Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale gets the Disney makeover in this the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Lion King. While Lion King is undeniably more popular, The Little Mermaid was the film that more or less launched the Disney renaissance. Prior to…
Tag: human
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) – Martin Ritt
Richard Burton turns in a solid, and believable performance in this adaptation of John le Carre’s classic thriller novel. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove. Burton is Alec Leamas, a spy in charge…
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) – Dziga Vertov
Vertov’s engaging documentary is the next stop in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. It falls solidly and enjoyably in the What Else to Watch list of Battleship Potemkin. A man, Mikhail Kaufman, wanders the city and captures the daily life of the Soviet Union in a brilliantly engaging way, marrying idea to image as only…
She (1935) – Irving Pichel
I return to the action genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film. Having seen the main title, Raiders of the Lost Ark countless times, and of course, having written about it, I move now onto the recommendations following the title. Irving Pichel directs this epic adventure, She, based on the H. Rider…
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…
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – Michael Bay
Hasbro and Michael Bay bring the Autobots and Decepticons to the screen for a second outing, as I continue my time with the Transformers in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. This one took a lot of flak for its racist stereotypes illustrated throughout the film even as our heroes both human and robot fight to save…
The Shannara Chronicles: Season 1
Fantasy television series always have a hard time proving themselves on television. For every Game of Thrones or Xena: Warrior Princess, there’s a Wizards and Warriors or Covington Cross. While television viewers are happy to welcome superheroes and aliens into their living rooms on weekly basis, elves, dwarves and trolls have had a tougher time…
Alien Nation (1988) – Graham Baker
Before District 9, Earth took in the Newcomers, and as they attempted to fit into our society, despite racism, prejudice, and simple confusion in customs, a pair of cops, one human, one newcomer, try to work together. This one is the next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles as I spend some more time with James…
Ballers: Season 1
Dwayne Johnson takes to the field in the new HBO series, Ballers, from creator Stephen Levinson, which was released on June 14. I dug into the series on blu-ray to have a look. My first instinct, and I stand by it, is that it’s more of a dramedy than the pitched comedy, and it…
Batman: The Animated Series (1993) – Shadow of the Bat Part I & II and Mudslide
Season 2 of the amazing series gets underway with a two-parter, that aired on the 13th and 14th of September, 1993. Batman (Kevin Conroy) gets some caped help when Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings) is arrested for corruption. Coming to her father’s aid, Barbara Gordon (Melissa Gilbert) becomes Batgirl. Gil Mason (Tim Matheson) is helping…
The Mind Reels 