There is an immediacy to Melanie Raabe’s debut novel, The Trap, which sees its English release this week, via House of Anansi Press here in Toronto. Translated from German the captivating tale draws the reader into the world that she has created, much as her character, author Linda Conrads, is drawn into the situations…
Author: TD Rideout
Batman: The Animated Series (1993) Day of the Samurai, See No Evil and The Demon’s Quest: Part I
Batman (Kevin Conroy) has his hands full again this week! Day of the Samurai faces off, again, with the ninja named Kyodai Ken (Robert Ito), when Bruce learns the assassin has learned the fatal Death Touch attack. Serving as a sequel to Night of the Ninja (s01e28), this one continues to fill out a…
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) – Leonard Nimoy
I continue to boldly go with the Star Trek films, courtesy of the Sci-Fi Chronicles, and having previously covered Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I moved onto the third film in the series, helmed by Nimoy himself, one of the caveats about his reprising the Spock character. Spock is dead. The events…
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) – Robert Wise
The Sci-Fi Chronicles lets me settle in to enjoy another one of my favorites… featuring one of my favorite film scores, this one by Jerry Goldmsith, the U.S.S. Enterprise leaps from the small screen to the the theatrical one with this first film which isn’t for everyone, but the older I get, the more…
Doctor Who (Peter Davison) – Earthshock
Airing from 8 to 16 of March, 1982, one of the Doctor’s (Davison) greatest enemies, the Cybermen, return in this four part story that was penned by Eric Saward. It also saw the Companion, Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) sacrificing himself at the end of the story. The Doctor, Adric, Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and Teagan (Janet…
X-Men: First Class (2011) – Matthew Vaughn
Sometimes to go forward, you need to go back, as we learn in the next X-Men film as I journey through the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. Continuing its cue of using great actors, Vaughn recasts the characters we’ve already been introduced to as we go back to 1962 and the height of the Cuban Missile…
Magnum, p.i. (1987) – Pleasure Principle and Innocence… A Broad
Things get a little weird in Hawaii this week with the Pleasure Principle. This one was written by Jay Huguely and aired 14 October, 1987. For some strange reason, Thomas (Tom Selleck) is acting like Higgins (John Hillerman) and Higgins is acting like Magnum. Thomas, still recovering from his injuries (including being partially blind…
Star Wars: Bloodline (2016) – Claudia Gray
Claudia Gray who wowed me with her young adult Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, returns to that galaxy, far, far away, this time centering on a story about Princess Leia Organa. Set twenty years after the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor, and ten years before the events of…
Batman: The Animated Series (1993) – Birds of a Feather, Robin’s Reckoning: Part II and Blind as a Bat
The Penguin (Paul Williams) is about to get his heart broken in Birds of a Feather. The story aired 8 February, 1983, and sees a young socialite, Veronica Vreeland (Marilu Henner) making eyes at the villain, not because she loves him, but because she’s using him to climb the social ladder. Oswald alias The…
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – Gavin Hood
Hugh Jackman returns as iconic mutant Logan aka Wolverine in Fox’s next stumble and mishandling of a Marvel franchise, as I continue my journey with the X-men in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. While there are some nice visuals, and moments, overall everything about this film falls flat, and one of the things that angered…
