TAD 2018: The Dark (2018) – Justin P. Lange

Having had its Toronto premiere last week at Toronto After Dark, writer/director Justin P. Lange’s film, an Austrian-Canadian co-production hits VOD today. Despite its bloody and horrific trappings, The Dark is a gentle tale that sees a young girl, Mina (Nadia Alexander, best known for her work in The Sinner) become a monster because of…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) -Past Tense: Part I, and Part II

Station log: stardate 48481.2 Robert Hewitt Wolfe pens this stellar episode from a story he developed with Ira Steven Behr. First broadcast on 2 January, 1995, the story follows Sisko (Avery Brooks), Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Dax (Terry Farrell) as, thanks to a transporter accident while the Defiant is in orbit around Earth, end up…

Blood of Dracula (1957) – Herbert L. Strock

I knew some of the films I would watch as I work my way through John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies (available from DK Canada) would be bad, I don’t think I was ready for how bad. Blood of Dracula is that bad. A horrible film that required a lot to drink in its hour…

Heart-Shaped Box (2007) – Joe Hill

After enjoying Hill’s short story collection a couple of weeks ago, as well as his fantastic work on Locke & Key, I decided to give a full novel a try, and the result ends up being a very satisfying ghost story, as we dive into a world of sex, violence and rock’n’roll. Judas Coyne (not…

Mind Reels Chats Badsville (2017)

BADSVILLE (2017) (imdb: www.imdb.com/title/tt4843618/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Twitter: @BadsvilleMovie) Director: APRIL MULLEN (imdb: www.imdb.com/name/nm0611983/?ref_=tt_ov_dr Twitter: @AprilMullen88) Producer: DAVID J PHILLIPS (imdb: www.imdb.com/name/nm1707109/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t12 Twitter: @DJ_Phlips) Writers/Stars: IAN MCLAREN (imdb: www.imdb.com/name/nm3382898/?ref_=tt_ov_wr) BENJAMIN BARRETT (imdb: www.imdb.com/name/nm3796579/?ref_=tt_ov_wr Twitter: @BenABarrett) Very Special Guest: EL PERRO For video version: youtu.be/N2Y7mS6f2RU Badsville is now available On Demand, iTunes, VuDu and Amazon Prime For bonus content, become a Mind Reels Patron today! www.patreon.com/TheMindReels

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) – Homecoming, and The Circle

Station log: stardate unknown Ira Steven Behr pens the season two opener from a story by himself and Jeri Taylor. We returned to the station on 26 September, 1993. Kira (Nana Visitor) and O’Brien (Colm Meaney) venture to a Cardassian world when the Bajoran major receives word that a resistance hero is being held there….

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) – Battle Lines, and The Storyteller

Station log: stardate unknown Written by Richard Danus and Evan Carlos Somers from a story by Hilary J. Bader, this episode first aired on 25 April, 1993. It follows Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks), Major Kira (Nana Visitor) and Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) as they give the Bajoran spiritual leader, Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola) a look…

City of God (2002) – Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund

City of God, based on a true story is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Taxi Driver. Brutally violent, jarring in its depictions, and beautifully made the film is a one of a kind experience that takes us into the slums just outside of…

Fake Blood (2017) – Rob Grant

Whether Canadian film-makers Rob Grant and Mike Kovac movie is fact or fiction isn’t the point of their latest cinematic effort. What is important is the film’s subject matter, and the commentary it makes on film, violence in cinema and the responsibility of the film-makers. Opening Friday at the Carlton here in Toronto, Fake Blood,…

War of the Worlds: The Complete Series

Back in the late 1980s, I was first discovering classic science fiction film and was completely taken in by George Pal’s original War of the Worlds film from 1953. I was in my late teens, and as soon as I heard that there was a new series coming along picking up decades after the original…