Bull Durham (1988) – Ron Shelton

I love a good baseball movie, there’s something inherently joyful about them, whether it’s the game, itself, the sound of the crack of the bat, the tightly edited homages of games played, or the characters that step up to the plate, I love them, drama, comedy… is there a baseball musical? I’d probably dig that…

Wyrd Sisters (1988) – Terry Practhett

It’s back to Discworld for this week’s book shelf, as I dig into the next titles in the humorous fantasy series from Terry Pratchett. This time around we spend some time with witches. We revisit Granny Weatherwax, and are introduced to Nanny Ogg, and Magrat, collectively christened Wryd Sisters. The trio are concerning themselves with…

Black Sunday (1960) – Mario Bava

Mario Bava’s fantastic gothic feature, Black Sunday aka The Mask of Satan is the next title in Ten Bad Dates With De Niro. This brilliant film, which I had never seen before, has all the enjoyable gothic ambience of Corman’s takes on Poe like The Fall of the House of Usher, and some wonderful gore…

Shogun (1980) – Disc 2

The epic mini-series adaptation of James Clavell’s novel (he also served as one of the show’s producers), Shogun continues this week, as I dive into disc two, which includes episode two and parts of episode three which originally aired on the 16th and 17th September, 1980, following the airing of the three hour premiere on…

A Beautiful Mind (2001) – Ron Howard

The four time Oscar winning film, A Beautiful Mind, is the next film mentioned on the Ten Films It’s Painful To Like in Ten Bad Dates With De Niro. Now, with five Oscars under its belt, it can’t be that painful to like, yes it rather simplifies mental illness, but conveys it wonderfully on screen. It…

Forces of Nature (1999) – Bronwen Hughes

Ten Bad Dates With De Niro brings me another title from the list of films that it’s painful to like. In this case the Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck romantic comedy, Forces of Nature. This list doesn’t have to worry about me liking it. It wasn’t so great. Despite that, it’s got a helluva cast, alongside…

The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete (1960) – Silvio Amadio

DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies brings me one of the great Greek Myths, as I explore the chapter on Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales. This time, it’s the story of the minotaur in this Italian film that has a number of titles associated with it, including Theseus and the Minotaur and The Minotaur. A…

Ashes and Diamonds (1958) – Andrzej Wajda

Post War Poland is the setting for the next big title in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, as I delve into Ashes and Diamonds from director Andrzej Wajda. Marrying a love story with a post-war thriller, and mixing in some drama, this film is a fantastically made film that delves into the horrors of war…

30 Days of Night (2007) – David Slade

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Steven Niles and Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night, is a fun, and bloody film that is the next vampire flick to come up in John Landis’ Monsters In The Movies, available from DK Canada. Barrow, Alaska, is a remote and isolated Alaskan town. Every…