City of God (2002) – Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund

City of God, based on a true story is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Taxi Driver. Brutally violent, jarring in its depictions, and beautifully made the film is a one of a kind experience that takes us into the slums just outside of…

Taxi Driver (1976) – Martin Scorsese

Out of all of Scorsese’s work, I think Taxi Driver, the next stop on the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Thriller genre, is my favourite. It also features one of my top performances by Robert De Niro. Much has been said and written about Taxi Driver since…

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – Frank Capra

DK Canada brings me this Frank Capra classic from its What Else to Watch list following its recommendation of It’s A Wonderful Life. THIS movie makes me regret the fact that schools, as a rule, no longer have civics classes. It needs to be seen, as it shows the good and the bad of democracy,…

The Sound of Music (1965) – Robert Wise

My return to the Musical chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book sees me settling into Robert Wise’s multi-Oscar winning (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Editing and Best Music) adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music. Starring Julie Andrews (in an Oscar nominated performance) and…

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Blu-Ray Review

Hitting blu-ray and DVD today from Disney is the latest instalment in the Skywalker Saga, The Last Jedi, director/writer Rian Johnson’s follow-up to 2015’s The Force Awakens. Johnson delivers a strong film that has proven divisive with some fans, but for yours truly, it’s up there with The Empire Strikes Back, it sends characters in…

The Adventure’s of Indiana Jones (1992/1993) – Love’s Sweet Song

Indiana Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) sets out from Mexico on the next leg of his adventure that would see him embroiled in the Great War. Love’s Sweet Song was released on 12 July, 2000 and was cobbled together from two episodes that see Indy travelling to Ireland and then England before heading to War. Ireland,…

Disney/Pixar’s Coco Blu-Ray Review

The Golden Globe winning (and Oscar nominated) film from Pixar, the stunningly beautiful Coco is released to blu-ray and DVD today. Over the course of nineteen films Pixar has established itself as the foremost makers of family entertainment. Entrenched in a faithful and gorgeous representation of Mexican beliefs and traditions, the story follows a young…

The Leopard (1963) – Luchino Visconti

The next film on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following my screening of Ossessione is this three hour epic starring Burt Lancaster. Lancaster plays Prince Don Fabrizio Salina, the ageing patriarch of a dying dynasty. It’s Sicily in the 1860s and political and social upheavals cause Fabrizio great…

The Shape of Water (2017) – Guillermo del Toro

del Toro’s latest film, The Shape of Water is very much a fairy tale for adults, as well as sharing a kinship with the horror films of the 1950s, specifically, 1954’s The Creature From the Black Lagoon (as well as to Abe Sapien as seen in del Toro’s own Hellboy series). But in this film,…

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Denis Villeneuve

Villeneuve’s stunningly beautiful sequel to the seminal, and iconic, 1982 Ridley Scott film is released to blu-ray and DVD today from Warner Brothers. With Scott serving as executive producer, and a story by original film scribe Hampton Fancher (joined by Michael Green), Villeneuve working with cinematographer Roger Deakins brings us another tale set in the…