Jaws 50th Anniversary

What a great way to begin and end my TIFF experience this year. Even as TIFF celebrates its 50th year, so does my favourite movie of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. I’ve told the story countless times of how it was my first ever film experience. I’ve seen this movie more times than any others…

The Return of Ellie Black (2024) – Emiko Jean

To call The Return of Ellie Black a jaw-dropping page-turner doesn’t do the book, the story, or the author, Emiko Jean, justice. It was nothing short of a compulsive read, one that I stayed up late to finish, something that doesn’t happen often for me. I had to know how the story played out, I…

Justice League: Doom (2012) – Lauren Montgomery

The Legion of Doom arises in Justice League: Doom, and it could spell permanent trouble for every member of the League in this animated feature from DC Animation Studios. Led by Vandal Savage (Phil Morris) the Legion of Doom comes together when each member is offered something they never had before, a way to beat…

Murder on the Orient Express (1934) – Agatha Christie

This week I dug into one of Agatha Christie’s most iconic novels, Murder on the Orient Express which features that Belgian detective and his little grey cells, Hercule Poirot. Summoned back to London, Poirot must forgo a layover and board the Orient Express to make it to his next assignment. Unfortunately, the train car is…

The X-Files (2000) – Closure, and X-Cops

This episode tells us, in its opening credits to “believe to understand” instead of the usual “the truth is out there” as we dive into the conclusion of a two-parter which finally gives some resolution to Mulder (David Duchovny) in regards to his sister’s abduction. Written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, this…

TIFF 2021: Attica dir. Stanley Nelson

Taking a look at the five day rebellion, and hostage taking in September of 1971 at Attica prison, Nelson’s documentary is a stark, unflinching look at the prison system, the industry of it, the culture and race clash that is inherent in it, and the larger world as a whole. Filled with interviews from those…

Mission: Impossible (1967) – Shock!, and A Cube of Sugar

This week’s first mission feels very much familiar in that it hits a number of Mission: Impossible tropes, the mask, the con, the danger and then the resolution. Not that it isn’t fun! Shock! was written by Laurence Heath and was first broadcast on 25 March, 1967. Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) and his usual team,…

Star Trek: Voyager (1999) – Latent Image, and Bride of Chaotica!

Captain’s log: stardate unknown Joe Menosky pens this episode from a story by Eileen Connors, Brannon Braga and himself. It first aired on 20 January, 1999. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) is troubled to learn that someone or something has tampered with his short term memory. As he investigates, he finds a string of memories and…

V – The Final Battle (1984) – Part Three

There’s a lot that needs to happen in this third and final part of V- The Final Battle, which first aired on 8 May, 1984. Brian Taggert and Craig Buck (as Faustus Buck) pen the teleplay from a story by series creator Kenneth Johnson (as Lillian Weezer), Buck, Diane Frolov and Peggy Goldman. Taking place…