The Golden Compass (1995) – Philip Pullman

Having just recently rewatched the film version of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, I was eager to revisit the novel, which I had read only once about twenty years ago. I remember enjoying the series, but can’t remember anything that happened in the third book of the trilogy, only recalling that I cried a lot….

The Golden Compass (2007) – Chris Weitz

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film following my screening of The Fellowship of the Ring is this adaptation of the first book in His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. It’s obvious that the film was planned as the first in a trilogy, much in the…

South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season

Incredibly, this series just keeps getting better and better. South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season, recently re-released on blu-ray from Paramount Pictures took a spin in my player, and made me laugh throughout. This season, over the course of fourteen episodes, series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker pull out all the stops and make…

Acceptance (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer

The final book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy is on the book shelf this week, and like its predecessors is immensely enjoyable with its ominous overtones even as it hints at something stunning, amazing and beyond human comprehension. We are taken back into Area X, and the government institution investigating the geographical anomaly, the…

Once Upon a Time in America (1983) – Sergio Leone

Clocking in at almost four hours long, Leone’s cinematic adaptation of  Harry Grey’s original novel is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Godfather. Robert De Niro stars as David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson, a gangster, who after fleeing New York returns over thirty years later…

The Godfather Trilogy – Francis Ford Coppola

Paramount Pictures is celebrating the 45th anniversary with a re-release of the 1972 classic The Godfather, and its two sequels. I have a bit of a sordid history with these films. I’ve never been a fan of crime family stories, I can’t relate to them, and have never understood the hypocrisy that seems inherent in…

Back to the Future: Part III (1990) – Robert Zemeckis

My last stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is the final trip with Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in Back to the Future: Part III. From the film’s opening credits you know this will be a different adventure, the triumphant theme by Alan Silvestri gives way to a stirring romantic…

Star Wars: Aftermath – Empire’s End (2017) – Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig unleashes the final part in his trilogy chronicling the canon events following The Return of the Jedi and culminating with the Empire’s fall at the Battle of Jakku. All the characters we have gotten to know over the past two novels are here, Norra Wexley, her son, Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley, Sinjir, Bones, Gallius,…

So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish (1984) – Douglas Adams

So I felt it was time to check in with the gang from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy again, and dove into book four of the trilogy. This one seems a bit shorter than the previous tale, and to my chagrin, Ford Prefect is barely in it, Marvin makes only an appearance, and Zaphod…