I’ve always enjoyed Tom Selleck as an actor, Magnum is one of my all-time favourite shows, and I’ve enjoyed his turns as Jesse Stone, loved him Three Men and a Baby, delighted in his appearance on Friends, and have a soft spot for High Road to China, and Runaway. I’ve yet to start Blue Bloods,…
Tag: legend
Sisu (2022) – Jalmari Helander
Sometimes you just want a little of the old ultra-violence and you want to see nazis get the comeuppance you know they deserve. Sisu will check that box for you. Running a brisk ninety minutes there is blood, gore and violence galore as we join an older prospector (Jorma Tommila) in 1944 Finland. He’s left…
The Lone Ranger (2013) – Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski is a vibrant visual director, but the casting of Armie Hammer as John Reid aka The Lone Ranger, doesn’t do the film any good, and the whitewashing of Tonto with the casting of Johnny Depp makes things worse. There are some wonderful sequences, some great images, and some fun comedic moments, as the…
Candyman (2021) – Nia DaCosta
Writer/director Nia DaCosta updates the Candyman story, by making a direct sequel to the classic 1992 film, and giving the narrative a new spin as it expands on the legend of Candyman, and ties it into the continuing cycle of prejudice and racial violence. The whole film is about reflections, perspective, and narrative, as up-and-coming…
Moloch (2022) – Nico Van Den Brink
The Dutch film, Moloch, delivers some solid folk horror in this atmospheric tale. Betriek (Sallie Harmsen) lives a quiet life, looking after her daughter, while trying to forget the trauma that scarred her as a child, when her grandmother was murdered. This has caused a bit of conflict between her and her own mother, Elske…
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) – Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks skewers the legend of Robin Hood with his 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. None of the versions created are safe, and Cary Elwes is perfectly cast as the iconic hero that from its opening moments takes shots at everything, nothing is safe. Using the classic tale of Robin of Locksley coming…
Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike (1996) – Diane Carey
Diane Carey launched a cross-generational story that swept through all four of the then-existing series, The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Each novel featured a standalone story that connected with the other tales, and the first featured Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise. Set a very short…
Young Guns (1988) – Christopher Cain
A fun cast gives a bit of a young update on a classic western tale as Emilio Estevez climbs into the saddle as Billy the Kid in Christopher Cain’s Young Guns. Featuring a high-profile cast that included Lou Diamond Phillips, Kiefer Sutherland, Dermot Mulroney, Terence Stamp, Jack Palance and Terry O’Quinn. John Tunstall (Stamp) has…
Robin Hood (2010) – Ridley Scott
Director Ridley Scott does away with the romp and romantic adventure that has permeated the Robin Hood myth down through the ages, and through a number of onscreen iterations to tell a more historical-based version of the tale. He packs it with stars, but the lack of derring-do may have kept audiences away, who knew…
Purple Rain (1984) – Albert Magnoli
Prince was an icon on the verge and his film Purple Rain catapulted him to legend. Using his own life as the basis for the film, the story features electrical musical performances, sometimes subpar to adequate acting, and an engaging tale that highlights everything that he was capable of. Prince plays the Kid who tries…
The Mind Reels 