Toronto After Dark 2016: As the Gods Will – Takashi Miike

Things got nigh on bizarre this evening at Toronto After Dark, as it continues to entertain at the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto. It was Japanese cinema night, and sadly, thanks to work constraints, I was only able to make one screening today, but what a screening! If you aren’t familiar with Miike’s work, it’s…

Toronto After Dark 2016: Blood Father -Jean-Francois Richet

Action night concluded Sunday night for the Toronto After Dark film festival as Mel Gibson, previous person non grata in Hollywood, returns to form in this pulse-pounding thriller. This is not the place for me to ruminate on Mel Gibson’s career or his personal life and substance abuse, instead I want to talk about the…

Vertigo (1958) – Alfred Hitchcock

Perhaps one of Hitchcock’s best films, Vertigo, is next on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. With the combined star power of James Stewart and Kim Novak, this romantic thriller defines obsession as well as fear. Stewart is John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson a San Francisco police detective on…

Toronto After Dark 2016: In a Valley of Violence – Ti West

It was action night at Toronto After Dark on Sunday, wonderfully hosted by the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto, and they delved a little further west than they have in the past by screening the latest Ti West film, the western, In a Valley of Violence. West has gotten a lot of love from Toronto…

Ghosts of Mars (2001) – John Carpenter

Natasha Henstridge leads a bit of a cult cast in the next John Carpenter film up for a look-see in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. In a bit of an iffy film, and one that saw Carpenter at his most burnt out on the Hollywood scene, Henstridge stars as Lt. Melanie Ballard, a Mars police officer…

Toronto After Dark 2016: Train to Busan – Sang-ho Yeon

Train to Busan, the Korean zombie film that played to great acclaim at Cannes was the second feature of Toronto After Dark’s Zombie Night at Scotiabank Theatre Saturday night. A big budget, bloody kills, cool special effects and a solid story made for an engaging screening that saw zombie lovers out in force in the…

Toronto After Dark 2016: The Rezort – Steve Barker

It was zombie night at the Toronto After Dark film festival at Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto, and things got underway with The Rezort. Treading liberally on Michael Crichton territory, in the vein of West World and Jurassic Park (which in turn was a take on the over-worked theme of The Most Dangerous Game), though without…