Revenge of the Creature (1955) – Jack Arnold

  I get to spend a little more time with Jack Arnold, the director, thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, and I also get to see the next installment in the Creature films… I’ll be completely honest with you, I’m with the Gill-man in this film. The guy is treated incredibly badly, and he’s made…

TIFF 2015: Fire Song (2015) – Adam Garnet Jones

    Having its World Premiere screening today at Scotiabank, with additional screenings on September 15th and 20th, is Fire Song. Writer/director Adam Garnet Jones has created a gentle, and undeniably, moving film that invites you into the lives of its characters, as each one becomes mired and trapped in realities that they seem unable…

TIFF 2015: Portal to Hell – Vivieno Caldinelli

  TIFF tends to be filled with hidden gems, each one tucked away and made all the more pleasing when you find it. So let Sue and I give you a little nudge in the right direction… Portal To Hell!!! is part of the Short Cuts Programme 4 and is nothing short of pure gold. Running…

The Italian Job (1969) – Peter Collinson

  The recommendations from my viewing of Rififi for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film keep coming, and this one was highly enjoyable. Michael Caine leads the cast in this comic caper that sees he and a group of thieves organizing a gold heist, worth four million dollars, by causing a traffic jam…

The League of Gentlemen (1960) – Basil Dearden

  The recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of Rififi continue with this delightful, British crime caper, starring Jack Hawkens, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey and Richard Attenborough. The crux of the plot is a group of ex-military men gathered up to pull of a perfectly timed and…

Tarantula (1955) – Jack Arnold

  My time with director Jack Arnold continues, thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles. This time around, we find ourselves int he middle of the desert menaced by a giant spider. But don’t worry, things work out in the end, and we’re all saved by Clint Eastwood. Really. Near a small desert town, Professor Gerald Deemer…

Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) – Jack Arnold

  I got to revisit one of the classic Universal monsters for the next entry in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, director Jack Arnold, and the monster… the Creature from the Black Lagoon, or as he’s also known… The Gill Man, and I have to say, some 60 years on, this is still one solid piece…

The Killing (1956) – Stanley Kubrick

  The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my viewing of Rififi is this classic Kubrick film, which before today, I’d only heard of and never seen. That being said, I can now say I’ve seen and enjoyed it, and love the way the film shuffles back and…

This Island Earth (1955) – Joseph Newman

  A flawed but enjoyable space opera is my next port of call in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, and is notable also because it was one of the first color science fiction films to be made, and This Island Earth does like to show off its Technicolor look, and boasts some pretty solid effects considering…

Astro Boy (2009) – David Bowers

  The Sci-Fi Chronicles book has been a lot of fun so far, and it’s also introduced me to a lot of things I was aware of, but had never seen. Astro Boy is a prime example, I have been aware of Osamu Tezuka’s manga for a long time, I’ve always recognized the character, but never…