Xu Haofeng, an accomplished fight choreographer, writer and director and first-time director Xu Junfeng delivers a period piece set in 1920s China, specifically, Tianjin, where the master of a wushu academy has just died and has passed on its leadership to his apprentice, Quan Qi (Andy On) instead of his son, Shen An (Jacky Heung)…
Tag: narrative
TIFF ’23: Sleep
Midnight Madness at TIFF is always a lot of fun, and some great genre films get scheduled that are designed to deliver to the late-night audience. Sleep hopes to do that this week. A Korean entry to the film festival from writer/director Jason Yu. It’s his first feature film, and Yu creates a tense, moody…
TIFF ’23: Flora and Son
John Carney, who has delivered great musically-themed films like Once, Begin Again and Sing Street has the International Premiere of his latest film, Flora and Son at TIFF this year. Apple Films has its distribution and will be carrying it on Apple+ as of 29 September. So if you miss it at the Festival, be…
Deep Blue Sea (1999) – Renny Harlin
This one is for my friend Lindsay, who insists this is a better shark movie than Jaws, and yet it can’t help but make a number of references to it, not the least of which is a familiar-looking licence plate. Director Renny Harlin does, for the most part, deliver a fairly solid thriller though even…
Wild and Crazy Guys (2019) – Nick de Semlyen
I loved Nick de Semlyen’s The Last Action Heroes which took readers behind the scenes of the big 80s action heroes, their successes and blunders. When I heard he’s also written one about the big comedy stars of the 80s I sought out a copy of Wild and Crazy Guys immediately. The focus of this…
The Hollow Places (2020) – T. Kingfisher
The Hollow Places is a wonderfully creepy novel, laced with humour and pop culture references, and less than three chapters in I decided that I definitely needed to read more of T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon. We’re introduced to Kara, 34, newly divorced, and moving in with her Uncle Earl, taking up residence in a…
Dave Made a Maze (2017) – Bill Watterson
I was delightfully surprised when I came across Dave Made a Maze. It’s a film that is so quirky, charming and off-beat while remembering to keep characters you care about at is heart. Featuring some fantastic puppetry, animation, and just a sense of fun, I was completely taken in by this one. Dave (Nich Thune)…
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny (2023) – James Mangold
James Mangold is not Steven Spielberg. No one said he was. But stepping into a film series whose other four instalments were directed by Spielberg, comparisons will be drawn as Harrison Ford grabs his whip and fedora and settles into the iconic role of Indiana Jones one last time. There are lots of things to…
Deep Impact (1998) – 4K Review
I remember the summer of the duelling asteroid movies, 1998. There was Michael Bay’s Armageddon and Mimi Leder’s, with Steven Spielberg in her corner, Deep Impact from Paramount Pictures. Deep Impact opened first in May, with Armageddon following up in July, which completely ended up overshadowing Impact, which is unfortunate, because of the two films,…
The Equalizer (1989) – Endgame, and Suicide Squad
Endgame is a tale of manipulation, and revenge, and seems to almost sneak up on the fringes of Saw territory, as the episode finds two sisters pitted against one another. Written by Coleman Luck, the penultimate episode of The Equalizer aired on 10 August, 1989, well after the season should have finished in May. McCall…
The Mind Reels 