Highlander. Man I love this movie. I remember the first time I saw it. I had barely heard of it when I went to hang out with some new/old friends (story there for another time) and they put this movie on to wile away an afternoon. I was completely swept up in it, how cool…
Tag: sword
Willow (1988) – Ron Howard
I remember the first time I saw Willow. I know where I was, and I remember how it swept me up in its narrative. I knew I had to see it the moment it told me it was from the imagination of George Lucas. I knew who Ron Howard was, but I was a teenager…
Goliath and the Dragon (1960) – Vitorrio Cottafavi
I move to Italy for the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I explore the chapter on Dragons & Dinosaurs. Dubbed in English to reach the North American audience, this Italian sword and sandal (and sorcery) ‘epic’ follows Goliath (Mark Forest) who has his hands full as we join him…
Ulysses (1954) – Mario Camerini
Kirk Douglas stars in this Italian sword and sandals (and sorcery) epic that also features Anthony Quinn, and is the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I explore the chapter on Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales. Using Homer’s epic poem as its basis, the film follows Ulysses (Douglas) on his…
Toronto After Dark 2019: Mutant Blast (2018) – Fernando Alle
The second feature of Zombie Night for the Toronto After Dark film festival is this entry from Portugal, which, when coupled with iconic cult production company Troma feels like a VHS throwback to science fiction horror that is so bad that it comes around to good, and is threatening to go bad again. Filled with…
Sleepy Hollow (1999) – Tim Burton
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book takes me into classic ghost tales territory with the next film that haunts the chapter on spirits, Tim Burton’s take on the legend of Sleepy Hollow. His bloody film, which serves as his version of the tale, also serves as a nod and homage to Hammer Films as…
Space: 1999 (1976) -The Testament of Arkadia, and The Last Enemy
The Alphans journey aboard the travelling moon continue this week as we come to the conclusion of the first season with this pair of episodes. Airing on 12 February, 1976, and written by Johnny Byrne this episode embraces that line made famous by the 1978 series Battlestar Galactica – “…life here, began out there…” Luna…
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) – Gore Verbinski
Who would have thought that Disney could turn one of their oldest theme park attractions into a tentpole franchise back in 2003? Sure the series has floundered, and perhaps overstayed its welcome since, but that first film, directed ably by Verbinski, with a definitive score by Klaus Badelt, and featuring an A-list cast delighted audiences…
Toronto After Dark 2017: The Villainess – Byung-gil Jung
The hyper-kinetic assassin thriller The Villainess, has it’s Toronto premiere this evening at Toronto After Dark, screening exclusively at Scotiabank Theatre. This South Korean film is nothing short of a high-octane thriller that recalls Besson’s La Femme Nikita with overtones of Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Ok-bin Kim stars as Sook-hee, a violent woman with a violent…
Alexander Nevsky (1938) – Sergei M. Eisenstein and Dmitriy Vasilev
DK Book’s The Movie Book suggested one more Key Film for Sergei Eisenstein following my screening of Battleship Potemkin; the classic Russian film Alexander Nevsky. Starring Nikolay Cherkasov in the titular role, the film is incredibly engaging, and well-produced, and if nothing else you can tell that the composer Sergei Prokofiev’s score influenced such composers…
The Mind Reels 