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)…
Tag: 1920s
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) – Guillermo del Toro, and Mark Gustafson
One of my favourite directors, Guillermo del Toro takes on the classic tale of Pinocchio. Teaming up with director Mark Gustafson and an incredibly talented bunch of animators and voice talent, del Toro moves the story forward in time to the 1920s, setting it in Italy during the rise of Mussolini, paired with some dark…
The Color Purple (1985) – Steven Spielberg
Was Steven Spielberg the right person to shoot the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s powerful novel? He was an interesting choice for the project, and it definitely wasn’t the dramatic material that he was associated with in the 80s, having delivered a number of blockbusters at that point. And while there were a number of…
TIFF: Musicals! The Movies That Moved Us – Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
When the musical made the leap from stage to screen, it opened everything up, not just in terms of accessibility for the viewing audience, but the scope of the storytelling canvas – things were no longer confined to a stage, the settings, the choreography, the characters could live in a whole new way. Cameras could…
The Ballad of Black Tom (2016) – Victor LaValle
H.P. Lovecraft gets a fantastic spin in this novella by Victor LaValle. Lovecraft is hard to admit you like, because his stories of cosmic horror and old ones are so good, and have become such a cornerstone of horror fiction, but he was just so racist and that permeated all of his writing. The Ballad…
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) – Yimou Zhang
The next film in DK Canada’s informative and entertaining The Movie Book is this beautifully shot Chinese film starring Li Gong. Set in the 1920s, Songlian (Li) elects to become the fourth mistress of a wealthy lord, Chen Zuoqian (Jingwu Ma). She soon finds herself enmeshed in the rules of the household, and the scheming…
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) – Blu-Ray Review
The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second installment in the Fantastic Beasts series, and a return to the Harry Potter universe comes home on blu and DVD today. Very much a middle-act film, there is a lot of world building going on in this film, and the sense of fun that permeated the first film, and…
Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (1991) – Rob MacGregor
The man with the hat is back… Before continuing my journey with Roland and his ka-tet, I thought I would go on an adventure with my lifelong friend, Indiana Jones. Officially licensed by Lucas Film, a series of novels were released in the early 90s chronicling the archaeologist’s life from the early 1920s to just…
The Mummy (1999) – Stephen Sommers
While the updated version of The Mummy blasts into theatres this summer, the 1999 reboot was on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for follow-up titles to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This version, directed by Stephen Sommers, stars Brendan Fraser, Oded Fehr, Rachel Weisz and Arnold…
Funny Girl (1968) – William Wyler
I was completely charmed by this one. That’s twice Streisand has wowed me when I thought she wouldn’t. Clocking in at two and a half hours, this is the final musical recommendation to go with my screening of The Jazz Singer for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Babs is Fanny…
The Mind Reels 