Godzilla Raids Again (1955) – Motoyoshi Oda

Even before Godzilla came ashore in North America with the recut 1954 feature Godzilla (Gojira)/Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, a sequel was unleashed on Japan with Godzilla Raids Again. Gone are the more serious overtones of the first film, the commentary and subtext; the exploration of radiation and its effects on the Japanese, the still…

Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) – John Hough

I have this image of Eddie Albert driving every where in a Winnebago, and I guess it must have come from this film, and somehow got meshed with the image of the older man driving around in a similar RV in the Shazam/Isis hour. And despite the fact that Eddie Albert’s Jason does a lot…

Sixteen Candles (1984) – John Hughes

There are lots of things that still work with John Hughes teen comedy, Sixteen Candles, but there are so many problematic things that have really begun to overshadow the story’s heart. There’s some racism, there’s some things that walk the line up to and over harassment and assault, and that really takes the shine off…

The X-Files (2001) – Empedocles, and Vienen

While Scully (Gillian Anderson) ends up in the hospital with a complication surrounding her pregnancy, Agent Reyes (Annabeth Gish) approaches Mulder (David Duchovny) with a case that may tie back to Doggett (Robert Patrick). Empedocles was written by Greg Walker, and first aired on 22 April, 2001. When an office worker, Jeb (Jay Underwood) is…

Mission: Impossible (1969) – Fool’s Gold, and The Commandante

Ken Pettus pens Fool’s Gold which first aired on 26 October, 1969, and sees the IMF team, led by Phelps (Peter Graves) to stop a counterfeiter, Igor Stravos (Nehemiah Persoff) who has enough printed cash to purchase the entire gold reserve of a country, which would allow him to topple the government. Paris (Leonard Nimoy)…

Highlander III: The Final Dimension (1994) – Andrew Morahan

The one good thing about the third Highlander film is that it does away with the horrible second entry in a franchise that did NOT need to happen. For countless fans everywhere, there can be only one, and the diminishing returns on the sequels, no doubt caused by the horrible stories supports that. This story…

The Dead Don’t Die (2019) – Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch writes and directs this zombie film that is more in line with the Romero created monster than the running creatures that have been made so popular of late. In fact, the entire film plays out at an enjoyably relaxing pace, letting the story brew, the characters breathe, and the oddities, eccentricities, and the…