Mission: Impossible (1970) – Chico, and Gitano

Ken Pettus delivers a paint-by-numbers episode with Chico, which first aired on 25 January, 1970. It features a couple of things that are hard to forget, Leonard Nimoy trotting out a truly horrible Australian accent, and Phelps (Peter Graves) recruiting from the animal division of the IMF again, this time a little trained terrier named…

The X-Files (2002) – Underneath, and Improbable

Doggett (Robert Patrick) gets pulled back into a case he worked back when he was a New York cop, when the man they arrested as a serial killer is exonerated and released from prison – only to have the murders start up again. Underneath was written by John Shiban and first aired on 31 March,…

Dune (2021) – 4K Review

Warner Brothers made sure they started my 2022 right by getting a 4K copy of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune into my hands to blow my mind. One of my favorite films of the year, this disc is a that you’re going to want to put on anytime you want to demo the beauty and the sharpness…

Son of Godzilla (1967) – Jun Fukuda

It was gonna happen sooner or later. There was going to be a classic Godzilla film that just didn’t ring my bell like the rest of the series, and as of this moment, it’s Son of Godzilla. While I enjoy all the monster fighting sequences, and even some of the goofy science outpost plot, the…

Flight of the Navigator (1986) – Randal Kleiser

Disney delivers a staple of 80s childhood with a revisit to Flight of the Navigator. Watching it now, I find myself more interested in the mysteries going on at the edges of the story than the main thrust of the narrative following young David Freeman (Joey Cramer), his abduction and subsequent return eight years later,…

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) – Shane Black

Excluding The Predator (what the hell was that?) Shane Black has been one of my favorite Hollywood writers, and I was super-excited when it was announced he was getting into the director’s chair for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Set, like most of Black’s tales, at Christmas, this one is a slice of modern noir. Robert…

The X-Files (2002) – Providence, and Audrey Pauley

Series creator Chris Carter directs this episode, Providence, that he co-wrote with Frank Spotnitz, that concludes the story begun next week, while pushing the mythology arc forward with the super-soldiers, baby William and the UFO cult that wants him. First airing on 10 March, 2002, the cult, who believes that the ship they have uncovered,…

Mission: Impossible (1970) – The Falcon: Part 2, and Part 3

Paul delivers the second part of his The Falcon trilogy on 11 January, 1970, and there is a lot going on as Phelps (Peter Graves) and his team work to free Nicolai (Noel Harrison) and his sister, Francesca (Diane Baker) and their imprisoned brother, from the grasp of General Sabbatini (John Vernon) and Colonel Vargas…

The X-Files (2002) – Hellbound, and Provenance

Reyes (Annabeth Gish) brings an unusual case to Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) in Hellbound. She also has a strange connection to it that she can’t quite figure out. Written by David Amann and first airing on 27 January, 2002, the agents find themselves a series of deaths involving ex-cons who were skinned…