Ossessione (1943) – Luchino Visconti

DK Canada’s The Movie Book brings me a tale of love and jealousy as I settled in to take in Visconti’s Ossessione. When a drifter named Gino (Massimo Girotti) arrives at a restaurant, he finds himself caught up in a romance with the repugnant owner, Giuseppe’s (Juan de Landa) wife, Giovanna (Clara Calamai). Both characters…

The Maltese Falcon (1929) – Dashiell Hammett

Sam Spade. Almost some ninety years on, the name still conjures images. One can see Bogart, fedora atop his head, overcoat hanging on his frame, cigarette dangling from his lips while he has a heater in one hand, and a dame on the other. No matter your experience with Spade, brought to life incredibly in…

Fake Blood (2017) – Rob Grant

Whether Canadian film-makers Rob Grant and Mike Kovac movie is fact or fiction isn’t the point of their latest cinematic effort. What is important is the film’s subject matter, and the commentary it makes on film, violence in cinema and the responsibility of the film-makers. Opening Friday at the Carlton here in Toronto, Fake Blood,…

Charade (1963) – Stanley Donen

The next title on the What Else to Watch list following the recommendation of Casablanca from The Movie Book, released by DK Canada, is this delightful romp starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Also featuring turns by Walter Matthau and James Coburn, this romance mystery, with a healthy dose of comedy has a score by…

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) – Robert Zemeckis

Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar winning film noir, coached in cartoon terms, is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Toy Story. Melding the live action and cartoon world, the film follows detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) as he takes a case he doesn’t even want to…

Toy Story (1995) – John Lasseter

As I return to the Family section in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, I am delighted to dig into another Pixar movie. In fact, the first Pixar feature film. Since 1995, Pixar has released incredible films that have become a treasured part of modern culture. It’s hard to believe that it…

His Girl Friday (1940) – Howard Hawks

The next big title in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, is the incredibly enjoyable Howard Hawks film, His Girl Friday starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The film is based on the play The Front Page, with the key change of making one of the leads a woman. From there, history takes over, and the…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – Reunion, and Future Imperfect

Captain’s log: stardate 44246.3 K’Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) returns in this episode written by Thomas Perry, Jo Perry, Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga from a story by both Perrys and Drew Deighan. This is also the second episode of eight that was directed by Jonathan Frakes , who plays Commander Riker. First airing on 5…