Amistad (1997) – Steven Spielberg

Spielberg returns to another examination of humanity and history with his 1997 film Amistad. Based on an actual event in 1839, the film explores a revolt of Mende captives aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. When the captives take over the ship they demand that the surviving crew take them back to Africa, but instead,…

The Untouchables (1987) – 4K Review

For a lot of people, Carrie, Scarface, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, or even Phantom of the Paradise was their introduction to Brian De Palma. For me, it was The Untouchables in 1987. And for the first time, I started to take notice of the language of film. I was a teen, wholly fascinated by…

Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964) – Ishiro Honda

UFOs, political assassinations, alien possession, the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito) and alien monsters see the known kaiju on Earth, all located around Japan, unite for the first time to combat King Ghidorah, a three-headed space beast which destroyed an alien civilization on Venus centuries ago, and has now arrived on Earth via meteor. This…

The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) – Blu-Ray Review

Cecil D.DeMille knew how to make an epic, and both versions of his Ten Commandments prove that point, but I was always more intrigued by what I had heard about his circus picture, The Greatest Show On Earth, mainly because it was the film that really ignited Steven Spielberg’s love of moviemaking. I had never…

Star Trek: Enterprise (2005) – Bound, and In a Mirror, Darkly Part I

Captain’s log: 27 December, 2154 Manny Coto pens Bound, which first aired on 15 April, 2005. Things go badly for the crew of the Enterprise, specifically the men, when Archer (Scott Bakula) receives three Orion slave girls, Navaar (Cyia Batten), D’Nesh (Crystal Allen) and Maras (Menina Fortunato) as a ‘gift’ from Harrad-Sar (William Lucking) for…

Octaman (1971) – Harry Essex

Harry Essex who wrote the Universal Monster classic, Creature From the Black Lagoon, goes back to the well with this tale that he wrote and directed, and also features some early work by Rick Baker, who had his hand in the design and build of the monster costume. Octaman is the next title up in…

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) – Irvin Berwick

I continue my journey through the chapter called Nature’s Revenge in DK Canada’s exceptional Monsters in the Movies book. This time around I’m delivered another seaside monster story, and I settled in hoping for some fun. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t come near the sheer so bad it’s good flair of The Beach Girls and the…

The Red Shoes (1948) – Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger

The Directory in DK Canada’s The Movie Book continues to introduce me to classic films I haven’t seen, and today they introduced me to the Oscar winning film, The Red Shoes. Taking home awards from the Academy for Art & Set Direction as well as Best Music, the story follows the life and career of…

Star Trek: Voyager (2000) – Live Fast and Prosper, and Muse

Captain’s log: stardate 53849.2 Identity theft still exists in the 24th century as we learn in this episode directed by LeVar Burton and written by Robin Burger. First airing on 19 April, 2000, the story follows a trio of thieves Dala (Kaitlin Hopkins), Mobar (Gregg Daniel) and Zar (Francis Guinan),who are impersonating Janeway (Kate Mulgrew),…