Every now and then a movie comes along that speaks to you, that defines you. A movie, that as you watch you can not only relate to the characters of the film, you recognize yourself upon the screen. On this site I’ve told the tales of my first experiences that helped define the movie geek…
Tag: Steven Spielberg
The True Adventures of the World’s Greatest Stuntman by Vic Armstrong
I first heard the name Vic Armstrong in a television special called Great Movie Stunts & The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981. I was 10 or 11 when the special first aired, and I remember watching it in our house while we were living in Kingston. Even at that age,…
Silent Running (1972) – Douglas Trumbull
Special effects genius Douglas Trumbull takes on directorial duties for this classic from the 101 Sci-Fi movies, aided in the special effects department by the legendary skills of John Dykstra. Bruce Dern plays Freeman Lowell a caretaker/gardener on the Valley Forge, an American Airlines Space Freighter. Fans will recognize a number of models and sets…
Toronto After Dark – After – Ryan Smith
Take a little of the small town spook of Stephen King, a splash of dark scare of Clive Barker and a dose of the magic and wonder of Amblin era Steven Spielberg and you may have a general idea of what to expect from Toronto After Dark’s presentation of After. Ana (Karolina Wydra) and Freddy (Steven…
Happy 1st Birthday for The Mind Reels!
When I was younger, physically and chronologically, not mentally, I often thought about talking and working with people in the entertainment industry. I also thought about being a starship captain like James T. Kirk or walking with dinosaurs, but hey, one dream at a time. Growing up, I was not necessarily an outsider, but I…
Poltergeist (1982)
The 101 Horror Movies let me revisit another one of my favourite films, Poltergeist. I won’t get into the whole “who really directed it dilemma” – I don’t care (though if pressed it feels more like a Steven Spielberg film than a Tobe Hooper film). I just know I like it. It’s a very simple…
Jaws (1975)
I love this movie so much, thank you for making it Mr. Spielberg! The music, the dialogue, the moments, the sheer fun! But if you’ve been to the blog before, you know that, it’s my all time favorite movie, and the first one I ever saw. So obviously when it came along on the list…
The Moment
My friend from The Matinee, Ryan McNeil and I, were talking today about films that impacted us, made us realize there was more to them than we’d realized. He was talking about The Moment. It happens to every cinephile. There’s a moment when you realize that there’s more to movies than what s up there…
Film Scores – A Whistler’s Tale
I’m a whistler, and a dreamer… and “Binary Sunset” is one of my favorite thoughtful, hopeful and slightly sad things to whistle, especially when I’m thinking about my future, and watching the horizon. Whistling. I do it all the time, and I carry a huge repertoire in my mind, and on my ipod. In the…
Remembering When… Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Wars and Indiana Jones were an inextricable part of my youth. As mentioned in my Star Wars post, prior to ’77 there was nothing that stood out amongst the pop culture landscape, there were fun and cool things, but nothing like the mountain that was the experience of Star Wars, and then, a number…
The Mind Reels 