I remember seeing the book cover for Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith everywhere in the early 80s. I suppose had I wanted to I could have read it then. My parents were pretty liberal with letting me read whatever I wanted, and I had just started delving into mysteries, I read a couple of…
Tag: location
TIFF24: Conclave dir. Edward Berger
Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front stunned TIFF audiences and now, he’s back, with a cinematic adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel, Conclave. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini, Berger delivers a visually arresting dramatic piece that takes viewers inside the Vatican as Cardinals gather from across the globe to…
The Tunnel (2011) – Carlo Ledesma
Something is going on in the tunnels under Sydney, and it’s terrifying. Found footage films for me, like most, can be hit or miss, but I’m willing to give a little leeway for something of them. The Tunnel definitely earned that grace from me. I enjoyed this one, it’s enjoyable, and was produced in an…
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…
Magnum P.I. (2018) – The Ties That Bind, and Bad Day to Be a Hero
Thomas (Jay Hernandez) takes a case involving a kidnapped girl, she’s been returned, but she’s not the same person anymore, and her parents want the person who took her captured. At the same time, we learn a little more about what happened when Magnum and his friends were held by the Taliban when they were…
The Ninth Configuration (1980) – William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty the author of The Exorcist, wrote and directed this spiritual sequel, now defined as part of the faith trilogy formed by The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, and The Exorcist III. It’s a fascinating film, in parts funny, in parts heartbreaking, and in parts horrifying. In a remote part of the Pacific Northwest…
The Substitute (1996) – Robert Mandel
Its action sequences are flawed, and don’t look anywhere as near as cool, and sharp as they could, but 1996’s The Substitute (which spawned three increasingly bad direct-to-video sequels) is packed with familiar faces. The cast is led by Tom Berenger, and includes Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, Rodney, A. Grant, Ernie Hudson, Marc…
Quigley Down Under (1990) – Simon Wincer
Simon Wincer is a hard-working director, his efforts can be hit or miss, but I loved his work on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Lonesome Dove, and D.A.R.Y.L. Starting with Quigley Down Under, he’s worked with Tom Selleck a number of times, but this was their first feature film…
Galactica 1980 (1980) – The Night the Cylons Landed Part I, and Part II
Troy (Kent McCord) and Dillon (Barry Van Dyke) pawn off the spacekids on Jamie (Robyn Douglass) when a new cylon fighter gets drawn into Earth orbit and is going to come down near New York, just in time for Halloween. The Night the Cylons Landed was a two-parter. The first episode aired on 13 April,…
1923 – Season 1 Blu-Ray Review
Taylor Sheridan has built a bit of an entertainment juggernaut with his Yellowstone series. It already had one limited series spinoff with 1883, and now Paramount Canada delivers the second one, 1923, on physical media, making it available on both DVD and Blu-Ray. 1923 continues exploring the story of the Dutton family as they run…
The Mind Reels 