Smallville (2002) – Redux, and Lineage

Redux first aired on 29 October, 2002 and was written by Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner. There’s lots going on in this episode! It seems a number of Smallville High students are aging rapidly. What’s causing that? And if Clark (Tom Welling) didn’t have his hands full with that, there’s more trouble at the school….

TIFF 25: Bad Apples dir. Jonatan Etzler

Saoirse Ronan shines as Maria, an elementary school teacher pushed too far in Jonatan Etzler’s darkly funny thriller, Bad Apples. If you’ve read the tagline for the film, do yourself a favour and don’t read anything else about it. Go in with the knowledge that Maria is working to keep her class engaged. She has…

The Substitute (1996) – Robert Mandel

Its action sequences are flawed, and don’t look anywhere as near as cool, and sharp as they could, but 1996’s The Substitute (which spawned three increasingly bad direct-to-video sequels) is packed with familiar faces. The cast is led by Tom Berenger, and includes Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, Rodney, A. Grant, Ernie Hudson, Marc…

TIFF ’23: The Holdovers

Director Alexander Payne reunites with his Sideways star, Paul Giamatti in this earnest and laugh-out-loud dramedy that takes us back to the winter of 1970 and Barton, a boy’s prep school where Paul Hunham (Giamatti) teaches Ancient Civilizations and often finds himself clashing with not only his fellow teachers but his students as well, particularly…

Prince of Darkness (1987) – John Carpenter

Prince of Darkness was the third John Carpenter movie I saw ever, before that I was delighted with Big Trouble in Little China, and had found my favourite horror movie with The Things (Jaws is not a horror film, it’s an adventure movie).I remember seeing print ads for it on the back of the comic…

The Mutations (1974) – Jack Cardiff

DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies continues to bring me atomic mutations. This offering is a little odd, and features some recognisable actors in a rather bad film called The Mutations, but also known as The Freakmaker. Donald Pleasance plays Professor Nolter, a scientist who is fascinated by the combination of animal and plant as…

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2010) – The Academy, Assassin, and ARC Troopers

“Those who enforce the law must obey the law.” The Mandalore corruption storyline continues in this episode written by Katie Lucas and Steven Melching. First airing on 15 October, 2010, the episode sees Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) travelling to Mandalore to serve as a tutor at one of the leadership academies. While she’s there, she…