Scifi and fantasy movies from 2010.

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Monsters (Mark's take)
01/12/2010. As a sort of a road film, the movie 'Monsters' tells the story of two young Americans making their way across a war-ravaged Mexico - where the war is against giant creatures of alien origin. The story is told with a naturalistic style and with the actors improvising with non-actor locals. In the end the film is really about people and not special effects.

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
1/12/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC DVD 100 minutes 4 black and white episodes with extras. Price: GBP 5.99 (UK) if you know where to look). Stars: William Hartnell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Peter Butterworth.

Robin Of Sherwood Series 1/2
1/12/2010. Robin Of Sherwood Series 1 And 2 Blu-Ray Edition. blu-ray region 2: pub: Network B0042QHAY2. 4 blu-ray disks 650 minutes 11 episodes with extras. Price: GBP49.99 (UK)). Stars: Michael Praed, Judi Trott, Ray Winston, Clive Mantle, Mark Ryan, Phil Rose and Nickolas Grace.

Doctor Who: The Space Museum/The Chase
1/12/2010. Doctor Who: The Space Museum/The Chase DVD boxset. pub: BBC BBCDVD 2809. Price: about GBP15.00 (UK) if you know where to look. 250 minutes 3 DVDs with extras. Details per volume below.

Dark Skies The Complete Series
1/12/2010. Dark Skies: The Complete Series DVD boxset. pub: MediumRare Entertainment B003WL825O. 6 DVDs 892 minutes 18 episodes. Price: GBP39.99 (UK).

Human Target Season 1
1/12/2010. Human Target Season 1 Expanded 3 Disc Set by Bear McCreary. pub: La-La Land Records LLLCD 1150. 3 CDs 63 tracks. Price: $24.98 (US).

Torchwood: Original Television Soundtrack
1/12/2010. Torchwood: Original Television Soundtrack by Ben Foster and Murray Gold. pub: Silva Screen Records SILCD1267. 1 CD 78 minutes 32 tracks. Price: 8.95 (UK))..

Starcrash: The Adventures Of Stella Star
1/12/2010. Starcrash: The Adventures Of Stella Star (1979). region 1 DVD: pub: Shout! Factory SF11658. 2 DVDs 92 minute film with extras. Price: about $12.00 (US) if you know where to look). Stars: Caroline Munro, Marjoe Gortner, Judd Hamilton, David Hasselhoff and Christopher Plummer.

Doctor Who: The Rescue/The Romans
1/12/2010. Doctor Who: The Rescue/The Romans boxset. pub: BBC BBCDVD 2698. Price: about GBP11.00 (UK) if you know where to look. 146 minutes 2 DVDs. Details per volume below.

Space 1999 Season One
01/11/2010. pub: Network B003XVGD68. Blu Ray Edition - 7 blu-ray disks 1200 minutes 24 episodes with extras. Price: GBP 79.99 (UK)) stars: Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Barry Morse.

Defendor (2010)
01/11/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment B003JQK86I. 1 DVD with extras. Price: GBP 13.99 (UK)) stars: Woody Harrelson.

Doctor Who: The Aztecs
01/11/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD 1099. 1 DVD 98 minutes 4 black and white episodes with extras. Price; GBP 5.75 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carol Ann Ford.

The X-Files: The Complete Seventh Season
01/11/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: 20th Century Fox 23875MDVD. 6 DVDs 937 minutes 22 episodes with extras. Price: GBP 16.99 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Mitch Peleggi.

The Assault of the Sasquatch
01/11/2010. region 1 DVD: pub: Synthetic Cinema International B003VC6EZO. 1 DVD 85 minute film. Price: $14.95 (US), GBP 8.55 (UK) stars: Greg Nutcher, Sarah J. Ahearn, Cristina Santiago, Andrea Saenz, Shawn C. Phillips and M. Kelly Kevin Shea.

Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated
01/10/2010. DVD Region 0: pub: MVD Visual/MVD Entertainment Group. B003GUGB8G. 101 minute DVD with extras. Price: GBP17.83 (UK), $16.95 (US)) stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman.

FlashForward: the complete series
01/10/2010. Region 2 DVD: pub: Walt Disney Company B002R59WN2. 5 DVDs 22 episodes with extras. Price: GBP35.99 (UK)) stars: Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Brian F. OE;Byrne, Courtney B. Vance and Christine Woods.

Lost season 6
01/10/2010. Lost The Complete Final Season 6. region 2 blu-ray: pub: Buena Vista Home Entertainment B0036DE0MW. 5 blu-ray disks 795 minutes 17 episodes with extras Price: GBP60.99 (UK)) stars: Evangeline Lily, Matthew Fox and Josh Holloway.

Lathe Of Heaven
01/10/2010. Region 1 DVD: pub: A&D AAE-70409. 104 minute film with extras. Price: Well, I pulled it for under $ 3.00 (US) from the other side of the pond) stars: James Caan, Lukas Hass, Lisa Bonet, David Strathairn and Shirley McCarthy.

Army Of The Dead
01/10/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment KAL8088. 1 DVD 89 minute film. Price: GBP12.99 (UK)) stars: Ross Kelly and Stefani Marchesi.

Pirahna 3D
1/09/2010. Killer fish chasing near-naked women. I miss the good old horror films of the 1970s. This film tries to be one of them and falls on its face. Insultingly the filmmakers thought that modern audiences want lots of nudity and lots of gore, but would not appreciate decent writing or interesting characters.

House Of Wax (1953)
1/09/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Warner Bros 11054. 2 films: 84m & 86m plus extras. Price: under £ 3.00 if you know where to look)stars: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones and Paul Picerni.

The X-Files: The Complete Sixth Season
1/09/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: 20th Century Fox 23563MDVD. 947 minutes 22 episodes with extras 6 DVDs. Price: £15.99 (UK) if you know where to look)stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Mitch Peleggi.

Chocky's Challenge
1/09/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films PAR61469. 1 DVD 184 minutes 3 episodes. Price: £19.99 (UK))stars: Anabel Worrell and Andrew Ellams.

The 7th Dimension
1/09/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment KAL8067. 1 DVD 90 minutes with extras. Price: £12.99 (UK))stars: Kelly Adams, Jonathan Rhodes, Lucy Evans and Calita Rainford.

Hunter Prey (2009)
1/09/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment KAL8081. 1 DVD 88 minutes with extras. Price: £12.99 (UK))stars: Damian Potier, Clark Bantram, Isaac Singleton Jr, Simon Potter and Erin Gray.

Despicable Me: Mark's take
01/08/2010. Gru, a super-villain of the James Bond film type, goes into competition with another super-villain, Vector. Gru needs three little girls from a local foundling home to penetrate Vector's stronghold. But Gru does not count on the power of three cute little girls to transform his life. Pixar raised the bar even higher for digital animation films with Toy Story 3 and it is well out of reach for Illumination Entertainment, the producers of Despicable Me.

Inception: Mark's take
01/08/2010. There comes a point when enough is too much. Writer and director Christopher Nolan makes an intelligent thought-piece that is at the same time an explosive action thriller. There is little time to absorb the ideas. Still, where else are you going to get so intelligent a film in mid-summer?

The Stone Tape: Mark's take
01/08/2010. Nigel Kneale combines science fiction and the supernatural again in his 1972 story of cutting-edge electronics research laboratory haunted by a ghost. At one time Kneale was a font of new ideas, but this play is mostly a reworking of some of the ideas from the much superior Quatermass And The Pit. Still the narrative is tense and at times unnerving. Spoiler: The review will be followed by a spoiler discussing Nigel Kneale's idea.

Legion DVD (2010)
1/8/2010. region 2 DVD. pub: Sony Pictures B0033AGJ1S. 1 DVD 100 minute film with extras. Price: £19.99 (UK).

The X-Files Movie Special Edition
1/8/2010. Region 2 DVD: pub: 20th Century Fox 00079DVD. 1 DVD 118 minute film with extras. Price: £ 2.00 (UK) if you know where to look). stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, Blythe Danner and Armin Mueller-Stahl

Gattaca
1/8/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Sony Pictures C822 9280. 1 DVD 102 minute film with extras. Price: £ 3.00 (UK) if you know where to look). stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin, Jude Law and Loren Dean

Colossus: The Forbin Project Special Edition DVD
1/8/2010. DVD region 2: pub: Universal/Medium Rare FHED2472. 1 DVD 95 minute film with extras. Price: £ 4.95 (UK) if you know where to look). stars: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark and Gordon Pinsent

The Corridor People
1/8/2010. region 2 DVD. pub: Network B003WFO4NE. 200 minute 4 * 48 minute black and white episodes and a photo gallery. Price: £10.99 (UK)). stars: John Sharp, Elizabeth Shepherd and Gary Cockrell.

Splice: Mark's take
01/07/2010. Two biologists, each with psychological problems, specialising in DNA splicing, finds Mark, become de facto parents to the partially human creature they create in their laboratory. Vincenzo Natali directs and co-authors, but the film sadly lacks the fresh originality of his previous films. The science is more hysteria than believable.

Cypher: Mark's take
01/07/2010. Vincenzo Natali's follow-up to the 1996 Cube is in nearly all ways a science fiction outing superior to his previous film. Brian King's screenplay make this a fast paced science fiction adventure very much of the style of Philip K. Dick. Jeremy Northam is a total nebbish who gets to lead a double (and then triple) life in the shady world of industrial espionage.

Nothing: Mark's take
01/07/2010. A morality tale with a word of warning about getting everything you desire. Vincenzo Natali, best known for Cube and the current Splice tell the story of two boys who are the constant victims of all ages who suddenly find they have the ability to make their wishes come true. Director Natali wrote the story with the two actors who star.

The X-Files: The Complete Fifth Season DVD
1/07/2010. pub: 20th Century Fox 23032MDVD. Price: £15.99 (UK) if you know where to look. 6 DVDS 862 minutes 20 * 50 minute episodes with extras). stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Mitch Pileggi.

Mystery And Imagination: The Complete Series DVD
1/07/2010. pub: Network B0000D9GPL. 4 DVDs 580 minutes 8 * 80 minutes episodes. Price £29.99 (UK).

Chimera
1/07/2010. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. PAR61479. 1 DVD 201 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £19.99 (UK))stars: John Lynch and David Calder.

The Twilight Zone Season One DVD Set
1/07/2010. pub: Classic Sci-Fi CCTV30177. 6 DVDs 880 minutes 33 * 25 minute black and white episodes plus extras. Price: about £ 20.00 (UK) if you know where to look.

Return Of The Six Million Dollar Man And The Bionic Woman
1/07/2010. pub: Universal FHED2686. 94 minute DVD. Price: £ 6.99 (UK) if you know where to look)stars: Lee Majors, Lindsay Wager, Richard Anderson, Tom Schanley, Martin E. Brooks, Lee Majors II, Martin Landau and Gary Lockwood.

Chocky's Children
1/07/2010. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. PAR61468. 1 DVD 150 minutes 6 * 25 minute episodes and extras. Price: £19.99 (UK))stars: Andrew Ellams, Annabel Worrall and Ed Bisho.

Toy Story 3: Mark's take
01/07/2010. Some of the most serious films being made today are the comedies from Pixar Animation Studios that the whole family can enjoy. Pixar has another hit returning to the "Toy Story" franchise. In Toy Story 3 young Andy who always loved his toys is going to college and his toys are going into storage. As a last-minute reprieve they go instead to a day-care center where they can play until they break. Unfortunately that fate may not be as far away as they had hoped. The writing quality is what makes this film work as a comedy, an adventure, and a film with some serious affecting human drama.

How to Train Your Dragon - Mark's take
01/05/2010. A young Viking is anxious to win glory by killing a few of the dragons who ravage his village. When he actually gets to meet a real dragon close up he discovers that dragons are not at all what he thought. Those who enjoyed flying on dragons in 3D in AVATAR can do it again. The plot is overly familiar but still effective. This review includes the new HD trailer for the film.

The Human Centipede - Mark's take
01/05/2010. In The Human Centipede, relatively standard mad scientist horror film elements combine with a truly twisted premise. Dutch filmmaker Tom Six writes and directs a horror film with a really tasteless gross-out concept. The film has good production values, but is still disturbing in ways that perhaps no film before it has ever been. This is a film experience for a narrow select audience.

Heavy Rain (PS3)
01/05/2010. pub: Quantic Dream/Sony B002BWONF8. Price £39.99 (UK). Cert 15+.

The Invaders: The Second Season DVD boxset
01/05/2010. pub: Paramount/CBS DVD PHE 9847. 1282 minutes 26 * 50 minute episodes with no extras. Price: about £11.00 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Roy Thinnes, Kent Smith and a multitude of guest stars.

Whoops Apocalypse: The Complete Apocalypse
01/05/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Network B000NHG806. 2 DVDs 150 minutes 6 * 30 minutes and some extras. Price: £19.99 (UK)) stars: Barry Morse, Richard Griffiths, John Barron and Alexei Sayle.

Doctor Who: Carnival Of Monsters
01/04/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD1098. 1 DVD 98 minutes 4 episodes with extras. Price: £ 6.99 (UK) if you know where to look)stars: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning and Leslie Dwyer.

Chocky - TV Series
01/04/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films PAR61467. 1 DVD 151 minutes 6 episodes and extras. Price: £19.99 (UK))stars: James Hazeldine, Carol Drinkwater and Andrew Ellams.

Doctor Who: The Time Warrior
01/04/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD2334. 1 DVD 96 minutes 4 episodes with extras. Price: £ 3.50 (UK) if you know where to look)stars: Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, David Daker and Kevin Lindsay.

Catweazle: The 40th Anniversary Edition
01/04/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Network B0030A0ZCU. 5 DVDs 650 minutes 26 * 25 minute episodes with extras. Price: £49.99 (UK))stars: Geoffrey Bayldon and Robin Davies.

Mutants (Mark's take)
01/04/2010. This 2009 zombie film from France does everything it does well but little that is original. Fans of the zombie sub-genre will get very much what they are expecting whether that is what they really want or not. Two lovers fight to survive in a world over-run but microbe-transformed zombies. Most of the photography is shot though a blue-gray filter to give a downbeat sensibility and a great deal of not-quite-believable stage blood gets dripped, sloshed, spattered, and sneezed.

Attack of the Vegan Zombies! (Mark's take)
01/04/2010. The vines go after the people and the zombies go after the wine In Attack Of The Vegan Zombies! Writer/director/star Jim Townsend has a feel for older horror films and fresher ideas for a zombie movie. The action scenes do not work really well, but Townsend knows not to let this degenerate into too much of spoof too soon.

The Wolfman (Mark's take)
01/03/2010. Joe Johnston directs an expansion and sophistication of the 1941 The Wolfman. In story and in style this is a cold, dark film. The script has some very nice touches but goes over the top in the final act. In many ways it is much more a work of art than the original film, but the original will be remembered when this film is forgotten.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Mark's take)
01/03/2010. This film with the cumbersome title is a young adult movie from a young adult novel that reminds us of precursors Like Jason And The Argonauts And Clash Of The Titans, but is set in a contemporary setting. A high school boy finds out that the root of his problems is that he is a demigod in the sense of Greek mythology. In this world that mythology was not only true, the battles of the Greek gods continue today. Percy Jackson is suspect number one in the theft of Zeus's lightning bolt so goes from being an underachiever to battling the great monsters and gods of the Greek myths. This is a surprisingly satisfying fantasy adventure.

Doctor Who: Beneath The Surface boxset
01/03/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC 2438. Price: about £12.00 (UK) if you know where to look) I have to confess that I tend to be a little cautious when it comes to buying boxsets that aren't consecutive stories. On the other hand, it's difficult to get the three stories below separately now and at about £4 each, makes this a decent bargain. You could always argue that only as a boxset would you seriously consider buying 'Warriors Of The Deep'?! That aside, lets look at each of the stories.

Callan: The Monochrome Years
01/03/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Network B002ZJ1JR2. 4 DVDs 600 minutes 12* 50 minute black & white episodes. Price: £29.99 (UK)) stars: Edward Woodward, Russell Hunter, Ronald Radd, Michael Goodliffe, Derek Bond and Anthony Valentine

The Guardians - The Complete Series
01/03/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Network B002ZJ1JOK. 4 DVDs 13 * 55minute episodes with a photo gallery. Price: £39.99 (UK)) stars: Cyril Luckham, Derek Smith, David Burke, Lynn Farley, Gwyneth Powell, John Colin and Edward Petherbidge

Doctor Who: The Claws Of Axos
01/03/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC 1354. 1 DVD 96 minutes 4 * 24 minute episodes and extras. Price: about £ 5.00 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Roger Delgado and Bernard Holley

The Last Mimzy
01/03/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Entertainment In Video/New Line Cinema EDV 9489. 1 DVD 92 minute film with extras. Price: about £ 2.00 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Chris O'Neill, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Timothy Hutton, Patrick Gilmore, Joely Richardson and Michael Clarke Duncan

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (Mark's take)
01/02/2010. Terry Gilliam's new film is a lot like his previous imaginative films, only perhaps more so. A small tacky traveling show in a caravan hides real magic. It has a gateway to a subjective land created by the visitor's own imagination. The show's owner is also genuinely immortal do to a pact he has made with Satan himself. The actual story is muddled, but the imagination of the visual imagery is very good. And Gilliam deserves admiration for having brought this film to fruition in spite of nearly impossible circumstances.

Star Trek 2 Disc Special Edition
01/02/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Paramount PHE 1179. 2 DVDs 201 minute film with extras. Price: £ 15.00 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Chris Pine, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder and Zachary Quinto .

Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space
01/02/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC 1033. 1 DVD 97 minutes 4 * 25 minute episodes with extras. Price: about £ 5.00 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney and Hugh Burden.

Masters Of Science Fiction
01/02/2010. region 2 DVD. pub: Anchor Bay Entertainment ABD4651. 2DVDs 255 minutes 6 * 43 minute stories. Price: these days I pulled it for about £ 3.00 (UK)) cast across the six stories: Judy Davis, John Hurt, Terry O'Quinn, Sam Waterston, Elisabeth Röhm, James Denton, Brian Dennehy, Ann Heche, James Cronwell, Malcolm McDowell, Clifton Collins Jr and Sean Aston.

Doctor Who: The War Games
01/02/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD 1800. 3 DVDs 10 * 25 minute episodes with loads of extras. Price: £11.88 (UK) if you know where to look) stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Edward Brayshaw and Philip Madoc.

The Second Best Science Fiction Movie Ever Made (Mark’s take)
1/1/2010. This ultra-low budget attempt at a science fiction film is lacking in just about every aspect. Humans kidnapped by aliens and turned into super-being by aliens return to Earth to battle for control of the alien world. What sounds like the premise of an "Outer Limits" episode never engages the viewer. Mysterious film is probably a first time effort by David M. Epstein.

The Men Who Stare At Goats (Mark’s take)
1/1/2010. This is the most bizarre look at how mad the military can be since CATCH 22. The United States military maintains a core of people who claim to have psychic powers. The trappings are fun: men who can run through walls, stare goats to death, and can give deadly forehead taps. But there is not much plot or story here to hang them on. Through the whole film one has the feeling that the real story is just about to begin, but like the original military project, we go nowhere and nothing ever comes of anything.

Doctor Who: The Invasion
1/01/2010. (region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD 1829. 2 DVDs 190 minutes 8 * 24 minute black and white episodes with loads of extras: Price about £ 6.00 (UK) if you know where to look). Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Sally Faulkner, Nicholas Courtney, Peter Halliday and Kevin Stoney.

Doctor Who: The Keys Of Marinus
1/01/2010. Region 2 DVD: pub: BBC BBCDVD 2616. 1 DVD 126 minutes 6 * 24 minute episodes with extras. Price: £11.00 (UK) if you know where to look although oddly, I got it cheaper locally). Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Anne Ford.

Misfits DVD
1/01/2010. Region 2 DVD. pub:4DVD B002GV4ORQ. 4 DVDs 6 * 45 minute episodes. Price: £19.99 (UK)). stars: Robert Sheehan, Iwan Rheon, Lauren Socha, Nathan Stewart Jarrett, Antonia Thomas.

The Ultimate Cut Watchmen: The Complete Story
1/01/2010. Region 1 DVD: pub: Warner Bros. 5 DVDs, 3.5 hour extended version, cinema version and complete motion comic plus loads of extras, including 325 minute 12 * 25 minute episode Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic. Price: $35.50 (US) or cheaper if you're lucky. ISBN: 1-4198-8574-X)stars: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Hayley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death
1/01/2010. Region 1 DVD: pub: MGM B001JV5BHQ. 87 minute film with extras. Price: £ 6.00 (UK) if you know where to look)cast: Ellen Muth, Callum Blue, Sarah Wynter, Jasmine Guy, Britt McKillip, Christine Willes, Cynthia Stevenson and Henry Ian Cusick.

The New Captain Scarlet Series 2 DVD Boxset
1/01/2010. region 2 DVD: pub: Grenada Ventures (ITV DVD) Ltd. 37115 20983. 286 minutes 13 * 24 minute episodes 5 DVDs. Price: £ 6.00 (UK) if you know where to look.