Anthony Horowitz delivers another fast-paced 007 spy thriller with some material written by the series creator Ian Fleming. Set just before the events of the novel, Casino Royale, the story follows James Bond as he gets his two assigned kills to get his Double-O number, and throws him into a case that helps shape the…
Tag: world war ii
Shutter Island (2010) – Martin Scorsese
I remember when Shutter Island hit the cinemas, and then hit home video, everyone was raving about it. When I finally had a chance to watch it, I had the mystery figured out pretty quickly, though I will say it was wonderfully executed. Scorsese delivers a gorgeous looking film, and makes great use of visual…
The New Doctor Who Adventures – Timewyrm: Exodus (1991) – Terrance Dicks
The second novel in the New Doctor Who Adventures continues the Seventh Doctor and Ace’s story, in fact this one continues the Timewyrn story that began in Genesis. The novel opens with the Doctor and Ace arriving in England in 1951, following the events of World War II. Unfortunately, someone or something has changed the…
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) – Guy Ritchie
While there isn’t much to describe in terms of character arcs, Guy Ritchie’s latest, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a couple of things going for it. It’s based on a recently declassified (2016) true event of World War II, it has an enjoyable cast, and it’s always fun to see Nazis get punched, and…
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (2023) – Tom Hanks
Somehow this one got by me, but I was delighted to dig into it, as I quite enjoyed Hanks short story collection, Uncommon Type. For his first novel, Hanks delivers a tale that takes us behind the scenes of a big superhero movie and walks us through all the steps of its production, exploring the…
The Lives of Lee Miller (1985) – Anthony Penrose
As I mentioned in my review of the film, Lee, I was gobsmacked to learn the story of Lee Miller, specifically her work as a war correspondent during World War II. How had I never heard of her? As I came out of the screening I put The Lives of Lee Miller on hold at…
TIFF ’23: Lee
Before this morning, I had a broad, very generalized knowledge of who Lee Miller was. Now, thanks to this fantastic biopic directed by Ellen Kuras, based on The Lives of Lee Miller by Anthony Penrose and a powerhouse performance (would we expect anything less?) from Kate Winslet as Lee I find my imagination fired, and…
TIFF ’23: The Boy and the Heron
If anyone has ever said that animation isn’t an art form, they’ve never seen a Hayao Miyazaki film. Beloved by fans and critics alike, his films take viewers on journeys through strange lands populated with unusual characters and they always have an emotional core that connects to the audience. And you know you’re watching it…
Shadow in the Cloud (2020) – Roseanne Liang
Shadow in the Cloud starring Chloe Grace Moretz is a wonderfully over-the-top nod to female pilots in World War II as well as nods to The Twilight Zone (specifically ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet’), John Carpenter (the film’s score feels like Carpenter through and through) and allows Moretz to get her Ripley on. Boarding a B-17…
Empire of the Sun (1987) – Steven Spielberg
Spielberg’s next project was an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s memoir of his time as a boy growing up in Japanese occupied China during World War II. Christian Bale, in one of his earliest roles, plays young Jamie Graham, an arrogant young English boy who is fascinated by planes, and whose life is upended in the…
The Mind Reels 