The Harrowing of Brimstone McReedy

Currently playing at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, until November 13th, here in Toronto is a wonderfully spooky and entertaining tale featuring a virtuoso solo performance by Eric Woolfe. Cribbed from Canadian history and a moderate dose of Lovecraft, Woolfe presents his show with a use of puppets, card tricks, and close-up prestidigitation, all to great…

Doctor Who (Colin Baker) – The Mark of the Rani

  The Master (Anthony Ainley) returns to menace the Doctor (Baker) this week in The Mark of the Rani. This one was written by Pip and Jane Baker, and aired in two parts from 2 to 9 February, 1985. The Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive in 19th century England in the small village of…

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004) – Susanna Clarke

  I’d always been intrigued by the cover of this book, and the idea of magicians in England in the 19th century tweaked my interest as well. I was never put off by the rather gargantuan size of the book, I just knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to take…

Anna Karenina (1935) – Clarence Brown

  It’s time to return the romance and melodrama section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and the title under examination time is the 1935 Greta Garbo classic based on the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy. Garbo is the titular Anna in 19th century St. Petersburg. Her husband, Karenin is played…

A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) – Jules Verne

  I received a huge tome of Jules Verne novels and stories when I was very young, and I remember having difficulty with some of it as I plunged through the tales, but with my digging into the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, I thought it was high-time that I went back and enjoyed them properly. Let…