Da'ud Bob's Movie Review
for
  August 2025


It's always interesting at the very least to go back to the early days of this monthly column and see what I had to say about movies that I still have a copy of and even watch occasionally. This month, we're going back to those long ago times for a movie first reviewed here in October 1986. Yes, a full 39 years ago! Enjoy!



So there I was, lying in the hammock staring at the stars, bored totally out of my mind (though some may say that that doesn't take much), when I was hit by a brainstorm, or sandstorm, or some such. Why not watch the worst movie around? Well, I'd had dinner recently, so I decided that I wasn't prepared for anything quite that bad, and ended up watching The Black Shield of Falworth instead.

Set in England during the reign of Henry IV, it stars Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, David Farrar and Barbara Rush. Plot? Hmm, that may take some thought. Brother and sister, now grown, are restored to the title and lands wrongfully usurped from their father. There, that's about it. There is some love interest along the way, for both brother and sister. One good point to the movie is that the fighting done by Curtis seems to have been well-choreographed, better than your average medieval flick.

We're talking NO breasts (this is, after all, done in nineteen fifty and something). One quart blood. 14 dead bodies. Helmets roll. Beds roll. Knights roll. Apple fu. Bucket fu. Halberd, mace, ax, lance, bow and arrow, crossbow and, (of course) sword fu. Gratuitous acrobatics. Gratuitous plaster castle walls (exterior and interior). Gratuitous rearranging the furniture in the great hall with an ax and mace. Gratuitous fencing with broadswords. Glitzy fabric, including "mail" coifs. Typical '50s Hollywood costuming. Bad heraldry (Sable, a griffin segreant gules. Breaks rule of tincture - color on color). Academy Award nominations to Claud Allister as Sir George for "It's these little things which distinguish a gentleman from a swineherd" just before he tosses the leg of meat he's chewing on over his shoulder onto the floor behind him, and to Tony Curtis as Sir Miles for being able to look good in spite of giving all of his lines with a Brooklyn accent, and for actually having one good line in the movie ("Your victory is assured, if your arm is as mighty as your tongue"). A 65 on the Vomit Meter. 2 stars. Da'ud Bob says check it out.




Upcoming movies and miniseries to watch for!


Hamnet
December 12, 2025		 The story of Agnes - the wife of William Shakespeare - as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet. A human and heart-stopping story as the backdrop to the creation of Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet. Starring Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, and Emily Watson.
The King, the Swordsman, and the Sorceress
December 30, 2025		 Starring Donna Hamblin, Deborah Dutch, Jeffrey Schneider, and Nick Dent, still no plot synopsis has been released. But given the title, surely it must be a Da'ud Bob kind of movie, yes? Well, maybe. AI seems to think it is a remake of 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer, a movie which featured, as I said in my review of it, "the amazing new [three-bladed] Ronco Rocket Sword.  'It slices!  It dices!  It makes mincemeat of your enemies in minutes!')". If AI is right, we are all in serious trouble.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
Was to be released in 2025; now to premiere in 2026		 Set a century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros ... a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends. A(nother) Game of Thrones prequel. Streaming on Max.
Highlander
2026		 Starring Henry Cavill. This is a remake of the 1986 original starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery that no one I know of is asking for. "An immortal Scottish swordsman faces off with other immortal warriors in order to obtain a coveted ability." Director Chad Stahelski confirmed the movie will be using Queen's soundtrack from the original, but "Probably in a different way than you think, but hardcore yes." [Da'ud Bob says, "How about 'no'?"]
The Odyssey
July 17, 2026		 A new film version of the epic poem by Homer. Directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, with Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, and more. Quite the impressive cast! I hope the script will let their talents shine forth.


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