Remember, right back before the Phantom Menace came out, when anticipation was reaching a fever pitch? I miss that. Sure we had the wonderful build up to The Force Awakens, but the gap between films was no where near as long as it had been for those of us who had been invested in…
Tag: queen
Queen of Spades: The Dark Rite (2015) -Svyatoslav Podgayevskly
It’s always interesting to see what genre films look like from other countries, and this Friday at select cities across the country, and on VOD on the 19th, we can have a look at Russia’s Queen of Spades. A riff on the Bloody Mary urban legend that is seemingly as old as mankind, the…
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – Jonathan Frakes
The strongest of the Next Generation films is the next stop for the Sci-Fi Chronicles book as I continue the exploration of the Star Trek cinematic universe. This one combines the best elements of the Next Generation universe, with drama, action and comedy as it combines a time travel tale with a war story and…
The Killing Circle (2008) – Andrew Pyper
I dove into another Andrew Pyper book, Lost Girls is still waiting for me, and I was a little unsure about this one to start. I mean, I like the idea, a widower, Patrick Rush, is raising his only son, Sam, his grief over his wife describing a personal pain, not unlike the protagonist in the…
Toronto Fringe: High Tea
So my first Fringe Festival came to a close yesterday, and I have to say, I want more. And after seeing some amazing pieces of work over the past week and a half, a few of which walked away with awards, I don’t think I could have chosen anything better to end my first Fringe experience…
Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee) – The Monster of Peladon
The Monster of Peladon, a six-part story, which aired from 23 March to 27 April, 1964, penned by Brian Hayles is Pertwee’s penultimate tale. I can’t believe his time in the TARDIS is almost up! He’s been a lot of fun. The Doctor (Pertwee), with Sarah-Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) at his side, returns to the planet…
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – William Cottrell, David Hand, Wildred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen
Leaving the war genre behind, temporarily, the next genre to be examined by the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is that of family. And it all begins here, the amazing legacy that Walt Disney created, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was among the first full-length animated features created…
Cleopatra (1934) -Cecil B. DeMille
Claudette Colbert, who looks stunning in rather revealing and slinky costumes, headlines in this last recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book after my screening of Intolerance. The beautiful queen Cleopatra (Colbert) is fearing revolt in her home of Egypt. In fact in the film’s opening, she is driven from…
Ozma of Oz (1907) – L. Frank Baum
Baum’s third novel in the Oz saga, sees the return of Dorothy Gale, lost at sea, after being swept overboard. She and a talking, yellow hen, the feisty Billina, arrive in the land of Ev. Here on the shores of a large ocean they come across a warning to beware the wheelers, and encounter and befriend…
Wrath of the Titans (2012) – Jonathan Liebesman
Sigh. Like the pointless remake that preceded it, this sequel is more interested in spectacle than story, image over substance. And like it’s predecessor, completely lacks the fun, and wonder that inhabited the 1981 original. This time around we have cardboard-cutouts-that-are-pretending-to-be-characters on another quest. And while the casting is good, Sam Worthington, Bill Nighy, Rosamund…
The Mind Reels 