Set in the 1990s, young Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayyef) lives under Saddam Hussein’s regime with her grandmother, Bibi (Waheeda Thabet) and her pet rooster. Hussein’s 50th birthday is two days away, and every year, one child from each class is selected to make a birthday cake, no matter their circumstances. Lamia, Bibi and the rooster…
Tag: grandmother
Magnum P.I. (2022) – The Long Sleep, and Close to Home
Magnum (Jay Hernandez) admits to Rick (Zachary Knighton) that he may have feelings for Higgins (Perdita Weeks) in The Long Sleep. But she may already have plans and ready to move onto her next relationship, did Thomas miss his chance? Written by Mike Diaz, Andre Jackson and David Wolkove, this episode, the penultimate of the…
The Twisted Ones (2019) – T. Kingfisher
I absolutely loved Kingfisher’s The Hollow Places and immediately sought out her other horror novel, The Twisted Ones, and much like Places, this one didn’t disappoint. Filled with a sense of humor that is increasingly mixed with dread, this tale dives into folk horror, and leaves enough questions unanswered that the solutions your imagination creates,…
TIFF 2021: Petit Maman dir. Celine Sciamma
Director Celine Sciamma delivers a gentle pontification of loss, family and understanding in this gentle, and quiet drama. When Nelly’s (Josephine Sanz) grandmother dies, she regrets the fact that she didn’t get a chance to truly say goodbye to her. While her mother (Nina Meurisse) deals with her grief, and the job of clearing out…
Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) – Edward L. Cahn
Terrible sets, silly walking dead, and a goofy story are all components of the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book. A group of treasure hunters arrive on the coast of Africa to recover the cargo of a sunken ship, a cache of diamonds to make them all rich. Unfortunately the ship,…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994) – Homeward, and Sub Rosa
Captain’s log: stardate 47423.9 Surprise! Worf (Michael Dorn) has another brother, a foster one, Nikolai Rozhenko (Paul Sorvino) – and he is violating the Prime Directive! This episode was written by Naren Shankar from a story by Spike Steingasser. It first aired on 17 January, 1994. And for the first time, we see Dorn in…
Children of Dune (1976) – Frank Herbert
Thus week, I returned to the desert planet of Arrakis, also known as Dune. The third book in the series picks up some nine to ten years after the last novel, Dune Messiah. The last novel ended with Paul Atreides, Maud’Dib, wandering into the deep desert in the Fremen tradition of discarding the old and…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – Long Distance Call, A Hundred Yards Over the Rim, and The Rip Van Winkle Caper
Paramount Pictures dares me to go deeper into The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray, and I took them up on it. First up this week is Long Distance Call. Written by Charles Beaumont and William Idelson, this episode had its premiere on 31 March, 1961. Young Bill Mumy (making his first of three…
Quantum Leap (1991/1992) – Unchained and The Play’s the Thing
Unchained finds Sam (Scott Bakula) in the body of Chance Cole on 2 November, 1956. The episode was written by Paris Qualles and had an airdate of 27 November, 1991. Sam, as Chance, is part of a chain gang, and he and another convict, Jasper Boone (Basil Wallace) a man, Al (Dean Stockwell) informs him,…
A Monster Calls (2011) – Patrick Ness
It’s been a long time since a book has reduced me to tears, but Ness’ powerful, and beautiful young adult books, A Monster Calls has done just that. Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd who passed before she could tell it herself, the story is a singular experience that is heartbreaking in its truth…
The Mind Reels 