Dracula’s Daughter (1936) – Lambert Hillyer

John Landis Monsters in the Movies, available from DK Canada, keeps the fangs coming with this next title from the Vampire section of his book. This 1936 film is supposed to pick up shortly after the close of 1931’s Dracula (despite the fact that it was set in the 19th century, and this film is…

Murder, My Sweet (1944) – Edward Dmytryk

Dick Powell doesn’t quite have the narration patter down of a hard-boiled private investigator, especially not for the one he’s playing, Philip Marlowe, still, this is a great little film-noir bringing another incarnation of Raymond Chandler’s iconic character to the silver screen. And he handles the actual dialogue with his co-stars well, it’s just the…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994) – Masks, and Eye of the Beholder

Captain’s log: stardate 47615.2 Joe Menosky pens this less than stellar episode that sees Data (Brent Spiner) taking on the role of the villain in the story. This story first aired on 21 February, 1994. The Enterprise comes across a comet that contains a hidden 87 million year old alien archive which begins to redesign…

The Big Red One (1980) – Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller wrote and directed the final film recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Saving Private Ryan. This title closes out my time with it. The tagline for the film says it best, “The real glory of war is surviving.” And that is what the heart…

Miami Vice (1984) – Heart of Darkness, and Cool Runnin’

Following the series premiere the first episode following the opener was as edgy and dark (while being as colourful, vibrant and music-filled as Brother’s Keeper). Heart of Darkness (not quite dissimilar to Joseph Conrad’s original story) was written by A.J. Edison, and first aired on 28 September, 1984. Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs…

Star Wars: Phasma (2017) – Delilah S. Dawson

It’s been awhile since I dived into a Star Wars novel, but I got my hands on Phasma, a novel about one of the new characters introduced in the new Star Wars Trilogy and found myself swept up in the canon tale of who she is, what drives her, and how far she is willing…

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…

Rashomon (1950) – Akira Kurosawa

The next big title in DK Canada’s The Movie Book is the Kurosawa classic Rashomon. Serving as a commentary on the nature of man, the film tells a story of murder, rape, and truths. Set against the backdrop of a gutted out and tumble down temple, a trio of characters come together to ruminate a…

Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – Face the Raven, and Heaven Sent

Trouble comes to the TARDIS in this week’s episode, as well as heartbreak as the Time Lord (Capaldi) and his Companion, Clara (Jenna Coleman) face the raven. Written by Sarah Dollard this episode first aired on 21 November, 2015, and saw the return of Rigsy (Joivan Wade) and Ashildr (Maisie Williams). RIgsy gets in touch…