Dishes up!

Another good film from one of my favourite actors, Mr Sam Neil.  It has to be the true telling of the Parkes satelite dish that actually lost the Apollo 11 mission while on its way to the Moon.  "The Dish" is a fantastic account of the five men who risked their careers, their dignity and even at one point their lives.  Why is this film good?  Its narratively sound, it has charm and wit, it has well casted actors and a very positive theme that is " taking risks is better than living with regrets".  Plus its really funny!  As well as all these technical aspects the film holds a strong feeling which i guarantee will get anyone high on life by the time Sam Neil's character takes one last look at the dish and smiles, knowing that he once almost ruined the worlds biggest achievement in mankind's history.

Stagecoach

When we were told that this film spawned the idea's for all modern westerns, i was a little doubtful.  I found it unbelievable that such late films as the 3.10 To Yuma remake and Open Range would have any relation to the John Wayne film at all.  How wrong i was!  Almost every element was there, right down to the likable, charming villain to the iconic coach chase out in the desert.  What's more is that the film was brilliant.  One of these films where you could sit back relax and feel like a little kid again while, John Wayne jumped from horse to horse.  However, what really made the film stand out to me was the fantastic suspenseful sequence at the end where john Wayne is intent on killing the three men who killed his brother.  By the time the four men meet in the empty street on the cold dark night, we are on the edge of our feet.  For me this film was astonishing and to think that every western i look at nowadays, it all bares down to Stagecoach.