Man, I really liked how this Sherlock Holmes adventure started out, but the second half kinda lost me. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, and despite some goofy narration to set up the tale at the beginning, instead of letting the film tell the story, I was really engaged with the idea….
Tag: London
Double or Die (2007) – Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson delivers another exciting Young James Bond story. But I have to say, his youth seemed pretty adventure-filled. So much so that you have to wonder if he was bored being 007. This one is a bit different, with more clues and intellect involved. The past two adventures saw young Bond going after baddies,…
TIFF 25: Fuze dir. David Mackenzie
The one thing that I came out of Fuze knowing for sure is that this is the first time I’ve seen Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a role where I thought, yes, I can see this fella playing 007. Now, it hasn’t been announced he is, or anything of the sort, but I’m saying what I saw…
TIFF 25: California Schemin’ dir. James McAvoy
I had never heard of Silibil ‘n’ Brains, but knowing this was James McAvoy’s directorial debut I had to check it out. It’s based on a true story, and it’s very entertaining. Gavin (Seamus McLean Ross) and Billy (Samuel Bottomley) are just a couple of blokes from Dundee, Scotland. They dream big, and those dreams…
The Spider Woman (1944) – Roy William Neill
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is back! By his side, the redoubtable Watson (Nigel Bruce)! Despite the (once again) short runtime, I really liked this one. It got the series back on track to solving mysteries and while the War was still going on I liked the fact that it decided to be more escapism than…
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) – Colm McCarthy
I don’t know if there’s a horror sub-genre more flexible and adaptable than the zombie story. It can do straight horror, gore, comedy, romance, tragedy, and can give us social commentary, or just give us a white-knuckle thrill ride. This time out, it’s a pontificiation on humanity, our treatment of others, growth, and nurturing. Mike…
Dracula (1931) – George Melford
Sometimes there’s a glowing hole in my film education. I had no idea that Universal, in 1931, released two versions of Dracula, there was the iconic Bela Lugosi version which cast a long bat-shaped shadow over the entire 20th century, setting the standard for reserved, charming and well-dressed nosferatu. At the same time George Melford,…
The Venom Business (1969) – Michael Crichton
I dove into Michael Crichton’s next book, The Venom Business, as I work through his bibliography. This one took me a while to actually get into. There’s a bit of a convoluted plot for the first half of the book inundated with the parties and happenings of a swinging London where everyone, apparently, is over-sexed,…
London Has Fallen (2016) – Babak Najafi
Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is preparing to tender his resignation and see to his about-to-grow family with an expecting Leah (Radha Mitchell) when the world interferes again. This time, he and the president, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) are off to London to attend a funeral; the British Prime Minister suffered a heart…
Magnum P.I. (2019) – Payback for Beginners, and Honor Among Thieves
Season Two of Magnum P.I. opens with another White Knight sequence from a Robin Masters’ novel, which Abby (Brooke Lyons) is reading but it doesn’t take long for Magnum (Jay Hernandez) to take a new case, something he chooses to do while Higgins (Perdita Weeks) decides whether or not she’s going to become his partner…
The Mind Reels 