ripplinbuckethead

As a since 1986-long fan of the film Flight of the Navigator, I was shocked, of course, upon hearing that the star of the film, Joey Cramer, had been arrested in an attempted bank robbery several years ago. Certain details came out, but nothing to really explain it. Well, all his fans wondered what happened, but one fan, director Lisa Downs, actually reached out to Joey and they made a film together that explains everything, warts and all.

This is an excellent, heartfelt profile of Joey and his life, from early childhood to now, having gone through things most of us will never experience, the good and the bad. He really opens up, and knowing how long it took to film this whole project, we're able to follow his progress from good to better to best. Along the way, most of his co-stars from the movie are interviewed and offer nice insights. (even Sarah Jessica Parker makes a cameo, kinda/sorta!) I was impressed at the organic feel that Downs gave this, with a nice narrative throughout.

As with the original movie, you can tell this documentary was a labor of love. I was so excited when I first heard of it and have followed its progress for quite a while. And now having seen it, I'd have to think it could also be viewed as an additional kick in the pants for Joey to stay on the straight and narrow. ;) He's still a youthful, talented, handsome and, thankfully, healthy guy with an ongoing interest in the world of film, so don't be surprised if you see him on the big or little screen again sometime!

We're all rooting for you, Joey!

To be sure, there are a lot of great, funny animal clips in these. The third episode was especially good. However, the host and all the guests deliver the most bland, unfunny commentary...and there's a LOT of it. I'd say a good 70% of the show is devoted to the people rather than the real stars. Takes me maybe 7 or 8 minutes to watch 20 minutes of content because I skip all the talking head segments I can. Bit of a shame, because there are plenty of excellent clips surrounded by mediocrity, which is what will stand out to any viewer. :/

When police Sargeant Truman (Stanley Baker) is transferred to the Juvenile Liaison division, he views this as a somewhat humiliating demotion, especially as he had been in the middle of a case involving multiple arsons. He knows he can't help catch the firebug while basically being a truant officer. But when he gets involved with a couple of very young thieves, he soon discovers there's more to their family than he could've imagined.

There's a lot to like about this tense thriller. But before you get to that, you might get the feeling it's a light comedy, as the young twins Mary and Patrick are hilarious! But soon enough, the tone shifts slowly until it's deadly serious, and it really works. Some nice character development and genuine shocks drive the story along.

I would say it's Baker's movie, but also equally David McCallum's. It's a fairly early role for him and must've gained him a ton of attention. Nice, albeit smaller roles for Peter Cushing and Anne Heywood as well.

I was impressed with this one. I'm glad YouTube affords me the opportunity to see these gems now, especially living in areas where these lesser known British movies weren't exactly on heavy rotation on TV growing up.