The 101 Action Movies brings me Ridley Scott’s Best Picture winner Gladiator for me to re-watch and enjoy. Starring Russell Crowe as Maximus, a Roman general in service to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). When the emperor is murdered by his devious and power-hungry son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Maximus is ordered to be…
Tag: politics
Da Vinci’s Demons Season 1 – Blu-Ray
Anchor Bay Canada was kind enough to send me a copy of the first season of Da Vinci’s Demons, which was released on September 3. I was a little behind, even with our peripheral coverage of TIFF. But no sooner did I start this series when I was completely hooked. From David S. Goyer,…
The Newsroom S02E07 – Red Team III
Wow. This week we watch ACN’s News Night come apart as the Genoa story completely unravels, with witnesses recanting, doctored evidence, unknown factors that completely affect the story from different sources… Holy crap. Everything goes sideways right after they go to air, when the general (Stephen Root) Jerry (Hamish Linklater) interviewed and then ‘fixed’ the interview…
Clear And Present Danger (1994) – Phillip Noyce
Jack Ryan in the person of Harrison Ford returns to the 101 Action Movies list along with Patriot Games director Phillip Noyce in this adaptation of the Tom Clancy techno-thriller. This time out Jack is serving as the acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA while his boss, Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones)…
The Newsroom S02E06 – One Step Too Many
Wow. What an episode, especially the last act when things really look like they are on the precipice of spinning out of control! The episode opens with the Red Team hearing about the black-op code-named Genoa. A red team’s purpose is to look at all the evidence, witness and material that has been collected,…
Continuum S02E07 – Second Degree
This week it’s politics, legal wrangling and lies as Julian (Richard Harmon), Alec’s (Erik Knudsen) step-brother comes up for trial for his actions last season, including the shooting of Carlos (Victor Webster). And before I go any further, since I’ve mentioned Carlos lets talk about how he’s handling the fact that he’s now learned…
Hot Docs: Fatal Assistance – Raoul Peck
Fatal Assistance is a complex film discussing the nature of foreign aid in disaster situations and its actual practice, Peck gives the viewer a glaring indictment of the actions of international aid organizations and their impact on Haiti after the horrific earthquake of 2010. He shows us a broken system. Instead of funneling the aid…
The West Wing: Season 1
Yes, I know. I am way late to this party. But jonesing for more Aaron Sorkin, I do love The Newsroom, I thought I would try out The West Wing. I couldn’t get into it when it aired simply because I didn’t much care for politics. Now, I find it a much more fascinating subject,…
The Mind Reels 