A Haunting in Venice (2023) – Kenneth Branagh

Branagh delivers a third Agatha Christie adaption, and like the previous films, Branagh brings in a great cast and delivers a lush-looking production with some gorgeous production design and location work. Branagh directs and stars, again, as Hercule Poirot the great detective who has now retired to Venice. He is approached by an old friend,…

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) – 4K

Tom Cruise returns as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in his seventh Mission: Impossible outing Dead Reckoning Part One which comes home on 4K and physical media today from Paramount Canada. It’s epic and brings in a number of story and character threads from the entire franchise and, of course, looks absolutely stunning in 4K. This…

Death is Forever (1992) – John Gardner

After The Man From Barbarossa, I was nervous about digging into another Gardner 007 novel, but this time, the author returns to the Fleming roots of the character and storytelling style, and in Death is Forever, James Bond is back in action. Gardner’s twelfth novel featuring the secret agent is a fast-moving tale that takes…

Twins of Evil (1971) -John Hough

Hammer Films last film in the Karnstein trilogy, Twins of Evil, is the next film to sink my fangs into as I continue to explore John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies from DK Canada. Boasting the casting of twin Playboy playmates, Mary and Madeleine Collinson as well as a fantastic performance by Peter Cushing the…

Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – Flesh and Stone, and The Vampires of Venice

The Doctor (Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) find themselves surrounded by Weeping Angels as the second part of last week’s story continues with Flesh and Stone. Written by Steven Moffat this story first aired on 1 May, 2010. As the Time Lord, his Companion, River Song (Alex Kingston) and Octavian (Iain Glen) alongside the surviving…

The Demonologist (2013) – Andrew Pyper

  I was recommended recently to pick up this book, and I was happy to learn he’s yet another Canadian author I had not heard of, but can now add to the list of writers I enjoy. This Demonologist follows Canadian professor David Ullman, who teaches at New York’s Columbia, and is one of the foremost…

La Femme Nikita (1990) – Luc Besson

Luc Besson has made some excellent films in his time, and this entry on the 101 Action Movies list could be argued as his best. Anne Parillaud stars as Nikita, we first meet her as a drugged out, worn down, punk, who gets busted after killing a cop in a pharmacy robbery that goes wrong. Believing she is being…

Don’t Look Now (1973)

A psychic thriller starring Donald Sutherland, and a very lovely looking Julie Christie makes it’s appearance in the 101 Horror Movies. Though the last moments are a little creepy, and the ending of Blair Witch could be seen as an homage of sorts, this film tends to fall more on the poetic side than scary….