Zombie Night at the Toronto After Dark film festival continues at the Scotiabank Theatre with the Toronto Premiere of the Canadian biological horror film, Trench 11. Without putting too fine a point on it, this has been my favourite film of the festival so far. It’s not overly zombie-filled, but the story is captivating, it’s…
Tag: brilliant
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – Wolf in the Fold and The Trouble with Troubles
Captain’s log: stardate 3614.9 Wolf in the Fold first graced screens on 22 December, 1967. The episode was penned by Psycho’s Robert Bloch, and it’s obvious. This was one of the first episodes of television to scare me. I remember watching this story, and being completely freaked out by one scene but I was totally…
Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve Blu-Ray Review
Anyone who follows this blog knows I am passionate about my science fiction cinema, but that doesn’t mean it’s always good. Therefore when a smart piece of sci-fi film making comes along, I feel I have to champion it, to cheer it on, revel in it, and share it with all who will listen. Villeneuve’s…
Gemina: The Illuminae Files 02 (2016) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The second volume in the Illuminae Files, Gemina, is not only an excellent follow-up instalment in this vibrant and exciting Young Adult series, it is also highly entertaining science fiction and space opera. The first book, told through IM and audio transcripts, descriptions of video surveillance, was brilliant, fun, and probably a game-changer in the…
The Stepford Wives (2004) – Frank Oz
Sigh. You’d think that a film boasting the likes of Frank Oz behind the camera, and Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, Glenn Close and Matthew Broderick in front would constitute a better film. But you can tell just by the casting that the film is slipping away from the dark conformist…
Morning Star (2016) – Pierce Brown
Pierce Brown’s epic science fiction trilogy comes to an explosive, and emotionally satisfying conclusion with Morning Star, this week’s title on The Book Shelf. After the stunning cliffhanger of Golden Son, I was left to wonder what Brown would do to finish off the story, and what would the cost be to characters I’ve…
American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes
The next title up in the Drama genre for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is the Academy Award Winning American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes. The film went home with a Best Actor for Kevin Spacey, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography and Best Original Screenplay. Spacey plays Lester…
Hot Docs 2016: Life, Animated – Roger Ross Williams
If there is a more honest, emotional and human film at this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, I can’t imagine what it could be. Owen Suskind, the young autistic man who is the focus of William’s objective eye, is a brilliant soul, and we learn through the film, his story, his life, and his…
Best of Enemies (2015) – Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon
It’s documentaries like this that illustrate to me how much I have grown as a film buff, and one interested in political subjects as well. Opening today at the Lightbox, as well as other select theatres worldwide, is this fantastic documentary about the 10 televised debates between socialite and conservative media man, William F….
The Mind Reels 