I greatly enjoyed reading Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain and then I decided to correct an oversight in my viewing history and check out the 1971 film directed masterfully by Robert Wise. I love that like the book, the film is played very straight, and consequently it makes the idea all the more frightening. When…
Tag: robert wise
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) – Strange New Worlds, and Children of the Comet
Akiva Goldsman wrote and directed the series opener for Strange New Worlds, which was first broadcast on 5 May, 2022. It had to tie in with the established canon of The Original Series, and what had happened in Star Trek: Discovery during season two. It also riffs on The Day The Earth Stood Still, which…
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Art and Visual Effects (2020) – Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki
I have loved Star Trek: The Motion Picture since the first time I saw it in 1979. I remember the theatre I was in, I remember being swept up by the music and imagery, it blew my young little mind, and just made me love the characters, especially the Enterprise all the more. My fascination…
West Side Story (2021) – Steven Spielberg
When I first heard that Spielberg was taking on the classic musical, West Side Story, previously immortalized on celluloid by iconic director Robert Wise, I was a little dubious. Not that I didn’t trust Spielberg. Even with some of his weaker films (BFG) he arguably does something unique and noteworthy, even if it just demonstrates…
TIFF: Musicals! The Movies That Moved Us – Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
When the musical made the leap from stage to screen, it opened everything up, not just in terms of accessibility for the viewing audience, but the scope of the storytelling canvas – things were no longer confined to a stage, the settings, the choreography, the characters could live in a whole new way. Cameras could…
In Conversation with John Landis
Today is my birthday, so it seems like the perfect moment to share this wonderful gift DK Canada gave me. Director John Landis has overseen the compilation of a new anthology, Haunted Houses, and it is perfect reading for the Halloween season. It’s a fantastic collection, and DK Canada arranged for me to speak with…
The Haunting of Hill House (1963) – Shirley Jackson
Having just finished the amazing Netflix series (seriously, watch it) and loving the Robert Wise film, I felt it was time to re-read the original novel, something I’m sure I hadn’t done for about twenty years. In fact, I think I read it just before that abomination by Jan De Bont was released in 1999….
The Sound of Music (1965) – Robert Wise
My return to the Musical chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book sees me settling into Robert Wise’s multi-Oscar winning (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Editing and Best Music) adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music. Starring Julie Andrews (in an Oscar nominated performance) and…
West Side Story (1961) – Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins direct the film that brings me back to the musical genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Stephen Sondheim pens the lyrics for this Academy Award winning musical (including Best Picture) that is an updated retelling of Shakespeare’s beautiful tragedy Romeo & Juliet with Richard Beymer…
The Sand Pebbles (1966) – Robert Wise
Robert Wise directs Steve McQueen, Mako, Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, James Hong, and Richard Crenna in this adaptation of Richard McKenna’s novel, and my next port of call in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Lawrence of Arabia. McQueen is Jake Holman who has just been assigned to…
The Mind Reels 