As previously mentioned The Fast and The Furious franchise passed fast and accelerated to ludicrous a while ago. Fast 9 doubles down on that outrageous aspect and with a ninth film we finally learn that Dom (Vin Diesel) Mia (Jordana Brewster) have a brother, Jacob (John Cena). It seems Jacob is just as good a…
Tag: narrative
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) – Osgood Perkins
After enjoying Longlegs I definitely wanted to check out some of Perkins’ other work, and pulled up The Blackcoat’s Daughter to watch. And once again, I rather enjoyed his work, his storytelling and the performances he got from his actors. Set in a February winter break in an all-girls private school, Bramford (a nod to…
Beat Street (1984) – Stan Lathan
I remember seeing the poster and soundtrack for Beat Street everywhere in the mid-80s, and I remember some of the songs popping up in my life. I didn’t recall much of the film itself, just the breakdancing and I figured maybe I should revisit it. It’s definitely worth the watch. There’s a grittiness to the…
Stargate SG-1 (1999) – Rules of Engagement, and Forever in a Day
Terry Curtis Fox pens Rules of Engagement which first debuted on 19 August, 1999. When SG-1 arrives on a distant world they find another SG team under assault by jaffa. But it’s not a real SG team, and they turn their weapons on O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), Daniel (Micheal Shanks), and Carter…
Northern Exposure (1991) – Animals R Us, and Jules et Joel
Ed (Darren E. Burrows) struggles with his cinematic dreams, questioning whether he can actually make a film or not in Animals R Us. Written by Robin Green this episode first debuted on 14 October, 1991. There are a couple of narrative threads woven into this story, but the main one centers on Maggie (Janine Turner)…
TIFF24: The Life of Chuck dir. Mike Flanagan
Tears. Happy tears. When things just feel right, when something is translated so well from page to screen that it looks the way it did in your mind’s eye. The Life of Chuck moved me to happy tears. Mike Flanagan is at the top of his game. He has proven that he excels at adapting…
The Octagon (1980) – Eric Karson
Welcome to the 80s, the age of the ninja as Chuck Norris guides us through a haphazard adventure that sees him entering The Octagon! Scott James (Norris) is a world-class martial artist who is accompanied by an echoey voiceover almost everywhere he goes. He and his frenemy, A.J. (Art Hindle!) live a high roller life…
Under Paris (2024) – Xavier Gens
Under Paris delivers my second favourite shark movie of all time. The first is Jaws, of course. That whole slew of Sharknado films couldn’t do a damned thing for me. They are so far beyond cheesy that they become an embarrassment. You have to be able to walk a line with shark movies, to balance…
Magnum P.I. (2022) – If I Should Die Before I Wake, and Angels Sometimes Kill
Jin (Bobby Lee) decides to get into dog walking, but then when Higgins (Perdita Weeks) allows him to look after the lads, he feeds them chocolate and makes them sick, and of course, things go sideways at the animal hospital when armed criminals show up to have one of their injured crew seen to be…
The Equalizer 2 (2018) – Antoine Fuqua
Sure the first installment of the Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington actioner came out in 2014, and I watched it for the first time nine years ago, and hadn’t watched any of the films since. And yes, I’m a fan of the original series with Edward Woodward. but I rather enjoy Washington’s interpretation of the character. The…
