A canticle of attrition laced with verses of humour and pathos, The Banshees of Inisherin from writer-director Martin McDonagh is a perfect composition. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as Padraic and Colm. They’ve been drinking mates for years until in April of 1923, Colm decides he doesn’t want to be friends with Padraic anymore….
Tag: magical
TIFF 2021: Petit Maman dir. Celine Sciamma
Director Celine Sciamma delivers a gentle pontification of loss, family and understanding in this gentle, and quiet drama. When Nelly’s (Josephine Sanz) grandmother dies, she regrets the fact that she didn’t get a chance to truly say goodbye to her. While her mother (Nina Meurisse) deals with her grief, and the job of clearing out…
Stardust (2007) – Matthew Vaughn
Neil Gaiman’s fairy tale fantasy, Stardust, is the next stop in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I venture into the realm of witches. Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, and it always bothers me that more people don’t know his work, and I think that’s one of the reasons this film…
Aladdin (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
Guy Ritchie (?!) directs Disney’s live action adaption of one of its most successful animated features, which sees some new lyrics added to familiar songs (as well as some new songs), and a bright young cast brings the classic tale of a diamond in the rough to life in a colorful, not entirely new, but…
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) – Hayao Miyazaki
My time with Hayao Miyazaki continues thanks to DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following the recommendation of Spirited Away, and there on the What Else to Watch List were other Miyazaki titles to dive into and Kiki’s Delivery Service is next. Shorter than the other entries so far, the story follows a young witch, Kiki….
Insomnia (1994) – Stephen King
Every time I had read the blurb, or cover jacket for King’s Insomnia there was nothing about it that really caught my interest, nothing leaped out at me, and I was afraid that perhaps this one wouldn’t be enjoyable to me at all when I finally dug into it. I was delighted to be wrong….
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – Rob Marshall
Opening tomorrow, Mary Poppins Returns is an old school, classic Walt Disney film in the magical sense of the words. Knowing that it has to take on one of the iconic characters from the Disney filmography, Mary Poppins Returns has a big umbrella to fill, not to mention those shoes! But the Emily Blunt led…
The Dark Tower IV.V: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012) – Stephen King
Published eight years after the last volume of The Dark Tower series, Stephen King created another tale to share of the gunslinger Roland Deschain of the line of Eld. Following their escape from the castle that was not the Emerald City from Wizard and Glass, Roland, Susannah, Jake, Eddie and Oy the billy-bumbler take shelter…
Amelie (2001) – Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Pretty Woman is a film that is pure joy captured on film. Jeunet’s beautiful comedic romance brought Audrey Tautou to international attention, and did something that usually takes a lot of effort – got a North American audience…
A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – Ava DuVernay
Disney’s adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s classic young adult novel is a mixed bag at best. The story’ ideas aren’t realised on the screen very well, but there is some nice talk about quantum physics, physics, and science as spiritualism throughout the film that I really enjoyed. Director DuVernay, best known for her documentary work, in…
The Mind Reels 