TIFF 2021: Hold Your Fire dir. Stefan Forbes

New York. 1973. While it looks like a different time on film, not everything has changed, and consequently, Forbes documentary, which looks at a hostage situation that featured around the clock coverage at the time is just as relevant today as it was then. There’s errors on both sides, accusations, instituionalised racism, redemption for some,…

Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy (2020) – Melanie Scott

Don’t despair Marvel fans, just because the new Black Widow film had to be delayed due to the pandemic, doesn’t mean you can’t learn all there is to know about her in the new Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy now available from DK Canada. This one is a great read, and author Melanie Scott…

Redemption Ark (2002) -Alastair Reynolds

I return to the universe of Alastair Reynold’s space opera this week, with a story that ties directly into Revelation Space, though it also ties into the expanded universe as glimpsed in Chasm City. The Inhibitors are back, they are an ancient mechanical race that prunes back intelligent life, stopping them when they venture too…

Chasm City (2001) – Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds next science fiction novel, Chasm City, takes place in the same universe as Revelation Space but is not a sequel, instead we are given a future noir tale of revenge, and the human ability to commit good and horrible acts, redemption, and discovery. We visit a couple of planets that were mentioned in…

True Grit (2010) – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

DK Canada’s The Movie Book brings me another classic Coen Brothers film as I explore the What Else to Watch list following the recommendation of Fargo. My curiosity was piqued when I first heard about the idea that the Coen Brothers were going to remake the iconic western that originally starring John Wayne, with one…

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Frank Darabont

If there is a near perfect drama film for me, it is the next recommendation in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont, who wrote the screenplay as well, basing it on the short story by Stephen King. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman headline at the iconic King-universe prison, Shawshank,…

V – The Series (1984) – The Overlord, and The Dissident

While Julie (Faye Grant) confronts allegations of treason, Donovan (Marc Singer), Elias (Micheal Wright) and Tyler (Micheal Ironside) could be walking into a trap when they agree to help a small mining town take on some Visitor backed villains. The Overlord was written by David Abramowitz, and first aired on 30 November, 1984. The town…

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…

Pretty Woman (1990) – Garry Marshall

The next big title that I come to in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Romance and Melodrama section is this rom-com drama from 1990, Pretty Woman. Outside of a pretty solid soundtrack of hits this movie, honestly, never did much for me. The film stars Richard…