I was shocked (and delighted because it meant I could watch them all again) that I hadn’t written about John Wick before. I had written up the second film but for some reason hadn’t done the other three. So that means I could buckle up and dive into this amazing world where assassins thrive, have…
Tag: willem dafoe
Nosferatu (2024) – Robert Eggers
Robert Eggers writes and directs the latest iteration of Nosferatu, following in the footsteps of the iconic 1922 silent film directed by F. W. Murnau, and the 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre from Werner Herzog. As the story goes, the 1922 film blatantly ripped off Dracula, and delivered some of the most iconic horror imagery committed…
TIFF24: Saturday Night dr. Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman delivers her sharpest, most well-crafted film today with Saturday Night, a look at that fateful night on 11 October, 1975 when the world was introduced to the Not Quite Ready For Prime Time Players with NBC’s Saturday Night. Lorne Micheals (Gabriel LaBelle) is working to juggle a live to air sketch show that…
Mississippi Burning (1988) – Alan Parker
Mississippi Burning was relevant when it was made in the late 80s (it was relevant when I watched it nine years ago and wrote about it then), and sadly, here in 2024, it’s still relevant, because racism still seems to be way too rampant. The Oscar-winning film (Cinematography) has a stellar cast and is based…
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) – Jon Watts
Tom Holland returns for a third outing as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in what is arguably the best of the Marvel movies. A film that delivers emotional payoffs and character arcs from not only the previous films in this iteration of Spidey, but the two other big-budget live-action. series helmed by Sony before this. Picking up right…
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) – Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson transposes his quirky family dramas and characters, and that wonderful eye for details into an undersea adventure that pays homage to, and pokes fun at, the ocean adventure films that rose to popularity with the works of Jacques Cousteau. Bill Murray stars as the titular Steve Zissou, a Cousteau wannabe who, aboard his…
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) – Wes Anderson
I love the quirkiness of Wes Anderson films, and that was why he was such a perfect match for Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and making it a stop-motion film was the only choice for Anderson’s interpretation. Mister Fox (aptly voiced by George Clooney) is persuaded by Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) to give up his…
Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, Murder on the Orient Express has its good and bad points. I love Branagh’s attention to detail in bringing the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, to life. Unfortunately, that same attention isn’t given to the supporting cast that brings to life the trouble Poirot finds himself embroiled in….
To Live and Die In L.A. (1985) – William Friedkin
I don’t know how it happens, but between the watching and the re-watching, I constantly forget how awesome To Live and Die In L.A. is. I know it’s good, I love this movie, but I seem to be consistently stunned every time I settle in for this one. Amazingly I didn’t see this film upon…
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – Wes Anderson
The final title in The Directory, marking the end of my time with DK Canada’s exceptional The Movie Book is this fun, quirky film from writer/director Wes Anderson and starring Ralph Fiennes. Anderson packs the film with his favourite actors as he has done throughout his films. Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody,…
The Mind Reels 