Never Cry Wolf (1983) – Carroll Ballard

Charles Martin Smith plays Farley Mowat, in Carroll Ballard’s adaptation of Mowat’s classic novel, Never Cry Wolf. A book that actually changed the way we viewed wolves. Mowat is a government researcher, and he’s got his assignment. Head north, like way north, and dig into the ahem menace that wolves pose to the environment, particularly…

To Be Taught, If Fortunate (2019) – Becky Chambers

The last (for now) Becky Chambers book for me to read was her first. Again, it’s too short, but it hints at the wonders to come in her Wayfarer Series and Monk and Robot books. The story follows a foursome of Earth explorers as they explore strange new worlds. Well four of them anyway. And…

The Arrival (1996) – David Twohy

David Twohy wrote and directed this sci-fi thriller starring Charlie Sheen which was lost in the summer of ’96 when Independence Day shook the world. Obviously a bit of a smaller film than Fox’s big-budget alien attack film, it doesn’t quite boast as big a cast, but has some great names, Richard Schiff, Lindsay Crouse,…

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) – Simon Wincer

I saw Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man the summer it opened in ’91, while I was working in Toronto. Something about it just clicked for me. I like the sense of history to the characters and the world they live in. Set five years down the road in 1996, the world is going to…

The Color Out of Space (2019) – Richard Stanley

Last week I watched a 2010 German adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s famouns short story, this week, I take a look at the 2019 version starring Nicolas Cage. Directed by Richard Stanley, who delivered the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau with Brando and Kilmer, this version differs from the German version, but its essence is…

The Color Out of Space (2010) – Huan Vu

H.P. Lovecraft, despite his racist tendencies that pop up in his writings, was a master of unnerving cosmic horror, and in 2010, Huan Vu adapted the classic novella, The Color Out of Space into a moody and ominous thriller. A German made film whose only problem lays in some of its special effects, but more…

Gertie the Dinosaur (1915) – Winsor McCay

I move into another chapter in DK Canada’s immensely enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book from director John Landis. I leave behind Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales and move on to Dragons & Dinosaurs. And first up is one of the earliest examples of animation, Gertie the Dinosaur. This silent short film was originally created…

In Conversation with Adam Bray

Next week, DK Canada unleashes Marvel Studios: Visual Dictionary, filled with a plethora of pictures, a cornucopia of content and tons of trivia, their latest offering takes us deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Written by Adam Bray, who has turned in a number of standout reference books for DK Books the Visual Dictionary is…