Attack The Block (2011)

This is a British science-fiction adventure film written and directed by Joe Cornish. The story revolves around a street gang of young teenagers who are out on Bonfire Night looking to get into trouble. While they are involved in mugging a young woman (Jodie Whittaker), an object flies out of the sky totally destroying a nearby parked car. While the boys are investigating, their leader Moses (John Boyega) is attacked by an alien creature. The boys quickly chase it down and kill it. Soon though, more flaming objects fall from the sky. The boys, still pumped up from the triumph of their encounter with the initial extraterrestrial, decide to go out and kill the others. Unfortunately, these other beasts are nothing like the first. These monsters are killing machines that will stop at nothing to get to the boys and destroy them. Will the gang be able to survive or can they defend their housing estate and possibly save the world?

Available:  Netflix, Amazon

Special (2006)

Michael Rapaport stars as Les Franken, a parking enforcement cop who's basically a pathetic loser. One day he decides to take part in a drug study. The drug is supposed to eliminate self doubt. However in Les' case it has caused him to have delusions that he is a super hero. This unfortunate side-effect has Les thinking that he has telepathy, can hover above the ground and walk through walls. The executive brothers (Paul Blackthorne and Ian Bohen) that run the drug company are worried that these adverse reactions will put a bad light on the drug and so they try to get Les to stop taking them. But by this time Les is so convinced that he has super powers he refuses to stop and goes after the Suits like the villains that they are.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Mannigan's Force (1988)

This terrible movie stars George Nicholas as Mannigan, a mercenary that loves to scream as he double-fists a couple of machine guns. After a 9-minute opening sequence of explosions and slow-motion deaths, we fast forward to present day. Mannigan and his gang are hired to rescue some US hostages that were taken when some rebels hijacked an arms delivery in a South American country. Of course the odds are against the them as the military dictatorship closes in on them but for $1 million, Mannigan stops at nothing.

Alternate Titles: American Wardog

Available: Netflix, Amazon

I Want My Name Back (2011)

We saw this movie at its World Premiere at the DocNYC festival in New York. Director Roger Paradiso introduced the film and informed us that this work-in-progress would have a new ending which we the audience would be a part of. The film itself tells the story of The Sugarhill Gang, the first artists to record a rap record with "Rapper's Delight". Unfortunately, the group were victims of unscrupulous record producers who royally screwed them. To make matters worse, the present right-holders (the sons of the original producers) have decide to steal the identities of Wonder Mike (Michael Wright) and Master Gee (Guy O'Brien) by copyrighting their rap names and preventing them from appearing as "The Sugarhill Gang". This documentary chronicles their fight to get their names back so that they can continue to make music on their own terms.  

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

This surreal film directed by Alain Resnais takes place at a beautiful French chateau. Among the guests is a man (Giorgio Albertazzi) who approaches a woman (Delphine Seyrig) and claims that they met last year at a similar resort.  He tells her that they planned to run away together after meeting again this year. The woman denies all this saying that she has never seen him before. Also present is a man who may the woman's husband (Sacha Pitoeff). He challenges the stranger many times to a game called Nim; a challenge that he always will win. Does the mysterious guy really have a claim on this woman or is he making it all up as part of his seduction of her?

 Available: Netflix, Amazon

El Topo (1970)

This incredible film by Alejandro Jodorowsky is credited with being one of the first Midnight Movies. It's achieved cult status with its plethora of religious symbols and Eastern philosophic imagery. 

The movie itself follows a lone gunman (Jodorowsky) who is traveling across the desert with his young son. After taking care of some bandits and their Colonel leader, he leaves his son behind and takes up with Mara, a young woman who he rescued. She demands that he challenge the four great masters of the desert. Unfortunately Mara eventually betrays the gunfighter leaving him to die in the desert. Luckily he is rescued by a group of deformed outcasts who nurse him back to health. He then takes it upon himself to dig a tunnel out of the mountain in which they are trapped, freeing them forever.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Dracula A.D. 1972

Christopher Lee returns as Hammer's Dracula yet again. Except this time he is revived in present-day swinging London!

After being thrown out of a posh party, a group of bored young adults are looking for the next big thrill. A newcomer to their group, Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), suggests performing a black magic ceremony in a church that is about to be torn down. Not coincidentally one of the group is Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), an ancestor of the great vampire hunter. Johnny revives Dracula as planned but doesn't get to Jessica as the intended victim. Instead, Dracula gets Laura (Caroline Munro). After Laura's body is found, the police start an investigation with the help of Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). It's a race against time to track down Dracula before he gets to Jessica.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Night After Night (1932)

George Raft plays Joe Anton, an ex-boxer who is now a popular speakeasy owner. But Joe isn't your typical hood; he is trying to improve himself by taking etiquette lessons from Mrs. Jellyman (Alison Skipworth) who is teaching him the proper way to speak and act.

Joe becomes intrigued by Miss Healy (Constance Cummings), a socialite who patronizes his club night after night and just sits by herself. Eventually he has the nerve to talk to her and falls for her. He gets Miss Jellyman to step up his lessons so he can impress this high class woman. Trouble starts to brew when Joe's current girlfriend (Wynne Gibson) and a very old flame (Mae West, in her very first role) each show up and start trouble.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

The Last Circus (2010)

This film is directed by Spanish film director Alex de la Iglesia. It stars Carlos Areces as Javier, a clown looking for a job with a circus. Javier's father was a "Happy Clown" that was imprisoned during the Spanish Civil War. Javier wants to follow in his father's footsteps, except he is a "Sad Clown" since his life has seen so much suffering. 

Javier finally gets employment with a traveling group that includes the beautiful acrobat Natalia (Carolina Bang). Javier instantly falls madly in love with her. The only problem is that she is the girlfriend of the Happy Clown Sergio (Antonio de la Torre), a violent egotist who believes that he runs the show. When things finally come to a head Javier basically loses his mind, intent on destroying Sergio and saving Natalia from his clutches.

Alternate Titles: Balada Triste De Trompeta

Available: Netflix, Amazon

The Getaway (1972)

This excellent movie is directed by Sam Peckinpah. It stars Steve McQueen as Doc McCoy, who is serving time at a Texas penitentiary when the film opens. Doc can't take the monotony of prison life and also desperately misses his wife Carol (Ali MacGraw), so he makes a deal with the powerful Jack Benyon (Ben Johnson) to get him paroled.

After gaining his freedom, Doc is hired by Benyon to hit a small local bank. He reluctantly agrees to use Rudy (Al Lettieri) and Frank (Bo Hopkins), a couple of Benyon's men for the job. Inevitably, things go wrong and Doc and Carol are on the run with a million dollars. They are being pursued not only by the law and Benyon's men, but by Rudy who Doc left for dead after the heist.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011)

This is a documentary about Conan O'Brien's 2010 "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television" Tour. After the debacle in which the NBC television network fired O'Brien as the new host of The Tonight Show, he was prohibited from performing on television for six months. Angry and impatient, he decides to embark on a stand-up comedy tour. Apprehensive to fan reaction, Team Coco quietly announce the tour on Twitter. To their delight, the shows quickly sell out. It's now up to Conan and his writers to create a production that not only will entertain, but help him work out his demons and get over his anger at the way he was treated.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

Three Ages (1923)

This is the first feature that Buster Keaton wrote, directed, produced and starred in. The film is structured as a satire of D.W. Griffith's film Intolerance in that three different time periods are being presented concurrently: prehistoric, ancient Rome, and present. The plot of each of the sub-stories is the same: Buster Keaton plays a loser who is competing for the attention of a woman (Margaret Leahy) with an Alpha-Male (Wallace Beery). Of course there is lots of signature physical comedy typical of a Keaton film.

Available: Netflix, Amazon

127 Hours (2010)

This dramatization directed by Danny Boyle is about Aron Ralston (played by James Franco), a hiker who accidentally got pinned by a rock while hiking. Ralston did not tell anyone where he was going when he went trekking Blue John Canyon in the state of Utah. A totally freakish accident occurs when Ralston falls down into a narrow passage dislodging a boulder that ends up pinning his arm against the wall and traps him there. With no way to move the rock, Aron makes the best of the situation while trying to decide what to do. He records a daily message on his camcorder with the thought that in all probability he will die stuck there. Survival instincts do kick in and he decides that to get out of there he will have to find a way to cut off his arm. With nothing but a dull blade, it doesn't look like that is a very viable option.

Available: Netflix, Amazon 

Strike Commando (1987)

This Italian action film directed by Bruno Mattei is an blatant rip-off of Rambo, First Blood Part II, not to mention several other films. It stars Reb Brown as Sgt. Ransom, the lone survivor of mission gone bad during the Vietnam War. He is saved and nursed back to health by some benevolent Vietnamese villagers. Ransom returns the favor by taking it upon himself to lead the natives to safety and away from the Communist enemies that continue to attack their community. Unfortunately, the band of refugees are attacked by not only the Viet Cong, but actual Russian soldiers. Ransom is not able to fight them all although he is able to reach the rendezvous point and be picked up by his men.

Back at base, Ransom has some words with Colonel Radek (Christopher Connelly), the commanding officer that was responsible for his squadron's massacre. He tells Radek that he can get proof that the Russians are in Vietnam and volunteers to return to the village to get that evidence. Once there he runs into Jakoda (Alex Vitale), the Russian killing-machine. It's up to Ransom to take down Jakoda using all means available to him.

Alternate Titles: Kobra Commando

Available: Netflix, Amazon

The Illustionist (2010)

This animated film is from the director of The Triplets Of Belleville and is adapted from an original screenplay by Jacques Tati. 

The story is centered around a magician who makes his living performing in the music halls of Great Britain during the 1950s. Sometimes he plays to empty houses but other times he gets an appreciative audience, such as the occasion when he entertains a pub full of people on a remote Scottish isle. During his stay there, he befriends a young girl. She quickly attaches herself to him. And when it is time to leave, the girl follows along. The two of them end up residing in Edinburgh, where the older man must take on extra work to be able to afford the finer things that the young girl wants. Over time she blossoms into a fine young lady.

Available: Netflix, Amazon