The Wild Geese has a horrible title song, but then as I watched the credits I saw that it had production design by Syd Cain, and its opening title sequence was done by Maurice Binder. It also has a very impressive leading cast, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore. Not bad. And while the…
Monkey Man (2024) – Dev Patel
Dev Patel directs and stars in Monkey Man, an action revenge film that makes sure to add in emotion, trauma, as well as some commentary on religion and politics. It’s all done without losing the driving, pulse-pounding action sequences that make this film incredibly enjoyable and watchable. As the nameless hero of the film, known…
TIFF24: The Wild Robot dir. Chris Sanders
I closed out my TIFF run this year, with the latest animated effort from Dreamworks. Based on the children’s book by Peter Brown, Sanders not only directed the film, but adapted the story as well, and it’s going to be a family classic to be sure. When a robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) awakes from her…
Dark Skies (1997) – The Warren Omission, and White Rabbit
John Loengard (Eric Close) is approached by the Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy (James F. Kelly) to tell his story to the Warren Commission, which is about to rule that Oswald acted alone in order to keep the Hive and Majestic secret. The Commission is led by Earl Warren (Gary Lockwood!) and the episode introduces another…
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) – Guy Ritchie
While there isn’t much to describe in terms of character arcs, Guy Ritchie’s latest, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a couple of things going for it. It’s based on a recently declassified (2016) true event of World War II, it has an enjoyable cast, and it’s always fun to see Nazis get punched, and…
TIFF24: DO I Know You From Somewhere? dir. Arianna Martinez
Let’s just get this out of the way, Caroline Bell is luminescent. She may say it’s the dress, but there’s a 1920s grace and beauty to her that means you can’t take your eyes off of her whenever she’s onscreen. Throw in a contemplative film about choice and happiness and you have a Canadian gem…
TIFF24: K-Pops dir. Anderson .Paak
Anderson .Paak stars and directs alongside his son, Soul Rasheed in a formulaic but incredibly energetic and entertaining family comedy filled with lots of tunes. BJ ( .Paak) is a drummer who fell for Yeji (Jee Young Han) but couldn’t choose between a real romance and possibly more and his music career, which never seems…
Stargate SG-1 (1998) – Politics, and Within the Serpent’s Grasp
Politics picks up with Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) talking about the oncoming goa’uld assault that he witnessed in the alternate reality, but he’s not only going to have to prove himself to O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and the SGC, but also the government. And that means not only…
TIFF24: Ick dir. Joseph Kahn
I had a great time with Kahn’s Detention so was ready to happily slip into his latest effort, Ick. A bit of a combination between Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, Night of the Living Dead and The Faculty, Kahn’s film suggests that there is a lot of fun to be had, but it…
TIFF24: Vice is Broke dir. Eddie Huang
Eddie Huang, a chef and former Vice host lays out the horrible truth of Vice, and Vice Media’s rise and fall when it declared bankruptcy. Intent on getting his residuals, Huang went after Shane Smith, one of the co-founders who alongside Gavin McInnes (yes that Gavin McInnes) built the company up, and then fell victim…
The Mind Reels 