Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine star in Hitchcock’s Suspicion. Nominated for Best Picture, Fontaine walked away with a Best Actress Oscar, and she is nothing short of fantastic. Grant is Johnnie Aysgarth, a charming rogue with a penchant for detective novels, a penniless playboy who seems to be conning and gaslighting everyone from his friend,…
Tag: charm
6 Underground (2019) – Micheal Bay
Micheal Bay films can be very hit-and-miss, and when you factor in his almost seizure-inducing editing style you know the film is going to have a certain look and pacing, To be fair, there are Bay films I do enjoy, but unfortunately even with Ryan Reynolds exuding as much charm and humour as he can,…
Road House (2024) – Doug Liman
Did we need a Road House re-boot/re-imagining? No, but the locations make for a pretty picture. But that doesn’t mean it has the charm of the original, most of which was because of the casting of Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott. This time out, Jake Gyllenhaal takes on the lead role of Dalton, a former…
Quigley Down Under (1990) – Simon Wincer
Simon Wincer is a hard-working director, his efforts can be hit or miss, but I loved his work on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Lonesome Dove, and D.A.R.Y.L. Starting with Quigley Down Under, he’s worked with Tom Selleck a number of times, but this was their first feature film…
The Monsters We Defy (2022) – Leslye Penelope
Orbit Books conjures a magical and engaging tale with Leslye Penelope’s The Monsters We Defy. While arguably a supernatural heist story, that descriptor merely scratches the surface of the tale as we are introduced to an array of characters, united by Clara Johnson in the vibrant setting of 1920s Washington, D.C. Clara was born with…
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) – John Hughes
My journey through some classic John Hughes continues with this 1986 classic that, like so many of his films, came along at just the right time for me. Matthew Broderick is the titular Ferris Bueller, and despite already hitting his quota of sick days for the year, he’s taking a day off to show his…
Nobody Lives For Ever (1986) – John Gardner
Ian Fleming’s 007 James Bond is back in action in this 1986 thriller penned by John Gardner who carried on the series for the Fleming estate and updated the secret agent by retconning his early adventures into the late 60s and 70s allowing his Bond, slightly older, to prowl and protect the world of the…
The Green Slime (1968) – Kinji Fukasaku
The next title in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book may not be the best film in the book, but man did I have fun with it as I encounter more Alien Monsters! Filled with model work and special effects that seem more akin to the 50s than the late 60s, the story covers…
The Magic Sword (1962) – Bert I. Gordon
Basil Rathbone stars in the next film featured in DK Canada’s immensely enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. As I delve into the chapter on Dragons & Dinosaurs I’m, so far coming across a number of films I had never even heard of. This family fantasy adventure is another one. Rathbone plays the evil wizard Lodac,…
Clash of the Titans (2010) – Louis Leterrier
The next title that I dove into for the Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales chapter of DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book was doomed for me from the moment of it’s inception. The remake of 1981’s Harryhausen effects driven classic was never going to wow me. Why? Gone are the practical effects…
The Mind Reels 