Stripes (1981) – Ivan Reitman

Bill Murray is charming and goofy in Stripes, but as has been pointed out the film is just a little too long, or, the last half hour could have been something different. The first two thirds of the film are fun and solid, though some of it is a little dated, and some of it…

Smallville (2002) – Heat, and Duplicity

The second episode of season two drops us right back into the freak-of-the-week cycle, while continuing to develop the overall character and mythology arcs. Heat first aired on 1 October, 2002 and was written by Mark Verheiden. Clark (Tom Welling) discovers his heat vision, which gets out of control pretty quickly, and hurts Lana (Kristin…

The Foreigner (2017) – Martin Campbell

Martin Campbell seems to be a hit or miss director, and you have to wonder if it’s his choice of projects. I love his work with the Bond franchise, and I quite enjoyed his take on Zorro. But I also remember how much I hated Vertical Limit and (of course) Green Lantern. Pairing him up…

Stargate: Atlantis (2007) – Vengeance, and First Strike

The penultimate episode of season three is setting things up for the season three finale. Written by Carl Binder, this episode debuted on 15 June, 2007. Remember the people who lived on the planet with the super-volcano? The Taranin. Well, the expedition has lost contact with their new settlement. So Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), McKay (David…

Stargate SG-1 (2007) – Dominion, and Unending

Here we go, the end run for Stargate SG-1. Dominion, the penultimate episode debuted on 15 June, 2007. It was written by Alan McCullough from a story by Alex Levine. With only two episodes left the series needs to wrap up character and narrative arcs, and that means we are going to see lots of…

A Better Tomorrow (1986) – John Woo

A Better Tomorrow was a hole in my John Woo and Hong Kong cinema that I wanted to fill, People have raved about it for years, that it helped define a generation of HKers and became a cult classic among North American film lovers. It features melodrama and lots of gunplay. It also has a…

Mandy (2018) – Panos Cosmatos

Nicolas Cage headlines in Mandy, a drug-addled hallucinogenic ride in this revenge horror (?) thriller. Set in the early 80s, but filled with 70s sensibilities in sense of style and set design, Cage is Red Miller who lives out in the woods with Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough). They have a quiet life, he works is…

Smallville (2002) – Tempest, and Vortex

Tempest closes out the first season of Smallville. Written by showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar from a story by Philip Levens, season one came to a close on 21 May, 2002. The spring formal is here, Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe (Allison Mack) are headed out together. And there’s lots of other character stuff…

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) – Matt Shakman

Marvel brings their first family into the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s charming, and has some solid casting, but it never really has the impact that this iconic team deserves. And that may be due to superhero fatigue. Marvel and Disney have upped the audience of dosage of superheroes that everything feels…