Vanderbilt wrote and directed the powerhouse film that is Nuremberg. Using The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai as it’s basis, Vanderbilt grounds the film in facts and strong performances. Front and center in those performance is Russell Crowe who turns in what is arguably his best performance in years. Crowe plays Hermann Goring,…
Tag: score
TIFF 25: Frankenstein dir. Guillermo del Toro
I’ve been a fan of Guillermo del Toro since I took home the film Chronos one night from my video store. Since then, I haven’t missed anything he’s done, and look forward eagerly to each new project. When I heard that he was taking on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I was delighted. The classic monsters have…
TIFF 25: Rental Family dir. Hikari
The Brenaissance continues as Brendan Fraser turns in another fantastic performance, one that leans into his abilities to be both comedic, and deliver great gravitas, often in the same scene. Fraser stars as Phillip, a struggling American actor living in Japan. When he gets a gig as ‘Sad American’ at a funeral, it opens a…
TIFF 25: The Eyes of Ghana dir. Ben Proudfoot
Oscar winner filmmaker Ben Proudfoot turns the objective eye of the camera on the powerful story of Chris Hesse. A man of the cloth, Hesse was once a filmmaker and cinematographer in his home country of Ghana. He was with Ghana’s first president, Kwarme Nkrumah, from his inauguration to the coup that removed him from…
If Looks Could Kill (1991) – William Dear
Richard Grieco takes on the super-spy genre in this teen action comedy. There are nods to the established tropes of the genre, filled with lots of teen humor. Grieco is Michael Corben. An almost high school graduate. He’s receives an incomplete. The only impossible way for him to get the missing credits… join the French…
Gotcha! (1985) – Jeff Kanew
I remember greatly enjoying Gotcha! when I rented it on video back in the day. And though it’s always been floating round in the back of my mind, I haven’t watched it since… until now. And let me tell you, this one stands up. There’s a couple of things that don’t stand the test of…
The Three Musketeers (2011) – Paul W.S. Anderson
A fantastic cast, a truly horrible film, that only bares a passing resemblance to the classic novel by Alexander Dumas. And that’s unfortunate, because as I said, fantastic cast. Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Matthew Macfayden, Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz, Mads Mikkelsen and Juno Temple star in this horrible retelling. It features lots of…
Ravenous (1999) – Antonia Bird
I like Robert Carlyle, I like Guy Pearce, and there’s some really horrific stuff in this film, but I have to be honest, the musical score kept ejecting me from the film. Beyond that it’s a tightly crafted film about cannibals, using the story of the Donner Party as a loose launching point. Guy Pearce…
Raw Deal (1986) – John Irvin
I knew not all of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s early work were going to be winners. And there was a reason I never wanted to take a chance on Raw Deal. From everything I’d seen, trailer and image wide it looked pretty horrible. Surprise, surprise I was right. It has a horrible soundtrack and score, and the…
Top Secret! (1984) – Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams
It’s been a couple of decades since I last watched Top Secret! I remember from my time working in a video store that it was a perennial favourite of my friend Ted. And with the passing of Val Kilmer, I felt it was definitely time to take it in again. And wow, did I laugh….
The Mind Reels 