Theeb (2014) – Naji Abu Nowar

  Opening today at the Lightbox here in Toronto, as well as Vancouver and Calgary, with additional locations to follow on December 18, is the latest work from award-winning director Naji Abu Nowar. Shot in Jordan, and being submitted as their official Oscar Entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2016 Academy Awards, comes this…

Tarantula (1955) – Jack Arnold

  My time with director Jack Arnold continues, thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles. This time around, we find ourselves int he middle of the desert menaced by a giant spider. But don’t worry, things work out in the end, and we’re all saved by Clint Eastwood. Really. Near a small desert town, Professor Gerald Deemer…

Orphan Black S03E06 – Certain Agony of the Battlefield

  Wow what a kick in the gut last night’s episode of Orphan Black was huh? The emotional punches and revelations just kept coming, and constantly stunned me over and over… Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) still being held in Dr. Coady’s (Kyra Harper) compound (which Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) has learned is in Mexico) and…

Avenged (2013) – Micheal S. Ojeda

  Releasing from Anchor Bay today, was this supernatural revenge thriller, that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I thought it would be a little enjoyable, but I found myself really getting into this one. Zoe (the lovely Amanda Adrienne) is a deaf/mute girl on a road trip to spend some time with her…

The Road to Oz (1909) – L. Frank Baum

  It’s time to go back to Oz, and it had to happen sooner or late. This is the fifth book in the Oz series, the fourth featuring Dorothy, and it ends up being her most disappointing trip yet. Happily, she arrives in Oz this time without having to go through a natural disaster first, and…

Echoes (2014) – Nils Timm

  Releasing today from Anchor Bay is Echoes, a film that was an official selection of both the New York City International Film Festival and the FilmQuest Film Festival where it garnered awards for best actress, best director and best screenplay. This well-produced and acted supernatural thriller ends up being fairly predictable, but its pacing and acting balance out a…

The Greatest American Hero (1981) – Pilot

  In 1981, I was living in Kingston, Ontario, I had fallen in love with Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi was still a long ways off!! Television, of course, still continued to entertain me, and Stephen j. Cannell was right there keeping an occasional evening occupied with his take on…

Airwolf (1986) – Wildfire and Discovery

  String (Jan-Michael Vincent), Dom (Ernest Borgnine) and Caitlin (Jean Bruce Scott) take on more dangers this week! First up is Wildfire penned by David Westheimer, which aired 11 January, 1986. This is a kind of just say no to drugs story that seemed prevalent in the 1980s, heck, even Star Trek: The Next Generation…

Books of Blood: Volume 1 – 3 (1984 – 1986) – Clive Barker

  There are few authors that can get under my skin with their stories and nightmare imagery. In fact there is only one, Clive Barker. With the imminent arrival of The Scarlet Gospels in May, I thought I would throw some of his books back into my reading cycle, and what better place to start…