardian).

The night went on, and sure enough the next thing we knew 7 hours had passed and it was 4 am. Highlights of that night were the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, a wonderful beer which currently ranks my favorite new beer I've consumed in 2009. Comparing the 2009 and 2004 versions of the Stone Old Guardian was a treat. The 2004 had mellowed and the 2009 had a strong, sharp hop kick to it as well as more notable alcohol characteristics. By consensus of the group, the Breckenridge 471 Small Batch Mighty Brown was the worst beer of the night, however it may have been an infected bottle.


Saturday night started itself off at 6:00 when I arrived at the wonderful, but always crowded, Churchkey in Washington DC. I'm not normally a fan of going to bars alone with the intent to drink, but I had to, I just had to.

The new Dogfish Head beer,Black Thai, was there. And the man himself, Sam Calagione was going to be there to tap it. I couldn't pass that up. Aside from the Black Thai, I consumed the oh-so wonderful, Olivers Merry Ole Ale, from Baltimore's Pratt Street Ale House and the quite interesting sour Magic Hat Odd Notion.

The Prisoner

The Prisoner: Checkmate

Hour Six of The Prisoner remake, Checkmate, is the final hour of the third night's Prisoner episode. The Prisoner remake stars Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two.

Checkmate is trippy. The only thing this could have made this more complicated and bizarre would have been a speech by Kenneth Griffith in the final episode of the original series. Or a rendition of "Dry Bones" and a gun fight to the tune of "All You Need Is Love." Will have to think and let the story sink in before passing final judgment. I really don't know.

The title is also the title of original series episode, "Checkmate," though it bears no resemblance to it. It's more similar in tone with "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out."

*** 1/2 out of *****

The Prisoner: Schizoid

Hour Five of The Prisoner remake, Schizoid, is the first hour of the third night's Prisoner episode. The Prisoner remake stars Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two.

Following 4-15's death, Six seeks out Two and announces his intentions of revenge.

313's dreams continue. The following day Six tries to confide in 313 about how devistated he is at the loss of 4-15. 313 claims that Six was at her house the previous night and is annoyed as to why he appears upset now when he wasn't just hours earlier. Six is confused as to why she, and others claim to have seen him in places he wasn't, or in conversations he doesn't recall having. Could there be another Six? Two announces an imposer Two in The Villages midst. M2 and 11-12 reconnect for a short time while M2 is off drugs.

The conversation between the shop owner and Two is probably the best yet. The episode's eventual revelation at the end is an interesting twist. The show is really coming together.

The title is a shortened version of the original series title, "The Schizoid Man," though it only bears a slight resemblance to it. Next up, "Checkmate." One hour to go.

**** out of *****

The Prisoner: Darling

Hour Four of The Prisoner remake, Darling, is the second hour of the second night's Prisoner episode. The Prisoner remake stars Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two.

Six is convinced to try a dating service, at the Modern Love Bureau. He isn't willing to take part in the scheme, until he recognizes the woman who had been matched to him, 4-15, who looks exactly Lucy, a female he knew in New York.

A plot point carried over from the previous episode, Two shows 11-12 a large sinkhole in the ground, which is dismissed as something due to the weather. Another sinkhole appears outside 147's house. Both Six and 313 wonder what the hole really may be. 832, 147's daughter, falls into the hole.

Six falls in love with 4-15, but is this love too good to be true?

And remember: "Keep a Pig for Stability."

The title is a shortened version of the original series title, "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling," though it only bears no resemblance to it. Next up, "Schizoid."

*** out of *****

The Prisoner: Anvil

Hour Three of The Prisoner remake, Anvil, is the first hour of the second night's Prisoner episode. The Prisoner remake stars Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two.

The title is a shortened version of the original series title, "Hammer Into Anvil," though it only bears a marginal resemblance to it. It has more similarities to "It's Your Funeral" and "Free For All."

This episode has Two assigning Six to work with 909, a village spy. Six knows it's a trap and Two knows that Six knows it is a trap, even addressing it as such. Six accepts the role, trying to find the right angle to play it at. Six and 909 are assigned to investigate 1955, a history teacher. Six takes a teaching position as a surveillance teacher.

Six finds surveillance equipment on 313's roof and Two finds surveillance equipment in his house. 909 suspects Six, with Two suspecting his son, 11-12, could possibly be spying. 313 begins to doubt her own memories and starts to open up more to Six.

This episode is far more original than the first two, and the homages to the original show appear to be diminishing. At the very least the imagery is top-notch and I'm starting to put comparisons to the quality of this series compared to the original on the back burner. We'll see how well "Darling" is.

*** 1/2 out of *****

The Prisoner: Harmony

Hour Two of The Prisoner remake, Harmony, is the second hour of the first night's Prisoner episode. The Prisoner remake stars Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two.

It opens with Six lying in the desert. Seagulls. He is found and brought back to the village, where Two and the Clinic staff try and convince that a man, Sixteen, is Six's brother. When Six denies it, 16 produces a picture of the two of them as boys. Two suggests Six go to therapy. Not convinced with any of the evidence presented supporting this claim, he never the less goes along with the charade, presumably because it's easier than fighting at the moment. Six continues to spend time with his "brother" over the next few days, coming across "ruins" (a boat anchor and a old train station) which are dismissed by the locals but only embolden Six's belief in escape. He's convinced that he's not related to Sixteen, and that the entire ploy is an illusion, but he starts to question his own memory. Almost convinced, he begins to crack, unsure what to believe.

End Episode.

I'm not sure I liked this hour as much as the first one, probably because I'm still trying to compare it to the original series. There's just no comparison. While Battlestar Galactica was dated cheese, the original Prisoner has held up (costumes and technology notwithstanding) with deep psychological, allegorical themes. It's not bad and is certainly opening up the series to a completely different kind of mythos and reality than the original series had. I'm not sure if I'm liking the overuse of character numbers-as-names, considering most of the time the original never used "names" - usually with conversations just directed toward a character.

Nore sure if I like how they "explained" what he did and (worked for a private company) or why they actually had him really really allude to why he resigned, worried that it's going down the "evil corporation conglomerates" route. Not sure if I like Two having a family either. Again, I'm trying to compare this to the original. I need to stop. We'll see if it happens in the next installment, "Anvil."

*** out of *****

The title is a shortened version of the original series title, "Living in Harmony," though it only bears a marginal resemblance to it.

The Prisoner: Arrival

Well, it's arrived. The Prisoner remake staring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen as Number Six and Number Two has aired and I've finally caught the first episode.

The series, or should I say mini-series, is based off the wildly popular cult classic, The Prisoner, staring Patrick McGoohan. I've been on a massive Prisoner kick lately, dressing up as Number Six for a Halloween party, and flying through 15 of the 17 episodes as of writing this on my newly purchased Blu-Ray set of the series so this new show couldn't have come at a better time.

What I observed was an interesting adaptation of the series in "Arrival," the first hour of the new mini-series. There are many homages, some subtle, some overtly obvious throughout the first hour.

The first hour concerns us with Six, a man who wakes up in the middle of a desert under mysterious, and is there due to circumstances unknown to him. As he begins to get his bearings, he sees an old man (dressed in a costume reminiscent of the original series) who is being shot at. He's able to rescue the man, who is gravely injured from fatigue. He's happy to "escape" and tells Six to "go to 554" before he dies. Six wanders into the Village, confused and unaware of exactly where he is. The locals he runs into, a taxi driver (played by Lennie James of "Jericho" fare) and then later Number 313 (played by Ruth Wilson) only add to his confusion. Two (McKellen) enters the picture and Six finally collapses. He wakes up in the hospital, but is told he is allowed to leave. When asked if he could leave the town, he's essentially told there that there is nothing else out there. He befriends 554, who is later killed in a bombing of her cafe - she tells him to head out into the desert. He finally makes a break towards the desert, where Rover attacks him and leaves him passed out on a dune.

End Episode.

*** 1/2 out of *****

On a side note, they wrapped up filming on my birthday last year.

Maybe if I went back I could keep myself from being sick?

I've been sick the last week, so viewing/posting has been quite light. But not to fret, some new stuff is on the way!

In the meantime, catch one of the better representations of a specific type of sub-genre here:

Christmas is coming early!

Santas Slay is an absurd Christmas comedic-horror film staring the wrestler Goldberg as Santa Claus. The film also stars Douglas Smith as Nicolas Yuleson, Emilie de Ravin as Mary Mackenzie, Robert Culp as Grandpa Yuleson, Dave Thomas as Pastor Timmons, and Saul Rubinek as Mr. Green. This is probably the only worthwhile thing that Brett Ratner has ever produced (directed by his former assistant, David Steiman).

The film is a jolly old tale where Santa is revealed to actually be a child of Santa who lost a bet with an angel and was forced into a 1000 year life of spreading cheer and happiness. It's been 1000 years.

The film isn't scary. It's not even that good, but somewhere in there, it's fun to watch. It is really fun to watch. And I think that's where people missed the point. The film wasn't designed to be scary. It wasn't designed to be anything but a tongue-in-cheek absurd film where Santa is played by a pro-wrestler and nothing is taken seriously.

Highlights of the movie are when James Caan is stuffed to death by turkey and the silly "hell-deer" 'shaky cam' scene towards the end of the movie.

** 1/2 out of *****

The most horrible person ever in cinema

Ebola Syndrome or Yi boh lai beng duk is a 1996 Hong Kong horror film about a murderous undergound criminal named Kai who contracts the Ebola virus and then proceeds to give it to people across South Africa and then later, in Hong Kong.

If you want to know the most horrible fictional non-supernatural character presented on film? Look no further Kai has the competition beat. He's a horrible person. And I mean real horrible. Everyone wants to bully him (the poor translation decides to present us with "bully" for something that would probably better be translated to "don't frak with me."

Kai literally gives people the Ebola virus, through sexual intercourse, spitting on them, and even killing, butchering, and making his boss and his wife into "African Buns" to serve at the restaurant he worked at. This is almost as horrible as how he contracted it, raping a Zulu who dies in the middle of the act. What, the film can't be as bad as I'm describing it? Sorry, it's worse.

Shocking. Disgusting. Almost surreal, the film is a disaster to look and stare at. And if you don't like it, don't bully me. But do, please check it out, won't you?