The first of the recommendations following Snow White for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film gets underway with 1953’s Peter Pan. J.M. Barrie’s tale of pirates, fairies, children who never grow up, and the boy who leads them comes to animated life in this Disney film. It’s fun, almost lighter fare than Snow White,…
The Mind Reels Chats with Gene Cernan & Mark Craig
Sue and I were very fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down and chat with Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan and director Mark Craig about their documentary The Last Man On The Moon currently screening at the Bloor Cinema. To say I was elated and excited doesn’t even begin to cover it. Check it out…
Airwolf (1985) – The Deadly Circle and Where Have All the Children Gone?
Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) gets himself into all manner of trouble in this week’s double installment. First up is The Deadly Circle, written by Robert Specht, with an original airdate of 30 November, 1985. Families of former comrades-in-arms are being grabbed by Vietnamese soldiers intent on extracting revenge for the destruction of their village…
The Last Man On The Moon (2014) – Mark Craig
The Bloor Cinema/Hot Doc’s 2014 – 2015 Doc Soup is coming to an end, and I couldn’t imagine a better picture to close out this year’s run than this amazing documentary. Back in the early 70s, somewhere between my introductions to Star Wars and Star Trek, my young brain processed the fact that at…
Revival (2014) – Stephen King
This past Christmas, my mother picked me up the latest Stephen King novel, Revival. I’d seen it in stores, had read the flap, but wasn’t quite sure where I stood on this one, but, as of yet, the man hasn’t really disappointed, so I finally dug into this one. The first three-quarters is filled…
Veep: Season 3
Also available from HBO today, is the third season of their critically acclaimed, and award-winning White House comedy series, Veep. Julia Loius-Drefus, who has won an Emmy for her performance in each season, is Vice President Selina Meyer. And considering my love of the Sorkin series The West Wing, I should have been watching…
Silicon Valley: Season 1
Releasing from HBO today is the premiere season of this brilliant comedy from Mike Judge, the creator of the cult classic, much-loved and oft-quoted, Office Space. The 8 episode first season is available today on DVD and Blu-Ray, just in time for the start of Season 2, which debuts April 12. You can honestly…
The Rockford Files (1979) – No-Fault Affair and The Big Cheese
Rita Moreno is back again as Rita Capkovic in the first episode up this week. No-Fault Affair was written by Juanita Bartlett, and originally aired 30 November, 1979. The phone gag this time around features someone calling thinking the number was for dial-a-joke. Rita has aspirations of becoming a hair dresser, she’s been to beauty school,…
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – William Cottrell, David Hand, Wildred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen
Leaving the war genre behind, temporarily, the next genre to be examined by the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is that of family. And it all begins here, the amazing legacy that Walt Disney created, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was among the first full-length animated features created…
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – Eric Brevig
Jules Verne, his writing, and the films inspired by his creations is next up in the Sci-Fi Chronicles (I’m loving this book so far, and I’ve barely started it). I’ve previously covered the definitive cinematic version of Journey to the Center of the Earth, the 1959 version starring James Mason and Pat Boone. The only other…
The Mind Reels 