TIFF 25: Fuze dir. David Mackenzie

The one thing that I came out of Fuze knowing for sure is that this is the first time I’ve seen Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a role where I thought, yes, I can see this fella playing 007. Now, it hasn’t been announced he is, or anything of the sort, but I’m saying what I saw…

TIFF 25: Retreat dir. Ted Evans

Ted Evans wrote and directed this engaging thriller that takes us inside the lives of Eva (Anne Zander) and Matt (James Joseph Boyle) when Eva joins Matt and a collection of deaf people living at a residence they know as Chilmark. Under the watchful eye, and guidance of Mia (Sophie Stone), the residents are establishing…

Logan Lucky (2017) – Steven Soderbergh

Logan Lucky is a hugely entertaining, and laugh-filled heist film. Something we should have come to expect knowing that Steven Soderbergh, who also delivered the Ocean’s Trilogy, is at the helm. There’s a lot of fun to be had with a great cast led by Channing Tatum. Tatum is John Denver-loving Jimmy Logan, a down…

Deathtrap (1982) – Sidney Lumet

Ira Levin’s whip-smart stage play, Deathtrap, was adapted for the big-screen and saw Michael Caine square-off against Christopher Reeve in this captivating cat-and-mouse, twisting thriller. Micheal Caine is playwright, Sidney Bruhl. He’s just had his latest stage thriller flop on opening night. It’s his latest failure in a string of them. Things are exacerbated, when…

Now You See Me (2013) – Louis Leterrier

What happens when you take Ocean’s 11 heist vibe and throw some magic at it? Well, you could come back with something like Now You See Me. While it doesn’t have all the star power of the Soderbergh film, Now You See Me is fairly entertaining and has some solid casting. Mark Ruffalo plays FBI…

Run (2020) – Aneesh Chaganty

Run is a crisp and engaging thriller that rushes its twists and turns at a breakneck speed, driven by the performances of its two leads, Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Chloe (Allen) is confined to a wheelchair, and battling a number of illnesses. But she has her mother (Paulson) by her side, tending to her…

Stargate SG-1 (2001) – Chain Reaction, and 2010

SG-1 is stunned when General Hammond (Don S. Davis) surprises them with his immediate resignation and retirement. Their new commanding officer, Bauer (Lawrence Dane) splits up the group, and lots of trouble ensues in Chain Reaction. First airing on 5 January, 2001 this episode was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. O’Neill (Richard Dean…

The First Omen (2024) – Arkasha Stevenson

As much as I love Sam Neill as the Antichrist in The Final Conflict, and my first introduction to the series with the novelization of Damien: The Omen II, The First Omen has taken its place as my second favorite in the franchise. Working to tie itself into the original film directed by Dick Donner…

Death Rides a Horse (1967) – Giulio Petroni

Lee Van Cleef stars alongside John Phillip Meceita in this spaghetti western from Giulio Petroni. My knowledge of spaghetti westerns is pretty slim, so it should come as no surprise that I had never heard of this one, but with Lee Van Cleef in it I figured why the hell not? What it is, is…