Tag: Frankenstein

March 2, 2026

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: I am a Game of Thrones fan, and I have read all of the George R R Martin books on the primary series. I anxiously await his version of the final seasons with Winds of Winter, which has allegedly been completed this year, and the one follow on story A Dream of Spring which is to come. I have been less enthused by the Targaryen prequel House of the Dragon series, and I have not read those books. I had heard about this series to be premiered on HBO, and I decided to read the book before watching the series. I am glad that I did. I can say immediately that the six-part series does not cover the entirety of the book, but rather about half of it. It is set one-hundred years before the activities in Game of Thrones. The story focuses on an ordinary hedge knight, a knight that is not tied to any particular house, and wanders around as a free agent for hire. The knight is named Dunk, or Duncan the Tall, he is played by Peter Claffey. Dunk is a very tall young man, and built solidly. He was a squire to another roaming hedge knight, named Ser Arlan of Pennytree, who passes away in the first frames of episode one. Dunk was knighted before the old man passed away. Dunk buries his master, and sets off with horses and a sword. In short order he comes upon a young bald child who is working in an inn. His name is Egg, and played by Dexter Sol Ansell. The story carries on with a focal point being a jousting tournament in a nearby town.

Dunk “the Lunk” as he calls himself is naive about the world, and his part in it, but he has been taught good lessons growing up. His takes his Knight’s pledges to heart like “defending the innocent” and being honest and true. I see quite a bit of Brienne of Tarth in him, from his large size, but also his commitment to doing things right, and seeing them through. Egg is a young smart lad, who wants to be useful in assisting Dunk as a squire but he is also a source of good information. He knows things, knows people and houses, and he can make things better for Dunk. Overall, the story is a bit slow, and that is reflected in the book too. Of course we can’t just see Dunk as an ordinary knight plodding through towns and farms and gain any insight into the larger houses and issues at play in Westeros for the time. So things happen which are fortunate for Dunk, and can be a surprise to the viewer. In George R R Martin’s world, it is never too wise to become too attached to any one character. He likes surprises and he likes to change direction. This happens here too. This story will succeed if you like Dunk and you like Dunk and Egg together. I do. I think that both do admirable jobs in showing their relationship as it grows and their affinity for one another. They are both young and naive in the world and take for granted a number of things. There is still more to come in the book that hasn’t been shown yet. This story doesn’t have the depth or breadth of Game of Thrones with all the houses and so many stories on so many fronts. This is simpler in scope which is welcome. Westeros has already been well explained, and so a more narrow focus can still tell a good story about two seemingly inconsequential characters, who according to a random woman soothsayer will be more important than expected. I will continue to watch and look forward to a Season 2.

Hamnet and Frankenstein: I saw for a second time both Hamnet and Frankenstein this weekend. I can say that the second viewing re-affirmed my feelings about both films. I still maintain that Hamnet is the best film of the year. I simply love this film, and the places where it goes. It is a love story, both romantic love but also love for children and family. It is about grief, and dealing with loss. It also focuses on an absent father who uses his tremendous gifts to pay tribute to his son, with a wife who watches on and can see his contribution. It moves me, from the music to the performances where Jesse Buckley shows a range of emotion which will earn her the Best Actress Oscar award. I am so very glad that I saw this again with people who had not seen it at all, and relied on me for a movie recommendation. I will admit that their immediate first reaction was “well that was different”. I will also say that the child actors were all excellent, and contributed well to the overall feel of the film.

Frankenstein: I saw this again with someone who had not previously seen it. Her reaction was a question to me about “did you like this?”. The answer is that I didn’t and don’t think that this was a Best Picture nominee. I think that the awards for Production, Costumes, Make Up, Cinematography are all well warranted as this is beautifully made and shot. Del Toro has a certain vibe and feel through his films. I find that this one more closely resembles his earlier film Crimson Peak with Jessica Chastain. He has a good cast, with very busy Oscar Isaac playing Victor Frankenstein, who we learn is the real monster. But my assessment remains the same as earlier reviewed. It is a long film and it is dark. But it is a dark tale. Funny that a doctor who finds a way to cheat death doesn’t give his creation the desired ability to, in fact, die which causes him endless torment. Interestingly, Jesse Buckley from Hamnet is not promoting her new movie The Bride which is a Frankenstein story set in the 1930s.

November 24th, 2025

Blue Moon: Ethan Hawke stars in this movie directed by Richard Linklater. He plays Lorenz Hart in 1943 who was a very talented musical lyricist, who worked alongside the more famous Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame). Hart worked with Rodgers for over 20 years, having met him in 1919 until Hart’s death in 1943.

The film opens with the death of Hart, drunk on the streets of New York and dying of exposure. He was an alcoholic and suffered from depression. Going back in time, the movie then goes to opening night of Oklahoma! which Rodgers worked with Oscar Hammerstein. Hart goes to Sardi’s bar/restaurant, a New York institution, and chats up the bartender, a piano player and another patron about this lovely young woman that he has met. Later on, Rodgers arrives, played by the excellent Andrew Scott, who makes time for Hart, but who can be seen to be increasingly uncomfortable in engaging further with him. Rodgers found Hart to be too unreliable with his drinking and attendance in working sessions, but still recognized the brilliance of the man with the words and ideas in songs. Songs which they worked on include “Blue Moon”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, and “My Funny Valentine” among many.

The film is really almost a one-man show for Hawke. In an interview he described that his good friend and director Linklater had challenged him with this role, and said that he didn’t want to see any of the typical Hawke mannerisms. If he saw any, he would stop and do it again. Hart was a short balding man at around 5 feet tall. Hawke is 5’10” and so they had to do some camera tricks to make him this short. It was noticed but done well. Hawke captures an annoying, talkative, know-it-all person who was just sleighted by his collaborator in creating a memorable work without him. It is a divorce in a way. To Rodgers’ face, Hart gushes about Oklahoma, but behind his back and with others he condemns the piece as not reflecting the midwest or current values of the day (wartime USA). Hart rambles on about the young woman, who he talks about his love for her (despite those in New York scene thinking that he was actually gay) but one wonders whether she feels as he does in return. She arrives and we see how it plays out. Despite being an alcoholic, we see that Hart didn’t have a great deal of fortitude to keep the drink from running his life. It seems the part of him that made him an excellent lyricist also made him an insufferable human being. Having seen this past summer the most excellent play Good Night Oscar about an appearance by another addicted and talented pianist Oscar Levant, I could see a number of similarities between the two. In the end I think that Hawke was excellent here and it should garner a Best Actor nomination. The movie was only 1:40 long, and yet at times as an audience I felt like Rodgers in that we were spending more time than I wanted with this odd, talented, strange man. I am glad that I saw it.

Frankenstein: This is the new Guillermo Del Toro interpretation film recently released both in theatres and on Netflix. It was at TIFF this past September. It stars Oscar Isaac as the scientist Victor Frankenstein. I will preface my comments to state that I do not profess to be a Frankenstein expert in any way. I have never read the Mary Shelley book, but back in 1994 I did see the version of her story on film with Robert De Niro playing the monster and Kenneth Branaugh as Victor. I truly do not remember it. To be fair, this is 31 years ago! So this review is not going to be a comparison with that film, nor a detailed review of how this film diverges from the original material. This movie will stand on its own.

Del Toro has a certain style of film, and he tells certain stories. There is a Making Of documentary on Netflix as well which is a good overview of the filming process and his creative mind. Del Toro speaks about himself and stories that shaped him, and Frankenstein as well as Pinnochio were two stories that impacted him the most. Not surprisingly these are his last two movies, and both have been on Netflix. But both stories explore the relationship with fathers and sons, along with creators and their creations. Gipetto wanted a son and created one. Victor wanted to extend life or cheat death and created his monster. Del Toro wants to make films about people “who are full of villainy”. That is an interesting lens.

This is filmed beautifully, and once again in Toronto for much of it, in the studios on Kipling and they made and filmed the ship on the Docks area near the waterfront. The sets are detailed and the costuming is excellent. It is a period piece with it separated into three Acts, with the Victor story, the Monster story and then the final Act with them back together. Early on we see Victor’s young life with an overbearing father Leopold, played by Charles Dance from Game of Thrones fame, who berates the young Victor and treats his mother horribly. Victor becomes obsessed with making a mark on the world and science. The acting is good with Isaac, but add in Dance, Christoph Walz as the father of the fiance (played by Mia Goth) to Victor’s brother named William. Jacob Elordi plays the monster, and he has initially a very physical role and then he obtains more vocabulary to speak on his own behalf. The monster has abilities that simply belie explanation from a biological perspective. So on that front, this takes away from overall believability. I was also surprised that Victor in interacting with his creation, decides to treat the monster horribly, berating him for his lack of language skills. He shows no kindness, no joy in completing his lifetime ambition, and this perceived requirement for perfection before showing the world the achievement. So then the monster then becomes more monsterous, and begs the question about nature versus nurture.

Overall this was competent, and shows the love of the material by Del Toro. The movie byline is that “Only Monsters Play God”. There is a desire to create sympathy for the monster with mixed results. The final message reflects onto those who live in miserable cirsumstances and have no real way to escape from it. So where does it fall in comparing with other more recent horror/thriller movies? Is it better than Nosferatu which I would say that it is the closest comparison? I think that they are both decent efforts. This is not a Best Picture nomination for me. I don’t see acting honours in here either. As a movie available on Netflix, it is worthy of an evening to watch a talented director show one of his favourite stories.

Black Mirror: It was recommended to me that I check out some episodes of this series on Netflix. It was a British series at first from back in 2011, but then Netflix got involved in five further seasons from 2016 until 2025. It was recommended to me that there were a few episodes to start me out and see if I liked it. The first one was in this latest season (series 7) and the episode entitled Eulogy with Paul Giamatti. Think of this series like a modern day Twilight Zone with a more technological bent. There is a theme from the few episodes that I have seen which utilizes a technology that will interact directly with our minds and memories.

In Eulogy, Giammati plays Phillip who is a bitter, angry older man who lives on his own. He receives a random phone call with a name that was initially not familiar, and then he recognizes as a former girlfriend. It turns out that she has passed away. He is asked by the mysterious voice whether he has any memories or something that he would like to add to the memorial/wake proceedings. It can be pictures or memories, and to assist Phillip is offered to put on a small metal disk on his temple to explore the memories. Music can help. Pictures help as he can be brought back into those pictures (literally) and talk about that moment in time. What begins as a cursory review for Phillip then digs deeper and we realize that he knows this person Carol more than casually. It was a serious relationship. We come to realize that this was likely the most significant relationship in Phillip’s life and that there are lessons still to be learned. It is so very well done, and I would recommend this to anyone, especially older people, who have a past which covers relationships and lost loves and crossroads where paths were taken and others were not. We can see that the same set of circumstances viewed with both parties in mind, and their attitudes can shape things very differently.

I was then told that if I liked that, which I very much did, that I should watch an early episode in season 1, The Entire History of You and also a dating episode from Season 4 called Hang the DJ. Both were very thought provoking, and shows in a critical aspect of our lives (our relationships) how technology can play a part, in both a positive way, but also negatively. Imagine upon first meeting someone that you could press a button on a machine, and it would tell you the length of that relationship in hours, days, or years. Intriguing. Both are worthy of your time.

Then I was told, if I liked the original Star Trek with William Shatner to check out from Season 4, episode 1 USS Callister with Jesse Plemons and Cristin Milioti, from Penguin fame. Then in Season 7, there is a follow up episode (Season 7, episode 6) entitled USS Callister: Into Infinity where I will say that Cristin Milioti really shines. Together this could be a feature film. There is star power here in the acting but it is also a compelling story.

The “real world” has a new immersive video game, using the metal disk technology on the temple, where game players can enter a Star Trek-like world. The players enter this RPG (role playing game) and create an online persona. This digital version of themselves moves around that world and interacts with others. If you are a gamer, you know very much what I am talking about. These episodes explore what happens when these lines are blurred, and where a nefarious character with questionable scruples decides to manipulate others without their consent. I will leave it at that, because the result is a thrilling and fascinating exploration into the issues that are raised. I am very pleased that I was introduced to this series, and I will continue to review more episodes. I have been told that it can be hit or miss, but mostly quality programming. Check it out.