Dichotomy. Juxtaposition. Privilege. Hope. One wouldn’t necessarily associate all of these words with a gathering of groups of people who are coming together to celebrate their fandoms. But as Toronto’s Fan Expo 2017 came to its conclusion, these are the words that leapt to mind unbidden. Privilege springs to mind, because my co-host and I…
Category: Did You See That?!? (Tv & Film)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988) – Elementary, Dear Data, and The Outrageous Okana
Captain’s log: stardate 42286.3 Elementary, Dear Data first aired on 5 December, 1988. Written by Brian Alan Lane, this one is a holodeck story. Data (Brent Spiner) and Geordi (LeVar Burton) are looking to have some fun on the holodeck engaging in the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, respectively. Unfortunately, Data knows all the…
Red Dawn (1984) – John Milius
The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove is John Milius’ dark and violent film, Red Dawn. With an all-star cast including Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Powers Boothe and Harry Dean Stanton, the film chronicles an invasion…
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) – Martin Ritt
Richard Burton turns in a solid, and believable performance in this adaptation of John le Carre’s classic thriller novel. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove. Burton is Alec Leamas, a spy in charge…
Doctor Who (David Tennant) – The Planet of the Dead, and The Waters of Mars
The Planet of the Dead plunges David Tennant’s Doctor into his ante-penultimate adventure, Planet of the Dead. He’s joined on his adventure by Michelle Ryan as cat-burglar Lady Christina de Souza. Written by Russell T. Davies and Gareth Roberts this special, the second of five, first aired on 11 April, 2009. The Doctor finds himself…
The Day of Wrath (1943) – Carl Theodor Dreyer
DK Books’ The Movie Book continues to let me explore the works of Carl Theodor Dreyer, as I dive into the 1943 film, The Day of Wrath. This one is on the What Else to Watch list following my screening of The Passion of Joan of Arc. Just like Arc, there is a lot of…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988) – The Child, and Where Silence Has Lease
Captain’s log: stardate 42073.1 Season 2 got underway on 21 November, 1988 with The Child a re-purposed script from the 1970s proposed Phase 2 series that eventually became The Motion Picture. It was an Ilia and Decker story, with Ilia being switched to Troi (Marina Sirtis). Written by Jaron Summers, Jon Povill and Maurice Hurley,…
The Twilight Zone (1963) – In His Image, and The Thirty-Fathom Grave
It’s time for Season 4 to get underway as I continue digging into The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray from Paramount Pictures. Beginning with Season 4, the series episodes became 50 minute affairs instead of 25, and things got underway with In His Image on 3 January, 1963 with this story by Charles…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988) – Conspiracy, and The Neutral Zone
Captain’s log: stardate 41775.5 Conspiracy is a strange one, and one of my favourite episodes from the first season. It’s darker than Trek usually is, and begged for a sequel which we never got sadly. This episode first aired on 9 May, 1988. Written by Tracy Torme from a story by Robert Sabaroff, the Enterprise…
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Frankenheimer
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove is Frankenheimer’s incredible thriller that still has the power to chill to this very day. In fact, it seems even more relevant today than when it was released. It’s 1952, during the Korean War. An American…
The Mind Reels 