Hitting DVD and Blu-Ray last week was this found footage film that I missed at Toronto After Dark last year. As a slow-burning, low-budget horror film, this one works, and is wonderfully creepy and troubling. Don’t go in expecting big budget thrills, think Blair Witch, but replaced, possibly, by Bigfoot. Jim (Bryce Johnson) is…
Category: Did You See That?!? (Tv & Film)
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (2013) – Shinji Aramaki
I never saw the original Harlock series growing up, I was all about Battle of the Planets and Starblazers (when I could find it), but every now and again I would come across an image of this pirate captain, scarred face, patch on his right eye, black cloak billowing, with an enormous skull and…
Wizards (1977) – Ralph Bakshi
Sometimes you just want to watch something different… and Ralph Bakshi’s films have always been that, and this one is no exception. Set in a far distant future when humanity has blown itself from the face of the Earth, and any survivors have become radiated mutants, constantly devolving into new nightmares, the fairies and…
The Book Thief (2013) – Brian Percival
I read the book for this one some time ago, and had forgotten enough of it so that I was coming in to the story fresh, and wow did I enjoy this one. Great performances, a stirring score, thank you John Williams and an emotional and human tale from a script by Michael Petroni,…
Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) – Frank Pavich
The most influential science fiction never made. There’s no other way to put it. The names involved with this film resonate across all of pop culture, and specifically the sci-fi films that followed this film, that never shot a single frame… I wanted to see this one as soon as I heard about it,…
Guidance (2014) – Pat Mills
Having its premiere at TIFF today, is this delightful Canadian film that definitely enjoys itself. Pat Mills is a triple threat in the film, writing, directing and starring as David Gold, a former child star, with a drinking problem, a rent problem, an employment problem, and a little denial about his sexuality. With no…
Touch of Evil (1958) – Orson Welles
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of Citizen Kane, is this noir film starring Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. This film was stunning for the beautiful camera work alone. Everyone talks about the opening shot, but it’s always amazing to see it. And…
The Lady From Shanghai (1947) – Orson Welles
Welles takes us in to the film noir world as he writes, directs and stars in this adaptation of Sherwood King’s novel; the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Citizen Kane. Welles plays Michael O’Hara, replete with Irish accent, a rough and tumble sailor,…
Clash of the Titans (1981) – Desmond Davis
Now this is the way you do a Greek mythology epic, with heart, fun and some top-notch stop motion effects. There is more emotion and character in a single armature movement in this film, than in the whole of the pixelated version of the 21st century! I was so happy to be able to…
The Normal Heart (2014) – Ryan Murphy
There’s a complete naturalness to everything Mark Ruffalo does on-screen, and he brings that to the brilliant Emmy-nominated The Normal Heart, available today on Blu-Ray and DVD from HBO. I’ve been a fan of Ruffalo’s for a while, and I simply love how he throws himself completely into each role, and the way he…
