Rififi (1955) – Jules Dassin

  I love when the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film brings me a film that I’d never heard of, and then makes me fall in love with it. I dove back into the thriller and crime chapter of the book and was promptly introduced to this brilliant French film that tells of the…

Chicago (2002) – Rob Marshall 

  Rob Marshall not only directs the next title in the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, he also choreographed it as well, bringing the classic musical to the big screen with this Best Picture Oscar-winning version of Chicago, based on the musical play by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb….

Hot Docs 2015: Deep Web – Alex Winter

  Planetary may have been the most important film at the festival in terms of our species and its relation with our tender planet, but Alex Winter’s documentary, Deep Web, brings to the screen the topical, and argumentative subject of internet privacy. The digital frontier is turning into the latest battleground, a wild west shootout,…

Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee) – The Sea Devils

  The Doctor (Pertwee) comes across the Silurians again in this six part-story, The Sea Devils, that was written by Malcolm Hulke and aired from 26 February to 1 April, 1972. Jo (Katy Manning) and The Doctor travel to a remote island off the coast of England where The Master (Roger Delgado) is currently incarcerated. What…

House of Frankenstein (1944) – Erle C. Kenton

  Boris Karloff headlines in this classic Universal film as I continue my exploration of Frankenstein on film for Sci-Fi Chronicles. Karloff plays Dr. Gustav Niemann, who, alongside his hunchback companion Daniel (J. Carrol Naish) escape from prison. It seems they were imprisoned due to experiments that were similar to those conducted by  Frankenstein, and hey,…

Men In Black 3 (2012) – Barry Sonnenfeld

For a film based on a rather dark comic property, these films tend to be light and fun and mindless popcorn entertainment, when they work. The third outing, feels way overdue, but I settled in, finally to take a look at the third installment of the franchise. K (Tommy Lee Jones) is in trouble (and…

Hot Docs 2014: The Condemned (Nick Read)

Screening one final time today, is this harrowing look inside a Russian maximum security prison, housing 260 murderers. Set in a forest the size of Germany (!), that takes seven hours to reach from the nearest city, this prison, Penal Colony No. 56, is the modern gulag, and for the first time, a documentary crew…