John Shiban pens the first episode up this week, Elegy, which debuted on 4 May,1997. And, honestly, I forgot how much I liked this episode. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate a series of murders that seem connected to a bowling alley, and an autistic employee, Harold (Steven M. Porter). According to the…
Mission: Impossible (1966) – Elena, and The Short Tail Spy
IMF agent, Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) gets to fly solo in this mission, that sees him investigating the titular Elana, played by BarBara Luna in this episode that was written by Ellis Marcus and first aired on 10 December, 1966. Dan (Steven Hill) selects Rollin and a psychiatrist, Carlos Enero (Barry Atwater) to travel to…
Star Wars: Jedi Search (1994) – Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson launches his Jedi Academy trilogy this week as I travel back to 1994, and the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. I’m exploring each book by publication date, and there were a couple of things I loved right off the bat, which I either didn’t notice the first time I read it (I…
Death is Forever (1992) – John Gardner
After The Man From Barbarossa, I was nervous about digging into another Gardner 007 novel, but this time, the author returns to the Fleming roots of the character and storytelling style, and in Death is Forever, James Bond is back in action. Gardner’s twelfth novel featuring the secret agent is a fast-moving tale that takes…
Millennium (1997) – Powers, Principalities, Thrones, and Dominions, and Broken World
Ted Mann and Howard Rosenthal expand Frank Black’s (Lance Henriksen) in this episode of Millennium that first aired on 25 April, 1997. Still reeling from the murder of his friend, police detective Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich), Frank is unsure of his gift and may not be ready to return to work with the Millennium Group, despite…
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) – 4K Review
Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins bring their version of DC’s Wonder Woman back to the screen, and now 4K disc this week with Warner Brothers’ home video release of Wonder Woman 1984. Gadot reprises her role as the titular Amazon hero in this follow-up to the 2017 blockbuster that proved DC comic movies could…
Magnum Force (1973) – Ted Post
Clint Eastwood returned as Detective ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan for a second outing in 1973’s Magnum Force, despite the fact that he seemed to be quitting at the close of the original film. This time out the gritty, and occasional racist and misogynistic film sees Harry hard at work in his beloved San Francisco, when a…
Excalibur (1981) – John Boorman
Like a series of pre-Raphaelite paintings brought to life, director John Boorman infuses the screen with magic and beauty as he delves into the myth of King Arthur and delivers what would become the gold standard for cinematic interpretations of the English legend. Each frame is a work of art as the story follows the…
M*A*S*H (1974) – George, Mail Call, and A Smattering of Intelligence
This week brings is the conclusion of season two of M*A*S*H, and we get started with George. Written by John W. Regier and Gary Markowitz this episode first aired on 16 February, 1974. In a groundbreaking episode, for the time, the story took on the subject of gays in the military. Hawkeye (Alan Alda) learns…
The Expendables 3 (2014) – Patrick Hughes
Dropping their hard R rating, The Expendables are back for a third go round, and Sylvester Stallone returns with a star studded cast that kind of makes up for the lack of gore, but you still find yourself wishing for it anyway. This time it’s personal when Barney Ross (Stallone) leads his mercenary team on…
The X-Files (1997) – Small Potatoes, and Zero Sum
Small Potatoes brings back fan favourite writer Darin Morgan, this time in an acting role, in a script penned for him by Vince Gilligan. First debuting on 20 April, 1997, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) get to delve into a comic episode that sees them encountering Eddie Van Blundht (Morgan) after they investigate…
Mission: Impossible (1966) – Zubrovnik’s Ghost, and Fakeout
Who ya gonna call? Apparently, this time, it’s the IMF team of Rollin (Martin Landau) and Barney (Greg Morris) as I accept the mission from Paramount Pictures to explore Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray. Rollin and Barney are joined by a psychic consultant, Ariana Domi (Martine Bartlett) in Zubrovnik’s Ghost. Written by…
