I love Richard Donner films, I love Michael Crichton books, seems like a solid match, but the big-screen adaptation of Crichton’s Timeline feels a little lackluster. It boasts a solid cast, Paul Walker, Gerard Butler, Frances O’Connor, Billy Connolly, Anna Friel, Neal McDonough, and Michael Sheen. There’s an archaeology study and dig going on at…
Tag: France
TIFF24: Meet the Barbarians dir. Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy directs and stars in the charming, and delightfully satirical Meet the Barbarians. Set in the small town of Paimpont, France, a teacher, Joelle (Delpy) has convinced the local town council to do their part and take in some Ukranian refugees, they’ve studied, they’ve got a home set-up, have donated groceries, and are ready…
Final Destination (2000) – James Wong
Death doesn’t like to be cheated, especially by twenty-somethings playing teenagers as we see in the first installment in the multi-film series christened Final Destination. Written by X-files alumus James Wong and Glen Morgan alongside Jeffrey Reddick from a story developed by Reddick, the horror thriller is fairly basic, with a number of familiar faces….
The Three Musketeers (1993) – Stephen Herek
Disney’s 1993 take on The Three Musketeers has some fun things going for it, Kiefer Sutherland, Tim Curry, Michael Wincott and music by Michael Kamen. Sure it’s not much more than a romp, an entertaining one to be sure, but it doesn’t do much to make itself authentic. The film is set in France, but…
TAD 2021: Super Z dir. Julien de Volte, and Arnaud Tabarly
Zombie features at Toronto After Dark are never your run of the mill selections. With so many entries in this horror sub-genre, and so many ways to adapt the subject matter to social commentary, it’s unusual to find a unique offering in the field. France’s Super Z is definitely unique. Having its World Premiere virtually…
Map of Bones (2005) – James Rollins
James Rollins second novel in his Sigma Force series continues the highly enjoyable combination of science, mythology, history and high adventure. This time, Sigma Force’s Grey Pierce is assigned with his team to investigate a massacre at a church in Germany, and the subsequent theft of ancient Catholic relics. Relics that have some strange properties,…
Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Widow, and Trek
Season two of Mission: Impossible launched on 10 September, 1967, with The Widow written by Barney Slater. Viewers knew right away that something had changed, Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) was replaced without explanation by Peter Graves, taking command of the IMF team as Jim Phelps, and Martin Landau finds himself in the opening credits, right…
Never Send Flowers (1993) – John Gardner
James Bond is back, and while I’ve enjoyed Gardner’s efforts with Ian Fleming’s 007, with the minor exception of The Man From Barbarossa, this entry, his thirteenth (of sixteen) feels like a real stumble. It seems to want to be more in line with the cinematic 007, but without a solid story, or set pieces…
Chuck (2010) – Versus the Balcony, and Versus the Gobbler
Chuck (Zachary Levi) is on the verge of (elaborately) proposing to Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) when she relates a story of her parents’ nightmare proposal, just as a mission is delivered their way that sees them on a trip to France to recover a microchip, using a wine-tasting as their cover, with Casey (Adam Baldwin) as…
The French Connection (1971) – William Friedkin
William Friedkin’s 1971 classic has deserved a rewatch for awhile, and I was quite happy to settle in for it. I like Gene Hackman, who won himself an Academy Award for his turn as NYPD officer Popeye Doyle, and I’m a huge fan of Roy Scheider who plays his partner, Cloudy, and received a nomination…
The Mind Reels 