Greed (1924) – Erich von Stroheim

  The Great Movies – 100 Year of Film book brings me the first drama title to take a look at. Directed by Erich von Stroheim and based on the novel, McTeague by Frank Norris, Greed is a massive story, that when originally put together by Stroheim for a screening, ran for nine and a half hours!!…

The White Queen (2013)

  Today, Anchor Bay Canada releases Philippa Gregory’s lavish and sumptuous interpretation of the War of the Roses comes to life in this Starz/BBC co-production that is a gorgeous rendering of visuals, story and actors. Based on a trio of novels, The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker’s Daughter, the ten episode miniseries,…

Toronto After Dark: Evil Feed (2013) – Kimani Ray Smith

  Gory Night continued last night with the second extreme feature, following the coming-of-age, serial-killer is my brother film, Found, with Evil Feed. The film centers on a Chinese restaurant that kidnaps martial artists, forces them to fight in a cage match, and the loser, properly tenderized by the beating, is served up as dinner to…

Toronto After Dark Spotlight – The Dirties (2013) – Matthew Johnson

  The Toronto After Dark Film Festival has been known for showing edgy, darker films, controversial films… None could possibly be more so than this film from Director Matthew Johnson, as it takes on the subject of bullying culminating in a school shooting. That right there tells you it’s not going to be an easy…

Da Vinci’s Demons Season 1 – Blu-Ray

  Anchor Bay Canada was kind enough to send me a copy of the first season of Da Vinci’s Demons, which was released on September 3. I was a little behind, even with our peripheral coverage of TIFF. But no sooner did I start this series when I was completely hooked. From David S. Goyer,…

TIFF- Short Cuts Canada Programme 3

  Screening today at the Lightbox at 10pm and tomorrow at 2:45pm is the next installment of Shorts for this year’s TIFF. The first two programmes have been filled with delightful surprises and some wonderful pieces and this collection is no different featuring a variety of pieces that are stunningly beautiful to watch. We Wanted…

The Killer (1989) – John Woo

An assassin with a conscience, a cop who doesn’t care about collateral damage and a lounge singer suffering from blindness due to being caught in a crossfire. These three characters are the center of this entry on the 101 Action Movies list, and John Woo’s first appearance on it. Chow Yun-Fat plays Ah Jong, an…

Robocop (1987) – Paul Verhoeven

Yet another film I grew up with has found its way onto the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list. With it’s over the top violence and gore, Robocop is like a larger than life comic-book, that has done nothing but get better with age. Verhoeven pushes Detroit police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) past the breaking point, as he…

Rollerball (1975) – Norman Jewison

James Caan mumbles his way through this entry on the 101 Action Movies list under Norman Jewison’s guidance working from a script by William Harrison (based on his own short story). In a dystopian future when corporations have replaced governments (so you know, sometime around now), the game of rollerball is the only release for…