Invaders From Mars (1986) – Tobe Hooper

I remember when Invaders From Mars came out in 1986. I knew it was a remake, having read about it in Starlog magazine, and while I didn’t recognize the names of those involved as I grew they would become very familiar to me. What I remember most is reading the novelization when I grabbed it…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 1 Blu-Ray

Anybody who has even visited this blog knows how I feel about Star Trek. And as much as I love Lower Decks, Discovery, Prodigy and Picard (though don’t even get me started on how much season three is blowing my mind!!) Star Trek: Stange New Worlds – Season 1 had me completely enraptured. While the…

1984 (1956) – Michael Anderson

DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies provides a glimpse into a dystopian future that may not be so different from a time we live in now, with the 1956 adaptation of Orwell’s classic novel, 1984. The screenwriters say they ‘freely’ adapted the original story so there are differences from book to screen, but thematically, it…

The Living Daylights (1987) – John Glen

It’s time for another Bond film to join the 007 on the book shelf. And we come to one of my favourites, and the first one I ever saw in the theatre. Until this one came along, I had worked my way through the James Bond films in no semblance of order, as I was…

A View To A Kill (1985) – John Glen

Since there was a James Bond novel on the book shelf this week, it means I get to revisit a Bond cinematic adventure that I haven’t previously covered for the blog, and that brings me to 1985’s A View To A Kill. This is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and will always…

Star Trek: Enterprise (2003) – The Xindi, and Anomaly

Captain’s log: date unknown The serialised Xindi story line that was initiated by the second season finale gets truly underway this week with the launch of season three of Star Trek: Enterprise. The season opener, written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga debuted on 10 September, 2003. The Enterprise has been in the Delphic Expanse…

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

A space age fairy tale. No matter the themes, social commentary or underpinnings we wish to assign the Skywalker Saga, culminating with the release of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has always been a space age fairy tale – there are princesses (turned general), knights (both good and bad), evil lords, fortresses,…

Toronto After Dark 2019: The Assent (2019) – Pearry Teo

There’s a Barker/Lovecraftian feel to the gritty dirtiness of this entry in the Toronto After Dark film festival. Couched in a house covered in unnerving art, and filled with troubling apparitions and visions there is an aggressive edge to The Assent in the way it is shot, and the way the story unfolds. Mostly. Halfway…