Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane take us on a high seas thrill ride filled with suspense in Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm, the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Clocking in at a tightly paced 93 minutes, this thriller captivates with a well-scripted story, and strong performances….
Tag: tense
Super 8 (2011) – J.J. Abrams
Spielberg takes on the Executive Producer role in J.J. Abrams 80s-filled nostalgia thrill ride which is the next stop on the journey through the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. Having Stranger Things to compare it to isn’t necessarily fair, they get to tell their story over a season, Abrams and company only had a two hour…
Sunshine (2007) – Danny Boyle
The Sci-Fi Chronicles checks in on Danny Boyle next, and as I’ve already done 28 Days Later, it was time to see what he did with spaceships and big budgets in his science fiction foray – Sunshine. The film has a standout cast, composed of Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Hiroyuki…
Sicario (2015) – Denis Villeneuve
Emily Blunt as idealistic FBI agent, Kate Maser, finds herself enmeshed in the terrifying and brutal escalating drug war along the U.S. border in this tightly wound, hair-trigger of a film from Denis Villeneuve, the director of Prisoners. After a brutal discovery during a tactical raid, Maser is recruited by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) who…
War of the Worlds (2005) – Steven Spielberg
I dive back into more HG Wells cinematic adaptations with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, settling in to rewatch the Spielberg take on the classic invasion tale, done so well in the previously reviewed 1953 film. Spielberg’s updated take on the story is a modern, post 9/11 version which tries to walk the line, mostly successfully between modern sensibilities…
A Delicate Truth – John Le Carre
Penguin Books Canada was kind enough to send me an advance copy of the latest work from John le Carre, and I simply devoured this one… With his latest novel A Delicate Truth, le Carre continues to prove he is a master wordsmith, carving out a tense thriller driven by complex characters and crackling dialogue, only…
The Mind Reels 