Throne of Blood (1957) – Akira Kurosawa

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Kurosawa’s Ran is another classic film from the legendary director, Throne of Blood. Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kubo and Isuzu Yamada star in this action-fantasy-drama. Mifune stars as Taketoki Washizo, while Kubo stars as his childhood friend, and fellow…

Ran (1985) – Akira Kurosawa

I return to the War section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and settle in for Ran, Kurosawa’s epic opus. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare’s King Lear, the film is a visual masterpiece delving into tragedy, drama and action. It is also one of the top recommendations on the What Else…

Persepolis Rising (2017) – James S.A. Corey

The seventh volume in the brilliant, and highly enjoyable science fiction series, The Expanse, finally finds its way to the Book Shelf this week, and it was so worth the wait. I love this series so much, and this book, Persepolis Rising does two things that haven’t really happened in the series before: there’s a…

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – Frank Capra

DK Canada brings me this Frank Capra classic from its What Else to Watch list following its recommendation of It’s A Wonderful Life. THIS movie makes me regret the fact that schools, as a rule, no longer have civics classes. It needs to be seen, as it shows the good and the bad of democracy,…

Star Trek: Deep Domain (1987) – Howard Weinstein

It’s time to delve into strange new worlds, and new civilisations again as I boldly go venturing into the next novel in the Pocket Book Star Trek series. Set between the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the novel has a bit of an ecological theme,…

The Leopard (1963) – Luchino Visconti

The next film on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following my screening of Ossessione is this three hour epic starring Burt Lancaster. Lancaster plays Prince Don Fabrizio Salina, the ageing patriarch of a dying dynasty. It’s Sicily in the 1860s and political and social upheavals cause Fabrizio great…

Frozen (2013) – Chris Buck, and Jennifer Lee

The last title on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following its recommendation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is this this update of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story The Snow Queen. Featuring an enjoyable cast of characters, as well as a number of songs that have…

The Lion King (1994) – Roger Allers & Ron Minkoff

Magnificent. The descriptor still applies to this now iconic Disney masterpiece, and one I got to revisit when I returned to the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Coming back to the family genre, this was the next stop. Containing themes of, well the circle of life, ranging from that of the ecological…