This instalment of the Twilight Zone, an exploration of The Complete Series on blu-ray (now available from Paramount Pictures) finds us about a third of the way through the final season. Earl Hamner Jr. pens the first episode up this eve, Ring-a-Ding Girl, which first aired on 27 December, 1983. Barbara ‘Bunny’ Blake (Maggie McNamara)…
Author: TD Rideout
Pokemon Movie Companion (2017) – Simcha Whitehill
You know, until Pokemon Go came out, I didn’t even know that Pokemon was a shortened version of Pocket Monsters. But then again, the phenomenon that swept the world started in 1995 – I was not their target market. A whole generation has already grown up with them, and there are more born every day….
Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker (2017) – Ken Liu
Star Wars books are always fun, especially now that so much is being put into them to make sure that they fit into the new canon. No matter the age group they are aimed at, every time I pick one up, I turn into that young boy who was first enchanted in 1977 by the…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – Brothers, and Suddenly Human
Captain’s log: stardate 44085.7 The theme of family which runs through this entire season of Next Generation is very prevalent here in this episode that was written by Rick Berman. First airing on 8 October, 1990, this is a very Brent Spiner-heavy episode. A medical emergency necessitates a run to a nearby starbase, however, Data…
Unforgiven (1992) – Clint Eastwood
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch, is my all-time favourite western, Eastwood’s multi-Oscar winning film (Best Director, Best Picture, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman). An ageing gunfighter, William Munny (Eastwood) wants to tend to his tiny parcel…
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969) – George Roy Hill
The next stop in the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch, is yet another one of my all time favourite westerns, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. From it’s opening shots, made to look like an early silent film, this movie took me…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – A Good Man Goes To War, and Let’s Kill Hitler
Things get serious for the Doctor (Smith) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) as they go to rescue Amy (Karen Gillan) in A Good Man Goes to War! Written by Steven Moffatt, this episode aired on 4 June, 2011. We learned at the conclusion of last week’s episode that Amy hasn’t been in the TARDIS for quite…
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – John Sturges
That music, that cast… It’s no wonder that Sturges’ Americanisation of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of my all time favourite westerns, and the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch. Elmer Bernstein’s rousing and memorable score supports Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Eli…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – The Best of Both Worlds Part II, and Family
Captain’s log: stardate 44001.4 How do you follow up a cliffhanger like the one that closed the third season of The Next Generation? Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is firing on the Borg, intent on destroying them, even if it costs the life of the abducted, and ‘enhanced’ Picard (Patrick Stewart) now known as Locutus. Michael Piller…
The Twilight Zone (1963) – The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain, and Ninety Years Without Slumbering
It’s that time again!! Paramount Pictures continues to be my guide as I explore the depths of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray. This week’s trio of episode begins with The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, which aired on 6 December, 1963 and was written by series creator, Rod Serling. It’s 25…
