The second episode of season two drops us right back into the freak-of-the-week cycle, while continuing to develop the overall character and mythology arcs. Heat first aired on 1 October, 2002 and was written by Mark Verheiden. Clark (Tom Welling) discovers his heat vision, which gets out of control pretty quickly, and hurts Lana (Kristin…
Tag: teacher
Weapons (2025) – Zach Cregger
Much like Cregger’s previous film, Barbarian, it’s best to go into this film for the first time with no real knowledge beyond what is provided by the poster… one night, almost all the kids from a single classroom disappeared. What happened? That’s the initial launching point for a story that shifts narratives and fractures fairy…
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…
Along Came a Spider (1993) – James Patterson
So the idea of digging into the Alex Cross series has been nagging at me for awhile. But it seemed like there were so many, thirty-two at last count. Then I reminded myself I’ve been reading Star Trek books in order for awhile, and there’s a lot more than those. So… I’d seen the film…
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) – Colm McCarthy
I don’t know if there’s a horror sub-genre more flexible and adaptable than the zombie story. It can do straight horror, gore, comedy, romance, tragedy, and can give us social commentary, or just give us a white-knuckle thrill ride. This time out, it’s a pontificiation on humanity, our treatment of others, growth, and nurturing. Mike…
Northern Exposure (1993) – Learning Curve, and Ill Wind
Marilyn (Elaine Miles) prepares for a vacation to Seattle, though Joel (Rob Morrow) isn’t sure she should travel on her own. But that’s just the beginning of things for this episode. Joel is mothering her from the get-go, trying to make sure she has everything she needs for a safe trip, but Marilyn insists she…
TIFF24: The Life of Chuck dir. Mike Flanagan
Tears. Happy tears. When things just feel right, when something is translated so well from page to screen that it looks the way it did in your mind’s eye. The Life of Chuck moved me to happy tears. Mike Flanagan is at the top of his game. He has proven that he excels at adapting…
TIFF24: Meet the Barbarians dir. Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy directs and stars in the charming, and delightfully satirical Meet the Barbarians. Set in the small town of Paimpont, France, a teacher, Joelle (Delpy) has convinced the local town council to do their part and take in some Ukranian refugees, they’ve studied, they’ve got a home set-up, have donated groceries, and are ready…
Throw Momma from the Train (1987) – Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito seems to have a very dark, and very enjoyable sense of humour. He pairs up with Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey, along with Star Trek’s Kate Mulgrew, Rob Reiner Branford Marsalis, Kim Greist, and Olivia Brown to deliver a fantastically dark comedy that seems to deliver a nice nod to Hitchcock and also…
Kindergarten Cop (1990) – Ivan Reitman
“It’s not a tumour!” It’s a catchphrase that found its way into the pop culture and has resurfaced over and over. And I never saw it originally. I was never interested in watching Arnold Schwarzenegger be funny. It just didn’t sound like a good time to me. So now, some thirty-plus years on, I finally…
The Mind Reels 