Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) – The Nagus, and Vortex

Station log: stardate unknown Ira Steven Behr pens the teleplay from a story by David Livingston which finds Quark (Armin Shimerman) getting into some trouble when the Ferengi Grand Nagus, Zek (Wallace Shawn) arrives on the station. This episode first aired on 21 March, 1993. In a fun bit, O’Brien (Colm Meaney) is overseeing the…

A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – Ava DuVernay

Disney’s adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s classic young adult novel is a mixed bag at best. The story’ ideas aren’t realised on the screen very well, but there is some nice talk about quantum physics, physics, and science as spiritualism throughout the film that I really enjoyed. Director DuVernay, best known for her documentary work, in…

Marvel Studio’s Thor: Ragnarok Blu-Ray Review

Thor Ragnarok the immensely enjoyable third solo adventure of the Marvel hero comes home on blu-ray and DVD today, and continues to build on the Marvel Cinematic Universe while also bringing in something new to the adventure… A huge sense of humour and fun. Chris Hemsworth as the titular god shows that he can manage…

Black Hollow Cage (2017) – Sadrac Gonzalez-Perellon

Opening today at the Carlton theatre here in Toronto is this slow-burn of a sci-fi drama from writer-director Sadrac Gonzalez-Perellon. Set in the not so faraway future, the story follows a young girl, Alice (Lowena McDonell) who lives in a remote house in the forest with he father, Adam (Julian Nicholson) and a dog she…

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Blake Edwards

Based on the novel by Truman Capote, and featuring music by Henry Mancini, this romantic classic stars Audrey Hepburn, and George Peppard. It is also the next stop on the Romantic and Melodrama chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film. The film, as solid as it is, features Mickey Rooney’s racist and…

Geostorm (2017) – Dean Devlin

Dean Devlin and his frequent collaborator, Roland Emmerich have a long history of cinematically destroying iconic landmarks and wreaking international havoc in their films all while A and B list actors run around trying to save the day. Geostorm, Devlin’s latest directorial effort, releasing on blu-ray and DVD from Warner Brothers today, is no different….

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – Joe Johnston

Before Joe Johnston directed one of my favourite comic book movies, The Rocketeer, he directed this Disney film that took the b-movies of the 1950s into the late Disney-fied 80s. There are nods to films he hasn’t made yet (which is really fun) and dialogue lifts from classic films and a playful sense of fun….

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – Redemption Part II, and Darmok

Captain’s log: stardate 45020.4 Season five got under way on 23 September, 1991 in this episode written by Ronald D, Moore. Worf (Michael Dorn) has gone to fight alongside his brother Kurn (Tony Todd) in the Klingon Civil War. Meanwhile, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise are trying to stop the…

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) – Robert Zemeckis

Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar winning film noir, coached in cartoon terms, is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Toy Story. Melding the live action and cartoon world, the film follows detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) as he takes a case he doesn’t even want to…