Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (2718)

Content

Awix (3310 KP) rated The China Syndrome (1979) in Movies

May 27, 2019 (Updated May 27, 2019)

The China Syndrome (1979)

1979 | Drama, Thriller

7.4

(12 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Smart, taut thriller has lost none of its relevance or credibility. Journalists present at an accident in a nuclear plant attempt to uncover exactly what they witnessed; the supervisor at the plant makes his own investigation and uncovers some disturbing facts.

Works very well as a piece of entertainment, first of all, with strong performances, especially from Lemmon. But also very much a product of its time - it's one of many conspiracy-based American thrillers from the half-decade or so after Watergate; also has interesting things to say about gender politics of the period and the artificial nature of the media. A highly engaging, intelligently scripted movie, a class act in every department.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Womaneater (1957) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Jun 22, 2019)

Womaneater (1957)

1957 | Horror

3.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Minor entry in the annals of British botanical horror proves that Orson Welles wasn't the only one whose career took a nosedive after Citizen Kane. George Coulouris does the best he can as a scientist so mad he thinks you should keep trees in a basement, but you can see the melancholy in his eyes throughout.

Essentially an attempt to transplant, or in this case re-pot, the US Z-movie horror formula to a British context, but this just makes the results weirder rather than appreciably better. Fabulous insights into assumptions about gender politics and other cultures, obviously. The killer tree itself will linger in your memory, though not in the way the film-makers would have hoped.