The second feature-length episode of Taken, presented by Steven Spielberg, first debuted on 3 December, 2002. It was written by series creator Leslie Bohem. The story opens during the winter of ’57 and guides us through 1958. Russel Keys (Steve Burton) has left his wife, Kate (Julie Benz), who has remarried, in an effort to…
Tag: Steven Spielberg
Taken (2002) – Beyond the Sky
I’m writing this in May long before Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day comes out. I love when Spielberg plays in the science fiction genre, and I am very excited to see what happens in his new film. But I also realized it had been forever since I watched the Leslie Bohem created miniseries that he executive…
Real Steel (2011)- Shawn Levy
I never really wanted to see this on when it first came out, but looking back at it, this film has a solid pedigree. It’s directed by Shawn Levy, uses a story by Richard Matheson as a launching point, has a score by Danny Elfman, and features Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg serving as executive…
Jaws 50th Anniversary
What a great way to begin and end my TIFF experience this year. Even as TIFF celebrates its 50th year, so does my favourite movie of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. I’ve told the story countless times of how it was my first ever film experience. I’ve seen this movie more times than any others…
The Peacemaker (1997) – Mimi Leder
It’s easily been a couple of decades since I last watched this techno-thriller with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. I have to say, in the current geo-political environment, it’s hard to see the Americans as the good guys, working against Russian and Eastern European interests. And it’s sad that I feel that way. A group…
Sharksploitation (2023) – Stephen Scarlata
Sharks. Since Peter Benchley’s iconic 1974 novel, Jaws, they have been a ready-to-use monster for Hollywood moviemakers. With Steven Spielberg’s big-screen adaptation of the novel, sharks became the ‘it thing’ for films. However, they were arguably already on their way to being cast as the baddie thanks to some casting in the 60s Bond films….
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny (2023) – James Mangold
James Mangold is not Steven Spielberg. No one said he was. But stepping into a film series whose other four instalments were directed by Spielberg, comparisons will be drawn as Harrison Ford grabs his whip and fedora and settles into the iconic role of Indiana Jones one last time. There are lots of things to…
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History (2017) – Michael Klastorin
I remember the first time I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was 1984, it was my 13th birthday, I had read the fotonovel from the school library, was fascinated by the subject matter (I still am), and though I had seen the rubber toys in grocery stores when the film came out,…
Deep Impact (1998) – 4K Review
I remember the summer of the duelling asteroid movies, 1998. There was Michael Bay’s Armageddon and Mimi Leder’s, with Steven Spielberg in her corner, Deep Impact from Paramount Pictures. Deep Impact opened first in May, with Armageddon following up in July, which completely ended up overshadowing Impact, which is unfortunate, because of the two films,…
Cowboys & Aliens (2011) – Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau coming off of Iron Man, produced by Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, a story by the showrunners for The Expanse, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, Star Trek producers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Adam Beach and Keith Carradine…
The Mind Reels 