(Re) Watching Micheal Mann’s disjointed supernatural film, The Keep I realised I wanted one thing from it – Mann’s original cut. Apparently clocking in at 3 1/2 hours it was trimmed down to 2 by Paramount Pictures, who then cut another half hour out of it after some rough previews. It’s not like now. If…
Tag: novel
M*A*S*H (1973) – The Ringbanger, Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, and Dear Dad, Again
Leslie Nielsen guest stars as Colonel Buzz Brighton in The Ringbanger, which was written by Jerry Mayer, and first aired on 21 January, 1973. Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and Trapper (Wayne Rogers) click with one of their patients, Brighton, but are soon troubled to learn that his unit suffers the highest casualty rate, with the least…
Dances with Wolves (1990) – Kevin Costner
It’s been a long time since I watched Dances With Wolves, it definitely hasn’t happened since the turn of the century. But I remember when this one came out. Actually I remember before that, because I read the original novel by Micheal Blake (who wrote the screenplay) as well. There was just something about this…
M*A*S*H (1972) – Pilot, To Market, to Market, and Requiem for a Lightweight
On 17 April, 1972, the television landscape changed with the premiere of a show that would run for eleven seasons, and ably walk the line between comedy and drama as it explored life on a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Developed for television by Larry Gelbart from the Academy Award winning film…
Magic (1978) – Richard Attenborough
Somehow this title has slipped through the cracks of my viewing, and I had never seen it before I threw it on for the next misadventure with Killer Dolls as featured in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book. Its directed by Richard Attenborough, written by William Goldman, based on his own novel, stars Anthony…
Frenzy (1972) – Alfred Hitchcock
I slipped into another Alfred Hitchcock film I hadn’t seen today. Frenzy, from 1972. I knew next to nothing about it but was delighted to see both Jean Marsh and Bernard Cribbins in supporting roles. Set in England, this is a bit of a thriller with some dark humour thrown in for good measure. Based…
Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi (1983)- James Kahn
Following quickly on the heels of the novelisation of The Empire Strikes Back, Brian Daley delivered us one more Han Solo story, Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, which I read last year on vacation. Then, except for the ongoing Marvel comics series, it was all quiet on the Star Wars front until 1983, when…
Topaz (1969) – Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock takes on Leon Uris’ novel Topaz in this film adaptation of the same name. It’s not quite on the level of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller, but the subject material, centring around the Cuban Missile Crisis and a Russian spy ring within the French intelligence community is pretty engaging stuff. Unfortunately, for me, it ended…
The Trouble With Harry (1955) – Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock brings me a little New England humour in today’s entry, The Trouble With Harry. Based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story, adapted for the screen by John Micheal Hayes, Hitchcock delivers a delightful film that virtually pops with colour and crackles with sharp dialogue. Using the back drop of the turning of the…
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929) – Benjamin Christensen
I move into a new chapter in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, The Devil’s Work, so I bet this section is going to be a lot of fun! The first film in the chapter that I hadn’t previously watched is a silent film called Seven Footprints to Satan, it’s kind of dark, and kind…
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963) – Ian Fleming
The eleventh 007 book, and tenth novel, by Ian Fleming is this week’s entry on the Book Shelf, and you could see how the film series would begin to influence the continuing novels as we get a mention of Bond’s parentage, with his father being a Scot, and there is an increasing sense of Connery…
Shogun (1980) – Disc 4
We come to the conclusion of James Clavell’s epic Japanese tale this week (it was definitely quicker to get through the miniseries than the novel – course I was fourteen at the time) as I delve into the fourth disc of the DVD set which has the fifth and final episode. Adapted by Eric Bercovici,…
