No makeup, close-ups and harsh lighting put Maria Falconetti on the screen as Joan of Arc in a way that hasn’t been seen since. Carl Dreyer’s retelling of the story of the French heroine is the next big title in DK Book’s The Movie Book. We are invited to take a front row seat for…
Tag: set design
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – The Empath and Elaan of Troyius
Captain’s log: stardate 5121.5 The Empath is an interesting episode, written by Joyce Muskat and with an original airdate of 6 December, 1968, this one uses a bit of minimalist set design to give it an almost surreal feel. Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) find themselves trapped in…
The Impossible Voyage (1904) – Georges Melies
Also known as Whirling the Worlds, Melies next masterpiece is my port of call as I continue exploring the trailblazing work of the French showman, thanks to DK Books’ The Movie Book. Running about twenty minutes, the short uses Jules Verne’s Journey Through the Impossible as its basis. A group of explorers and an inventor…
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) – Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
David Niven and Kim Hunter star in this wonderful piece of fantasy that is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film. Also known as Stairway to Heaven, this is a film I had never heard of. Niven is Peter Carter, a RAF pilot. He and his crew are returning to…
Judge Dredd (1995) -Danny Cannon
You need to worry about any movie that thinks it’s a good idea to use Rob Schneider as your comic relief, and this, my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is filled with potential, but those involved just didn’t seem to get the source material. Danny Cannon presents a busy MegaCity, a fairly familiar…
Blu-Ray Review: Star Trek – Beyond (2016) – Justin Lin
Beaming in on Blu-Ray and DVD today from Paramount Pictures is the latest entry in the reboot or Kelvin-verse Star Trek series. I’d previously reviewed my theatrical experience of the film here, so I was eager to see how my impressions of it changed when viewed at home. I actually found myself enjoying it more. Knowing…
It Runs In the Family, presented by Drayton Entertainment
If you missed its run at the Drayton Festival Theatre, the British farce, It Runs In the Family runs deliciously amuck on the King’s Wharf Theatre stagein Penetanguishene starting today, and running to the 27th. Written by Ray Cooney, and directed by Alex Mustakas, the farce is at its best when it reaches Howard…
Barbarella (1968) – Roger Vadim
Jane Fonda steps into her first and only science fiction movie in this 1968 camp classic that is so bad that it almost comes round to good again, who am I kidding, it doesn’t get anywhere near to coming around to good. It’s also the next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, so it…
Crimes of the Heart
In the tiny, intimate space of The Theatre Machine, Toronto’s Sterling Theatre Company is presenting a production of Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart. Under the able direction of Miriam Laurence, the audience is transported back to the 1970s, and the lives of the Mississippi born and raised MacGrath sisters. We were interested in…
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) – Fred Niblo
The next film up on the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film list of recommendations following my screening of Intolerance is this tale of Ben Hur (Ramon Navarro), a young Jewish prince intent on vengeance for the ruin of his family at the hands of the Romans, interwoven around the tale of Christ…
The Mind Reels 