The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987) – Stephen King

This week I continue my journey with Roland, the gunslinger, introduced to us in the first volume of The Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger. Roland is in trouble from the off when he wakes on an expansive miles-long beach that is the shoreline of the Western Sea, and immediately runs afoul of some of the…

Heart-Shaped Box (2007) – Joe Hill

After enjoying Hill’s short story collection a couple of weeks ago, as well as his fantastic work on Locke & Key, I decided to give a full novel a try, and the result ends up being a very satisfying ghost story, as we dive into a world of sex, violence and rock’n’roll. Judas Coyne (not…

Ugetsu (1953) – Kenji Mizoguchi

The next title recommended by the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of Ran, is this brilliant film that follows the fortunes of two peasant families during a civil war. Operating a kiln, and making wares, Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) sees a chance to get rich with the selling of his…

Black Hollow Cage (2017) – Sadrac Gonzalez-Perellon

Opening today at the Carlton theatre here in Toronto is this slow-burn of a sci-fi drama from writer-director Sadrac Gonzalez-Perellon. Set in the not so faraway future, the story follows a young girl, Alice (Lowena McDonell) who lives in a remote house in the forest with he father, Adam (Julian Nicholson) and a dog she…

Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – The Impossible Astronaut, and Day of the Moon

Astronauts, the Silence, the Doctor’s (Smith) death, and some tons of temporal shenanigans launch the sixth series of Doctor Who with The Impossible Astronaut. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and first aired on 23 April, 2011. The Doctor after showing off in history to attract the attention of The Ponds, invites Amy (Karen…

Golden Son (2015) – Pierce Brown

  The second novel in Pierce Brown’s science fiction trilogy that began with Red Rising is on the Book Shelf this week, and if I liked the first one (which I did), I loved this one! The story picks up a couple of years after the events of the first book, and sees Darrow on…

Hollow City (2014) – Ransom Riggs

  The adventure that began in Miss Peregrine’s  Home for Peculiar Children continues in this next installment, and let me say, and this one, the second book of the trilogy (or at least I think it’s a trilogy) is very much the Empire Strikes Back of the series. In that you know it’s the middle…