Sylvester Stallone writes and stars in Rocky V, which sees the return of John G. Avildsen to the series, back for the first time since his directorial turn in the original Rocky. This one get slammed pretty hard by Stallone and some fans (at least it doesn’t have any robots in it) but this may…
Tag: russia
Rocky IV (1985) – Sylvester Stallone
There are some flaws in the fourth entry in the Rocky series (I’m looking at that ridiculous robot) and I’m not sure the themes of East vs. West, hubris, and capitalism carry through all the way, because, despite all of the things Rocky (Sylvester Stallone who also wrote and directed) gives up during the course…
The Russia House (1990) – Fred Schepisi
Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider, James Fox, John Mahoney, and J.T. Walsh star in the cinematic adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, The Russia House. Written for the screen by Tom Stoppard, the film was the first, big Western film to be shot on location in the Soviet Union. Featuring a gorgeous score by…
The Equalizer (1985) – The Defector, and The Lock Box
Very quickly The Equalizer has shown that its willing to go dark and gritty, and while there are some dark moments in The Defector, The Lock Box is even darker. The Defector was written by Heywood Gould and first debuted on 2 October, 1985. An old friend, and former agent of the USSR, Felix (Joe…
TAD 2022: The Lair dir. by Neil Marshall
Neil Marshall brings us another bad-ass woman named Sinclair with his latest effort The Lair. Marshall’s films have been much loved by After Dark audiences having previously delivered such solid fare as The Descent, Doomsday (the other Sinclair), Dog Soldiers. Pairing with his lead actress Charlotte Kirk, they penned the script that sees the true…
Road of Bones (2022) – Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden delivers another white knuckle horror thriller with Road of Bones. The tale is set in Russia, on an actual stretch of road known as the Road of Bones and the story follows Teig and Prentiss. Teig is an idea man. He thinks he has an idea for the next big reality show that…
The X-Files (1996) – Tunguska, and Terma
Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter bring Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) deeper into the mythology arc with Tunguska, which debuted on 24 November, 1996. That duplicitous rat, Krycek (Nicholas Lea) resurfaces, having been freed from the missile silo by an extremist far right group which found him on a salvaging haul….
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013) – John Moore
Bruce Willis returns for a fifth time as New York cop John McClane in an instalment which I desperately hope isn’t the final one in the series because it’s so abysmally bad and you don’t want a series like this to go out on a bad note. Directed by John Moore (who’s past films didn’t…
Narbos Guide to Being a Broomhead (2020) – Pat Mastroianni
Last year in June of 2019, fans from around the world descended in a buzz of excitement and nostalgia on the Westin Toronto Airport hotel for an intimate weekend with the cast and creators of the iconic Canadian series Degrassi Junior High, and Degrassi High. Passionate fans came from as far away as Russia and…
Topaz (1969) – Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock takes on Leon Uris’ novel Topaz in this film adaptation of the same name. It’s not quite on the level of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller, but the subject material, centring around the Cuban Missile Crisis and a Russian spy ring within the French intelligence community is pretty engaging stuff. Unfortunately, for me, it ended…
The Mind Reels 