A Law Unto Themselves

A wonderful feel-good story, Swedish director Davis F. Sandberg, now known for his 2016 full length feature debut Lights Out and the currently-in-theatres horror prequel Annabelle: Creation, started as an animator and documentary/short filmmaker. In a dangerous amount of debt back in 2013, he wrote and directed a short film titled, perhaps you’ve guessed it, Lights Out. Released at the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge Film Festival, it made it to the finals, and won Sandberg the Best Director award. Then, the power of the Internet kicked in, and Lights Out shot from thousands of views to millions – and Hollywood higher ups came scrambling. The man, formerly in financial difficulties, has now become a name to watch in this recent renaissance of the horror genre out of Tinseltown.

It’s funny how the brain works. As I sat waiting for Andy Muschietti’s It to project onto the screen, I thought of what a disappointment it would be for the crowd if they had misconstrued the title – in for an unwelcome surprise as “I.T.”, the story of an ordinary Information Technology guy who struggles with work on a daily basis, popped up onscreen instead. Thankfully, that was not the case. It is very much a two-pronged film; a coming of age dramedy and a horror flick, the former works extremely well, the latter falls more into the average range. Set in the late 1980s, the town of Derry, Maine (Port Hope, Ontario a perfect stand-in the for the quaint locale that holds multiple mysteries) has six times the national average when it comes to disappearances and murders.

Sending a cold brisk current down the viewers’ spine, Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River is a darkly piercing mystery crime thriller with an old school western vibe. Providing the film with a unique spin much like another story he penned, Hell or High Water (which earned Sheridan an Academy Award nomination), the motion picture has the feel of a traditional western updated with modern topics and themes. Like a John Ford epic, you’ll find a posse searching for answers, characters chock full of bravery, a sort of wild lawlessness, and picturesque yet harsh locales, though this is not set in the blistering deserts of the nineteenth century wild west, but rather on an Indian reserve in present day Montana, where the chilling wind blows a substance no less forgiving – snow.

Arriving at theatres a few months before the iconic 1960 Lewis Milestone film Ocean’s Eleven, Henry Hathaway’s Seven Thieves is its lesser known forerunner, yet despite being in its long casting shadow, it is a whole lot of fun. Set in Monte Carlo, disgraced professor and scientist Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson) is the mastermind of a daring plot to rob a posh, extravagant casino in the picturesque Principality of Monaco. Uniting a talented group of shady individuals, the aging ringleader has called on longtime American acquaintance Paul Mason (Rod Steiger), a smart man who has worked with Wilkins before, hoping that he will be his right-hand man as well as the iron fist that will keep everyone in line.

Over misty mountains and through coniferously wooded dales, I made the three plus hour trek back through the picturesque Adirondacks, returning to the beautiful town of Ticonderoga, New York. Nestled between striking Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Vermont border, the third annual Trekonderoga, the aptly named convention, provides fans of the original Star Trek series with a multitude of opportunities and activities. Starting on Friday, the 25th of August and running through the weekend, attendees were able to tour the meticulously constructed set of the original USS Enterprise, see the Batmobile, browse through a plethora of vendors, listen to a wide array of panels, and meet their favourite celebrities – a rich, nuanced and vivid experience for all those looking to collect, learn, and make long lasting memories.