Highlander. Man I love this movie. I remember the first time I saw it. I had barely heard of it when I went to hang out with some new/old friends (story there for another time) and they put this movie on to wile away an afternoon. I was completely swept up in it, how cool…
Tag: city
Full Metal Jacket (1987) – Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick’s look at the Vietnam War isn’t only a commentary on the war itself, but the dissolution of the self, and the soul of humanity to be replaced by an animal nature that restrains us a species and diminishes who we are. From the introduction to the Marine Corps on Parris Island, South Carolina,…
Q (1982) – Larry Cohen
The next title from the Dragons & Dinosaurs chapter in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book is one I remember from my youth, not because I saw, but because I didn’t but the poster fascinated me. Of course, if the special effects were on par with the artwork of the poster this would have…
The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands (1991) – Stephen King
This week I continue my journey with Roland of Gilead’s ka-tet as they continue their journey to the Dark Tower. He, Eddie and Susannah travel onwards, and things start to get really good. They discover one of the twelve legendary guardians, the Path of the Beam, they recite the catechism that becomes ingrained in the…
Taxi Driver (1976) – Martin Scorsese
Out of all of Scorsese’s work, I think Taxi Driver, the next stop on the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Thriller genre, is my favourite. It also features one of my top performances by Robert De Niro. Much has been said and written about Taxi Driver since…
Seven Fallen Feathers (2017) – Tanya Talaga
Seven Fallen Feathers is a defining book. It is a haunting, distressing and angering discourse on racism and loss in Northern Ontario, and across Canada. Talaga, a dedicated and insightful journalist turns her investigative eye, shining it like a spotlight onto a piece of Canadian life that many of us are loathe to discuss, accept,…
At The Mountains of Madness (1931) – H.P. Lovecraft
Lovecraft’s unnerving novella, At the Mountains of Madness was my next read, and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. It’s dark, frightening, and immensely enjoyable. An Antarctic expedition finds something they don’t expect, and from there the tale descends into horror and madness. I feel that the story influenced the short story of…
Out of the Past (1947) – Jacques Tourneur
Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas bring the noir genre to roaring life on the big screen with this 1947 adaptation of the novel by Geoffrey Holmes. It’s also the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Point Blank. Mitchum is Jeff Bailey. He lives…
Star Trek: Crisis On Centaurus (1986) – Brad Ferguson
Well, except for the product placement, the implication that the Earth isn’t under a one government rule, and that the economics of the future are a little different (according to Picard) which is not followed here, most of this tale is fairly enjoyable. In fact, of it had been rewritten and edited a little more…
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) – Dziga Vertov
Vertov’s engaging documentary is the next stop in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. It falls solidly and enjoyably in the What Else to Watch list of Battleship Potemkin. A man, Mikhail Kaufman, wanders the city and captures the daily life of the Soviet Union in a brilliantly engaging way, marrying idea to image as only…