John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson star in this big screen adaptation of the Stephen King short story. Cusack, who has always been a favourite of mine, is Mike Enslin, a writer who cranked out one good (and seemingly forgotten novel) and after a personal tragedy, which had him walking out on his grief-stricken wife…
Tag: tragedy
Hell House LLC (2015) – Stephen Cognetti
The found footage sub-genre of the horror realm can be hit or miss. You not only have to be willing to be swept up into the tale, and the reality it presents, it also has to be engaging enough to keep the viewer involved. Therefore it has to have an interesting story, and at the…
The X-Files (2001) – Empedocles, and Vienen
While Scully (Gillian Anderson) ends up in the hospital with a complication surrounding her pregnancy, Agent Reyes (Annabeth Gish) approaches Mulder (David Duchovny) with a case that may tie back to Doggett (Robert Patrick). Empedocles was written by Greg Walker, and first aired on 22 April, 2001. When an office worker, Jeb (Jay Underwood) is…
M*A*S*H (1978) – Our Finest Hour Part 2, The Billfold Syndrome, and None Like It Hot
The second part of the clip show, Our Finest Hour, airing on 9 October, 1978 featured segments written by Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Larry Balmagia, Ronny Graham, and David Lawrence. We get glimpses of pranks, the many romances of Hawkeye (Alan Alda), the humanization of Houlihan (Loretta Swit), Radar’s (Gary Burghoff) really bad day, and…
Against All Odds (1984) – Taylor Hackford
Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods star in this noir-esque film that fumbles visually, as far as I’m concerned. Everyone knows the hit song by Phil Collins that came out of this film, and honestly, when it’s used over the end credits that shows a crying and struggling to smile Ward, it’s got a…
Mission to Mars (2000) – Brian De Palma
Director Brian De Palma delivers what feels like his spin on Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, unfortunately the shoddy and very obvious CGI in a number of the sequences of the film, and especially during the climax when a practical effects would have served better, and leant a stronger reality to the film, which needed…
Shogun (1980) – Disc 4
We come to the conclusion of James Clavell’s epic Japanese tale this week (it was definitely quicker to get through the miniseries than the novel – course I was fourteen at the time) as I delve into the fourth disc of the DVD set which has the fifth and final episode. Adapted by Eric Bercovici,…
The Red Shoes (1948) – Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger
The Directory in DK Canada’s The Movie Book continues to introduce me to classic films I haven’t seen, and today they introduced me to the Oscar winning film, The Red Shoes. Taking home awards from the Academy for Art & Set Direction as well as Best Music, the story follows the life and career of…
Hearts in Atlantis (1999) – Stephen King
I delight in digging into Stephen King books, and ones I haven’t read are becoming fewer and far between, Hearts in Atlantis, however, was one I hadn’t read before. Composed of two novellas and three short stories this is King taking on the 60s, and examines it as only King could, with an ear for…
Toronto After Dark 2019: James vs. His Future Self (2019) – Jeremy LaLonde
Friend of the blog, Jeremy LaLonde brings his first genre film entry to the Toronto After Dark film festival tonight with his latest film, James vs. His Future Self. Filled with great actors the film plays with time travel as a way to show us to take the time we need to be in the…
The Mind Reels 