It’s time for the cinematic swan song of for the Next Generation cast, as my journeys with Star Trek, via the Sci-Fi Chronicles book continue. Directed by Stuart Baird (a helluva editor, not the best director) the film is nowhere near as strong a film as it could have or should have been. One…
Tag: director
Sister Act, Presented by Drayton Entertainment
I love stagecraft, and I love seeing a well-produced, perfectly acted and paced stage production. Drayton’s 2016 season has all of that and more, and playing on the main stage currently at the Huron County Playhouse in gorgeous Grand Bend (though to be honest I feel like I’m on Amity Island from Jaws) is…
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – Jonathan Frakes
The strongest of the Next Generation films is the next stop for the Sci-Fi Chronicles book as I continue the exploration of the Star Trek cinematic universe. This one combines the best elements of the Next Generation universe, with drama, action and comedy as it combines a time travel tale with a war story and…
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) – Bryan Singer
There’s probably a good, or at least a passable story somewhere amongst the mutants, Singer as a director has done some nice work with Marvel’s X-Men franchise in the past, but this time, it just feels like too much flash, and no substance. To say the visual effects super-saturate this film is an understatement….
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) – William Shatner
The next stop with the U.S.S. Enterprise according to the Sci-Fi Chronicles is the fifth film in the series, as I’d previously reviewed IV. Shatner takes the helm both as Captain James T. Kirk and as director and helped with the story as well. Big ideas get caught up in budget restrictions and less…
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) – Leonard Nimoy
I continue to boldly go with the Star Trek films, courtesy of the Sci-Fi Chronicles, and having previously covered Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I moved onto the third film in the series, helmed by Nimoy himself, one of the caveats about his reprising the Spock character. Spock is dead. The events…
Hot Docs 2016: The Mind Reels chats with Cheer Up
Sue and I were delighted to sit down with the director, Christy Garland, and the subjects of the truly enjoyable documentary, Cheer Up, a film that follows a cheer coach, Miia Norvapalo, and two of her squad, Patricia Fisk and Aino Selin through their personal lives, as well as their race to win the…
Hot Docs 2016: Chatting with The League of Exotique Dancers
The Hot Docs Film Festival gets underway today, and it’s opening night film features some amazing women. Sue and I got to sit down and chat with three of them, the film’s director, Rama Rau as well as burlesque legends, Camille 2000 and Judith Stein. We chatted about the film, feminism, burlesque, stripping, stage…
Magnum, p.i. (1987) – Laura and Out of Sync
Ol’ Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra finds himself in Hawaii this week, with the episode Laura. Written by Chris Abbott, this one aired 25 February, 1987. Sinatra is Michael Doheny, a New York cop, who in the midst of celebrating his retirement party, has his granddaughter kidnapped, and murdered by a pair of sexual predators….
Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner (1996) – Paul M. Sammon
Most everyone who knows me knows that I love Ridley Scott’s work, and Blade Runner was my introduction to not only the talented English director, but also to the world of noir films. I didn’t necessarily understand it all at 12, but I know I was blown away by the look of the film,…
