Hitchcock takes on Leon Uris’ novel Topaz in this film adaptation of the same name. It’s not quite on the level of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller, but the subject material, centring around the Cuban Missile Crisis and a Russian spy ring within the French intelligence community is pretty engaging stuff. Unfortunately, for me, it ended…
Tag: 1969
True Grit (1969) – Henry Hathaway
Ten Bad Dates With De Niro brings me a classic western on their list of titles that bring movie tears to the eye. John Wayne delivers an Oscar winning turn as Rooster Cogburn in Henry Hathaway’s cinematic adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel. I won’t lie, I came to the Coen Brothers version of the story…
The Color of Pomegranates (1969) – Sergei Parajanov
The former Soviet Union brings me the next title to watch from DK Canada’s The Movie Book. It recommended the brilliant science fiction film Stalker, and then suggest this one in the What Else to Watch list. The film is a super-stylized retelling of the life of the Armenian poet, Sayat Nova, using lines from…
Fate (2019) – Ian Hamilton
Ian Hamilton has crafted a series of novels about a forensic accountant, Ava Lee, who is Chinese-Canadian, and each one has been a fantastic ride, as well expanding on her character, and the world she lives in they’ve also introduced us to a variety of characters, some of whom have gone on to be fan…
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969) – George Roy Hill
The next stop in the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch, is yet another one of my all time favourite westerns, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. From it’s opening shots, made to look like an early silent film, this movie took me…
The Wild Bunch (1969) – Sam Peckinpah
The next big stop in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Historical chapter, is Peckinpah’s ultra-violent, wonderfully bloody take on the Hollywood Western. A group of professional outlaws out of step and out of time looking for one last score find themselves fatally wandering the line between…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – The Impossible Astronaut, and Day of the Moon
Astronauts, the Silence, the Doctor’s (Smith) death, and some tons of temporal shenanigans launch the sixth series of Doctor Who with The Impossible Astronaut. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and first aired on 23 April, 2011. The Doctor after showing off in history to attract the attention of The Ponds, invites Amy (Karen…
Dune Messiah (1969) – Frank Herbert
A substantially shorter novel than the first book in the series, Dune Messiah is on the Book Shelf this week. Published four years after Dune, Messiah is set twelve years after the events that saw Paul Atreides become Emperor, marry a princess in name only, and his Fremen launched their jihad on the galaxy. Paul…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1969) & The Animated Series (1973) – Turnabout Intruder and Beyond the Farthest Star
Captain’s log: stardate 5928.5 The last live action television episode chronicling the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is a bit of a mixed bag. It was the first time someone else besides Shatner played Kirk, but the story itself sure could…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1969) – The Savage Curtain and All Our Yesterdays
Captain’s log: stardate 5906.4 The Savage Curtain. It doesn’t get much simpler in terms of themes or ideas than this, the antepenultimate episode of the Original Series. Written by series creator Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann, it aired on 7 March, 1969. I always liked this one because it’s so simple, and has Captain Kirk…
The Mind Reels 