Hitchcock pairs with writer Frederick Knott to bring his stage play, Dial M for Murder to the big screen in this captivating and thrilling adaptation. The film features a top-tier cast, the luminous Grace Kelly, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings and John Williams. Everyone has secrets in this engaging film. Kelly is Margot Wendice, a wealthy…
Tag: John Williams
Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) – Gareth Edwards
It’s lost some of its magic. There is too much green screen and visual effects, and almost no practical work when it comes to the dinosaurs, and it’s glaringly obvious. There’s no majesty when we see the dinosaurs now, because they don’t look real anymore. You can tell they are all done by VFX artists….
Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) – Colin Trevorrow
Jurassic World: Dominion is the sixth film in the Jurassic franchise, and it seemed very intent on wrapping up lots of plot threads that ran through, or surfaced in the series. I’ve watched it twice now, and I will say this, enjoyed it much more the second go round. I will also say this. We’re…
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) – J.A. Bayona
Five films in you can’t expect the series to forge too much new ground. They have a formula that works and people love seeing dinosaurs running amok. This story brings back Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to bookend the film, and puts Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard – bit of a crush) and Chris Pratt…
Jaws 50th Anniversary
What a great way to begin and end my TIFF experience this year. Even as TIFF celebrates its 50th year, so does my favourite movie of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. I’ve told the story countless times of how it was my first ever film experience. I’ve seen this movie more times than any others…
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – Robert Mulligan
The moment I finished Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, I knew it was tome to check out the cinematic version, another hole in my viewing category. Gregory Peck headlines as Atticus, a role that garnered him an Academy Award. The film garnered two more wins, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Set/Art Dec. It received…
Blown Away (1994) – Stephen Hopkins
Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones star in a cop thriller about revenge and the past. Set in Boston, Jimmy Dove (Bridges) is verging on retirement from the Bomb Squad following his marriage to Kate (Suzy Amis). Unfortunately, Dove’s past comes calling for him in the form of Ryan Gaerity (Jones) an IRA extremist with…
Star Wars: The Crystal Star (1994) – Vonda N. McIntyre
I should have listened to my inner voice on this one. I couldn’t recall much of The Crystal Star as I hadn’t read it since it came out in 1994, but I remembered I didn’t care for it a lot. And that’s weird, because generally I like Vonda N. McIntyre’s work. She wrote the novelizations…
Star Wars: Champions of the Force (1994) – Kevin J. Anderson
This week, I finish off Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy, which I haven’t read since it came out, thirty years ago!! WOW! And yet I remember picking it up on the day of release, I remember throwing on some John Williams, and diving into the story to see how the author wrapped up his tale. Luke…
Star Wars: Dark Apprentice (1994) – Kevin J. Anderson
It’s amazing how time gets by from you. I last read a Star Wars book in May 2021, and I read the first installment of Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy in March of 2021. It’s now the end of 2024! But diving into the next Star Wars novel in publication order, Dark Apprentice, the…
The Mind Reels 