1982. What a summer at the movies. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, E.T the Extraterrestrial, The Thing, The Road Warrior, Tron, Poltergeist, Blade Runner and Conan the Barbarian. Eight movies, all opening within weeks of each other, some on the same day, and a summer that brought geek culture into the mainstream in…
Tag: Spielberg
Good Boy (2025) – Ben Leonberg
Mr. Loenberg, you had me at a horror movie told from a dog’s perspective. What I didn’t epect was a proto-Spielbergian ghost story that hits all the feels with its unique storytelling. There is a lot to dissect and discuss for this wonderful film that is getting great word of mouth. In fact, talking about…
Pirate Latitudes (2009) – Micheal Crichton
By the time this post appears on the blog I will have read this book about a month and a half ago while I was on a vacation in the Caribbean. Consequently, surrounded by an environment Crichton’s characters inhabit, the ride was an adventuresome delight. In the year 1665, Captain Charles Hunter is in Port…
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) – Brian Gibson
A number of cast and crew (including composer Jerry Goldsmith and visual effects artist Richard Edlund) return for Poltergeist II: The Other Side and while Julian Beck seems truly terrifying as Kane, the film doesn’t have the Spielberg or Hooper magic that made the first film such a hit. The Freeling family, Diane (JoBeth Williams),…
The Vast of Night (2019) – Andrew Patterson
The Vast of Night is very much my kind of film, part Twilight Zone, part early Spielberg, there’s a vibe to this film that I just totally dig. A lot of the film feels like an homage to old dramas, encouraging the theatre of the mind, but there is a nice payoff at the end…
Super 8 (2011) – 4K Review
Paramount Pictures delivers a MINT! 4K version of J.J. Abrams’ nostalgia drenched, Spielberg homage, Super 8, and while I know some people take issue with his visual style, especially those lens flares, and aren’t always keen on his storytelling, this film delighted me, and spoke to me, as I could see myself up there on…
The Jaws Log: Expanded Edition (1975/2005) – Carl Gottlieb
Anyone who has even visited the blog knows what my favourite movie is. I mean, it’s right there in the banner. Jaws has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, I have very few memories that would have occurred before I saw it, I mean I was three going…
Gremlins (1984) – Joe Dante
Practical effects, matte paintings and a dark, playful sense of humour… They just don’t make them like the used to. I was delighted when I returned to the Family section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book that Joe Dante’s horror comedy Christmas movie (it’s set at Christmas therefore it IS a…
The Twilight Zone (1962) – Showdown with Rance McGrew, Kick the Can, and A Piano in the House
Paramount Pictures has handed me the map, and I continue to explore the depths of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray this week with another trio of episodes. First up is Showdown with Rance McGrew. Written by series creator Rod Serling from an idea by Frederick Louis Fox, this episode aired on 2…
We Don’t Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy (2015) – Caseen Gaines
As soon as I heard this book was coming out, I jumped at the chance to pick mine up. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love Back to the Future, and Michael J. Fox has long been one of my heroes. Heck, I was even lucky enough to get to pose…
The Mind Reels 