This afternoon, Toronto After DarkWE is showcasing its Canadian Shorts Program at Scotiabank Theatre. Shorts can be a lot of fun because even if you don’t like one, there will be another one along in a few minutes. And whether you like them or not, you can always recognize the quality of work and talent…
Tag: odd
The Dead Don’t Die (2019) – Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch writes and directs this zombie film that is more in line with the Romero created monster than the running creatures that have been made so popular of late. In fact, the entire film plays out at an enjoyably relaxing pace, letting the story brew, the characters breathe, and the oddities, eccentricities, and the…
The Mutations (1974) – Jack Cardiff
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies continues to bring me atomic mutations. This offering is a little odd, and features some recognisable actors in a rather bad film called The Mutations, but also known as The Freakmaker. Donald Pleasance plays Professor Nolter, a scientist who is fascinated by the combination of animal and plant as…
Stoker (2013) – Chan-wook Park
The next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable The Movie book, following my screening of Oldboy is another Park film featuring Matthew Goode, Mia Wasikowska, and Nicole Kidman. If I hadn’t already immersed myself in some of Park’s films, as well as some of the other darker films…
War of the Worlds (1989) – Breeding Ground, and Seft of Emun
The morthren leader Mana (Catherine Disher) is proving to be a real threat as we dive into this week’s installment of War of the Worlds. Breeding Ground written by Alan Moskowitz first aired on 30 October, 1989 and sees Mana coercing a dying surgeon, Emil Gestaine (Gerard Parkes) into experimenting on his patients. In an…
The Lair of the White Worm (1987) – Ken Russell
Ken Russell’s cheeky Brit horror The Lair of the White Worm is the next title to bite into as I continue my time with the vampire section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book by director John Landis. Based loosely on the story by Bram Stoker, the film features Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, Peter…
Goliath and the Vampires (1961) – Sergio Corbucci & Giacomo Gentilomo
Monsters in the Movies, by director John Landis and available from DK Canada, keeps the vampire films coming as I continue to stake my way through the chapter on the undead. That brings me to this odd and dubbed entry from Italy that adds (?) to the sword and sorcery genre with some strange trappings…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994) – Masks, and Eye of the Beholder
Captain’s log: stardate 47615.2 Joe Menosky pens this less than stellar episode that sees Data (Brent Spiner) taking on the role of the villain in the story. This story first aired on 21 February, 1994. The Enterprise comes across a comet that contains a hidden 87 million year old alien archive which begins to redesign…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994) – Armageddon Game, and Whispers
Station log: stardate unknown Morgan Gendel, Ira Steven Behr and James Crocker pen this episode from a story by Gendel. The episode debuted on 30 January, 1994. This ends up being another O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and Bashir (Alexander Siddig) story. The pair are helping a pair of races, the T’Lani and the Kelleruns put an…
A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – Ava DuVernay
Disney’s adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s classic young adult novel is a mixed bag at best. The story’ ideas aren’t realised on the screen very well, but there is some nice talk about quantum physics, physics, and science as spiritualism throughout the film that I really enjoyed. Director DuVernay, best known for her documentary work, in…
The Mind Reels 