I took my time coming to this one, but The Star Wars Archives is a fantastic read. Over the decades, countless books and articles have been written about the making of the original trilogy. But The Star Wars Archives, overseen and edited by Paul Duncan may very well be the definitive retelling. There are interviews,…
Tag: interviews
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film (2025) – John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto
I have fallen in love with the Titan Star Trek books. They are informative and comprehensive in their text, and the mass of photography and production art are stunning. I have devoured the books on The Motion Picture, and The Wrath of Khan, and I was overdue to dig into The Search for Spock, despite…
TIFF 25: You Had to Be There – How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… dir. Nick Davis
In 1972 and 1973 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre here in Toronto, almost everything we know about modern comedy was born. The cast included Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber and Dave Thomas. From the seeds planted by this special group being brought together sprang SCTV and SNL, not to mention…
TIFF 25: EPiC – Elvis Presley in Concert dir. Baz Luhrmann
Acclaimed director brings Elvis Presley to the big screen (or the biggest screen if you can see it in IMAX) in a way you’ve never seen before. A look at his Vegas residency concerts, by putting you in a front row seat for the show. With a quick recap of his career the concert film…
The Movie Man (2024) – Matt Finlin
Cottage Country. That phrase conjures a specific image for residents of Ontario, Canada. The calls of loons, sitting on boat docks and enjoying the peace of the lakes, an escape from the hubbub of city life; cottage country is a Canadian summer tradition. You wouldn’t expect to find a multiplex amongst the forests, the bears,…
Ghostwatch (1992) – Lesley Manning
Ghostwatch seems like an appropriate film for April Fool’s Day. Seven years before The Blair Witch Project marketed itself as an actual piece of found footage, a documentary, the BBC scarred viewers young and old with their television production of Ghostwatch. Staged like so many other BBC investigative programmes, and despite a brief intro proclaiming…
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) – 4K Review
Sony Pictures’ release of their Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 brings me another iconic film that was missing from my viewing history, the Robert Benton film, Kramer vs. Kramer. Based on the novel by Avery Corman the film stars Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as the titular Kramers. Hoffman is Ted Kramer,…
Titanic (1997) – 4K
James Cameron’s epic Oscar-winning film, Titanic, finally comes to 4K in time for the holidays, and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) have never looked better. Man has this film come a long way. I remember seeing this on the big screen and marvelling at the spectacle Cameron put on the screen. It was…
TIFF ‘ 23: Mr. Dressup – The Magic of Make-Believe
I’m not crying. You’re crying! Is there anything more Canadian to children who grew up in the 70s/80s/and early90s than Mr. Dressup? I can’t remember a time in my own life when I didn’t know about him, Casey, Finnegan and the Tickle Trunk. In fact I’m sure that at some point I had a stuffed…
TIFF ’23: Summer Qamp
My first documentary of this year’s TIFF was the joyous celebration that is Summer Qamp. The film crew led by director Jennifer Markowitz heads to Camp fYrefly located in, of all places, Alberta. A week-long summer camp for queer, non-binary and trans teens, fYrefly is a safe space for everyone who goes there and allows…
The Mind Reels 