Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus

 This is an Italian 1965 colour film, directed and written by Domenico Paolella. Other writers include Luciano Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi. Production companies are Romana Film and Titanus. The stars of the film are Peter Lupus (of "Mission Impossible" and Hercules films), Mario Petri and Helga Line. 

In ancient Arabia, a powerful man named Goliath helps a king restore his throne and rescue his daughter from an evil band of mercenaries. To help fulfil these missions, he must become a member of this army of Damascus. It also means he has to be a spy as well as a wrestler who comes head to head with another equal strongman. Meanwhile the princess has little time left as she's imprisoned and her betrothed is also taken away.

A lot of action, fighting and sunshine. The costumes are beautiful. The sets are amazing. No CGI was ever used in this. A classic film set in ancient times where it even feels as if you're there. Old style films were ultra realistic and organic. Besides some quite long scenes of dialogue, this is a cracking good watch. I give this a delightful 7/10.  

My personal likes are sweet friendliness of the fighting male characters, from brutes to companions. There is a lot of warmth that should be included in films today!

My personal dislikes is the treachery and slimeball traits of the villains. 

Blood Strawberry 

Adventures of Aladdin

This is a 2019 fantasy drama made by both The Asylum and Two Guys and a Film companies. It was directed by Glen Campbell, who co-wrote it with Tammy Klein. It stars Adam Hollick (from NCIS) as Aladdin, Lord KraVen, Daniel O'Reilly and Lucia Dimitra Xypteras.

A street acrobat falls in love with a princess and she gives him a good luck token. Smitten, he feels bound to stay with her instead of leaving with his acrobatic group of friends. Because then he also stays to complete a dangerous mission of looking for a magic lamp hidden inside a volcano. This is the beginning of a quest with strange and also scary results. 

This is a nice tale of romance and deceit, with magical elements thrown in. The genie from the lamp is more funny than anything as the film has a comedic theme. The special effects are very basic. Also animal lovers should avoid watching this, even though no animals were harmed in the making of the film. I rate this entire film a 5/5 for dryness and plot holes even though it look quite beautiful. 

My personal likes about this are the inundated wishes the genie grants instead of the traditional three wishes.

My personal dislikes is the evil sorcerer Vizier Maghreb.

Blood Strawberry

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (1979)

 

This is a 1979 animated film based on the book by the same name by author C. S. Lewis. The film adaption was written by David D. Connell and Bill Melendez, who also directed. Voice actors are Rachel Warren, Reg Williams and Victor Spinetti. You can find the full cast on Internet Movie Database. 

Four children enter a wardrobe playing hide and seek, and then they find themselves in a strange world of Narnia full of snow and friendly magical beings. The world is sent into winter by an evil queen and only Aslan can save them. 

For those not familiar with the story, this tale is both amazing, adventurous and also scary in places. The story is much darker than this animated film. It's an old fashioned form of animation so modern younger audiences should expect that. It's on for 1 hour and 35 minutes. The animation is made by CTW (Children's Television Workshop), Bill Melendez Productions and TVC London. A British and Spanish animation. I rate this quick simplified kids version of the epic story a nice 8/10.

My personal likes about this is a place where talking animals and legendary creatures live happy together. Oh I even like Mr and Mrs Beaver.

My personal dislikes is the queen, also called White Witch and Jadis. 

Blood Strawberry   

Fruits Basket

"Fruits Basket" is a Japanese animated TV series from 2019 to 2021. The production company is TMS Entertainment. While there is an earlier version made in 2001, I'm focused on reviewing the 2019-2021 version as it's true to the book it's based on. The author of the original book version, Natsuki Takaya was involved personally in this recent TV series.

The voice stars include (both Japanese and the English dubbed version) Manaka Iwami and Laura Bailey, Nobunaga Shimazaki and Eric Vale, Jerry Jewell and Yuma Uchida. More can be found on the list at IMDB. 

A teenaged girl named Tohru has become homeless after losing both parents. Her grandfather is staying with relatives who simply dislike Tohru and she's got no choice but to live in the woods in a tent. There she's discovered by members of the mysterious Soma family who take her in to stay with them. She learns that there is a Soma family curse and a connection with the Zodiac. 

This is a rural modern fantasy with shapeshifting and romance. It explores the emotions of each character and how Tohru is welcomed into the Soma family, where she goes from outsider to friend. It's both sad, funny, dark and magical. This updated series is more serious than the original cartoon 2001 series aimed at being more lighter. I rate this an enjoyable 9/10.

My personal likes about "Fruit Basket" are the many sweet characters and cute animals.

My personal dislikes is the evil head of the household Akito Sohma. 

Blood Strawberry