B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - GULAG (TV 1985)

This month B-Movie Gazette dives into the prison genre and who doesn't like a good prison flick? Gulag is an extremely well-produced TV movie originally made for HBO before wandering out to obscurity-land. David Keith is in top form as a sportscaster and while covering an event in Moscow is framed by the KGB. Unable to prove his innocence a prison escape is now inevitable, just how will he do it? Malcolm McDowell co-stars, this is a good one folks! 2.75 stars/2.75

Friday, December 31, 2021

STRANGE DAYS (1995) - WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME KATHRYN BIGELOW BRINGS HANDS-DOWN ULTIMATE NEW YEAR'S EVE MOVIE W/ RALPH FIENNES & JULIETTE LEWIS



It's LA in the future and people's memories of specific events are bought and sold on the black market. They're called "playback" and you "jack it" into your brain, ya dig? Scumbag Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) is a dealer of such druggy material but has a dear friend (Angela Bassett) who wants to see him clean up his life. However, he can't get over an ex-girlfriend (Juliette Lewis in a total Holy Shit performance) who is really wrapped up in the underworld and she holds the key to why a famous rapper has been murdered. 

If any of that catches your attention so far, then dig in as Kathryn Bigelow, hot on the success of the magnificent Point Break, changes backdrops from the sunny beaches of Malibu to the gritty grime of downtown LA. The use of handhelds and production of action scenes in this movie is off the chart.. The story is a bit convoluted but never boring. Juliette Lewis' scenes fronting a rock band are to be seen to be believed, they're that good. That's not new ground for her of course but these scenes are stellar, not to mention her scene in Venice Beach. 

Angela Bassett really shows off her physical skills in fight scenes and Tom Sizemore is his usual very enjoyable self as one of Lenny's friends. An outstanding sci-fi that was way ahead of it's time, highly recommend. Not available in the streaming world, just DVD.  3.5 stars/5

2 comments:

  1. could you add this one to your site, thanks

    Black Hole Alien Brain Zombies!

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17158678/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RprR-UY9Ww

    A secret experimental lab accident creates a black hole,
    which actually hides a highly advanced alien intelligence,
    that wants to take over the universe. Of course this begins
    by transmitting crazy trippy messages encoded to turn humanity into zombies!!
    Watch out outer space, this plan 9 goes to 11!

    A Black Hole, Aliens, Brains, Zombies and Unicorns. It has it all!
    A quirky mind bending experimental science fiction satire.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll be nice and leave it this time. Check it out if you so desire folks!

    ReplyDelete

B-MOVIE GAZETTE RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars - Only awarded to the precious few.
4 Stars - Excellent, see by all means.
3 Stars - Very Good, you should like.
2 Stars - Fair, like a frozen dinner.
1 Star - Poor, like a spoiled dinner.

ALL B-MOVIES, DRIVE-IN MOVIES AND TV MOVIES HAVE A MAX AWARD OF 2.75 STARS.