It was seven years after The Shining before Stanley Kubrick released his next film. Even given that Full Metal Jacket was two years in the making, that still leaves a long gap, perhaps indicating the difficulty he had in both finding the right subject and securing financing, even though the King adaptation had been reasonably […]
While his stories have remained popular for 80 years, H.P. Lovecraft’s work presents difficulties to filmmakers who try to translate his work into movies.
It’s always tough to be original, but I was made nervous last year as I started on my documentary about Winnipeg movie theatres when I learned that local writer Russ Gourluck was working on a book about Manitoba movie theatres called Silver Screens On the Prairie. Russ has written a number of books on local […]
Well, another year has passed and I’m still here. I’m sometimes surprised that I manage to keep up a regular schedule on this blog, adding at least one post a week, sometimes more. Although I still don’t get much feedback on my posts, my readership seems to have grown slowly but steadily over the past […]
The first time I saw Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s third novel, The Shining, when it was released in 1980, I lined up for an hour to get into the Colony Theatre on opening night. Just as my friend and I were reaching the door, an usher came out counting heads; she dropped her […]
Pardon me for a moment while I put on my old fogey hat (once again!). This past week, I saw two old ’50s movies – one, a prestige studio production screened digitally on a big multiplex screen; the other a modest studio B production shown from a 35mm print on the smaller Cinematheque screen. And […]
In light of my defense of Paul W.S. Anderson a couple of weeks ago (in the context of my disappointment with Resident Evil: Retribution), I was interested to come across Armond White’s joint review of Retribution and Paul Thomas Anderson’s much-lauded The Master. White is one of the most interesting critics in the U.S. today, […]
I recently came across a comment (can’t recall where) that it’s wrong to binge on TV series now that we can get whole seasons on disk. The art form is designed to be watched and appreciated in installments and watching many episodes back to back prevents absorbing each one individually. I do see the point, […]
At the risk of losing credibility, I have to say that I was disappointed by Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil: Retribution, which opened theatrically today. Anderson is a frustrating figure because he’s capable of excellent genre filmmaking, but also regularly shackles himself to video-game-based projects. This began immediately after he left England in the mid-’90s […]
I’m not sure what I should blame it on – the enervating effects of a long hot summer, the stresses of finishing my documentary, financial worries, early onset dementia – but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to drag myself out to a movie theatre these days, and for some reason when I do go, I […]