There is a sense of dread and menace that seems to ooze off the pages of Alma Katsu’s retelling of the haunting, and infamous Donner Party expedition. Everyone knows, or thinks they know the story, and Katsu uses that troubling knowledge and lets it hang over every page – you know each of the characters…
Tag: reality
The Cat Returns (2002) – Hiroyuki Morita
The next film on the What Else to Watch list following my screening of Spirited Away for DK Canada’s The Movie Book is this light-hearted adventure from Studio Ghibli. Shorter than the other entries on the list, this one is whimsical and a pleasant adventure. The story follows young Haru, who after saving the life…
Rocketman (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
The fantasy biopic about musical legend (and one of my favorite artists) Elton John has come home on blu-ray and DVD thanks to Paramount Pictures. Taron Egerton who is bound to be nominated for an Oscar (or should be) IS Elton John in this jukebox musical that tells the musician’s personal history in a fantastical,…
A Head Full of Ghosts (2015) – Paul Tremblay
That ENDING! I dug into what is supposed to be one of the scariest books in recent years, and I’ll testify that it is a solid, well-crafted tale with some real scares, and lots of things to worry about. Meredith, Merry to her friends and family, is meeting with a writer who is looking to…
21 Grams (2003) – Alejandro G. Inarritu
The next title on the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following my screening of The Sweet Hereafter is 21 Grams, which has a strong emotional punch to its unique storytelling narrative. Filled with flash forwards and flashbacks, the tale reveals terrible emotional moments throughout, and then lets us build…
Mystic River (2003) – Clint Eastwood
The next film from DK Canada’s The Movie Book as I tackle the What Else to Watch list following my screening of The Sweet Hereafter is this exemplary film from Clint Eastwood. The movie stars Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. The film follows three childhood friends,…
Star Wars: Last Shot (2018) – Daniel Jose Older
I’ve read a slew of Star Wars books, though not so many since the blog started as I used to. They are fun, entertaining, enjoyable, and now that they are considered canon, usually that much more detail-oriented in tying in with the rest of the universe. Last Shot, a Han and Lando novel is all…
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) – Wes Craven
My exploration of the zombie genre with DK Canada’s eminently enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book continues with this over-fictionalized adaption of a real anthropological exploration and documentation of real-life zombies by ethnobotanist Wade Davis. Director Wes Craven used Davis’ book of the same name as the launching point for his horror film starring Bill…
SpaceFlight: The Complete Story, From Sputnik to Curiosity (2019) – Giles Sparrow
Space. The Final Frontier… Ever since I was a child I looked up at the sky in wonder. This is an experience that I think everyone has shared, but only a few of us grow up with that sustained sense of awe through the rest of our lives. After my introduction to Star Wars and…
