A flawed character struggles to unravel the threads of a pivotal event, though hobbled by some impediment – amnesia, maybe, or being stranded in a foreign country where everyone speaks an unfamiliar language. It’s a dramatic device of my favourite genre, but suspense thrillers are few and far between these days. In The Girl on …
The first volume of Lewisohn’s trilogy The Beatles: All These Years. The main drawback is that at only about 800 pages, it’s over too soon.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when it comes to Pride and Prejudice, once is not enough. For acolytes, Jane Austen’s best-selling novel of the early 19th century invites reading again and again – and again. The same applies to the miniseries produced by BBC in 1995 and available on DVD at Whitehorse Public Library. …
The mayor of Chicago is mad as a hatter, but the trains run on time. Having been mayor for a couple of decades, Tom Kane is the ultimate power player; he has a lot to say about which councillors get elected and he wields that power like a mace to get them on board with …
It was the short, sharp shock heard round the world – eventually. But in the world of Topsy-Turvy, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado is being staged for the very first time, and there’s a lot at stake. Before Topsy-Turvy, released in 1999 and available on DVD at Whitehorse Public Library, Mike Leigh was a respected …
“The story is ridiculous – ludicrous.” That’s director John McTiernan blithely dismissing the plot of one of the most successful thrillers of the past 30 years. Reservations about the plot aside, McTiernan had something particular in mind for this movie: it should be a joyful thrill ride. The result was Die Hard, and it’s a …
Movie lovers have a chance this weekend to experience a rare venue for viewing in the north – a pop-up drive-in movie night is set for October 1 at The Cut Off Restaurant and Pub parking lot. The latest creative entry in the fine Yukon tradition of making our own fun, the event is the …
In 1918, a young American soldier emerged from the ruins of a military kennel with a frantic, famished German Shepherd and her five newborn pups. Their survival on the battlefield in France was almost miraculous; Lee Duncan, their saviour, kept two of the puppies and named them after dolls worn as lucky talismans – Nanette …
Many beloved Christmas films had inauspicious debuts. It’s a Wonderful Life lost money for the studio when it was released in 1946, but television viewings turned it into a bona fide classic 30 years after its release. Similarly, Love Actually has unexpectedly become a Christmas staple in some quarters. Admittedly, I belong in that group, …
No gadgets, guns or trophy girl in sight – John le Carré’s spy universe is stripped of glamour, but all the more fascinating for his intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the inner circle that fought for nebulous ground in the Cold War. The film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, released in 2011 and available …
Winter is coming. You might say that’s our motto above the 60th parallel, but they’re also words to live by in Winterfell, the northernmost kingdom of imaginary Westeros. The Game of Thrones saga has unexpectedly surpassed cult status, but its mythology may have special appeal for northerners and not just for its keen sense of …
Living on a knife’s edge isn’t as exciting as it sounds. It can actually be downright tedious, and that’s what Wendy and Lucy captures — the daily grind of staying upright in a treacherous situation. On the way to Alaska with her dog Lucy, Wendy’s car breaks down and it becomes apparent that this trip …
Life isn’t fair. Jobs, Wozniak, Gates, Zuckerberg, and Swartz were, or are, all geniuses on the frontlines of the digital revolution, but only one of them met with the wrath of the American justice system. Aaron Swartz didn’t aspire to be a zillionaire; he was a passionate advocate for keeping knowledge free and accessible on …
Walt Disney’s magic touch on celluloid created indelible memories for many moviegoers, but it induced tears of rage in P.L. Travers (born Helen Goff) at the Hollywood premiere of Mary Poppins in 1964. At least that’s what she said. Saving Mr. Banks, released in 2014 and available at the Whitehorse Public Library, revolves around the …
An article that appeared in the Washington Post just before Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States, about a butler who had served over 30 years in the White House, inspired screenwriter Danny Strong to write a historical epic viewed from that perspective. The screenplay that resulted was fi lmed as Lee Daniels’ …
Food is a hardworking component of any television or film crew, serving as prop, symbol, characterization, and plot point for numerous scripts. Jerry Seinfeld has a cupboard full of cereal, and pizza-delivery on speed-dial, and when Seinfeld based an entire episode around waiting in line at a Chinese restaurant, it spurred a minor revolution in …
Imagine being able to pick out a child from an assortment of infants and toddlers, as easily as choosing a puppy from a litter or candy from a dish. You might even take two. It sounds like the plot of a fanciful children’s book, but that’s what people could do at certain convents in Ireland …
They did impossible things because they were too young to know they couldn’t, and in the late 18th century nothing seemed more unlikely than convincing the powerbrokers of England to abandon the slave trade. Amazing Grace, a British-American production released in 2007 and available on DVD at the Whitehorse Public Library, is a dramatic account …
“We were praying and killing each other at the same time.” — A German soldier reflecting on D-Day Once peace is waged what do we remember about the battlefields? Tales of war can become like the whispering game after a few generations have passed, apart from the “official versions” of the truth. But World War …
One road in, one road out — that’s Broadchurch, a picturesque town on the Dorset coast of Britain. So when 11-year-old Danny Latimer is found murdered on the shore, the evidence indicates that the killer is a local, hiding in plain sight. Danny’s parents and his teenage sister Chloe prepare a list of suspects that …
There’s at least one struggling musician who doesn’t need Bob Dylan to tell him failure is no success at all. Llewyn Davis is in Greenwich Village in February 1961, with a guitar, a repertoire of traditional folk songs, and a fiercely-held ‘life of an artist’ set of ideals.He also recorded an album that hasn’t sold …
He wakes up as one person and goes to bed as someone else completely; that’s what Bob Dylan said about himself in a long-ago interview. I’m Not There, released in 2007 and available on DVD at the Whitehorse Public Library, is a fittingly non-linear journey “inspired” by some of those lives, and the music Dylan …
The FBI hunt for slippery John Dillinger was the match of the century. He was the bureau’s first public enemy number one during the crime wave of the 1930s. You won’t find out what makes John Dillinger tick in Public Enemies, released in 2009 and available on DVD at the Whitehorse Public Library. Instead, director …
It might have been on John Lennon’s mind when he wrote “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (so speculates Beatles biographer Bob Spitz). It was directed by a cast member of Beyond the Fringe, a popular satirical revue from the early 1960s, and sitar guru Ravi Shankar composed the score. With that kind of 1960s pedigree, …
Sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re related. That’s the reality for Maggie and Rose Feller, the central characters in the 2005 film In Her Shoes, a comedy-drama available on DVD at Whitehorse Public Library. Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is a freewheeling party girl who doesn’t seem to ha ve much on her mind except men and clothes …
How do you relate to someone after you discover they’ve committed monstrous acts? The generation born in Germany after World War II – who Berthold Brecht called “those who came after” (Nachgeborenen) – faced that question every day. The 2008 German-American film The Reader, available on DVD at Whitehorse Public Library, explores the effect of …
Somewhere in England, students congregate daily on the pastoral grounds of the Hailsham boarding school watching soccer, gossiping, and daydreaming about the future. They playfully crowd around a teacher as she approaches the entrance, but she shrinks from their contact and scurries inside. The teacher’s reaction is a common one, although mystifying to the students. …
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There’s an emotional charge watching a biographical drama and knowing where the road a character is on will take him. But the triangle at the heart of the 2009 film Nowhere Boy – with a young John Lennon, his mother Julia, and his Aunt Mimi – doesn’t need to rely on Lennon’s future fame as …
