1982 was a great year for genre film, and I remember seeing Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal in the theatre, and being totally in awe of it. The story for me was ok, but it was the realm I found myself in, Thra as portrayed on the big screen (though I didn’t know the name…
Tag: frank oz
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) – Frank Oz
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken bring their bring science fiction b-movie musical to the big screen, ably directed by Frank Oz, in this 1986 adaptation that is the next stop in the Monstrous Aliens section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Rick Moranis plays Seymour, a bit of a schlub with an affectation for…
The Blues Brothers (1980) – John Landis
Director John Landis teams up with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in a road movie with tunes, laughs, and style. This was the movie, that I discovered in the late 80s, that introduced me to soul music, and I loved it. Featuring a who’s who of musical legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Cab…
Star Wars: Rebels (2016) – Homecoming, The Honorable Ones, and Shroud of Darkness
Hera (Vanessa Marshall) heads back to her home world of Ryloth with the Ghost crew in Homecoming. Steven Melching penned this episode which first debuted on 17 February, 2016. Arriving home leads to the inevitable confrontation with Hera’s father, Cham Syndulla (Robin Atkin Downes) who was first introduced in The Clone Wars. We also catch…
Star Wars: Rebels (2014/2015) – Path of the Jedi, Idiot’s Array, and Vision of Hope
Path of the Jedi first aired on 20 December 2014, and was written by Charles Murray. Following last week’s episode that saw young Ezra (Taylor Gray) dip a little into the Dark Side, Kanan (Freddie Prinze Jr.) takes his young apprentice on a search for a Jedi temple where they can perform a test to…
Innocent Blood (1992) – John Landis
Sooner or later a John Landis film had to pop up in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book. Despite the fact that the famed director wrote it, he would be remiss if he didn’t include his own films in this highly enjoyable book. Consequently I happily sank my fangs into this vampire tale that…
The Stepford Wives (2004) – Frank Oz
Sigh. You’d think that a film boasting the likes of Frank Oz behind the camera, and Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, Glenn Close and Matthew Broderick in front would constitute a better film. But you can tell just by the casting that the film is slipping away from the dark conformist…
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) – George Lucas
The Sci-Fi Chronicles brings me to the final entry in the Prequel Trilogy, and arguably the strongest despite some troubling moments. While still suffering from the too clean, too digital, green-screen EVERYTHING, this one feels the closest to a Star Wars movie, and that opening sequence through the space battle over Coruscant is highly…
The Great Digital Film Festival 2016
I love when this time of year rolls around, because every February, Cineplex puts on their Great Digital Film Festival which tends to showcase some wonderful films from my childhood projected on the big screen in wonderful digital clarity, often mixed with some newer popular titles. This year is no different, running from February…
Trailer Tracks: The Muppet Movie (1979) – James Frawley
I love the Muppets, anyone who has spent any time with me knows that. There’s not only a nostalgia associated with them, but an innocence, hope and joy that a lot of us tend to lose when we reach adulthood, that people like Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, David Goelz and Richard Hunt were…
Hot Docs 2014: I Am Big Bird – The Carroll Spinney Story (Chad Walker & Dave LaMattina
There are times when everything comes to a perfect moment, when a film resonates with you, and echoes not only through the memories in the rooms of your mind, but also through the chambers of your heart. The last time it happened to me was Patrick Read Johnson’s 5-25-77, it happened again the other night,…
Trailer Tracks: The Dark Crystal (1982) – Jim Henson & Frank Oz
Jim Henson and Frank Oz, the masterminds that helped forge so much of my childhood through the Muppets and Sesame Street tried something brave and different with this film, and while Fizzgig can be a little annoying, and the gelflings are a little boring at times, the imagery, the design, the creatures and the…
