It’s been a couple of decades since I last watched Top Secret! I remember from my time working in a video store that it was a perennial favourite of my friend Ted. And with the passing of Val Kilmer, I felt it was definitely time to take it in again. And wow, did I laugh….
Tag: performance
Blue Ruin (2013) – Jeremy Saulnier
I enjoyed Rebel Ridge, and quite liked Green Room, so I figurd I would take a look at another one of Jeremy Saulnier’s works, Blue Ruin. What I found was a solid, revenge drama whose violence, when it happens, is shockingly real and bloody. Dwight (Macon Blair) has turned into a bit of a drifter,…
Stargate SG-1 (2004) – Grace, and Fallout
Carter (Amanda Tapping) has gated out to the Prometheus, still working on getting its hyperdrive fixed (it needs lots of cool downs and can only make short jumps) as it makes its long journey back to Earth. And out there, under the command of Colonel Ronson (John Novak) they come under attack by a massive…
Split (2016) – M. Night Shyamalan
It’s been awhile since I watched a Shyamalan film. I kind of tuned out after awhile. I think Lady in the Water did it for me. But I did remember enjoying his earliest films, The Sixth Sense, The Village, Unbreakable. And it seemed like enough time had past that I could see if I could…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981) – Episodes 1, 2, and 3
I feel that most of North America was introduced to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when this version of the novel, adapted from the BBC radio broadcast, jumped the pond. I remember 1980, at Christmas the novel was under the Christmas Tree for me. I may have been a little young for it at…
TIFF24: Heretic dir. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods deliver a masterclass in anxiety-inducing tension with Heretic. Shot brilliantly with tight close-ups, Beck and Woods continually ratchet things up even as they present a theology lesson that is as conversation-starting as the film is unnerving. Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) are young Mormons canvassing for…
Training Day (2001) – Antoine Fuqua
I forgot what a tightly crafted, perfectly executed film Training Day was. I knew it was excellent, I remembered it as gritty and intense, but I hadn’t seen it since 2001. Watching it afresh over twenty years later, and one is struck by the intensity of the performances, Denzel Washington deservedly won an Oscar for…
The Stone Tape (1972) – Peter Sasdy
The Stone Tape is an interesting exercise, though trapped by the confines of its production, working on stages and studio cameras, and the actors delivering their lines as if they are performing on stage instead of more restrained performances for film and television. Written by Nigel Kneale who wrote the Quatermass series/films the story follows…
Raise the Titanic (1980) – Jerry Jameson
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed 1980’s Raise the Titanic, but that doesn’t mean it’s great. While it differs from the Clive Cussler novel on which it was based (the author hated the adaptation) and failed to launch hero Dirk Pitt (played by a bearded Richard Jordan) into a franchise I found…
Whiplash (2014) – Damien Chazelle
I am well aware that I’m playing catch-up on this title, but I knew this one would have to be one that I was ready and in the mood for, and wow, a fantastic film. The first half of the film is a huge stress-watch for me, but what an amazing ride and one that…
The Mind Reels 