Turn: Washington’s Spies – Season 2

  Releasing from Anchor Bay today is the second season of the highly engaging AMC series, Turn: Washington’s Spies. Starring Jamie Bell as Abe Woodhull, the story this season is even more epic and expansive as the series explores the Culper spy ring during the American Revolution. The series is based on the historical non-fiction…

The Walking Dead Seasons 1 to 4

  Sometimes it pays off to wait… Releasing this week from Anchor Bay, are the first 4 seasons (yet again) of The Walking Dead, there have been the basic editions, the collector’s editions, season sets, and now come a sweet collection with lenticular covers! The first four seasons are currently available, separately, each with their…

The Martian (2015) – Ridley Scott

  A fantastic book, a top-notch actor, and one of the best technical directors working, what wasn’t to like about The Martian? Clocking in at 141 minutes, my only real issue with the film was that despite the fact that it gave you the number of sols Mark Watney (Matt Damon) spent alone on Mars…

Raging Bull (1980) – Martin Scorsese

  We move back to Drama in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and take a look at Martin Scorsese’s biopic on boxing legend Jake La Motta, brought to visceral life by an Oscar wining performance by Robert De Niro. As succesful as La Motta would prove to be inside the boxing ring,…

Ninotchka (1939) – Ernst Lubitsch

  My time with Greta Garbo comes to an end with this recommended title from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and this one ends up being my favorite, I think. Billy Wilder has his fingerprints on the screenplay for this Oscar nominated film that sees Garbo playing a Soviet envoy on…

Fringe Toronto: Hanger

I was lucky enough to catch the second-last staging of Hilary McCormack’s Hanger on Saturday July 11th as this year’s Fringe Festival came to a close on Sunday. Directed by Joshua Stodart, this little play about two sisters and the mental illness which appears to run in their family took over the St. Vladimir Theatre…

The Newsroom – Season 3

  I have two big problems with The Newsroom Season 3 that releases today from HBO on blu-ray and DVD. The first is that this is the last season. Boo to that! The second, is that it is only 6 episodes long. Not enough! That being said, Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant drama goes out on a…

Results (2015) – Andrew Buljaski

  Opening today here in Toronto as well as other selected cities is this human-dramedy starring Cobie Smulders, Guy Pearce and Kevin Corrigan, as a trio of people who get mixed up in one another’s lives as all of them try to find that defining something that makes their lives worth living. Corrigan is Danny, recently moved to…

Parents Night and The Bigger Issue

  We came to this stage production late in its run, as life just seems to keep happening, but we were lucky enough to get into the Theatre Passe Muraille last night to have a look at this dynamic, fun, and driven production of two of playwright George F. Walker’s pieces, Parents Night and The…

Mysterious Island (1961) – Cy Endfield

  The Sci-Fi Chronicles book continues its exploration of the cinematic Jules Verne. I’ve previously covered the highly enjoyable Walt Disney version of 20,000 Leagues, so up next is Mysterious Island, which serves as a bit of a sequel to Leagues as it sees the appearance of Captain Nemo; this time played by Herbert Lom…