Degrassi has been with me since 1989. I was living on my own out in Halifax, and discovered it airing on television and was hooked. I recognized myself in these characters. Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to chat and befriend members of the original Degrassi Juniour High and Degrassi High cast. I was…
Tag: Canadian
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) – David Zucker
What with the reboot/sequel bringing comedic laughs back to the theatre, I thought I would take a look at the original The Naked Gun, which followed on the oh-to-short Police Squad! series. Leslie Nielsen is back as Frank Drebin, and if you were worried this movie wouldn’t be funny almost forty years later, you can…
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) – Sidney Lanfield
I’ll be honest, I had never seen one of Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes before. So I figured why not go back to the beginning and check out his first film, and perhaps explore more of his turn as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character – he did fourteen films. And joining him as Watson, who…
Stargate: Atlantis (2004) – Rising
Stargate: Atlantis launched with a feature length debut episode on 16 July, 2004. It was written by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright. O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Daniel (Michael Shanks) shows up to assist in the launch. It’s fun, looks great and expands the Stargate universe. Dr. Weir (now played by Torri Higginson) has…
I Only Read Murder (2023) – Ian and Will Ferguson
I didn’t know where to go after I finished Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series. I hadn’t been moved and entertained by books like that in a long time. So I decided to go the opposite way, and find something light and fun. Enter: I Only Read Murder by Canadian authors Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson. It…
The Queen (2024) – Nick Cutter
Canadian author Nick Cutter (aka Craig Davidson) really knows to deliver a tale that gets under your skin, and horrifies you, and he does it again with The Queen. Combining a coming-of-age tale with explicitly detailed body horror, this one was a page-turner from the beginning and is completely engrossing. Cutter plunges readers right into…
TIFF24: DO I Know You From Somewhere? dir. Arianna Martinez
Let’s just get this out of the way, Caroline Bell is luminescent. She may say it’s the dress, but there’s a 1920s grace and beauty to her that means you can’t take your eyes off of her whenever she’s onscreen. Throw in a contemplative film about choice and happiness and you have a Canadian gem…
Final Destination 2 (2003) – David R. Ellis
Those pesky kids have avoided Death again, and now it’s coming for them one at a time. This time out, the anniversary of the flight crash in the first film is coming up, and maybe that’s what triggers a vision for Kim (A.J. Cook). She sees a huge pile-up that will claim the life of…
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) – Thomas Schlamme
I remember when So I Married an Axe Murderer hit home video, it was a huge thing in our store, and became endlessly quotable for all of us, so much so that I still use countless lines repeatedly on a weekly if not daily basis. This is Mike Myers being hilariously funny, and was his…
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023) – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Among the Lotus Eaters
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow gives us a time travel story in the vein of The City on the Edge of Forever, Tomorrow is Yesterday, and Assignment: Earth. Written by David Reed, the episode first aired on 29 June, 2023. La’an (Christina Chong) is still trying to find her way back to the crew after…
The Mind Reels 