The English Patient (1996) – Anthony Minghella

  Minghella brings forth a top notch cast in his adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s beautiful novel (one I remember reading, and being stunned by how closely the images in the film matched those in my mind from when I read it), which is the final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film…

Casablanca (1942) – Michael Curtiz

  As we move back to the Romance and Melodrama genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, we get to revisit one of my favourite films (many people share that opinion, and who can blame them?!) – Casablanca. It came along at just the right time, had just the right cast,…

Quantum Leap (1989) – What Price, Gloria? and Blind Faith

  Deborah Pratt writes her first episode of the series, What Price, Gloria? and becomes one of the strongest voices of the show, so much so that when the new introduction is put in place, it’s her voice selling the show. Airing on 25 October, 1989, the episode finds Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) leaping into…

Star Trek: Beyond (2016) – Justin Lin

  The latest Star Trek film, celebrating the long-lived series 50th anniversary hits screens nationwide today, and once again, film-goers are invited to Boldly go… And for the most part, it’s pretty damned enjoyable, and arguably a step up from the previous entry. While I was unsure of Lin taking the helm (I’m not a…

Quantum Leap (1989) – Star-Crossed and The Right Hand of God

  Sam’s (Scott Bakuka) leaps really get under way this week with Star-Crossed. Penned by Deborah Pratt with an air date of 31 March, 1989, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping into an English Lit professor, Gerald Bryant, in an Ohio college on 15 June, 1972. The professor has a drinking problem, and is involved amorously…

Prodigy (2013) – Marie Lu

  It’s back to the realm of Legend, as I dive into the second book of the young adult trilogy by Marie Lu. The dystopian world Lu creates, brings me back to a torn United States, divided almost in two by the Republic and the Colonies, it plunges me back into the lives of Day…

Cold Mountain (2003) – Anthony Minghella

  This beautiful, cinematic adaptation of Charles Frazier’s novel is masterfully brought to life by Minghella, who also wrote the screenplay. My last Civil War stop for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film following my screening of The Red Badge of Courage is by turns brutal, moving, and gorgeously photographed. Nicole Kidman is…