Nicolas Cage headlines in Mandy, a drug-addled hallucinogenic ride in this revenge horror (?) thriller. Set in the early 80s, but filled with 70s sensibilities in sense of style and set design, Cage is Red Miller who lives out in the woods with Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough). They have a quiet life, he works is…
Tag: designs
Family Ties (1988) – It Happened One Night, Designing Women, and Truckers
The seventh and final season of Family Ties got underway with It Happened One Night. Written by Marc Lawrence, it debuted on 30 October, 1988. Elyse (Meredith Baxter) and Steven (Micheal Gross) are eager to take the family camping, but outside of Andy (Brian Bonsall) the rest of the family elect to not go. After…
Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters (1968) – Kimyoshi Yasuda
Wow, did I have fun with this one. I had never heard of it, but I do love a lot of J-horror, and this one definitely had an interesting sound to it, a Japanese monster movie with practical effects, costumes and a touch of animation, what’s not to like? The monsters are allowed to show…
Starman (1984) – 4K Review
Starman is on 4K and part of Sony Pictures’ release of Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection, Volume 4. I love John Carpenter movies. He’s one of my favourite directors because he’s happy to take on all genres and give his imaginative take on each of his films. Starman may have been the first Carpenter…
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Art and Visual Effects (2020) – Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki
I have loved Star Trek: The Motion Picture since the first time I saw it in 1979. I remember the theatre I was in, I remember being swept up by the music and imagery, it blew my young little mind, and just made me love the characters, especially the Enterprise all the more. My fascination…
One Piece: Season 1 – East Blue, Part 1
It’s hard to know where to start with anime, and with it all laid out before you on a streaming service like Crunchyroll, even with suggestions, it can be a little intimidating. But at Fan Expo this year, an anime called One Piece seemed to be everywhere, so that looked like a good place to…
Mission to Mars (2000) – Brian De Palma
Director Brian De Palma delivers what feels like his spin on Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, unfortunately the shoddy and very obvious CGI in a number of the sequences of the film, and especially during the climax when a practical effects would have served better, and leant a stronger reality to the film, which needed…
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – Ron Howard
I’m very particular about my holiday specials when it comes to television and movies. My treasured titles are very select, and I get very put out when a new one is thrust upon me. I love A Charlie Brown Christmas, Emmett Otter, John Denver & The Muppets, The Muppet Family Christmas (I like my Muppets),…
Lego Star Wars: Visual Dictionary – New Edition (2019) – Simon Beecroft, Jason Fry, Simon Hugo
I’ve raved about Lego, and Star Wars on this blog a number of times over the course of this blog, and digging into DK Canada’s new edition of its brilliant Lego Star Wars: Visual Dictionary just fires up the imagination again. The new version has added material, and talks about the twenty year relationship between…
Toronto Comic Con 2019
There’s always that moment when I find the soul of a specific convention, we look into one another’s eyes, recognize one another, and embrace. This year, it was slipping into the comfortable shoes of beloved fandoms, and seeing shared passions bringing people together. Set against the backdrop of the Metro Toronto Convention Center’s South Building,…
The Mind Reels 