Howard Gordon delivers a script for Grotesque, a monster of the week episode, that won the series an Emmy for cinematography, and gives us a moody piece that first aired on 2 February, 1996. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are requested by Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to help the head of the Behavioural Unit,…
Tag: second world war
Toronto After Dark 2019 – Werewolf (2018) – Adrian Panek
A unique entry in Toronto After Dark’s film festival has its Canadian premiere at Scotiabank Theater this evening, the Polish film Werewolf. Filled with shades of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Werewolf shows the horror of war, the deconstruction of our humanity by the most brutal cruelty man has ever known, the Nazis and their…
Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead (2009) – Steve Perry
Haiti 1943. Steve Perry pens the last (to date) canon novel in the Indiana Jones series, that is set five years after The Last Crusade, and takes place in the midst of the Second World War. Indy is older now, in his forties, he is working for the OSS, and he is joined by his…
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) -Karel Reisz
DK Canada’s The Movie Book moves onto the ‘angry young English man’ section of cinema with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Albert Finney stars as Arthur, the stereotypical angry young man. He works hard at the factory all week, drinks hard on the weekend and is involved with two different women. He walks a fine…
The Big Red One (1980) – Samuel Fuller
Samuel Fuller wrote and directed the final film recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Saving Private Ryan. This title closes out my time with it. The tagline for the film says it best, “The real glory of war is surviving.” And that is what the heart…
Patton (1970) – Franklin J. Schaffner
George C. Scott’s Oscar winning turn as controversial military commander, General George S. Patton is my next stop as I explore the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Movie book following my screening of Saving Private Ryan. Based on a history of Patton as well as Omar Bradley’s (portrayed by Karl Malden…
Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Steven Spielberg
I was stunned when I first saw Saving Private Ryan on opening day, 24 July, 1998. I had never seen war depicted so realistically, so heart-breaking, graphic, and impactful. I held onto the names of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks like a mantra through the film, to guide me through it, to make everything be…
The Pianist (2002) – Roman Polanski
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Schindler’s List is this film, based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Spillman. The film sees Adrien Brody taking on the role, and going home with the Oscar for Best Actor because of it. Too right too, considering his…
The Last Metro (1980) – Francois Truffaut
The next film on the What Else to Watch list of DK Canada’s very enjoyable The Movie Book is this classic Truffaut film from 1980 featuring performances from Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. It’s the early 1940s in occupied France, and theatres are doing a booming business chasing away the spectre of war. But the…
A Propos de Nice (1930) – Jean Vigo
I’m spending a little more time with French director Jean Vigo as I continue my exploration of the continually enthralling, and informative The Movie Book from DK Canada. The next film of his I take a look at is the short, A Propos de Nice. Shot in 1930, the film seems, at first, to be…
The Mind Reels 