w
Nov 1st - 7th Downloads
& DVDs
 

  • Star Trek: Beyond:

    This story takes place in year three of the Starship Enterprise’s five year mission to boldly go where no one has gone before. It begins with a plea for Kirk (Chris Pine) to help save a landing party on a remote planet that had previously been unexplored. Once the mission is in flight, it results in the near-destruction of the Enterprise, a diabolical race of aliens bent on destroying humanity, and a series of events in which we are not certain just who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. This was Anton Yelchin’s final appearance as Chekhov before his death in a freak car accident, and the closing credits read “For Anton.” Zachary Quinto is back as Mr. Spock, and Karl Urban returns (reluctantly) as Dr. McCoy. Both he and actor Quinto want to move on to other projects, but are restricted by contract to carry on for one more adventure on The Enterprise. Rated 14A.

     

  • Anthropoid:

    This is an exceptional film that stayed in theatres only a week or two, but which deserved far better. It is based on the actual events during WWII in which expatriate Czech special forces conspired to assassinate Hitler’s third in command, SS General Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich led the occupying forces in Czechoslovakia, and was the author of the so-called “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem,” in which he set in motion those events to exterminate the entire race in The Holocaust. Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan are the Czech operatives who leave Britain, where the Czech government is in exile, to parachute into their former homeland. Things don’t go terribly well for them right off the bat, and there are none of the usual heroic plot devices present. The events are a matter of history, and their portrayal here is gripping and courageous. Rated 14A.

  • Christmas Eve:

    Patrick Stewart leads a mediocre cast in a predictable Holiday movie that makes the point that if you really want to get to know somebody, try spending the night with then in a stalled elevator. That’s what happens here, with the added drama around the fact that it’s Christmas Eve, and a half-dozen New Yorkers are stranded for who-knows-how-long in a high-rise elevator. Most of what happens you can see coming 10 stories away, with standard, stereotype characters reciting standard, stereotypical lines. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but it really is not. This is an interesting diversion with some interesting faces, and some interesting situations. Not a great film, but one that is adequate in many ways. Gary Cole, Cheryl Hines, and John Heder also star. Rated 14A.

  • Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003):

    An exercise in many excesses, this Quentin Tarentino pair of bookends are draped in mystery, in violence, and in some dreadful imagery, beginning with "The Bride" (Uma Thurman) awakening from a four-year coma, ready to go on a  hunt for revenge for those who nearly took her life, and who ended the life of her unborn child, and moving to a scene in Vol. 2 where she is buried alive in a chilling depiction, especially for anyone who is claustrophobic. Created as an homage to Asian Kung-fu movies, Tarentino uses many effects found in such films, and filled the role of producer, writer, and director on each of these  lengthy projects. David Carradine is the "Bill" of the title, and Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox, and Michael Madsen also star.  Rated 18A. 
Insomnia (2002):

Excellent performances by Robin Williams and Al Pacino here with Pacino as  police detective Will Dormer, suffering from the sleep deprivation of the title.  Dormer and his partner are sent to an Alaskan town in the summertime where the sun never sets, to investigate a murder. Will accidentally kills his partner, and then covers the accident up with what becomes criminal behaviour.  Hilary Swank co-stars as Ellie Burr, a detective conducting her own investigation, and Robin Williams offers up a straight dramatic turn with no comic mugging.  Pacino is outstanding here, as is the entire cast, in this shot-in-BC movie that offers some intriguing twists.  Rated 14A.