Dark Skies (1996) – Dark Days Night, and Dreamland

Its 1964, and the British Invasion is underway, and The Beatles are days away from their iconic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and The Hive are planning on using that opportunity to induce mass suicide by the show’s viewers by using hypnotic suggestion, and subliminal messaging in the television image. Dark Days Night was…

2 Guns (2013) – Baltasar Kormakur

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star in 2 Guns, based on the comic series of the same name, a fun little actioner where everyone seems intent on betraying every one else over forty-three million dollars. Posing as buyers, Bobby (Washington) is actually a DEA agent, Stig (Wahlberg) is in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and…

Starman (1987) – Grifters, and The Wedding

Paul (Robert Hays) and Scott (Christopher Daniel Barnes) seem to be conned on both sides of the law in Grifters. Written by Steven Hollander, the episode first aired on 13 March, 1987. The pair have driven a car up from Texas as a way to make some money, but they are about to find a…

The Equalizer 3 (2023) – Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington team up for another Equalizer sequel, this time moving the story to gorgeous Italy. With picturesque backdrops the power duo attempt to do something more with the Robert McCall character, but this one, despite sharing the story with Man On Fire co-star Dakota Fanning doesn’t quite have the punch of…

Hide (2022) – Kiersten White

I loved Kiersten White’s Mister Magic so I had to hunt down another novel by her, Hide. Once again, she delivers a tale that is very easy to curl up in and explore. It’s fast-paced, and White is wonderfully skilled at bringing her characters to life, but despite the promise of twists and turns, there…

The Long Goodbye (1973) – Robert Altman

I’m probably stepping into a minefield here, but I’m not the biggest Robert Altman fan. Who doesn’t love The Player? And as great as M*A*S*H is, I came to it by way of the television series, so it never resonated with me as much as I would have liked. That being said, I really liked…

TAD 2023: Daniel’s Gotta Die dir. Jeremy LaLonde

I’ve been a fan of Jeremy LaLonde for some time now, and have enjoyed all of his films. He assembles great casts and tends to have very sharp scripts, his latest, Daniel’s Gotta Die, screening tonight at Toronto After Dark is no exception to that. Shot in the Caribbean during lockdown, LaLonde delivers a fun…

Timecop (1994) – Peter Hyams

Director Peter Hyams pairs up with Jean-Claude Van Damme in this big-screen adaptation of the Dark Horse comic. Co-starring Ron Silver, Mia Sara, Gloria Reuben and one of my favourite character actors, Bruce McGill, this is probably the Van Damme film I enjoy the most. Max Walker (Van Damme) is a street cop who’s just…

Hill Street Blues (1985) – An Oy for an Oy, and Fathers and Huns

Belker (Bruce Weitz) is worrying about Robin’s (Lisa Sutton) pregnancy, and where their relationship is going. He’s thinking about marriage. But he’s also having a problem with a pair of brothers (Michael Lerner and Alex Henteloff) who seem to be screwing one another over for some diamonds, and Belker is caught in the middle. An…