CutThroat Island (1995) – Renny Harlin

Frequent problems on set, a production company that filed for bankruptcy before the film even opened, and a public that wasn’t quite ready yet for a pirate movie all caused Cutthroat Island to garner a but of a reputation as a horrible movie. So I decided to check it out. I hadn’t seen it since…

The Guns of Navarone (1961) – J. Lee Thompson

I’m going to go on the record here before I write this one up. This is the first time I have watched The Guns of Navarone. I watched the semi-sequel, Force 10 From Navarone because it was Harrison Ford, sure, but never saw the original. I buckled up and settled in for an incredibly tense,…

TIFF ’22: Hunt

South Korean action star Lee Jung-jae makes his directorial debut with the brilliant action thriller, Hunt. Set in the 1980s when tensions were heightened between North and South Korea, the film is a white knuckle ride that sees two government rivals, KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park (Lee) and Domestic Unit head Kim (Jung Woo-sung) working…

Shadow and Bone (2012) – Leigh Bardugo

My second foray into the Grishaverse was the first one written, Shadow and Bone. And much like Six of Crows, I got swept up pretty damned quick in the story and the characters, and can’t wait to continue to explore the rest of the realm that Bardugo created. In this novel, we are introduced to…

TIFF 2021: Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve

Magnificent. Triumphant. THIS is the movie I saw in my mind’s eye when I first read Dune in 1984 when I was anticipating the Lynch film (which I love for its own reasons). The visual aesthetic, the sound and production design, the score (I swear Hans Zimmer isn’t the only one throwing a few nods…

Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy (2020) – Melanie Scott

Don’t despair Marvel fans, just because the new Black Widow film had to be delayed due to the pandemic, doesn’t mean you can’t learn all there is to know about her in the new Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy now available from DK Canada. This one is a great read, and author Melanie Scott…

Redemption Ark (2002) -Alastair Reynolds

I return to the universe of Alastair Reynold’s space opera this week, with a story that ties directly into Revelation Space, though it also ties into the expanded universe as glimpsed in Chasm City. The Inhibitors are back, they are an ancient mechanical race that prunes back intelligent life, stopping them when they venture too…