About Gerry Anderson

Welcome back!

Today, I'm continuing the topic overviews, this time focusing on Gerry Anderson. Gerry Anderson is a prolific British television producer - I would compare him to American producer Irwin Allen - they both produced popular science fiction tv series that featured lots of explosions! But there the similarity ends as Gerry never got fully into the movies (he did make one live action film) and Irwin Allen never went back to TV series after moving to the silver screen.

Gerry's career started in the '50s and continues to this day - he has worked with puppets ("Supermarionation") and actors. Some of his works include:

Stingray (puppet series) - WASP patrols the seas to protect humanity from an underwater kingdom

Thunderbirds  (puppet series) - the Tracey boys and their father rescue people in peril worldwide and in outer space.

UFO (live action) - a secret organization protects Earth from an alien invasion.

Space:1999 (live action) - the continuing adventures of a moonbase crew thrust into uncharted space after the Moon is ripped from Earth orbit by a massive muclear explosion.

The above is only the tip of the iceberg of Gerry Anderson productions. Over the coming months, I'll have reviews of many of his series for you. I hope I've sparked your interest in this prolific producer and that you will search out and view some of his many works that are currently available on DVD.

Thanks again for stopping by - take a moment to leave a comment - tell us your favorite Gerry Anderson production!

Tags: gerry anderson, stingray, ufo, space:1999, thunderbirds

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DVD Review: The Bostonians

Welcome back!

As you can see from the post title, this is yet another DVD review post! Most of the DVD review posts will be courtesy of my Blockbuster Online subscription  - I get unlimited (one at a time via mail) rentals PLUS one free rental per week at my local Blockbuster store! It's a good deal - they have other packages for more out at a time, etc.

"The Bostonians (Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave)" is a Merchant/Ivory period piece based on the Henry James novel. Vanessa Redgrave plays a suffragette who meets up with a young suffragette orator. On the scene arrives Christopher Reeve as Vanessa's cousin. They vie for the love of this young woman. The film is rather dull and the underlying semi-lesbian relationship between the two female leads is a bit uncomfortable to view -- can't pinpoint why it is, but it just didn't sit right - Vanessa's character seems to be manipulating this young woman using their common goal of women's equality as a way to control here (she even pays off the young woman's parents to leave them alone!). Toward the end of the film, I did like the quirky characters but it's not something I can recommend you run out and rent.

I'll give it 2 stars out of 5 (average rating is 3). There are better Merchant/Ivory productions - stay tuned to this space for future reviews of some of these period piece classics!

Do you enjoy period piece/costume dramas? Or contemporary films? Let us know - and if you've seen The Bostonians or any other Merchant/Ivory film, tell us about it!

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Tags: bostonians, vanessa redgrave, christopher reeve, merchant/ivory, blockbuster online
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