My journey through some classic John Hughes continues with this 1986 classic that, like so many of his films, came along at just the right time for me. Matthew Broderick is the titular Ferris Bueller, and despite already hitting his quota of sick days for the year, he’s taking a day off to show his…
Tag: style
Star Trek: Picard – Rogue Elements (2021) – John Jackson Miller
The year is 2391, four years after the Romulan star was destroyed, and Simon & Schuster’s next entry in the Star Trek: Picard, is an enjoyable entry that mixes a lot of humor with a very noir detective story that ties back to one of the biggest events of the 23rd century. The longest of…
TAD 2021: Canadian Shorts
Canada delivers its own Shorts programme for Toronto After Dark, with 9 selections, that like the International Shorts features a variety of styles, sensibilities, and genre mashing. There’s some great work in here, and despite the fact that none of the films were as laugh out loud as the highly enjoyable Shiny New World, there…
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…
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) – Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa
Trust, hope, faith in ourselves and in one another. Walt Disney’s latest hero’s journey seems to be the right film at the right time, and has the perfect message for getting through the pandemic that like the druun in the film seems intent on ravaging our world, and keeping all of us apart. A beautifully…
The Blues Brothers (1980) – John Landis
Director John Landis teams up with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in a road movie with tunes, laughs, and style. This was the movie, that I discovered in the late 80s, that introduced me to soul music, and I loved it. Featuring a who’s who of musical legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Cab…
DC Comics Cover Art (2020) – Nick Jones
Neal Adams. Jack Kirby. George Perez. Alex Ross. Dave Gibbons. Amanda Conner. Jim Lee. John Byrne. The tip of the iceberg on a long list of distinguished and exceptional artists who have created iconic images through the years for DC Comics, aiding in the transition of the medium from being seen as ‘just for kids’…
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood who penned the screenplay for Roger Moore’s The Spy Who Loved Me, also took it upon himself to write the novelisation, with the expanded title, ‘James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me’ in order not to be confused with the original Ian Fleming title. The adaptation is a curious blend of the Bonds…
Bad Boys For Life (2020) – Adil El Arbi & Bilail Fallah
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for a third go round as those Bad Boys, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in Bad Boys For Life. It’s been seventeen years since we last saw these Miami PD cops ride together, they’re older, the world has changed and so have their lives. Marcus is now a grandfather…
The Bourne Identity (2002) – Doug Liman
Matt Damon takes on the role of Robert Ludlum’s most famous creation in the 2002 adaptation of his novel. While it could be argued that Paul Greengrass perfected the Bourne storytelling style with Supremacy and Ultimatum, Liman introduced all the visual language of that style in the first film. When compared to its sequels, even…
The Mind Reels 