I remember the summer of the duelling asteroid movies, 1998. There was Michael Bay’s Armageddon and Mimi Leder’s, with Steven Spielberg in her corner, Deep Impact from Paramount Pictures. Deep Impact opened first in May, with Armageddon following up in July, which completely ended up overshadowing Impact, which is unfortunate, because of the two films,…
The Black Phone (2021) – Scott Derrickson
Director Scott Derrickson reteams with his Sinister star Ethan Hawke in Derrickson’s adaptation of the Joe Hill story, The Black Phone and Hawke is nothing short of terrifying as a child killer known, in the late 70s era Colorado the story is set in, as The Grabber. The Grabber is stalking a town that lives…
Rocky V (1990) – John G. Avildsen
Sylvester Stallone writes and stars in Rocky V, which sees the return of John G. Avildsen to the series, back for the first time since his directorial turn in the original Rocky. This one get slammed pretty hard by Stallone and some fans (at least it doesn’t have any robots in it) but this may…
Hill Street Blues (1984) – Watt a Way to Go, and Rookie Nookie
Joyce’s (Veronica Hamel) client is about to face the electric chair unless she can find another witness to come forward and Goldblume (Joe Spano) gets violent when his ex-wife is assaulted and raped in her own apartment. Watt a Way to Go was written by David Milch and Robert Director from a story by Steven…
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) – Jon Watts
Tom Holland returns for a third outing as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in what is arguably the best of the Marvel movies. A film that delivers emotional payoffs and character arcs from not only the previous films in this iteration of Spidey, but the two other big-budget live-action. series helmed by Sony before this. Picking up right…
Batman (1966) – A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away, and When the Rat’s Away the Mice Will Play
Frank Gorshin returns for another brilliant turn as The Riddler in A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away. Written by Fred De Gorter this episode was first broadcast on 16 February, 1966. When King Boris (Reginald Denny) arrives in Gotham City accompanying a priceless Queen of Liberty statue, the Riddler concocts a plan to…
The Expanse (2022) – Why We Fight, and Babylon’s Ashes
Here we go, the last two episodes of the epic series, The Expanse, and it’s not going to let up until the last second. Why We Fight was written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, known collectively as James S.A. Corey, the authors of The Expanse novel series. It first dropped on Prime on 7…
Mexican Gothic (2020) – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic is a wonderfully lush, and haunting novel, embracing all the familiar tropes of the Gothic genre, romance, the old dark house, family secrets, and the hints of something preter- or supernatural all juxtaposed into Mexico of the 1950s. We’re introduced to Noemi, a vivacious, smart, stubborn, flirtatious young woman who is still looking…
Batman (1966) – Zelda the Great, and A Death Worse Than Fate
Zelda the Great is the first episode of the Batman series to introduce a female villain, but Catwoman does get name-checked here. Written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, and featuring William Dozier’s fantastic narration, this episode first debuted on 9 February, 1966. While Bruce Wayne (Adam West) and his young ward, Dick Grayson (Burt Ward) are…
The Suicide Squad (2021) – James Gunn
Pretty much ignoring the previous Suicide Squad which was released five years earlier, James Gunn comes in as writer/director and delivers a subversive, laugh-out-loud action film based on the DC comic of the same name. This time out Waller (played viciously by Viola Davis) throws together a team to infiltrate the island country of Corto…
The Mind Reels 