Ah the late 70s and early 80s, the age of the television mini-series, an almost forgotten television event, though slowly being rediscovered by the advent of the limited series. It’s slightly different of course, because back then, there were only a few channels available, making a mini-series an event over consecutive nights. Shogun was based…
Tag: class
Parasite (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
Nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design and Best Editing, Parasite, the exemplary film from writer-director Bong Joon-ho is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Pictures. Perfectly balancing a tale of comedy and drama, we are introduced to two families, and…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998) – Once More Unto the Breach, and The Siege of AR-558
Station log: stardate unknown Ronald D. Moore pens this episode that debuted on 11 November, 1998. Kor (John Colicos) returns and wants to die as a warrior, so he seeks an opportunity in the latest skirmishes of the Dominion War. There are difficulties in the ancient warrior’s death wish because General Martok (J.G. Hertzler), who…
The Leopard (1963) – Luchino Visconti
The next film on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following my screening of Ossessione is this three hour epic starring Burt Lancaster. Lancaster plays Prince Don Fabrizio Salina, the ageing patriarch of a dying dynasty. It’s Sicily in the 1860s and political and social upheavals cause Fabrizio great…
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Incredible Cross-Sections (2017) – Jason Fry and Kemp Remillard
Star Wars: The Last Jedi blasted its way into the theatres this past weekend, and delighted viewers all over the globe, this one included. DK Canada has released books to celebrate the film’s debut, and our further exploration of not only the Skywalker Saga, but the story of hope which runs through it all. The…
Gosford Park (2001) – Robert Altman
Nine years before Julian Fellowes created Downton Abbey, he wrote Gosford Park from an idea from filmmaker Robert Altman, and it is the next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following their recommendation of The Rules of the Game. The film balances a mystery, drama, with hints…
Billy Elliot (2000) – Stephen Daldry
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my viewing of West Side Story isn’t necessarily a musical, but it definitely shares the same love of dance. Billy Elliot, which has since inspired a stage musical perfectly captures joy in dance and simultaneously juxtaposes the ordinary events of day…
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – Roger Spottiswoode
Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s James Bond, 007, is the final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following a screening of Goldfinger, and I quite happily make the argument that this may be Brosnan’s best outing in his four Bond films. From the opening White Knight sequence, to…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) -The Conscience of the King and Balance of Terror
Captain’s Log: Stardate 2817.6 The Conscience of the King, taken from a line in Hamlet (the series has a wonderful relationship with the Bard), was a bit of a murder mystery that didn’t quite engage with me when I was younger, but has grown on me since. Written by Barry Trivers, this had an original…
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004) – Susanna Clarke
I’d always been intrigued by the cover of this book, and the idea of magicians in England in the 19th century tweaked my interest as well. I was never put off by the rather gargantuan size of the book, I just knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to take…
The Knick – Season 1
HBO, in conjunction with Cinemax, have done it again. Director Steven Soderbergh puts Clive Owen as Doctor John W. Thackery through his paces in this series created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. Now before you ponder the question of why, oh why, we would need yet another medical drama, take a look at the…
The Greatest American Hero (1982) – Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell and Divorce, Venusian Style
In this week’s installment, we straddle two seasons. We finish up with Season 2, and plunge into the 3rd and final season of this beloved Cannell series. Up first is Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell, which aired 28 April, 1982, and was written and directed by Bill Maxwell himself, Robert Culp! While Bill and Ralph (William…
