Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal star in the emotional thriller, Prisoners, featuring yet another magnetic turn by director Villeneuve. What starts out terrifyingly enough with the abduction of two little girls turns into something horrific as twists reveal true natures, and narratives slowly shift the viewer’s perspective on what they are seeing. As two families…
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) – Anthony Hickox
Despite having his name listed as Executive Producer, I don’t think horrormeister Clive Barker had much to do with the third installment of the Hellraiser series. After the bloody and brilliantly constructed first two films, this one feels like it went right off the rails and didn’t quite understand why the first two films worked…
M*A*S*H (1982) – Picture This, That Darn Kid, and Hey, Look Me Over
The penultimate episode of season ten (!) of MASH was written by Karen Hall and had an original airdate of 5 April, 1982. Potter (Harry Morgan) has decided to paint a portrait of his staff as a gift for his wife, Mildred. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have picked a worse time. Everyone has gotten on one…
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) – Brian Gibson
A number of cast and crew (including composer Jerry Goldsmith and visual effects artist Richard Edlund) return for Poltergeist II: The Other Side and while Julian Beck seems truly terrifying as Kane, the film doesn’t have the Spielberg or Hooper magic that made the first film such a hit. The Freeling family, Diane (JoBeth Williams),…
Fringe (2009) – Ability, and Inner Child
The mythology arc really kicks in with Ability. Written by David H. Goodman from a story by Glen Whitman and Robert Chiapetta this episode first aired on 10 February, 2009. The story picks up with Mr. Jones (Jared Harris) escape from prison via the teleportation device, and its effect on him. It also reveals that…
Mission: Impossible (1971) – Nerves, and Run for the Money
Lisa Casey (Lynda May George) has to put herself in harm’s way with her IMF assignment in Nerves. Written by Henry Sharp and Garrie Bateson, from a story by Sharp, it first aired on 4 December, 1971. Wendell Hoyes (Christopher George) is a paranoid criminal who has his hands on a slowly degrading canister of…
The Apollo Murders (2021) – Chris Hadfield
Retired astronaut and national treasure Chris Hadfield delivers a fast-paced thriller with The Apollo Murders. It’s a look at an all too believable reality as the story follows the training, launch, and mission of Apollo 18. It’s made all the more believable because Hadfield not only knows his subject matter, emotionally and technically, using an…
Fringe (2009) – The No-Brainer, and The Transformation
No-Brainer, written by David H. Goodman and Brad Kane first aired on 27 January, 2009. Olvia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Walter (John Bishop) get called into a strange case that involves the death of two people whose brains seem to have liquified. The only connection between the two is a strange computer file…
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – 4K Steelbook
In 1981 the man who created Star Wars, George Lucas, paired with the director of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg, brought us an update of the action serials of the 1930s, a return of the grand adventure. Featuring the star of Star Wars, Harrison Ford, in the lead as globetrotting…
Red Notice (2021) – Rawson Marshall Thurber
Despite being weighed down in tons of green screen work, Red Notice, actually serves as a solid piece of popcorn entertainment. There’s a story about three golden eggs originally belonging to Cleopatra, but most of it is trappings for action beats, and for Gal Gadot to look absolutely stunning, and bring her acting chops into…
The Mind Reels 