Red-Barracuda

This concise doc tells the story of the only supersonic passenger aircraft to date, the legendary Concorde. It seems unbelievable to me that it was 25 years since the fateful accident, where Air Flight France 5290 crashed to earth in a ball of flames shortly after take-off. This went a long way to ending the Concorde era, which had begun in 1975, only to come to and end 28 years later in 2003. The genesis of the plane was unpromising on paper to say the least, as it required Britain and France to work together in tandem - a task that seemed more impossible than the creation of an aeroplane capable of flying faster than sound. Incredibly, after a few bumps on the road, the project bore fruit with a jet liner that was the final word in air-based glamour. Because of the sheer volume of its sonic boom, if was forced into a single air-route between London and New York, over the ocean and far away from towns and cities. This limitation was one of the reasons it was ultimately financially doomed.

The doc includes the thoughts of various people from the designers to the frequent flyers and features an excellent array of old footage. It's informative and alluring in equal measure. It may make you pine for the jet-setting age. So, pour yourself a Martini, sit back and relax and marvel at a (still) unmatched bit of 70's technology.

This low-key documentary centres on a former Soviet era medical facility called the Kuyalnik Sanatorium. In the present day, this brutalist edifice has evolved into a health farm, located near Odesa in southern Ukraine. It finds itself in a state of repair and with a dwindling and aging clientele, reduced somewhat further by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.

The film essentially follows several staff and guests around the resort. Its very much of the slice-of-life variety, with nothing too dramatic happening at any point. All that being said, there is an actual air raid, where all the have to assemble in the basement shelter and the war is a constant player on the periphery. Its presence is almost surreal at times, given the laconic goings-on in this strange, isolated building acting as an unusual contrast. The tone of the film is a mix of sadness and wistfulness but also hope. The very fact that this place continues to operate, regardless of the horrendous situation in the region, is somehow encouraging. You want it to survive.

I remember when I was eleven my best friend at school got me to watch this on video. We hardly watched any movies together either, so it sticks in my memory a bit. I must admit, I recall not finding Hysterical all that good, even way back then as a kid. Having just rewatched it for the first time since, I have to conclude that that wasn't a very unfair assessment. Its essentially a spoof of the horror genre in general, with riffs on various films such as The Exorcist, Jaws, The Shining etc. It stars the Hudson Brothers, who I know nothing about out with this movie. Seemingly they were teen idol pop stars in the early 70's and moved into TV comedy sketch territory. This movie was clearly designed to launch them into a film career in the 80's. This plan seems to have epically failed and they subsequently disappeared from cinema immediately afterwards. The story has a writer move to a coastal town to live in a lighthouse and before long discovers that it is the source of a haunting which is plaguing the local town. Two paranormal investigators are brought in to try and sort it out.

Its not really very surprising that the Hudson Brothers failed to ignite after this. While the humour is abundant, its hopelessly delivered and clunky throughout. People mention that the Hudsons were probably trying to emulate the Zucker-Abraham-Zucker team that made Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane or Mel Brooks who hade made a successful career out of film spoofery but in this film, the Hudson's more closely resemble Britain's Cannon and Ball, who made one unfunny move, The Boys in Blue, and then disappeared from our cinema screens forever more. The jokes here just aren't very good and the Hudson's aren't delivering them very well. There's a surprisingly good support cast on hand and there are some memorable side characters such as a guy on a bike who keeps on telling anyone and everyone that 'they're doomed'. But its slim pickings all round though really. All that being said, despite its poorness, it is a likeable enough endeavour and has a goofy charm of sorts, so its hard to truly dislike.