The second film Spielberg released in 1989 was an update of the classic film A Guy Named Joe starring Holly Hunter, Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, Brad Johnson, and Audrey Hepburn. I was in a completely different place for this film than I was for Last Crusade, I was worlds away from where I was with…
Tag: John Williams
TIFF ’22: The Fabelmans
I have been a Spielberg fan for as long as I can remember. The first film he saw was The Greatest Show On Earth, which affected him. Mine was Jaws, and I can say the same thing. Over the decades I have followed him on his storytelling journey, embracing each new film that came along,…
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Steven Spielberg
I love the Indiana Jones films (yes, even some parts in the fourth) and while Raiders of the Lost Ark will always be my favorite, Last Crusade is etched in my memory for personal reasons. It was the summer of 1989, I had just graduated high school, it was my last summer living in Bermuda,…
Empire of the Sun (1987) – Steven Spielberg
Spielberg’s next project was an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s memoir of his time as a boy growing up in Japanese occupied China during World War II. Christian Bale, in one of his earliest roles, plays young Jamie Graham, an arrogant young English boy who is fascinated by planes, and whose life is upended in the…
1941 (1979) – Steven Spielberg
It has been a long time since I last watched Spielberg’s 1941, but as I’m revisiting his films and exploring the ones I haven’t written about before, it seemed like a perfect time to look at this one again. The film did not do well upon release, in fact, watching it now, it still feels…
The Fury (1978) – Brian De Palma
Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving star in De Palma’s first film after his success with Carrie, and this one is another supernatural tinged thriller, but this one boasts a score by John Williams, and viewers should watch for brief appearances by Daryl Hannah and Dennis Franz. John Farris pens the screenplay from his own novel,…
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) – Alfonso Cuaron
Despite the box office success of the previous two Harry Potter films, the franchise really comes into its own with a change of directors, the masteful Alfonso Cuaron settles into the chair taking over from Chris Columbus who moved into a producer’s role for this entry. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint return for…
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) – Chris Columbus
The magic of Harry Potter continues in Warner Brothers’ second instalment of what would go on to be an insanely profitable franchise. Director Chris Columbus returned for a second outing, with this adaption of the second book in the series (which was still being written at the time – can you remember the time when…
Indiana Jones 4K – 40th Anniversary Celebration!
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Paramount Pictures has remastered the original four films into a gorgeous 4K collection that is as crystal clear as my memories of seeing each and every one of them in the theatre… In 1981, I remember seeing television ads for Raiders on the television,…
Star Wars: Jedi Search (1994) – Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson launches his Jedi Academy trilogy this week as I travel back to 1994, and the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. I’m exploring each book by publication date, and there were a couple of things I loved right off the bat, which I either didn’t notice the first time I read it (I…
The Mind Reels 