A Christmas Zombie Horror Musical Comedy sounds like a definite win. I missed Anna and the Apocalypse when it played at Toronto After Dark a few years ago, and I was a little bummed about it. But now that the holidays have rolled around, I figured I could take a look at it and figure…
Tag: nick
Fringe (2010) – Over There: Part One, and Part Two
The season two finale of Fringe got underway on 13 May, 2010. It was written by J.H. Wyman, Jeff Pinkner, and Akiva Goldsman, who also served as the episode’s director. We know we’re on the other side from the beginning but the red-colored opening credits cements that idea. Peter (Joshua Jackson) joins Walter-nate (John Noble)…
TAD 2021: The Free Fall dir. Adam Stilwell
Toronto After Dark delivers a gaslighting character thriller with The Free Fall, enjoying its Canadian premiere, and comes in as one of my favorite films of the festival. That being said, I saw the truth of what was going on before everything was revealed, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable ride. Sara (Andrea…
The Last Action Hero (1993) – John McTiernan
When it was first released The Last Action Hero, which saw Arnold Schwarzenegger reteamed with Predator director John McTiernan, and featuring a script that Shane Black was involved in, the film flopped, failed to find an audience, and marked Arnold’s first failure at the box office. Time has been kind to the film, and rewatching…
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) – John Carl Buechler
Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder slips on the mask this time out) as the masked killer is resurrected from the depths of Crystal Lake to wreak havoc on a whole new group of twenty-somethings. But this time around he may be confronting a Final Girl unlike any other, and one who is responsible for his return…
Flashdance (1983) – Adrian Lyne
Flashdance is an odd duck. When it first came out it was seen as this big thing, it influenced fashion, and launched the producing careers of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer who went on to produce some of the biggest hits of the 80s and 90s. Watching it now, it entertains, but it’s blatantly obvious…
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Robert Aldrich
Boy, can Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) pick ’em in this, the next film in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. Based on Mickey Spillane’s novel of the same name, the film sees the private investigator caught up in a corker of a mystery. I’ve always been interested in the character, I grew up with Stacy Keach…
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) – Tay Garnett
The first title on the What Else to Watch list following my screening of Ossessione for The Movie Book, from DK Canada, is the first U.S. adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel, which also served as the basis for Ossessione. The film stars Lana Turner and John Garfield as Cora Smith and Frank Chambers. Frank…
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – Joe Johnston
Before Joe Johnston directed one of my favourite comic book movies, The Rocketeer, he directed this Disney film that took the b-movies of the 1950s into the late Disney-fied 80s. There are nods to films he hasn’t made yet (which is really fun) and dialogue lifts from classic films and a playful sense of fun….
The Deer Hunter (1978) – Micheal Cimino
Micheal Cimino’s examination of the effects of war, framed around the Vietnam conflict and a small industrial town in Pennsylvania is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Apocalypse Now. Laying out the scars, physical, mental and unseen that affected those who fought in it,…
The Mind Reels 