Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953) – James Baldwin

This week sees me reading something a little different from my usual escapist fare. Recently LeVar Burton began a reading club on Fable, and while I can’t access it in Canada, they did list the first three books he was recommending, and Go Tell It on the Mountain was at the top of his list….

M*A*S*H (1974) – Iron Guts Kelly, O.R., and Springtime

Hawkeye (Alan Alda), Trapper (Wayne Rogers) and Houlihan (Loretta Swit) run into trouble when they encounter General ‘Iron Guts’ Kelly (James Gregory). Written by Sid Dorfman, and series developer Larry Gelbart, Iron Guts Kelly first debuted on 1 October, 1974. It’s no secret to most of the 4077th (and viewers) that Margaret Houlihan has a…

The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) – Ian Fleming

The tenth James Bond book, and the ninth novel, is this week’s 007 Book Shelf entry, and it’s a bit of a unique creation. It’s a small, almost non-event in the life of secret agent James Bond, and is told from the first person perspective of the heroine of the tale, French-Canadian Vivienne Michel. Recently…

Urban Cowboy (1980) 40th Anniversary Edition – Blu-Ray Review

John Travolta was a hot commodity in the late 70s, and early 80s. He had a hit sitcom in Welcome Back, Kotter, had starred in two box office hits, Grease, and Saturday Night Fever, and he and director James Bridges sought to personalise the story of the modern cowboy with Urban Cowboy which sees its…

Scent of a Woman (1992) – Martin Brest

Ten Bad Dates With De Niro lets me dive into some Al Pacino films, movies where he gets shouty, and the first one I get to rewatch that I haven’t previously covered for the blog is this film from 1992, and just seeing the poster art sends me back. I was just getting into the…

Be More Star Wars (2020) – Christian Blauvelt

Over the past couple of years, author and Star Wars scholar Christian Blauvelt has released a series of books, which culls quotes from the entire cinematic Star Wars saga that you can apply to your everyday life, whether, work, building your self-confidence or decision-making there is a quote applicable for every facet of your life….

On Golden Pond (1981) – Mark Rydell

The next title up in the Ten Bad Dates with De Niro book, under the category of movies not to watch while you are medicated, is this classic Oscar-nominated film starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda. The film, based on the play by Ernest Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay, follows Norman (Henry…

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) – Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid

As I explore the final pages of DK Canada’s immensely informative The Movie Book, I’ve moved into the last section of this catalogue of films. Herein lies another title from The Directory, a selection of titles that are exceptional but didn’t make the cut for the main body of the text. Meshes of the Afternoon…

Me (2019) – Elton John

Elton John’s music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, even growing up in a predominantly country music household a number of his songs somehow found their way into my subconscious, part of it thanks to Elton’s appearance in the late 70s on The Muppet Show, and my…