Strange Weather (2017) – Joe Hill

Joe Hill delivers another great read with this collection of four short novels, all of whom, in some form or another tie in with strange weather. Each of the stories are about one hundred pages each, and completely captivate with Hill’s addictive narratives, and engaging characters, details, and horrifying moments. Snapshot delves into a bit…

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) – Robert Florey

Bela Lugosi, with the horrible addition of a unibrow, terrorises unsuspecting Paris in the next stop in the Monstrous Apes chapter of DK Canada’s brilliant Monsters in the Movies book. Based on the classic short story by Edgar Allen Poe, the tale focuses on an evolution obsessed mad scientist, Dr. Mirakle (Lugosi)  and the object…

The Croning (2012) – Laird Barron

This week’s book shelf brings a bit of cosmic horror as I delve into Laird Bannon’s novel, The Croning. The story spans the decades of one man, and the horrors that are around him, and the realization that these nightmare terrors are real. It’s unnverving, as we are introduced to geologist Don Miller, and his…

Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Steven Spielberg

I was stunned when I first saw Saving Private Ryan on opening day, 24 July, 1998. I had never seen war depicted so realistically, so heart-breaking, graphic, and impactful. I held onto the names of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks like a mantra through the film, to guide me through it, to make everything be…

Boyhood (2014) – Richard Linklater

To keep things fresh and entertaining with DK Canada’s fascinating The Movie Book I’ve decided to do some leaping back and forth through the book, so that there is a larger variety of film. So I leapt to the very end of the book, and the last film highlighted is Richard Linklater’s brilliant Boyhood. Filmed…

Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – The Return of Doctor Mysterio, and The Pilot

The Doctor (Capaldi) returned to screens after a year away with the 2016 Holiday Special. Written by Steven Moffat The Return of Soctor Mysterio aired on Christmas Day. This light-hearted adventure follows the Doctor’s encounters with a young boy (and later man) named Grant (Logan Hoffman and Justin Chatwin) who loves his comic books and…

Taxi Driver (1976) – Martin Scorsese

Out of all of Scorsese’s work, I think Taxi Driver, the next stop on the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Thriller genre, is my favourite. It also features one of my top performances by Robert De Niro. Much has been said and written about Taxi Driver since…

Mother! (2017) – Darren Aronofsky

The cult of celebrity, the ‘ownership’ of fans, the price of love, and the need for peace, privacy, and solace from the madness that is the modern world. Aronofsky’s divisive film, Mother!, comes home on DVD and blu-ray today.  Vaguely Lynchian there is the semblance of a ghost story at the heart of the film…

Mulan (1998) – Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Lion King is this exceptional tale from Disney that brought a story little known to the North American world. This Disney version of an ancient Chinese folktale tells the story of a young woman, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen…