People will rave about Heat, or Collateral Damage, cult fans will cite The Keep, but Mann’s adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel, The Last of the Mohicans, is my favorite of his films. Taking home the Oscar for Best Sound, Mann’s film is lush, detailed, and an epic retelling of a beloved novel. Daniel…
The X-Files (2002) – Sunshine Days, and The Truth
The penultimate episode of the ninth season is all about family, in a roundabout way. Written by Vince Gilligan, who also directed it, it first aired on 12 May, 2002. When a body is recovered from a location that sometimes appears to be the Brady house from The Brady Bunch television show, Doggett (Robert Patrick),…
Mission: Impossible (1970) – Phantoms, and Terror
The IMF are working to stop a brutal dictator by haunting him, and making his staff think it’s time for him to retire this week in Phantoms. Written by Laurence Heath, this episode first debuted on 8 February, 1970. Leo Vorka (Luther Adler) is getting older, but his hold on his country remains iron tight….
Star Trek: Discovery – Wonderlands (2021) – Una McCormack
Una McCormack delivers another engaging Trek novel, and having firmly cemented herself in the role of my favorite Star Trek author, I dug into this one, Wonderlands, now available from Simon & Schuster through their Gallery Books imprint, with abandon. It’s 3188. Commander Michael Burnham has been catapulted some 900 years into the future, as…
The X-Files (2002) – William, and Release
David Duchovny returns this week, behind the camera to direct an episode that he thought up alongside Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter, who also penned the teleplay. It first aired on 28 April, 2002, and puts Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) baby, William front and center, and gives us the heartbreaking ending first… she gives…
Destroy All Monsters (1968) – Ishiro Honda & Jun Fukuda
I’ll be honest, this is the first Godzilla movie I’ve watched that I didn’t pay attention to any of the actors or their arcs, I was just having too much fun with the monster mashing, the model work, and the way the mythology of the monster-verse has expanded to include so many creatures, aliens, and…
Three Men and a Baby (1987) – Leonard Nimoy
Outside of a drug dealer plotline that really doesn’t do anything for the film at all, director Leonard Nimoy’s adaptation of the French film, Trois Hommes et un Couffin, is light, fun, and full of heart. Three bachelors, Peter (Tom Selleck), Michael (Steve Guttenberg), and Jack (Ted Danson) are living their best lives, parties, girls,…
M*A*S*H (1979) – The Party, Too Many Cooks, and Are You Now, Margaret?
Burt Metcalfe and Alan Alda pen the script that closes out the seventh season, The Party. It first aired on 12 March, 1979. While the 4077th gets orders to move (and again) as the Chinese have broken through, B.J. (Mike Farrell) hits on the idea of organizing a reunion, but not for the members of…
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – Travis Knight
I remember getting a glimpse of this film with its first released trailer, and I wasn’t really interested. It seems my brain simply chose to block out the part where it says it’s a Laika Studios production… these guys have yet to make a bad picture. I picked it up on blu-ray sight unseen, only…
The X-Files (2002) – Scary Monsters, and Jump the Shark
FBI Agent, Leyla Harrison (Jolie Jenkins), from the accounting department is back in Scary Monsters. Written by Thomas Schnauz, this episode first aired on 14 April, 2002. Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) get roped into helping Harrison, after Scully (Gillian Anderson) passes on a potential case the young agent brings her. Two bizarre…
The Mind Reels 