The next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following my screening of The Sweet Hereafter is 21 Grams, which has a strong emotional punch to its unique storytelling narrative. Filled with flash forwards and flashbacks, the tale reveals terrible emotional moments throughout, and then lets us build…
Tag: narrative
The New World (2005) – Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick brings his arthouse visual style to the tale of Pocahontas (Q’Orianka Kilcher) and Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) in the next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following its recommendation of Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Joining Kilcher and Farrell in the tale of the…
Smile of the Wolf (2018) -Tim Leach
Getting its Canadian release this month from Anansi Press, Smile of the Wolf by Tim Leach is a powerful Icelandic tale set against a backdrop of ice and revenge, where honor is the only law. Kjaran is a poet, and spends winters in the homes of those who would take him and hear his songs…
Breathless (1960) – Jean-Luc Goddard
A free-from film, echoed in its jazz soundtrack, Breathless is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Thelma & Louise. With it’s jump cuts, it’s occasional breaking of the fourth wall, Goddard’s uneven, but impressive film heralded the arrival of the French New Wave. Jean-Paul…
The Bounty (1984) – Roger Donaldson
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my return to the action genre and my screening of The Pirates of the Caribbean, is The Bounty. This one has everything working for it, a score by Vangelis, an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis,…
Annihilation (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer
Full disclosure: I had never heard of this book until I saw the trailer for this movie from the writer and director of Ex Machina, the visuals looked amazing, and the ambiguity and mystery conveyed by the short teaser drove me out to find a copy of the Southern Reach trilogy right away. Annihilation is…
Minds of Winter (2016) – Ed O’Loughlin
An ode to the stark, beautiful ice covered unexplored reaches of the globe as much as to the human soul and its search for knowledge, discovery and connections; swathed in furs and driven by sledges , Ed O’Loughlin’s Minds of Winter delves into the history and exploration of the distant poles and ice floes while…
Terminator Salvation (2009) – McG
The final stop with the Sc-Fi Chronicles book for me with the Terminator franchise, as I’ve now had a chance to cover all of them, is this interesting entry from the same pair of writers who gave us Rise of the Machines. This one could have been alright, though I feel McG was probably the…
La La Land (2016) – Damien Chazelle
From its opening, marrying classical screen musical tropes and modern times, Chazelle’s film proves that not only is the big screen musical still alive, it is in fact a vibrant event. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star as two Hollywood dreamers, Mia and Sebastian. She’s an aspiring actress, he’s a jazz pianist who dreams of…
Hot Docs 2016: Fear Itself – Charlie Lyne
Screening this evening at 10pm at the Lightbox, and again on May 3rd at 3:45pm, before moving to the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema for a final screening om May 4 at 9:45pm. An experiential film, a solo voice, that of Amy E. Watson, guides the narrative as she recalls and experiences fear as brought…
S. (2013) – Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams
This week’s book was a wonderful, experience, part art, part mystery, part collectible, all enjoyment. Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams collaborated to create this wonderful book, that once removed from its protective slipcase, for all intents and purposes, looks like a library book. The book is titled The Ship of Theseus by V. M. Straka, and…
6 Degrees of Hell (2012) – Joe Raffa
Releasing from Anchor Bay today is this little horror film, that I’m sorry to say, is probably best left unseen. Part advertisement for an actual place, the Hotel of Horror, check it out here, and part, what feels like some poorly written and edited Fox television show from the 90s, 6 Degrees of Hell…
