TIFF 2021: The Power of the Dog dir. Jane Campion

Combining intimate drama with dramatic landscapes has been a signature of Jane Campion’s work, and in her latest film, The Power of the Dog, which she also wrote, that mixture still holds true, giving us a different kind of western. Set in Montana, 1925, the film centres around two ranching brothers, the hard-edged, Phil (Benedict…

The Secret of Chimneys (1925) – Agatha Christie

Christie’s fifth novel is a bit of a romp filled with double identities, a murder, political issues, an empty throne, a renowned criminal, a love story, a missing diamond, and a week away at a manor known as Chimneys. We are introduced to Anthony Cade when he is working as a travel guide in Africa,…

Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants (1991) – Rob MacGregor

Scotland 1925 I jump back into adventure with the man with the hat, as my travels with Indiana Jones continue in the officially licensed (and therefore canon until films prove them otherwise) series of novels that fill in the time between Hollywood Follies (The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones) to The Temple of Doom. Tying…

Battleship Potemkin (1925) – Sergei M. Eisenstein

DK Book’s The Movie Book brings me the next big title they highly recommended, Eisenstein’s seminal Battleship Potemkin. Running at a lean 76 minutes the story follows the crew of the titular ship during the Russian Revolution of 1905. The crew stage a mutiny against the ship’s officers who rule with tyranny, events spin out…

The Phantom of The Opera (1925)

It’s hard to imagine a time before the 80s when there wasn’t a musical associated with this title, but the story is the same, and the film stands up as one of the great silent films as well as a great performance by Lon Chaney as Erik, also known as The Phantom. Based on the…