Napoleon Dynamite was huge. I remember when it came out, and hit home video, it was so big. We played it all the time in the store, it was just fun, and most of us had known someone like Napoleon while we were growing up. That being said, Napoleon (Jon Heder) has a lot more…
Tag: eccentric
TIFF ’22: A Man of Reason
Korean film star Jung Woo-sung makes his directorial debut with the crime thriller, A Man of Reason. The story is a familiar one, but Jung’s style and performance make this entry exceptional, if a little off. Su-hyuk (Jung) has spent the past decade in jail for his boss, he kept his head down, kept quiet,…
The Dead Don’t Die (2019) – Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch writes and directs this zombie film that is more in line with the Romero created monster than the running creatures that have been made so popular of late. In fact, the entire film plays out at an enjoyably relaxing pace, letting the story brew, the characters breathe, and the oddities, eccentricities, and the…
TIFF 2021: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain dir. Will Sharpe
If one could transmute joy and tears of a life, or transform a dew dropped ray of sunlight, into a film, then the result may very well be Will Sharpe’s biopic on English artist (you know his work, whether you recognize the name or not), Louis Wain (a fantastic turn by Benedict Cumberbatch). Sharpe’s tale…
Millennium (1998) – …Thirteen Years Later, and Skull and Bones
Micheal R. Perry pens the fiftieth episode of Millennium that feels like it riffs a bit on the whole meta horror movie serial killer theme revolutionised a few years earlier by Wes Craven’s film Scream. Airing on 30 October, 1998, the episode was another Halloween episode. This time around, Frank (Lance Henriksen) finds himself mired…
M*A*S*H (1975) – Welcome to Korea Part 1, Part 2, and Change of Command
Season four opened with a two-part premiere that aired on 12 September, 1975. Written by series developer Larry Gelbart as well as James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. To deal with Trapper’s (Wayne Rogers) abrupt departure from the series, as well as Blake’s (McLean Stevenson) leaving for home, the episode had to reintroduce the series (again)…
Ex Machina (2014) – Alex Garland
Alex Garland wrote and directed this stunning film, his first feature, that explores the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and the desire to live and survive. When a young programmer, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest to spend a week at his boss, Nathan’s (Oscar Isaac), remote estate, he loves the idea, when Nathan reveals that…
The Ape Man (1943) – William Beaudine
Bela Lugosi headlines another titles in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies as I continue my journey through the chapter on Monstrous Apes. This unusual little film, barely running an hour, tells the tale of Dr. James Brewster (Lugosi), who has a problem. It seems through some study, and research, and experimentation he’s transformed himself,…
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – Wes Anderson
The final title in The Directory, marking the end of my time with DK Canada’s exceptional The Movie Book is this fun, quirky film from writer/director Wes Anderson and starring Ralph Fiennes. Anderson packs the film with his favourite actors as he has done throughout his films. Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody,…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2010) – The Deserter, Lightsaber Lost, and The Mandalore Plot
“It is the quest for honor that makes one honorable.” The Deserter is a different kind of clone story. It was written by Drew Z. Greenberg and debuted on 1 January, 2010. Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and part of the 501st are hunting down General Greivous (Matthew Wood), but when one of the clones,…
The Mind Reels 