hitchcockthelegend

Once sheared of twenty minutes, "Requiem for a Gringo" is now available to be seen in a full uncut version. Not that it's outrageously violent or sexually repugnant, it would appear some stiff backed suits back in the late 1960's had a bug where the sun doesn't shine.

This is a little treat for fans of Euro-Westerns of the 60's. Plot holds familiar traits, where a ruthless gang of scumbags terrorise locals and kill indiscriminately. Enter a lone stranger, Ross Logan/Django (Lang Jeffries), who after having been dealt a family mortal blow, sets about revenge - good job he is one seriously hard and smart dude!

Logan is a wonderful creation, he rides a mule, he wears a leopard skin poncho, and crucially he is a lover of astrology and uses it to define his life outcome (the best weather man in the history of Western genre cinema). There's a nice bit of splintered narrative used by directors Eugenio Martín and José Luis Merino here, while they also give the pic a supernatural vibe (Martin had his roots in horror).

Pic is full of macho brooding, murder death kills (splendid stunt work), scuzzy close ups, intense fights, beautiful girls (seriously, some of the prettiest girls ever in a Pasta/Paella Western), stunning Almeria location cinematography (Mario Pacheco) and some inventive camera work.

Very underseen, this may not be a high point in the genre, but it's certainly one that fans of such should be seeking out. One question though - how the hell did Lang Jeffries get to marry Rhonda Fleming? Must have been the gringo look that did it... 7/10

The Five Pennies is a musical biopic of jazz great Red Nichols, who is here played by Danny Kaye. As the famed Dixieland cornetist, he runs into opposition to his sound, but breaks through barriers to achieve success. Upon marrying an understanding patient woman (Barbara Bel Geddes) he begins to raise a family. But when tragedy strikes the family, "Red" puts down his horn to focus on matters of the heart.

Out of Paramount, The Five Pennies was released at a time when musical biopics were popular. Amazingly, as schmaltzy as the whole thing is on narrative terms, it's amazingly true to fact and and it pays to remember that when you think things are too sugary.

The music positively booms with joy, none more so than when the great Louis Armstrong is involved in duets with Red (the real Nichols playing). Tuesday Weld plays the teenage Nichols daughter and she is an utter delight, where she hits all the right emotional beats as the character progresses. Kaye is in his element, a perfect piece of casting, and Geddes is the embodiment of Americana wives of stoic firm and loyal beliefs.

It's a musical biopic that isn't afraid to show the main protag as a flawed individual, and that should be applauded. But as it happens, it's also a fine film all told, full of Dixieland verve and family values, and of course, the triumph of the will born about by pure love - both at home or through your art. 8/10

Godzilla is on the verge of nuclear meltdown, which spells doom for mankind. At the same time horrifying new organisms are discovered in Japan. These crustacean like beings are seemingly born of the Oxygen Destroyer, which was the weapon that killed the original Godzilla. From such things the mighty Destoroyah is born - the toughest enemy Godzilla has ever faced...

It's not only the last of the "Heisei" era of Godzilla, it's also one of the best in the whole franchise. It was meant to be the swansong for the big atomic lizard, which would have been fitting as it happens, but when Centropolis took up the rights and produced the must chastised 1998 blockbusting Matthew Broderick pic, things changed...

G-Force is on the case here trying to find out what the hell is going on (armed with the new awesome Super-X III), which brings in the human facor coupled with some wonderful sci-fi babble. Godzuki is in here, but he's not the cute goggle eyed cuddly thing we have seen before, he looks like the big parent only in smaller form - and here having junior in the piece works.

The effects work isn't the best of the series, and some of Destoroyah's abilities are strangely not explained - which is annoying. Fans of all things "Zilla" will rejoice at the nods and homages to the past "Zilla" entries, which is credit to Toho Studio for showing respect to their baby (and the fans).

The great Akira Ifukube came out of retirement to musically score this one, and he doesn't disappoint, blending the traditional Tokyo stomp thunders with emotional swirls. Ah yes, emotion, this be the one that has it in utter abundance. There is wonderful colour, carnage, laser shows and beast smack downs, but ultimately the emotional heart of the pic is what rises it up towards the top end of the Godzilla franchise. 8/10