Sphere (1998) – Barry Levinson

Having recently reread the original novel by Micheal Crichton, I was kind of eager to take a look at the film adaptation again. I remember being very disappointed with it at the time, but I also don’t recall if I’d read the novel before or after or not. Going into it this time, I knew…

TIFF ’23: Concrete Utopia

Concrete Utopia from South Korea has its North American premiere here at TIFF, and this one is definitely a must-see. While arguably a little heavy-handed in its messaging, the film is a captivating two-hour exploration of the human condition, our faults, and our hopes. An apocalyptic event has struck Seoul, and it seems the only…

Star Trek: Discovery – Dead Endless (2019) – Dave Galanter

Set in 2257, the next novel in Simon & Schuster’s Star Trek: Discovery series, released under their Gallery Books imprint is an emotional tale that highlights one of my favorite characters in the series, Dr. Hugh Culber. Culber’s death in Season One of Discovery was a shock, and made me furious. But then as the…

Star Trek: Picard (2020) – Blu-Ray Review

The latest iteration of the long enduring Star Trek franchise, Picard, comes to blu-ray this week from Paramount Canada, and it’s gorgeous. While the series could be construed as a sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation and the The Next Generation films as it focuses on the show’s lead character, Jean-Luc Picard played by…

Star Trek: Voyager (1999) – 11:59, and Relativity

Captain’s log: stardate 52840 Joe Menosky pens the teleplay for this episode from a story by Menosky and Brannon Braga. It debuted on 5 May, 1999, and gives Janeway actor Kate Mulgrew a chance to do something a little different. The crew have been sharing family histories, and Janeway shares the story of Shannon O’Donnel…

Altered States (1980) – Ken Russell

William Hurt is on the search for the purest truth, and that, in this case, places him squarely in the mad scientist chapter of DK Canada’s very enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. Eddie Jessup (Hurt) is a scientist seeking the ultimate truth, and finds himself experimenting with isolation chambers and a ritualistic, possibly hallucinogenic…

Star Trek: Voyager (1997) – Scorpion Part II, and The Gift

Captain’s log: stardate 51003.7 Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky pen the season opener that sees the Voyager crew making a deal with the devil, i.e. the Borg, for safe passage through their space, in exchange for information on how to stop Species 8472. First broadcast on 3 September, 1997, it also sees the introduction of…

Dracula’s Daughter (1936) – Lambert Hillyer

John Landis Monsters in the Movies, available from DK Canada, keeps the fangs coming with this next title from the Vampire section of his book. This 1936 film is supposed to pick up shortly after the close of 1931’s Dracula (despite the fact that it was set in the 19th century, and this film is…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Complete Series

Just over 24 years ago, Paramount expanded the Star Trek universe again, and for the first time ever, as the sixth season of The Next Generation continued, there were two Star Trek series running on television concurrently. And what a different manner of series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was. Instead of exploring the galaxy,…