Donnie Darko (2001) – Richard Kelly

The final recommendation from this visit to the Family genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is Kelly’s cult film Donnie Darko. While not necessarily suitable for younger viewers, it does involve family and a young troubled boy. This one was one of those films that while I was in the…

Quantum Leap (1989) – Jimmy and So Help Me God

  Sometimes it’s the simplest stories that work the best, and are the most poignant, the first episode up this week, Jimmy, is just that.Penned by Paul M. Belous and Robert Wolterstorff, the episode aired 22 November, 1989, it sees Sam (Scott Bakula) leaping into an intellectually challenged man, Jimmy, on 14 October, 1964. He…

Magnum, p.i. (1985) – Going Home and Paniolo

  Thomas heads to Virginia in the first episode up this week, Going Home, which aired 31 October, 1985 and was penned by Gene Donalds and Chris Abbott. He returns to Virginia for his grandfather’s funeral, and it opens up a slew of memories, pains, and troubles amongst the family. He’s never been a fan of…

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) – Chris Columbus

  The final recommendation from my screening of Way Out West in the family genre of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this wonderful Chris Columbus film starring Robin Williams, who turns in a wonderfully fantastic performance as Daniel Hillard. Daniel is a fun-loving voice actor, who can rarely take anything…

State of Women

  During World War II, it wasn’t only the men who answered the call of their country. All over North America, women left their kitchens, shedding the restraints of home maker and house wife, to take up the hammer and torque to work in the factories (Rosie the Riveter), building the equipment that was put to…

Looking: Season 1

  HBO is also releasing the Michael Lannan created series Looking today on DVD and Blu-Ray. Set in San Francisco the series follows three gay men, a video game level designer, Patrick (Jonathan Groff), struggling artist, Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) and entrepreneur, Dom (Murray Bartlett) as they struggle to make their lives work, and hopefully fall in…

Frank (2014) – Lenny Abrahamson

  Michael Fassbender is the titular Frank in this amusing and entertaining dark comedy that is being released to DVD and Blu-Ray today from Magnolia Home Entertainment. The film follows a young, would-be musician, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), and how he becomes involved in a rather eccentric pop band that is fronted by Frank, who never…

Pumpkinhead (1988) – Stan Winston

  The always so cool Lance Henriksen stars in this creature-feature, cabin-in-the-woods horror film that was the directorial debut of the late, and much-missed Stan Winston. In a film packed with people I recognize, two of them from my favorite television show ever, Quantum Leap, the film plays within the typical B-movie tropes, but with…

They Live (1988) – John Carpenter

  Sometimes you just want to watch something fun… Well that feeling hit me recently, so I decided it was time to revisit this John Carpenter classic. Though the more I watched it, the more I realized it actually has more resonance with society now than it did when it first came out. Wishing that…

Horse Feathers (1932) – Norman Z. McLeod

  The Marx Brothers take on college football in this recommendation from Great Movies – 100 Years of Film, to coincide with their selection of A Night At The Opera. Groucho comes in to Huxley U as the university’s new president, Professor Wagstaff, mainly to keep an eye on his son, Frank (Zeppo). Frank has fallen…