Jackie Chan directs and stars in this romp that seems to be a bit of a nod to an Indiana Jones-style adventure. Shot across Europe it’s not quite as exotic looking as a Jones film, or a Bond film for that matter, but it’s fast-paced, has some goofy humour, and features solid iconic stuntwork. Asian…
Author: TD Rideout
Stargate SG-1 (1998) – Prisoners, and The Gamekeeper
O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) Carter (Amanda Tapping), Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) find themselves in a penal colony on an unknown planet after unknowingly violating local law and aiding someone in need, who turned out to be a murderer. Prisoners was written by Terry Curtis Fox and was first broadcast on 10…
Northern Exposure (1991) – Spring Break, and War and Peace
It’s the spring thaw in Cicely and everything seems to be going a little nuts something indicated from the get-go when we get a look at Maggie’s (Janine Turner) latest dream in the opening teaser. Spring Break was written by David Assael and was first broadcast on 6 May, 1991. Holling (John Cullum) is trying…
Devil May Care (2008) – Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Faulks brings us the first post-Raymond Benson 007 novel. Picking up shortly after the final Ian Fleming novel, not short story collection, The Man with The Golden Gun finds James Bond on sabbatical in 1967. He’s not resting for long, as M calls him in to have him investigate Julius Gorner, who not only…
Stargate SG-1 (1998) – The Serpent’s Lair, and In the Line of Duty
Season two of SG-1 got underway on 26 June, 1998 with The Serpent’s Lair. Written by one of the series showrunners, Brad Wright, the episode picks up moments after the conclusion of the season one finale. O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Carter (Amanda Tapping), Jackson (Michael Shanks) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) are still aboard the goa’uld…
The Wild Geese (1978) – Andrew V. McLaglen
The Wild Geese has a horrible title song, but then as I watched the credits I saw that it had production design by Syd Cain, and its opening title sequence was done by Maurice Binder. It also has a very impressive leading cast, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore. Not bad. And while the…
Monkey Man (2024) – Dev Patel
Dev Patel directs and stars in Monkey Man, an action revenge film that makes sure to add in emotion, trauma, as well as some commentary on religion and politics. It’s all done without losing the driving, pulse-pounding action sequences that make this film incredibly enjoyable and watchable. As the nameless hero of the film, known…
TIFF24: The Wild Robot dir. Chris Sanders
I closed out my TIFF run this year, with the latest animated effort from Dreamworks. Based on the children’s book by Peter Brown, Sanders not only directed the film, but adapted the story as well, and it’s going to be a family classic to be sure. When a robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) awakes from her…
Dark Skies (1997) – The Warren Omission, and White Rabbit
John Loengard (Eric Close) is approached by the Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy (James F. Kelly) to tell his story to the Warren Commission, which is about to rule that Oswald acted alone in order to keep the Hive and Majestic secret. The Commission is led by Earl Warren (Gary Lockwood!) and the episode introduces another…
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) – Guy Ritchie
While there isn’t much to describe in terms of character arcs, Guy Ritchie’s latest, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a couple of things going for it. It’s based on a recently declassified (2016) true event of World War II, it has an enjoyable cast, and it’s always fun to see Nazis get punched, and…
The Mind Reels 