Every decade or so filmmakers try to deliver a new version of the legendary outlaw, Robin Hood. There’s something about the character that keeps drawing us back. Everyone seems to know the basics, and each iteration seems to want to play with the characters, and story and try and do something new. Sometimes it works,…
Tag: outlaw
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) – All Those Who Wander, and A Quality of Mercy
All Those Who Wander is the penultimate episode of the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and it is determined to make the Gorn the scariest aliens in the Trek universe. Written by Davy Perez, this episode first aired on 30 June, 2022. The Enterprise, which is on a priority mission, receives another…
The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) – William A. Fraker
There are a few things to redeem the 1981 iteration of the Lone Ranger story, it has a score by John Barry, and features Christopher Lloyd as the film’s baddie. But beyond that, this one is pretty horrible. The story, while violent, isn’t layered, sophisticated or much stronger than a grade-school tale. And that’s to…
1984 (1956) – Michael Anderson
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies provides a glimpse into a dystopian future that may not be so different from a time we live in now, with the 1956 adaptation of Orwell’s classic novel, 1984. The screenwriters say they ‘freely’ adapted the original story so there are differences from book to screen, but thematically, it…
The Incredibles (2004) – Brad Bird
Thanks to DK Canada’s very enjoyable The Movie Book, I get to delve into some of my favorite Pixar films as the next big title recommended in the book is the exceptional Toy Story, the feature film that started it all! Having previously reviewed it for the blog I eagerly jumped into the What Else…
Star Wars: Han Solo at Star’s End (1979) – Brian Daley
Back in 1979 there wasn’t a lot in the way of Star Wars stories, there definitely wasn’t the Expanded Universe (now the Legends series) or the new canon series of novels. There were Marvel comics which were hokey but still fun, and before The Empire Strikes Back came along we had to use our imagination…
Smile of the Wolf (2018) -Tim Leach
Getting its Canadian release this month from Anansi Press, Smile of the Wolf by Tim Leach is a powerful Icelandic tale set against a backdrop of ice and revenge, where honor is the only law. Kjaran is a poet, and spends winters in the homes of those who would take him and hear his songs…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) -Past Tense: Part I, and Part II
Station log: stardate 48481.2 Robert Hewitt Wolfe pens this stellar episode from a story he developed with Ira Steven Behr. First broadcast on 2 January, 1995, the story follows Sisko (Avery Brooks), Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Dax (Terry Farrell) as, thanks to a transporter accident while the Defiant is in orbit around Earth, end up…
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) – Ron Howard
Punch it, Chewie! Ron Howard, a reliable journeyman director takes us back to a galaxy far, far away this week when Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theatres. Penned by one of the most reliable of the Lucasfilm scribes, Lawrence Kasdan, and his son, Jonathan Kasdan, the film introduces Alden Ehrenreich in the role made…
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – Andrew Dominik
The western bio-pic, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch. A beautiful and bleak film, the picture stars Brad Pitt, as the legendary outlaw, with Casey Affleck as his assassin. The…
The Mind Reels 