Treasure Island (1950) – Byron Haskin

Disney’s tale on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of pirates and high adventure is the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for the action genre. Disney branched away from animated shorts and films with this,…

Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – A Town Called Mercy, and The Power of Three

It’s time for a Western Doctor Who as the Doctor (Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) travel to A Town Called Mercy. Written by Toby Whithouse, the episode first aired on 15 September, 2012. When the Time Lord and his Companions arrive in the American Old West, they find themselves confronting a town…

Dunkirk (2017) – Christopher Nolan

When I saw Dunkirk in IMAX this summer, I came out of the theatre with a one word review, “Wow.” Now Christopher Nolan’s brilliant retelling of the British evacuation from Dunkirk comes home on blu-ray and DVD thanks to Warner Brothers. Running at a taut hour and forty five minutes (Nolan’s shortest film since Following),…

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) – Norman Jewison

It’s time to dig into some of the previously un-reviewed (for me) recommendations in the Musical section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and I was rather surprised with how much I enjoyed Norman Jewison’s anachronistic adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic rock opera. Christian theology has never really been my…

The Warded Man (2008) – Peter V. Brett

My sweetie recommended this one for me. She was so adamant that I read it, and so convinced that I would enjoy it that she went out and bought me a copy, and I moved it to the top the pile. And, no surprise, she was right! A wonderful combination of fantasy and horror elements,…

Mamma Mia! (2008) – Phylida Lloyd

The final recommendation for my screening of Jailhouse Rock for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is the beloved stage musical, Mamma Mia! Using the catchy tunes penned by cherished pop group, ABBA, the tale is a but of a post-modern Philadelphia Story as a young woman, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is on the…

Allied (2016) – Robert Zemeckis

  Available today from Paramount Pictures is director Robert Zemeckis’ wartime romantic thriller, Allied. Opening in French Morocco,  the film is a deliberate throwback to the romantic war films of yesteryear. In the first half of the film there are intentional callbacks to films like Casablanca and Notorious, calling to mind our memories and emotions…

Doctor Who (Sylvester McCoy) – Delta and the Bannermen

The third story of season 24 (!) sees a shift to a three episode format, written by Malcolm Krohll, Delta and the Bannermen ran from 2 to 16 November, 1987. The Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) find themselves finally getting away for a bit of a holiday travelling on the Nostalgia Tours bus, but when…

Where Eagles Dare (1968) – Brian G. Hutton

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Dam Busters features a story and script by Alistair MacLean and stars Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. Burton is Major Smith, Eastwood is Schaffer an American Ranger working with a British squad that is coming up with…