The Expanse (2018) – It Reaches Out, and Intransigence

The mystery of the protomolecule and the Ring is augmented with the introduction of the Investigator (Thomas Jane) who only Holden (Steven Strait) can see, and who is trying to impart important information to him in the only way he knows how, but will Holden realize what he’s being told before things escalate to greater…

Run Lola Run (1998) – Tom Tykwer

Tom Tykwer’s stunning and entertaining thriller Run Lola Run still holds up, and damn if it isn’t a fun watch. The film brought international attention not only to Tykwer but the film’s star, Franke Potente, who, four years later, would appear in the franchise opener, The Bourne Identity alongside Matt Damon. Run Lola Run plays…

TIFF ’22: The Fabelmans

I have been a Spielberg fan for as long as I can remember. The first film he saw was The Greatest Show On Earth, which affected him. Mine was Jaws, and I can say the same thing. Over the decades I have followed him on his storytelling journey, embracing each new film that came along,…

The Color Purple (1985) – Steven Spielberg

Was Steven Spielberg the right person to shoot the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s powerful novel? He was an interesting choice for the project, and it definitely wasn’t the dramatic material that he was associated with in the 80s, having delivered a number of blockbusters at that point. And while there were a number of…

Star Trek: Lower Decks (2021) Season 2 – Blu-Ray Review

Lower Decks has been a gift for Star Trek fans, and Paramount Canada lets you bring home the Emmy-nominated second season on Blu-ray today. The series has been a join since its premiere, delivering comedy and in-jokes while still being Star Trek at its core. Over the course of the ten episodes of season two,…

The Prisoner (1968) – The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon a Time, and Fall Out

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) is back to being a superspy in swinging London, as he matches wits with a deadly female assassin, Sonia (Justine Lord), who is looking to off him, and protect her slightly crazed father, Schnipps (Kenneth Griffith), who is planning on destroying London and establishing him as its new Napoleon-esque leader. All…

TAD 2021: International Shorts

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival unveils its International Shorts programme today. With an all virtual format this year, the Festival is not presenting a short before each feature, but is bundling them into two separate viewing packages, the International and the Canadian Shorts. Both collections feature a wealth of talent, and storytelling styles, and…

Parable of the Sower (1993) – Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction tale, that follows a young woman of colour on her quest to understand herself, the ideas of god, and the destiny of humanity. Within pages of this novel, I was completely swept up in Butler’s storytelling style, her characters, and the world she created. And here’s the thing, the world…

Marvel: Myths and Legends (2020) – James Hill

The comic book has been called the forum of the modern myth. In the shadows of our own history, there have always been stories of superheroes, whether we knew them as masked webslingers, or children of the gods of Mount Olympus, or the Vedic literature of India, the Norse gods, the heroes of Chinese folklore,…