Ridley Scott returns to the science fiction genre again and retreads things that have gone before in Alien: Covenant. The latest film in the seemingly indefatigable series connects the previous film, the divisive Prometheus with the first film in the series, 1979 Alien, both directed by Scott. And while I didn’t hate it, the film…
Tag: music
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – Roger Spottiswoode
Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s James Bond, 007, is the final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following a screening of Goldfinger, and I quite happily make the argument that this may be Brosnan’s best outing in his four Bond films. From the opening White Knight sequence, to…
Saturday Night Fever: The Director’s Cut (1977) – John Badham
Paramount Pictures takes you back to the dance floor with the blu-ray and DVD release of the Director’s Cut of the now iconic Saturday Night Fever, which helped to catapult John Travolta, a Sweathog from Welcome Back, Kotter, to super-stardom. It’s easy now to think of the film as a time capsule of the 70s…
Shaun of the Dead (2004) – Edgar Wright
A return to the Horror/Sci-Fi chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book brings me to Night of the Living Dead. Having previously written about it, I moved onto the recommendations. The only film I hadn’t written about before is now up, and any chance to rewatch this movie, I take. Because…
Back to the Future: Part III (1990) – Robert Zemeckis
My last stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is the final trip with Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in Back to the Future: Part III. From the film’s opening credits you know this will be a different adventure, the triumphant theme by Alan Silvestri gives way to a stirring romantic…
Quantum Leap (1992) – Killin’ Time and Star Light, Star Bright
Sam (Scott Bakula) is in for an interesting ride this week in Killin’ Time. Written by Tommy Thompson with an original airdate of 20 October, 1992, Sam finds himself in the person of Leon Styles, a violent escaped convict on 18 June, 1958. He’s troubled by the fact that Al (Dean Stockwell) hasn’t shown up…
Allied (2016) – Robert Zemeckis
Available today from Paramount Pictures is director Robert Zemeckis’ wartime romantic thriller, Allied. Opening in French Morocco, the film is a deliberate throwback to the romantic war films of yesteryear. In the first half of the film there are intentional callbacks to films like Casablanca and Notorious, calling to mind our memories and emotions…
Liv Stein
Combining near cinematic imagery that verges on the iconic and powerhouse performances from its actors, Liv Stein, presented by Canadian Stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto is sure to wow and elicit discussion. Director Matthew Jocelyn’s sure hand brings Nino Haratischwili’s original German play to the Canadian stage via a translation by Birgit…
Quantum Leap (1991) – Dreams and A Single Drop of Rain
Deborah Pratt writes the first episode up for review this week, Dreams. It aired on 13 November, 1991, and finds Sam (Scott Bakula) on 28 February, 1979. Sam has leaped into a police detective, Jack Stone, who is working a murder case, but is also suffering from some terrible flashbacks. These trace memories are throwing…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – Who Mourns for Adonais? and The Changeling
Captain’s log: stardate 3468.1 Who Mourns for Adonais? had an original airdate of 22 September, 1967 and was penned by Gilbert Ralston. This was one of the first episodes that I realised at a young age that was about more than what it seemed. On the surface, the story follows the Enterprise as it encounters…
The Mind Reels 