TIFF ’22: The Wonder

With an opening, and an ending that reminds us that how we see stories is all perspective, The Wonder explores the line between fact and faith, science and religion. Based on the book by Emma Donoghue, The Wonder is beguiling, introspective, and moody. In the mid-19th century, an English nurse, Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) who…

Zardoz (1974) – John Boorman

John Boorman wrote, prodiced and directed this sci-fi cult classic that has Sean Connery running around in red underwear and thigh high boots, waving a pistol and his moustache around. With a commentary on class, knowledge, and sex, the film wasn’t a big hit at the time, and sort of settled into the cultutal subconcious,…

Parable of the Sower (1993) – Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction tale, that follows a young woman of colour on her quest to understand herself, the ideas of god, and the destiny of humanity. Within pages of this novel, I was completely swept up in Butler’s storytelling style, her characters, and the world she created. And here’s the thing, the world…

Faust (1926) – F.W. Murnau

Man can Murnau make a film, and I was more than delighted to sit down and watch the director’s silent film version of the story of Faust as the next title in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Filled with special effects that feature a number that still stand up today, the story follows a…

Star Trek: Home is the Hunter (1990) – Dana Kramer-Rolls

The Human Adventure continues as this week’s Trek tale continues to give us stories from the time period following the events of The Motion Picture. All well and good, but like the previous novel, this one feels like a bit of a miss as well. I love the setting of the book, I just couldn’t get…

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) – J.M. Dillard

The next novel that I picked up on the Star Trek list, was the adaptation of the fifth film, The Final Frontier. The film was much maligned and slighted, and some of it for good cause, though one could argue that there is a Trek story in there, and it does have some of the…

Q (1982) – Larry Cohen

The next title from the Dragons & Dinosaurs chapter in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book is one I remember from my youth, not because I saw, but because I didn’t but the poster fascinated me. Of course, if the special effects were on par with the artwork of the poster this would have…

War of the Worlds (1989) – The Second Wave, and No Direction Home

The second season premiere of War of the Worlds happened on 2 October, 1989 and was written by Micheal Michaelian and Jonathan Glasser from a story by Michaelian. The differences are noticeable right from the off, a new theme and opening credits sequence sets up the seemingly post-apocalyptic nature of the ‘almost tomorrow’ timeline. To…

The Lair of the White Worm (1987) – Ken Russell

Ken Russell’s cheeky Brit horror The Lair of the White Worm is the next title to bite into as I continue my time with the vampire section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book by director John Landis. Based loosely on the story by Bram Stoker, the film features Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Peter…

TAD 2018: The Inhabitant (2017) – Guillermo Amoedo

It’s unfortunate that The Exorcist is considered the gold standard in horror films, because the film having its Canadian Premiere at the Scotiabank Theatre as part of the Toronto After Dark film festival is no doubt going to draw comparisons because of it’s subject matter. And that is unfortunate, because the Mexican/Chilean coproduction of The…