Films That Matter
Star Pick with William Ragsdale
I was fortunate to be able to interview actor William Ragsdale on April 24th 2022, at the Cornwall and Area Pop Event (or CAPE). A most entertaining event each and every year, one of the highlights was a reunion of Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse – two of the stars of Tom Holland’s horror cult classic Fright Night (you can find their recollections of the film, as well as Ms. Bearse’s Star Pick interview here on Filmizon.com). It is also worth noting that Ragsdale returned for Fright Night’s sequel, and has continued working ever since... recently having a memorable three year stint on the excellent series Justified... while speaking of horror, he had a cool cameo in 2023's Renfield – back in the vampire realm once more. When our conversation turned to his favourite film, it did not take him long to highlight a horror classic – 1980's The Changeling, starring George C. Scott. This is what he had to say: “I love that movie [The Changeling]. When it came out I thought it was brilliant. It had strong performances from George C. Scott and Melvyn Douglas. For me, the shock stuff is not so great, I really love the ambience and how things are created... it is almost like how Guillermo del Toro builds his atmosphere. I really like feeling like this is a place I’m going into and hanging out. And, of course, that movie was all about that. If the setting is correct, I enjoy it – and The Changeling just had it.” It is also worth noting that he gave a shout-out to The Exorcist earlier in the interview as well.
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Star Pick with Jacques Demers
Demers Enjoyed the Box of ChocolatesForrest GumpDecember 17, 2014Sen. Jacques Demers, the former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens who led the team to its last Stanley Cup in 1993 and Habs analyst on RDS, was another one of the roasters at the recent Children's Treatment Centre roast of Guy Lauzon. The man spoke very highly of the worthwhile cause and earlier in the evening he spoke to me of his two favourite movies, the first of which will be discussed today.
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Star Pick with Chris 'Knuckles' Nilan
Patton Four Star MoviePattonDecember 17, 2014Two weekends ago, Agape held their annual charity boxing event at Nav Can. This year, their invited celebrity was none other than former NHL heavyweight Chris ‘Knuckles’ Nilan, who supported the event in order to raise money to help battle hunger. The Boston Massachusetts native, who played for such teams as the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and for most of his career, the Montreal Canadiens (winning his only Stanley Cup with the team in 1986), is fondly remembered for holding numerous records that landed him in the sin-bin and being one of only nine players to ever reach more than 3000 penalty minutes.
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Star Pick with Sharon Osbourne
Lawrence of Arabia an Epic MasterpieceLawrence of ArabiaDecember 17, 2014Last week, Sharon Osbourne, the media personality known for her reality television show The Osbournes (along with rock star husband Ozzy and their children), as well as being a judge on America’s Got Talent and more recently, one of the co-hosts of the daytime series The Talk, was gracious enough to sit down with me for a few minutes to talk film. It did not take Mrs. Osbourne long to single out her favourite – the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. She was captivated by the superb scenery and the brilliant cinematography of legendary director David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago), which made this movie and its imagery unforgettable.
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Star Pick with Jesse Winchester
Good Will for This Classic 90’s MovieGood Will HuntingDecember 17, 2014The National Hockey League season is now underway and for those who are fans of the sport, this is an exciting time of year. I was lucky enough to golf with Jesse Winchester this year, and though it was a somewhat rainy afternoon, it was still an excellent day. The Long Sault native is making his way back to our neck of the woods, as his team, the Colorado Avalanche, are playing in Ottawa on Thursday and in Montreal on Saturday – so I thought it would be a good time to visit this NHLer’s favourite movie – Good Will Hunting.
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Star Pick with Joel O'Keeffe
Die Hard with AirbourneDie HardDecember 17, 2014I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of interesting and famous people in my life. One such person is rock star Joel O’Keeffe, the lead guitarist and singer of the Australian hard rock and roll band Airbourne, whose song Live It Up went number one in Canada this year (the first of their career in any country). I have been able to spend quite some time with the guys from Airbourne, and as you can probably guess, it did not take long for the conversation to turn to movies. Joel’s favourite film is the legendary action flick Die Hard, which he calls "the greatest film ever!!" He also added that, "Die Hard literally set the benchmark and wrote the book for the ‘One Man vs. heaps of Terrorists’ blockbuster action flick".
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Star Pick with Billy Gibbons
Casablanca on TopCasablancaDecember 17, 2014We are now in the middle of the awards season and are closing in on the holy grail of film festivities: the Academy Awards, or as we all like to call him – Oscar. This month, I will be reviewing four motion pictures that have won at least one of the major prizes of either best director, actor, actress or picture.
