Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh make a great pairing in this action buddy-comedy throwback that shows the 80s had that formula down pat. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein Mayday is vastly entertaining. Reynolds, when he wants, can do a lot more than the one-note sarcastic charming guy, but that seems to work,…
Tag: daughter
TIFF ’26: The Spiral dir. Paolo Strippoli
A Faustian thriller that drips with dread, The Spiral is fantastic TIFF fare. It will not only appeal to the Midnight Madness crowd for which it was selected, but also countless film lovers as it plays within the genre, but also raises lots ot morality questions, and is executed seamlessly and skillfully. Spirals can be…
Star Trek: #6 Who is Enigma? (1984)
July 1984 had issue 6 of DC Comics ongoing Star Trek series on comic spinners. Written oncee again by Mike W. Barr, it featured pencils by Tom Sutton, inks by Ricardo Villagran, and a cover by Sutton and Sal Amendola. Stardate: 8173.5 The issue’s opening splash page tties directly in with the canon of The…
Star Trek: Furlough to Fury (1976)
This was the first Star Trek comic I ever owned. Issue 40, Furlough to Fury. It was on shelves for September 1976. It was written by Arnold Drake, had art by Alden McWilliams, and had a cover by George Wilson. The splash page shows the Enterprise about to whether a giant cosmic storm, though an…
The Running Man (2025) – Edgar Wright
Arnold’s Running Man was an 80s cult classic, not great, but fun. Edgar Wright’s 2025 version stays closer to the source material, a novel by Stephen King (under his Bachman name), and definitely leans into the political messaging of the book as well as the modern era. Set in a not too distant future, Ben…
Stargate: Atlantis (2007) – Miller’s Crossing, and This Mortal Coil
Kate Hewlett returns to Stargate” Atlantis in Miller’s Crossing. Written by Martin Gero, this episode was first broadcast on 30 November, 2007. McKay (David Hewlett) returns to Earth with Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and Ronon (Jason Momoa), when his sister, Jeannie (Kate Hewlett) is kidnapped. Her computer was being monitored and it’s all about getting McKay…
The Foreigner (2017) – Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell seems to be a hit or miss director, and you have to wonder if it’s his choice of projects. I love his work with the Bond franchise, and I quite enjoyed his take on Zorro. But I also remember how much I hated Vertical Limit and (of course) Green Lantern. Pairing him up…
TIFF 25: The Furious dir. Kenji Tanigaki
The Furious is a balls-to-the-wall actioner that is outrageously over-the-top but incredibly crowd-pleasing in its violence and action beats. Having said that, the ADR in the film is terrible, and I honestly think the entire film should just be subtitled. The film has a strong enough appeal that I don’t think it needed to have…
TIFF25: Sentimental Value dir. Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value was recommended by my classmate Betsy, who got a look at it last week at the Telluride Film Festival. She told me to run, don’t walk to see this one. So I changed my viewing schedule for the first day of the festival to start with this. And wow. A beautiful and poignant…
James (2024) – Percival Everett
Percival Everett offers a fresh perspective on Mark Twain’s adventure of Huck and Jim. Filled with humor, heartbreak, horror, and irony, Everett’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel is captivating, powerful and entertaining. Jim, as one will remember, is a runaway slave, and is later thought to have murdered Huck. The pair travel down the Mississippi tumbling…
