I remember seeing the book cover for Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith everywhere in the early 80s. I suppose had I wanted to I could have read it then. My parents were pretty liberal with letting me read whatever I wanted, and I had just started delving into mysteries, I read a couple of…
Tag: score
What’s Next? (2024) – Melissa Fitgerald and Mary McCormack
I loved The West Wing, even if I came to it late. I remember working in the video store and as each season came in, cutting one for rent. I was fairly oblivious in my 20s, but as I grew, I became enchanted with Aaron Sorkin’s writing, and needed to watch the things he’d written….
TIFF24: Conclave dir. Edward Berger
Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front stunned TIFF audiences and now, he’s back, with a cinematic adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel, Conclave. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini, Berger delivers a visually arresting dramatic piece that takes viewers inside the Vatican as Cardinals gather from across the globe to…
Eraser (1996) – Chuck Russell
Arnold Schwarzenegger fights to save Vanessa Williams and stop an arms deal with terrorists in Eraser. The big guy is John Kruger, a U.S. Marshal who specializes in working the Witness Relocation Program. The opening sequence sets up his abilities and the aspects of the job which see him erasing Johnny C (Robert Pastorelli) to…
WarGames (1983) – John Badham
I hadn’t seen Wargames since we watched it on SuperChoice one weekend when I was a kid. I remember thinking it was okay, and fun, and man I wished I had a computer (did you see the size of those floppy discs?) and I figured it was definitely time to check this one out again….
Final Destination (2000) – James Wong
Death doesn’t like to be cheated, especially by twenty-somethings playing teenagers as we see in the first installment in the multi-film series christened Final Destination. Written by X-files alumus James Wong and Glen Morgan alongside Jeffrey Reddick from a story developed by Reddick, the horror thriller is fairly basic, with a number of familiar faces….
Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) – Steve Carver
With a musical score by Francesco De Masi and an opening credits sequence that feels very much in line with a Sergio Leone western, expectations surrounding Lone Wolf McQuade on my initial viewing went up a little. Despite the fact that I know Chuck Norris isn’t a very good actor. Norris plays the titular McQuade,…
The Delta Force (1986) – Menahem Golan
Chuck Norris has never really done it for me when it comes to action movies. No matter what his martial arts skills, he’s not the best actor, and consequently, he found himself stuck in lower-budget action films, much like The Delta Force. But with all of it’s trappings and tropes, the film has a really…
The Crow (1994) – 4K
There are some films that leave an indelible mark on the viewer, The Crow had that effect on me. It stayed with me and whenever I revisit it, I’m reminded again of it’s power, it’s visual style, and it’s legacy. And now, thanks to Paramount Pictures, The Crow gets the 4K touch and Alex Proyas’…
Raise the Titanic (1980) – Jerry Jameson
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed 1980’s Raise the Titanic, but that doesn’t mean it’s great. While it differs from the Clive Cussler novel on which it was based (the author hated the adaptation) and failed to launch hero Dirk Pitt (played by a bearded Richard Jordan) into a franchise I found…
The Mind Reels 