Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina star in Chris McKay’s bloody, hilarious, and over-the-top love letter to the supporting character of the original Dracula story, Renfield, including some wonderful homages to the original 1931 film. It’s modern-day America and Renfield (Hoult) has relocated Dracula (Cage) yet again to hide him from those who would hunt…
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018) – Robin D. Krzykowski
With a title like The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, you think you know what you’re getting. You think this is going to be schlocky b-movie fare, but what the film actually does is take the extreme ideas of assassinating Hitler, and killing Bigfoot and juxtapose them with a character study of…
Hill Street Blues (1986) – Larry of Arabia, and Iced Coffey
Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) is convalescing at home but is eager to get back to the precinct in Larry of Arabia. Written by Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch, Jacob Epstein, and John William See from a story by Lewis, Milch and Jerry Patrick Brown. It first aired on 27 February, 1986. Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) has…
TIFF ’23: Smugglers
With Smugglers, which is having its North American premiere at TIFF, Director Ryoo Seung-wan gives his audience a smart, playful, 70s-drenched crime thriller set in a quiet seaside South Korean fishing town. Jin-sook (Yum Jung-ah) and Choon-ja (Kim Hye-soo) work as haenyeo, free divers who collect shellfish and other seafood, alongside a crew of other…
Unlawful Entry (1992) – Jonathan Kaplan
Kurt Russell, Madeline Stowe and Ray Liotta star in this early 90s thriller that puts three stellar actors into a halfway decent script and hopes that their charisma and charm will see it through. For the most part, it succeeds, not least of which because they are all great actors. Russell and Stowe are Michael…
TIFF ’23: 100 Yards
Xu Haofeng, an accomplished fight choreographer, writer and director and first-time director Xu Junfeng delivers a period piece set in 1920s China, specifically, Tianjin, where the master of a wushu academy has just died and has passed on its leadership to his apprentice, Quan Qi (Andy On) instead of his son, Shen An (Jacky Heung)…
Batman (1967) – Black Widow Strikes Again, and Caught in the Spider’s Den
There’s a new villain in Gotham City this week, though Gordon (Neil Hamilton) knows who they are, it’s the Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead), an older criminal with a spider motif that is sure to spell trouble for Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) in this two-part story written by Robert Mintz. The first episode,…
TIFF ’23: Sleep
Midnight Madness at TIFF is always a lot of fun, and some great genre films get scheduled that are designed to deliver to the late-night audience. Sleep hopes to do that this week. A Korean entry to the film festival from writer/director Jason Yu. It’s his first feature film, and Yu creates a tense, moody…
TIFF ’23: NYAD
Annette Bening gives a career-topping performance as marathon swimmer, Diane Nyad in the true story of her swim from Cuba to Florida. In the late 70s and 80s, Nyad made a name for herself for swimming the English Channel, around Manhattan Island and more, but she was foiled by her attempt to make it from…
TIFF ’23: Hell of a Summer
Long-time friends Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk share directing, producing, writing and starring credits in their enjoyable and goofy riff on camp slasher films. It’s summer, and Camp Pineaway is gearing up for another round of campers and counsellors. In fact, the counsellors gather the weekend before camp opens to prepare, get reacquainted, drunk, high,…
The Mind Reels 