The Green Knight (2021) – David Lowery

The Green Knight is a stunning and lyrical film that completely blew me away with its storytelling and visuals. Using the 14th-century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as its launching basis, Lowery’s tale is fantastical and beautiful, telling the tale of a young Gawain (Dev Patel) looking to make his way in the…

TIFF ’22: The Lost King

Director Stephen Frears guides Sally Hawkins’ quest for the burial place of Richard III. She takes on the real-life role of Philippa Langley, an amateur historian, who turned away from the established historical ‘facts’ of Richard III as a usurper and began a hunt for his final resting place. Based on Langley’s own book, which…

Willow (1988) – Ron Howard

I remember the first time I saw Willow. I know where I was, and I remember how it swept me up in its narrative. I knew I had to see it the moment it told me it was from the imagination of George Lucas. I knew who Ron Howard was, but I was a teenager…

Ready Player Two (2020) – Ernest Cline

Reading like a pop culture infused take on The Bride of Frankenstein, author Ernest Cline takes us back to the virtual realm of the OASIS in his follow-up to the bestselling novel, Ready Player One which delighted geeks planetwide with its quest story wrapped up in movie and culture references that shaped some of our…

Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1978) – Alan Dean Foster

Back in 1978, we had just one movie, and a handful of toys available from Kenner, not taking into account a ton of tees, trading cards, and almost anything else they could plaster the name Star Wars on. People were clamouring for more adventures from Luke Skywalker and the rest of the rebel alliance, but…

Star Trek: Sanctuary (1992) – John Vornholt

Set during The Original Series, this week’s Trek book is fairly run of the mill and doesn’t do anything exceptional with our characters, but it makes for what would feel like a fairly solid two-part episode. The Enterprise is pursuing a pirate through uncharted space, and when it enters the atmosphere of a planet known,…

Onward (2020)- Dan Scanlon

Pixar films have been magic for the audience since Toy Story first graced theatre screens, or one could argue, when Luxo Jr., made his first appearance. With their latest offering, Onward, Pixar takes us into the world of magic. It seems magic exists, we’ve just let it slide away because it was too much work…

Dragonslayer (1981) – Matthew Robbins

Vermithax Perjorative. Was there ever a better name for a dragon ever? DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book brings me this classic film from ’81 as I continue my exploration of the dark chapter on dragons and dinosaurs. Boasting some fantastic creature effects, Vermitax may be the best looking dragon to ever be presented…

Goliath and the Dragon (1960) – Vitorrio Cottafavi

I move to Italy for the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I explore the chapter on Dragons & Dinosaurs. Dubbed in English to reach the North American audience, this Italian sword and sandal (and sorcery) ‘epic’ follows Goliath (Mark Forest) who has his hands full as we join him…