The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), Micheal (A. Micheal Baldwin), Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and Jody (Bill Thornbury) are back again as Don Coscarelli delivers us a fourth Phantasm outing in a universe that I like visiting and revisiting. Eschewing a lot of the humour that showed up in the previous film, the fourth film is probably…
Tag: questions
Narbos Guide to Being a Broomhead (2020) – Pat Mastroianni
Last year in June of 2019, fans from around the world descended in a buzz of excitement and nostalgia on the Westin Toronto Airport hotel for an intimate weekend with the cast and creators of the iconic Canadian series Degrassi Junior High, and Degrassi High. Passionate fans came from as far away as Russia and…
Toronto After Dark 2019: Blood Machines (2019) – Raphael Hernandez & Savitri Joly-Gonfard
With a Carpenter-esque score by Carpenter Brut no less, and a heavy influence of the classic Heavy Metal magazine, the English language French entry into the Toronto After Dark film festival has one real flaw. It’s too short. We are introduced into a very-lived in world, with a fantastic seamless blend of practical and computer…
The Seventh Seal (1957) – Ingmar Bergman
I love Max Von Sydow, and thanks to DK Canada’s The Movie Book, it was high time for me to dig into one of his most iconic roles in Bergman’s classic The Seventh Seal. This was the first time I had sat down to watch it, and I won’t lie, it also put me in…
The Reader (2008) – Stephen Daldry
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Schindler’s List, is this moving, and thoughtful film based on the novel by Bernhard Schlink. Kate Winslet stars as Hanna Schmitz, a role for which she won an Oscar for Best Lead Performance. Set in Post World War…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991/1992) – A Matter of Time, and New Ground
Captain’s log: stardate 45349.1 Airing on 18 November, 1991, A Matter of Time, written by Rick Berman was the last Next Generation episode to air before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released to theatres. Matt Frewer guest stars as a would-be time traveller and historian from the future, Berlinghoff Rasmussen. Captain Picard (Patrick…
Acceptance (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer
The final book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy is on the book shelf this week, and like its predecessors is immensely enjoyable with its ominous overtones even as it hints at something stunning, amazing and beyond human comprehension. We are taken back into Area X, and the government institution investigating the geographical anomaly, the…
Authority (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer
The second book in the Southern Reach Trilogy finds its way to the Book Shelf this week as I dive further into the strange realm of Area X first introduced in the book Annihilation, which also serves as the title of the upcoming film adaptation. This sequel, released within months of the first book takes…
Silence (2016) – Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese’s beautifully shot passion project, Silence, is unveiled on blu-ray from Paramount Pictures today. Based on the novel by Shusako Endo the film is vibrant and gorgeous, while it plays with some tough questions about religion, faith, cultures and beliefs. Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson share top billing in this film, but…
TIFF Bell Lightbox – Trek Talks Go Boldly!
TIFF Bell Lightbox continues to pull out all the stops in their celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. In support of the iconic show, the Lightbox will continue to screen episodes and all 13 films of the series, as well as a fundraiser party, and the absolutely engaging, thought-provoking and stunning lecture series called Trek…
The Familiar Volume 1 – One Rainy Day in May (2015) – Mark Z. Danielewski
I read Danielewski’s House of Leaves back when it first came out, and I was creeped out, dumbfounded, and left in a state of wonder over the book that I held in my hand, and had just found my way through. So when I heard he was undertaking a new, literally epic tale, called…
The Last Town (2014) – Blake Crouch
So I dug into the third and final book of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy, The Last Town. And once again, I was struck how all three books could have made for three separate and amazing seasons on television, instead of being chopped up into one ten episode season. I mean, the first book you…
