Second Take Cinema

Widely recognised as having saved the Star Trek franchise from certain doom, The Wrath Of Khan finds its strength in being a film that strips back its budget and instead relies on tight scripting, iconic (if over-the-top) performances and escalating tension and winds up with a more successful outcome than its predecessor. How does it hold up all of these years later though?

1994 remains perhaps the biggest year of Jim Carey's career, seeing the release of 3 of his biggest hits all in one year; Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (see previous STC episode!), Dumb & Dumber and perhaps the most risky of the three ventures: The Mask. Based on a comic book and produced by New Line Cinema, the movie takes the source material in a more comedic direction and blends a weird sense of disturbing fantasy, real-life mundanity and cartoonish comedy under the guiding hand of director Chuck Russell (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob). The question is, how does the movie hold up more than thirty years' later?

A huge Merry Christmas from Second Take Cinema and all of us here at Impala Films! We celebrate this week by reviewing a movie that holds a nostalgic place in Jamie's heart. Of the many screen adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that there has been, Jamie contests that this 1970 Albert Finney vehicle is the best of the bunch. Will Rory agree? Do you agree? Let us know!

Love Actually is usually regarded as one of the best Christmas and romantic movies ever but, in recent years opinion has been turning on the film with many acknowledging that the films idea of "love" is often misplaced. So who better to weigh in on this discussion than two fat guys?

A British-made New York gangster movie, a period-piece AND it's a musical!? How is that supposed to work? Oh, and one other thing...the cast is entirely made up of children. Yep, children. That's the unusual concept at the centre of Alan Parker's odd British musical-comedy Bugsy Malone which tells the story of a man caught up in a battle of rival gangs determined to wipe one another out and vying for control of a powerful new weapon; the "splurge gun."

A classic movie that launched Audrey Hepburn into a cultural icon and even spawned a 90s soft rock hit, almost everyone recognises Breakfast At Tiffany's, even if they've never actually seen the movie. Jamie first saw this movie as a teen and introduces it to Rory for the first time. Does the movie deserve its cultural reputation or is it all fanfare with no substance, and can certain poor decisions in this movie be reconciled with modern values?

This week on the show Jamie and Rory go back to one of the scariest sci-fi movies of all time, described as a "haunted house in space" Alien launched a franchise that remains one of the most well-known in Hollywood, but it all stems from humble beginnings. Jamie and Rory discuss some of the more disturbing themes of the movie and take a look at some of the filmmaking techniques used to bring the Nostromo to life. 

Jamie and Rory review the classic action movie "Die Hard" widely regarded as an excellent movie, Jamie has to come along with his usual contrarian take and isn't too enamoured by the movie. The boys discuss the reasons behind this and whether or not Die Hard could work with another action hero in the lead.