Fear (2017) – Dirk Kurbjuweit

Hitting trade paperback on Canadian book shelves this week is this engrossing thriller penned by German author Dirk Kurbjuweit. A captivating tale the novel explores themes of love, family, perceptions of masculinity, and the rule of law. The novel opens with a murder. And a confession. For months Randolph Tiefenthaler and his wife, Rebecca and…

Stalag 17 (1953) – Billy Wilder

This is a film I had been eager to see, and was glad to see it come up under the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as a recommendation following my viewing of The Great Escape. My eagerness to see it was twofold, I like Billy Wilder’s work, and Stalag 17 is the…

Wings of Desire (1987) – Wim Wenders

Remade for those North American audiences who hate to to read as the less than stellar City of Angels, the beautiful Wings of Desire captured hearts and imaginations when it premiered at Cannes, winning Wenders a Best Director award. It is also the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book….

633 Squadron (1964) -Walter Grauman

Cliff Robertson leads the lucky 633 Squadron in this World War II melodrama that is the next recommendation from my screening of The Dam Busters for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. The actual aerial photography of the film is stunning, above and around England, while the rotoscope work behind the cast…

The Guns of Navarone (1961) – J. Lee Thompson

Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn bring World War II excitement to the big screen in The Guns of Navarone, a recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of The Dam Busters. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, and adapted by Carl Foreman, the story follows…

Kameradschaft (1931) -G.W. Pabst

  The next title up for review in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is one I’d previously covered as I return to the Action & Adventure genre, the fantastic Wages of Fear, so I dove right into the few recommendations for this one that I hadn’t covered yet, starting with this French-German…

The Trap (2015) – Melanie Raabe

  There is an immediacy to Melanie Raabe’s debut novel, The Trap, which sees its English release this week, via House of Anansi Press here in Toronto. Translated from German the captivating tale draws the reader into the world that she has created, much as her character, author Linda Conrads, is drawn into the situations…

Fringe Toronto: My Big Fat German Puppet Show

As of this writing, I’ve only seen four shows so far this year at Fringe, and I’ve loved them all, but last night’s performance, its opening night at Fringe, of My Big Fat German Puppet Show was  AMAZING! And I wasn’t the only one, by show’s end, the audience was on its feet giving Frank Meschkuleit a…

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) – Rex Ingram

  The War recommendations following my screening of All Quiet on the Western Front for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book get underway with this silent film from 1921. A cattle dynasty in Argentina finds itself in conflict with itself when the Great War breaks out and French and German in-laws take…

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Lewis Milestone

  The next genre being tackled by the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is War, with the first title and its recommendations dealing with tales from the First World War. Based on the book by Erich Maria Remarque, the resulting film was banned for its pacifistic views and disgust with war, it wasn’t about flag-waving…