POPnology at the Ontario Science Centre

It’s summer vacation, time for camps, bike rides, beaches, family trips, seemingly endless days spread out before the young to enjoy, to forget the long reach of scholastic achievement, teachers, and books. So how can you make learning fun, and ensure that the entire family is entertained? Combine education with entertainment, with movies, and pop…

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – David Lean

Another recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of The Great Escape is this David Lean classic starring William Holden, Alec Guinness,  and Jack Hawkins. The film walked away with seven Academy Awards, taking home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Guinness), Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography,…

Stalag 17 (1953) – Billy Wilder

This is a film I had been eager to see, and was glad to see it come up under the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as a recommendation following my viewing of The Great Escape. My eagerness to see it was twofold, I like Billy Wilder’s work, and Stalag 17 is the…

The Great Escape (1963) – John Sturges

The next stop in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book sees me back in the war genre, watching one of my all-time favourite WWII films, The Great Escape. Based loosely on actual events there is a lot to love in this film, not only in the movie itself, but for the nostalgia…

Judge Dredd (1995) -Danny Cannon

You need to worry about any movie that thinks it’s a good idea to use Rob Schneider as your comic relief, and this, my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is filled with potential, but those involved just didn’t seem to get the source material. Danny Cannon presents a busy MegaCity, a fairly familiar…

The Italian Job (1969) – Peter Collinson

  The recommendations from my viewing of Rififi for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film keep coming, and this one was highly enjoyable. Michael Caine leads the cast in this comic caper that sees he and a group of thieves organizing a gold heist, worth four million dollars, by causing a traffic jam…

Batman: The Movie (1966) – Leslie H. Martinson

  The Sci-Fi Chronicles book continues to give me tons of awesome things to watch or re-watch, seeing them in a new way. I’m definitely not the film reviewer I was when I was 20 (I wasn’t even blogging then), nor am I the same writer that I was when we started the blog (almost…

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) – Daniel Haller

  As I continue my travel through the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, I was given the opportunity to revisit the incarnation of Buck Rogers that I was most familiar with. Released as a theatrical feature in March of 1979 as well as a television pilot, which led to a two season run, from Glen Larson, the mind behind…

The Lost World (1960) – Irwin Allen

  Yet another adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Challenger adventure comes under review thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, but despite having a pretty damned great cast, this one flounders, and you need look no father than the ‘ahem’ dinosaurs to know why. And while Irwin Allen made quite a name for himself in television…

Battlestar Galactica (1978) – The Lost Warrior & The Long Patrol

  This week’s Battlestar Galactica sees two stand alone episodes before we plunge into another two parter. The art used to illustrate this installment of the Bellasrio & Cannell comes from Ralph McQuarrie’s preproduction art and book cover art from the episode’s novel adaption by David Shleinkofer. First up is The Lost Warrior, which aired October 8,…