1964, the first American sets foot on the surface of the moon only to find out the British have been there already in 1899. An example of British imperialistic hubris in UK movies? In Lifeforce (1985) the British even have their own space shuttle program. An inventor, Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) invents a coating named cavorite. Cavorite shields the gravitational force much like a curtain shields sunlight. Somehow I find that completely plausible. If photons, the bearers of the electromagnetic force can be absorbed, why can gravitons, the bearers of the gravitational force not? For me the fact that no one invented cavorite is proof that the gravitational force is a completely different beast altogether. I am sorry this analysis does…

Who would watch this film and say, you know, an hour fiddling around inventing rocket travel with some light comedy isn't enough! Forget the moon itself, I want an entire film that's just about making the rockets! Harry Alan Towers, that's who, with his production Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon made three years later, also with Lionel Jeffries. So if I am overly generous with the rating here, keep in mind that not only do they build a rocket in this one (more of a ball, really), but they take it to the moon and encounter some incredibly cool bug aliens, both of the kids-in-bug-costumes variety and stop motion. Also, a giant vicious stop motion caterpillar, all done by…

Ray Harryhausen's massive sub-lunar alienscape is the true star in this Verne adapted sci-fi satire, a cinematic cousin to "20,000 Leagues." Juran's vibe is mildly Disneyfied steampunk, a scenic adventure where even congenial madman Jeffries feels a bit extraneous in his velvet-lined spaceship.

Films I Watched On TCM / Film4 While I Was 'Working' Wonderful poster, wonderful title - and so nearly a wonderful film. It's a strange thing in a sci-fi adventure such as First Men In The Moon for the bit before they actually set off on their adventure to be more fun than the adventure itself. Once Lionel Jeffries, Edward Judd and Martha Hyer (<3) do get to the moon, this film is just not nearly as good. It dispenses with most of the delightful comedy that the first half is shot through with for a slightly disappointing tale about aliens (that looked suspiciously like Clangers) and something that didn't really make full sense to me. To be honest, I…