The year is 2391, four years after the Romulan star was destroyed, and Simon & Schuster’s next entry in the Star Trek: Picard, is an enjoyable entry that mixes a lot of humor with a very noir detective story that ties back to one of the biggest events of the 23rd century. The longest of…
Tag: manipulation
Foundation and Empire (1952) – Isaac Asimov
The second book in the foundation series ups the stakes for humanity a bit, as we get a glimpse inside the still crumbling Empire, and the reclusive Foundation and the traders that have sprung from it. We learn that the Foundation is in someways becoming corrupt as well, as some despotism is occuring, and it…
Black Widow (2021) – Cate Shortland
The MCU roars back to the big screen with an emotional and action-packed thrill ride that gives Scarlett Johansson a long over due Black Widow solo film, set between the events of Civil War and Infinity War/Endgame, director Cate Shortland brings us resoundingly back into the big screen spectacle that is the MCU and defines…
Millennium (1997) – Sense and Antisense, and Monster
Sense and Antisense, written by Chip Johannessen, sends Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and the Millennium Group in a slightly different direction, when he gets drawn into the search for a missing man, known on the street as Zero (Clarence Williams III), who seems insane, spouting conspiracy theories, and seems to be infected with some sort…
Ex Machina (2014) – Alex Garland
Alex Garland wrote and directed this stunning film, his first feature, that explores the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and the desire to live and survive. When a young programmer, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest to spend a week at his boss, Nathan’s (Oscar Isaac), remote estate, he loves the idea, when Nathan reveals that…
From Beyond (1986) – Stuart Gordon
Cult favorite actor Jeffrey Combs is the mad scientist in the next title featured in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. Based on the seven page short story by H.P. Lovecraft the story follows Crawford Tillinghast (Combs) and a group of scientists that have developed the resonator, an experimental machine that can allow…
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) – Yimou Zhang
The next film in DK Canada’s informative and entertaining The Movie Book is this beautifully shot Chinese film starring Li Gong. Set in the 1920s, Songlian (Li) elects to become the fourth mistress of a wealthy lord, Chen Zuoqian (Jingwu Ma). She soon finds herself enmeshed in the rules of the household, and the scheming…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) – Family Business, and Shakaar
Station log: stardate unknown Rene Auberjonois directs this episode that was written by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe. This Quark (Armin Shimerman) story first aired on 15 May, 1995, and allowed for a brief respite before plunging towards the season finale. Quark and Rom (Max Grodenchik) have to return to the Ferengi homeworld…
Marnie (1964) – Alfred Hitchcock
Vertigo is the next big title in The Movie Book from DK Canada. As I’ve reviewed that previously, as well as a number of the films on the What Else to Watch list, I settled in for the 1964 film, Marnie, directed by the master, Hitchcock, and starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. Hedren is…
Throne of Blood (1957) – Akira Kurosawa
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Kurosawa’s Ran is another classic film from the legendary director, Throne of Blood. Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kubo and Isuzu Yamada star in this action-fantasy-drama. Mifune stars as Taketoki Washizo, while Kubo stars as his childhood friend, and fellow…