FILMS - Monkey Magic

Classic sci-fi. I love the Planet of the Apes films, they're an integral part of modern cinema and they've got Monkeys in them!!! Brilliant!

This sequel got a little bit silly towards the end and was verging on tacky 50's low-budget sci-fi but that?s fine, I love tacky 50's low-budget sci-fi!

I like this film just as much as the first, if not a little more! McDowall and Hunter are brilliant, I honestly believe McDowall should have been nominated for the Oscar but an actor in a Monkey suit would never be considered Oscar material. Shame. Anyway, this is a brilliant film!

The first of two prequels, Conquest has some really good ideas and a brilliant ending but just isn't as good as the originals.

Battle was a real disappointment. I think the fact that it had been built up quite a lot within the series let it down. Roddy McDowall was always entertaining to watch though, worth seeing just for his performance.

Not even the excellent cast could save this misjudged stinker of a movie. Burton should have known better.

To be honest, the old PG Tips adverts with the Chimps drinking tea on a loop for 2 hours would have been a better inclusion to the franchise than Tim Burtons effort, so Rise of the Planet of the Apes had a bit of slack to work with but, to it's credit, it was pretty good. It's not as good as the original and I don't think it was as good as the third film which, I love, but has been ignored - it being the only part of the story it decided to side-step away from, Ceaser is the son of Cornelius, not sure why they went to the effort of having the news coverage of the Mars spaceflight in the background to link with the first film if they didn't continue the whole story but that said, if they do another and avoid the Beneath the Planet of the apes storyline, we'll call it quits. It is essentially a blockbuster, everything is a little bit rushed to fit into the 2 hours but it's good fun, is exciting and is a little bit more intelligent than your average summer blockbuster. It fits into the franchise quite well and although the CGI wasn't always great, I hope they make more.

It was far too long. Jackson let success go to his head I feel. It is pretty audacious remaking a classic like King Kong, and although I wasn't against the idea, I feel his ego was the real monster here. Also, unfinished and pointless subplots frustrate me.

Almost perfect but made just before they reached the top of their game and fine-tuned their act. Still brilliant though, a still very funny!

'I wanna be like you hoo hoo!'

I want an ape. My girlfriend won?t let me have one though, she would tell you she already has one!

A pointless but welcome follow up. Left turn Clyde!

I received this tape for my 12th Birthday and have only just watched it on my old VHS machine I recently discovered in the cupboard. It's quite good. National Geographic used to mean something though, now they have their own TV channel is seems standards have slipped. I like modern nature films with clever visuals and camera work etc but you can't beat these old-school docs, the ones where you just know the cameraman had to walk 100 miles, climb a mountain and poo in a snake infested pit in the rain to get the footage. If you can find it, watch it.

John Landis and Eddie Murphy worked really well together. This is an old favourite staring Denholm Elliott, one of my favourite actors, Jamie Lee Curtis, who has a pair of my favourite breasts and is proof that Eddie Murphy was funny once!

Good, well balanced biopic, one of Sigourney Weaver's best performances!

Not bad, no songs in it though! ;o)

It's got talking Monkeys and Bruce Campbell in it, so it can't be bad! Unfortunately, it is. A bit of a guilty pleasure but not very good really.

A fantastic sci-fi mystery from Gilliam who can probably boast being a genre unto himself. Fine performances by a capable cast but it's Brad Pitt who really steals the show in one of his finest performances so far in his carrier.

?Watch out for that tree?! Love the theme music but that?s about it.

Shaolin Drunk Monkey is definitely in so bad it's good territory. The awful 80's dubbing certainly adds to this, indeed it is the quintessential badly dubbed so bad it's good kung-fu comedy action film. Elton Chong, ha ha!

This is a great documentary! It?s got drama, comedy, corruption! It?s a classic tale of good vs. evil. It?s like starwars but with geeks and nerds. Steve Wiebe is great hero character but Billy Mitchell has to be one of the greatest villains in cinematic history! He's like the wicked witch of the west, surrounded by his flying monkeys. This is an ace film, you should watch it this evening! :o)

James Marsh is fast becoming the documenterian to look out for, Project Nim is a fantastic follow up to his brilliant man on Wire. Project Nim is a very compelling story, not just because of its main attraction, a charismatic Chimp called Nim Chimpsky (Get it? Noam Chomsky/Nim Chimpsky?) but also because of the humans he encounters, such as the new-age mother who lets him drink and is fascinated by his masturbatory habits, the egocentric lothario scientist (complete with seductive 70's moustache) who seems to be busier bedding the researchers and getting his picture taken rather than getting on with the project and this hippy best friend, who likes nothing better than, playing, picking wild berries and sharing a joint with the young simian. Welcome to the 70's. Yes, Nim smokes weed from time to time, this and other wacky storeys emerge from this often humorous but also heartbreaking tale. It's that old cliche of us humans learning more from animals than they could ever learn from us but brilliantly done with all key players giving their side of the story. Highly recommended.

A chidlhood favorate

Poo. Not quite the death of Disney though unfortunately!