Toronto After Dark 2017: Impossible Horror – Justin Decloux

Having its world premiere tonight at Scotiabank Theatre as part of the Toronto After Dark film festival is this odd and strange film shot here in Toronto. With a runtime of just over an hour, there isn’t a lot to it, and at times it seems experimental, while at others, to paraphrase one of the…

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) – Norman Jewison

It’s time to dig into some of the previously un-reviewed (for me) recommendations in the Musical section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and I was rather surprised with how much I enjoyed Norman Jewison’s anachronistic adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic rock opera. Christian theology has never really been my…

People On Sunday (1930) – Robert Slodmak & Edgar G. Ulmar

People On Sunday is the next big stop in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. Called a film without actors, the film is fluid and natural, following five people on a Sunday. Erwin, a taxi driver, Brigitte, a retail, clerk, Wolfgang, a wine trader, Christl, a film extra, Annie, a model,  are the film’s subjects, as…

My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016) – Grady Hendrix

Where do I even start with this book? I enjoyed this one so much. We were in the local Chapters, and I was immediately caught by the cover. It’s designed to look like a 1980s horror movie on VHS. And the story embraces everything you loved about the 80s – the shows, the music, the…

Star Trek: Dwellers in the Crucible (1985) – Margaret Wander Bonanno

Before Star Trek V: The Final Frontier came along four years later with the concept of the Planet of Galactic Peace, Margaret Wander Bonanno presented a similar idea in her non-canon Star Trek novel, Dwellers in the Crucible, which finds its way onto the Book Shelf this week. Set before the events of Star Trek…

The Sand Pebbles (1966) – Robert Wise

Robert Wise directs Steve McQueen, Mako, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, James Hong, and Richard Crenna in this adaptation of Richard McKenna’s novel, and my next port of call in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Lawrence of Arabia. McQueen is Jake Holman who has just been assigned to…

Rio Bravo (1959) – Howard Hawks

If someone mentions John Wayne to me, this is the movie I go to. Happily, it’s the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Searchers. Starring Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson, this, to me, is Howard Hawks best western. Wayne stars…