Laura (1944) – Otto Preminger

  The recommendations in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for the title Pandora’s Box allowed me a chance to see this classic, which I had never sat down to view before. Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is working the homicide of the lovely Laura (Gene Tierney) in this wonderful noir title….

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) – Carl Reiner

  Where Monsieur Hulot’s recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book suggested Blazing Saddles as a western send-up, the hilarious Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Steve Martin skewers the noir genre lovingly by intercutting out hero Rigby Reardon (Martin) with actual footage from classic noir films. Reardon, a cynical gumshoe…

Gattaca (1997) – Andrew Niccol

  The 101 Sci-Fi Movies brings us a tale that could be a possible future, where we can improve ourselves genetically before birth, and that defines who we are and what we can do with our lives. A decidedly future-noir film, this one features a stand out cast, Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin,…

TIFF – Short Cuts Canada Programme 5

  Screening at 9:15pm today and at 2:30pm tomorrow at the Lightbox here in Toronto is the next selection of Short Cuts Canada to be featured at TIFF 2013. Impromptu from Bruce Alcock is a delightful animated short that features a man wanting to spend some time with his sweetie, Sylvie, because he really wants…

Blade Runner (1982) – Ridley Scott

Between Alien and Blade Runner, Ridley Scott has created to genre defining classics, both of which close in on the holy grail of cinematic perfection for me. The 101 Sci-Fi Movies brings me a chance to revisit this wonderfully dark sci-fi thriller. I read the book by Philip K. Dick, I bought the Marvel comics…

Red Planet Blues (2013) by Robert J. Sawyer

The theater of the mind. I read a lot, there’s always a least one book on the go in my life. But for all of that reading, not every book can spring to life within my imagination. I can’t always see everything it tells me about, it doesn’t always give me the sense-surround 3D IMAX experience, very…