The Croning (2012) – Laird Barron

This week’s book shelf brings a bit of cosmic horror as I delve into Laird Bannon’s novel, The Croning. The story spans the decades of one man, and the horrors that are around him, and the realization that these nightmare terrors are real. It’s unnverving, as we are introduced to geologist Don Miller, and his…

The Hunger (2018) – Alma Katsu

There is a sense of dread and menace that seems to ooze off the pages of Alma Katsu’s retelling of the haunting, and infamous Donner Party expedition. Everyone knows, or thinks they know the story, and Katsu uses that troubling knowledge and lets it hang over every page – you know each of the characters…

Miami Vice (1988/1989) – Line of Fire, and Asian Cut

Vice detectives Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas) are assigned to protect a punk and rock lover, Keith Mollis (Justin Lazard) who is the lead witness in drug dealer, Carlos Cantero’s (Ahraron Ipale) trial. Line of Fire first aired on 16 December, 1988, and was written by Raymond Hartung. The partners…

Miami Vice (1987) – Like a Hurricane, and The Rising Sun of Death

Anything has to be a step up after last week’s abysmal Missing Hours, and Like A Hurricane is a little bit more on track, but is a very Crockett (Don Johnson)-centric story. Written by Robert Palm, this episode first aired on 20 November, 1987. Vice detective Sonny Crockett is given babysitting duty. He’s supposed to…

Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs (1996) – Max McCoy

1933 Indiana Jones, the globe-trotting archaeologist, sets out on his tenth novel adventure, and the second one by Max McCoy, and much like its predecessor, the author continues to show that he knows how to tell a fairly solid Indy story, marry it with history, mythology, and legend and tie it in to what has…

Wolf (1994) – Mike Nichols

The next werewolf title up for viewing, courtesy of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies is the Jack Nicholson film, Wolf, which co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, and Christopher Plummer. With make-up effects and creature work by the legendary Rick Baker, and a score by Ennio Morricone the film seems to have missed its audience…

12 Strong (2018) – Blu-Ray Review

Releasing on blu-ray and DVD today from Warner Brothers is the film adaptation of the true story as retold in the novel Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. The day after 11 September, 2001, a group of soldiers volunteered to be the first on the ground in Afghanistan. The film tells that story, and of the…

Rome, Open City (1945) – Roberto Rossellini

Rome, Open City, Roberto Rossellini’s first film is on the What Else to Watch list following my screening of Bicycle Thieves as I continue my exploration of DK Canada’s The Movie Book. Decidedly melodramatic the story is set in World War II Rome, and the story weaves a group of characters together, as they work…

The NeverEnding Story (1984) – Wolfgang Petersen

The first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Fellowship of the Ring is Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 adaptation of only a small part of Micheal Ende’s fantasy novel, The NeverEnding Story. It has been more than thirty years since I watched this one, so I was…