It’s time to go back to Oz, with Disney’s 1985 film Return to Oz, which serves to combine two of the original Frank L. Baum novels, The Marvellous Land of Oz, and of Ozma of Oz. And that magical land is the next stop in the DK Canada’s tome, The Movie Book. They recommend the…
Tag: dark
The Wild Bunch (1969) – Sam Peckinpah
The next big stop in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Historical chapter, is Peckinpah’s ultra-violent, wonderfully bloody take on the Hollywood Western. A group of professional outlaws out of step and out of time looking for one last score find themselves fatally wandering the line between…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – Yesterday’s Enterprise, and The Offspring
Captain’s log: stardate 43625.2 Yesterday’s Enterprise penned by Ira Steven Behr, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler and Ronald D. Moore from a story by Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell became an instant classic when it aired on 19 February, 1990. A spatial-temporal rift causes changes in the 24th century when it spits out the…
Toronto After Dark 2017: Tragedy Girls – Tyler MacIntyre
BFFs, LOLs, LIKES, RETWEETs and MURDER. The Toronto After Dark film festival comes to a close this evening at Scotibank Theatre with the Toronto premiere of the exceptional dark comedy, Tragedy Girls. A Heathers for the cyber age, the film follows two students and best friends, Sadie (Brianna Hildebrand) and McKayla (Alexandra Shipp) who are…
Time Bandits (1981) – Terry Gilliam
Back in 1981 or 1982, on a free Super Channel or First Choice weekend I received my first introduction to the cinematic stylings of Terry Gilliam with Time Bandits. An odd, decidedly British science fiction adventure film, it is also one of the recommendations (following T2) as I return to the Action genre of the…
The Twilight Zone (1963) – Valley of the Shadow, and He’s Alive
It’s time to venture further into The Twilight Zone, as I delve deeper into season 4 of The Complete Series on blu-ray now available from Paramount Pictures. First up this week is Valley of the Shadow. Written by Charles Beaumont, this story sees reporter, Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) finding himself stuck in a strange small…
Red Dawn (1984) – John Milius
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove is John Milius’ dark and violent film, Red Dawn. With an all-star cast including Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Powers Boothe and Harry Dean Stanton, the film chronicles an invasion…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988) – Conspiracy, and The Neutral Zone
Captain’s log: stardate 41775.5 Conspiracy is a strange one, and one of my favourite episodes from the first season. It’s darker than Trek usually is, and begged for a sequel which we never got sadly. This episode first aired on 9 May, 1988. Written by Tracy Torme from a story by Robert Sabaroff, the Enterprise…
Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) – Shane Meadows
Director Shane Meadows and star Paddy Considine wrote this script together that is the last recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Point Blank. Considine is Richard, a soldier returning to his home town. But this homecoming isn’t one of joy, it is with a singular purpose….
Secrets of a Soul (1926) – G.W. Pabst
The next film in the What Else to Watch category for the fantastic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as featured in the massive The Movie Book from DK Books is the 1926 silent film, Secrets of a Soul. A dark and moody film, taken from events in real life, the story follows a husband, Martin…
The Mind Reels 