Howard Ashman and Alan Menken bring their bring science fiction b-movie musical to the big screen, ably directed by Frank Oz, in this 1986 adaptation that is the next stop in the Monstrous Aliens section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Rick Moranis plays Seymour, a bit of a schlub with an affectation for…
Tag: steve martin
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) – John Hughes
Paramount Pictures, in time for both Canadian and American Thanksgivings, released the 30th Anniversary edition of the John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains & Automobiles. John Candy and Steve Martin portray Del Griffith and Neal Page respectively; two travellers thrown together as they try to find their way home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Watching circumstance after…
Godzilla 1985 (1984) – Koji Hashimoto & R.J. Kizer
I continue my time with that man-in-a-suit monster, Godzilla, as the Sci-Fi Chronicles jumps forward a couple of decades and introduces me to the revitalized version of the monster, that screened in 1984, some thirty years after the original film. For the most part, it disregards any of the previous films, but for the…
Hot Docs 2015: Live From New York – Bao Nguyen
2015 represents the 40th anniversary of the television landmark comedy sketch series, Saturday Night Live, and Hot Docs was fortunate enough to host the international premiere of Bao Nguyen’s film that takes a look at the culture that surrounded, followed and influenced the show. Nguyen openly admits that this is far from the definitive…
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) – Carl Reiner
Where Monsieur Hulot’s recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book suggested Blazing Saddles as a western send-up, the hilarious Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Steve Martin skewers the noir genre lovingly by intercutting out hero Rigby Reardon (Martin) with actual footage from classic noir films. Reardon, a cynical gumshoe…
The Mind Reels 