Natural Born Killers: Soundtrack (1994)

Natural Born Killers:

A Soundtrack for an Oliver Stone Film (1994)

The majority of film soundtracks (as opposed to film score albums) are little more than a collection of new or existing songs from different artists bundled together onto one disc.

Natural Born Killers' soundtrack is essentially the same. The biggest difference is that there was some actual thought and care put into structuring them, with custom edits and audio clips from the film itself used to connect the tracks into a more story-style structure.

It was compiled by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who referred to it as a "collage of sound," which I guess is as good a description as any. It's the kind of thing that many of us used to do back when all we had was a double tape-deck, a VHS collection and plenty of patience.

The A-Team: Complete Series (1983–87)

The A-Team: The Ultimate Collection (2007)

98 episodes (5 Seasons), approx 47 minutes each, split over 27 DVD discs.

I discovered some years back that being asked "Why do you watch that crap?" makes me less inclined to validate the reasons for my choices, and instead wonder at the agenda of the person who's asking the question. Sometimes it's not a genuine inquiry, but a thinly disguised insult.

With that in mind, my heartfelt sympathies go out to any individual who didn't have weekly episodes of The A-Team to entertain and inspire them as a youth. I'm not being melodramatic. I really do mean it.

Not having Sergeant First Class 'B.A.' Baracus, Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith, Lieutenant Templeton 'Face' Peck and Captain 'Howling Mad' Murdock to provide escapism and feed the imagination is like having an integral part of a happy childhood denied you. It's like having never played with LEGO, or having never tasted strawberry sherbets.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: Films (1984-2003)

01. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Dir. Wes Craven

Prior to re-watching the first of the Elm Street movies recently, it had been well over a decade — perhaps even closer to two — since I'd last seen it, but I remembered almost every scene as if it was yesterday. It's because I'd watched it many times on an ex-rental VHS as a teenager. In all honesty, and accounting for nostalgia, it holds up rather well.

If you're not familiar with the set-up, it's the story of a group of teenagers, all of whom reside on the titular Elm Street, whose dreams are haunted by a killer with blades on one gloved hand. The killer's reasons for doing what he does are part of the film's plot, so I won't delve any deeper than that.

One of the movie's strengths is its atmosphere, and by polluting the safety net of the unconscious, by turning a place of retreat into a realm of pure terror for the story's protagonists, it sticks in the mind.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Dir. Isao Takahata

The first animation that Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata directed for the studio is based on a 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Japanse author Akiyuki Nosaka.

I've not read the original short, but the film is an immensely powerful story of two siblings, a teenager named Seita and his baby sister Setsuko, as they struggle to survive during the attacks on Japan during World War II.

Their relationship is the heart of the work; it's a heart that beats in defiance of adversity because it's fuelled by love and family values.

The responsibility placed on Seita could crush even the strongest adult, but his feelings for his sister keep him focussed and determined.

For a narrative that's built around heartbreaking tragedy and conflict, there's a lot of joy and beauty to be found in the subtext.

Jonathan Creek: Series V (2014)

Jonathan Creek: Series V (2014)

3 episodes, approx 58 minutes each.

Note: the following review contains spoilers for the previous JC outing, The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (2013). If you're as sensitive to spoilers as I am and haven’t watched the Savant's Thumb episode, it would be advisable to not read beyond this sentence.

The fifth series of the show is unusual for a number of reasons. Firstly, while there are a significant number of minor mysteries in need of solving, there's no mysterious deaths in any of the episodes, in a locked room or otherwise. Speaking of episodes, there's only three of them, not the usual six. And finally, at no point does Jonathan wear his trademark duffel coat, which is like asking us to accept Columbo without his raincoat, or Sherlock without his pipe.

If all of that wasn't bad enough, he's married still to Polly (Sarah Alexander). Not only does Polly's pissy attitude stand in the way of his doing what he does best, but the duo have zero chemistry. One wonders why they're together at all. There's no feeling of love or even affection. It's like a marriage of convenience, most of which is hers. When the character interjects it's usually to belittle or dissuade Jonathan (Alan Davies) from getting involved. She deadens the narrative flat.

Food, Inc. (2008)

Food, Inc. (2008)

Director: Robert Kenner

Most adults are aware that the burger they're holding, or the steak they're carving, was once part of a cow, likely mistreated before being violently killed. But the majority of consumers can put that out of mind as they bite down.

If the things that people do know don't bother them, then what about the things they don't know? Food, Inc exposes the ugly truths.

It's not a documentary about animal rights, it's about giant food corporations that no longer pay American farmers to simply 'raise' chickens for them. Instead, they pay businessmen to 'grow' chickens on factory farms, because fat birds = fat wallets. It's not just live animals; the story of corn and soy beans is just as terrifying.

The film's light on statistics, opting more for something akin to scare tactics, but the hidden camera footage speaks for itself without needing diagrams, if you've got the stomach for it.

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fifth Season (2012)

The Sarah Jane Adventures:

The Complete Fifth Season (2012)

Dirs: Various | Episodes: 6 episodes, approx 27 mins each.

NOTE: THIS SECTION CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS FOR SEASON FOUR.

The fifth season of TSJA is both the shortest and the last of them - not because it was losing its appeal, but because the actress that played the title character, Elisabeth Sladen, sadly passed away. Of the planned twelve episodes, six were finished.

Luke (Tommy Knight) is still away at university, but Sky (Sinead Michael), the young girl that Sarah Jane and her team rescued at the end of Season Four, is still around, bringing the number of human helpers the reporter has back up to a comfortable three.

Well, four, if we count the times when Luke is back on Bannerman Road. He gets paired with Sky in the season's best two-parter (Eps 5+6); they're both Sarah Jane's 'adopted children', so it seems logical.