Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) – Stephen Herek

I forgot how much I loved this film. This was one of my go-tos in the mid-90s. It was a film I recommended constantly, one I played in the store, and loved Richard Dreyfuss’ performance as the titular Mr. Holland. An ode to teachers, the film follows Mr, Holland, as he takes a teaching position…

Toronto Fan Expo 2025 – Day 1

It’s that time of year, when things start to get very busy very quickly. In a couple of weeks, it will be time for time, a few weeks after that, vacation, but this weekend… This weekend it’s time to get my geek on and celebrate all the fandoms as Toronto’s Fan Expo gets underway. I…

Monday Musings – A Marvel Comics Super Special

Having recently talked about my love of the movie tie-in novelization, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t dive into the equally enjoyable Marvel Super Specials that often adapted those same movies, and brought them to life panel by panel – sometimes with stellar art, sometimes not, but always worth collecting. I remember…

Deep Cover (1992) – Bill Duke

Bill Duke directs a gritty, rough and tumble cop film, and does it incredibly well. It’s an entertaining and brutal ride, and lets Laurence Fishburne shine. Fishburne plays Russell Stevens, a cop recruited by Carver (Charles Martin Smith) to go undercover as a drug dealer in order to get close to Barbosa (Gregory Sierra) and…

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…

Ninja III: The Domination (1984) – Sam Firstenberg

It took me forever to finally see this one. I remember seeing the videocassette back when I was a teen, but I hadn’t seen the other two (I didn’t know they had no connections to each other at the time), and never really got around to them until recently. And it’s easy to see why…

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…

Pirate Radio (2009) – Richard Curtis

Based loosely on a true story, Richard Curtis brings his talent for blending comedy and drama to a classic tale of rock and roll! In the early 60s when British Rock was at its height, England only played rock’n’roll for perhaps an hour all day on air. But just off the coast in the North…

Beat Street (1984) – Stan Lathan

I remember seeing the poster and soundtrack for Beat Street everywhere in the mid-80s, and I remember some of the songs popping up in my life. I didn’t recall much of the film itself, just the breakdancing and I figured maybe I should revisit it. It’s definitely worth the watch. There’s a grittiness to the…