An utterly bizarre, and deeply inept, movie that could have only been made by a certain studio (Tigon) in a certain place (Britain) at a certain time (1969), Zeta One – titled The Love Factor in the US – is nonetheless worth a watch if you’re a connoisseur of English cinematic oddities and terrible puns.
Directed and co-written by one Michael Cort, it features one of the most deliciously weird casts ever assembled: James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey, Robin Hawdon, two minor Carry On actresses in Valerie Leon and Carole Hawkins, Lionel Murton, Dawn Addams, Anna Gaël, Hammer queen Yutte Stensgaard and Rita Webb, among others.
The story, if it could be dignified with such a term, revolves around a race of sexy aliens from the planet Angvia (geddit?) in the fifth dimension who come to Earth with the intention of kidnapping our women in order to repopulate their planet.
It’s very silly and really rather terrible, in a charming kind of way. And, given the microscopic budget the project must have been given, the art direction, costumes and sets are actually. not too bad.
And despite all this, it still managed to be better than The Odyssey.
Yorgos Anthimos.. Lobster, Bugonia etc
Colin Farrell,Nicole Kidman,Barry Keoghan.
Based on the myth of Iphegnia but I couldn’t tell you how accurately.
Very unsettling as Barry works his way into the lives of Farrell and Kidman. Expect unusual visuals and sound track.
Apparently Colin found the whole experience “fcking depressing”.
Be disturbed. Courtesy of MUBI or Apple.
Last night I watched Patton on Blu-ray Disc. Patton is a role that George C Scott played so convincingly that it’s almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. While certain aspects rankle and lack authenticity, such as the use of US tanks and half tracks by the Germans (Tigers are somewhat ironically represented here by Patton tanks), in most other respects the film is a triumph, not least thanks to George C Scott’s performance and a script that keeps things tight.
I first saw this film back in the early days of video. My father had moved to the US at the end of '76 and bought a Betamax along with a small collection of war films (The Longest Day, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and Patton). The film certainly left an impression, but little did I know then just how much I was missing. Picture quality of the blu-ray (from 2023 judging by the box) is fantastic. It’s hard to believe this film is now 56 years old.
Not my normal fare but following a recommendation from my son, we watched this from BluRay (thanks Cinema Paradiso) and it was very good. The links to classical fables were not familiar to me but I thought the photography was excellent and the two leads developed their separate characters in a realistic manner, showing great skill. An interesting take on arranged marriage too.
in July ‘25.
