Rian Johnson is a fantastic writer/director (no matter what some Star Wars fans may think), and with his science fiction thriller, Looper, he plays with a number of familiar tropes, especially those of the western genre as he explores, and plays with, causality, in this brilliant actioner that stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily…
The X-Files (2016) – Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster, and Home Again
Fan favorite writer Darin Morgan returns to The X-Files with Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster. First airing on 1 February, 2016, While Mulder (David Duchovny) questions whether or not he’s wasted his life chasing UFOs, aliens, and monsters, Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrives in the office with another case… a monster. But, of course, with…
Mission: Impossible (1970) – Lover’s Knot, and Orpheus
Paris (Leonard Nimoy) finds that more than his life is in jeopardy this week, but also his heart, in Lover’s Knot. Written by Laurence Heath, this story first debuted on 22 February, 1970. The story finds Paris, Phelps (Peter Graves) and Barney (Greg Morris) on assignment in London (which looks a lot like Southern California),…
Lord Edgware Dies (1933) – Agatha Christie
Murder most foul! Three of them in point of fact, but don’t be fooled by the image on the cover of the book, none of them are committed with a pistol! It’s been awhile since I read an Agatha Christie mystery, other books came along, and I knew her library of work would wait patiently…
The X-Files (2016) – My Struggle, and Founder’s Mutation
Eight years after the second feature film, I Want to Believe, and almost fourteen years after the season nine episode, The Truth, The X-Files returned to screens with a six episode limited series, now christened Season Ten. And while I Want To Believe may not have been the film fans wanted (hoping for more on…
All Monsters Attack (1969) – Ishiro Honda
This entry in the Godzilla serries is unique, in that the majority of it takes place in the imagination of a young boy, Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki). A latchkey kid, like a lot of us growing up in the 70s and 80s, Ichiro is a quiet kid (with Godzilla toys in the closet), who isn’t quite…
Greyhound (2020) – Aaron Schneider
Tom Hanks not only stars in this World War II naval thriller, but he also wrote the script, using the novel The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester to tell the tale of Captain Krause (Hanks) guiding a multi-national convoy of supplies and men across the Atlantic to England. There are fifty hours when the convoy…
M*A*S*H (1979) – Guerilla My Dreams, and Good-Bye Radar: Part One, and Part Two
The wonderful Mako guest stars in the first episode up this week, Guerilla My Dreams, which was written by Bob Colleary, and first aired on 1 October, 1979. Alan Alda pulls double duty this week, taking on the role of director as well as that of Hawkeye Pierce. Hawk and B.J.’s (Mike Farrell) friend Scully…
The Last of the Mohicans (1992) – Michael Mann
People will rave about Heat, or Collateral Damage, cult fans will cite The Keep, but Mann’s adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel, The Last of the Mohicans, is my favorite of his films. Taking home the Oscar for Best Sound, Mann’s film is lush, detailed, and an epic retelling of a beloved novel. Daniel…
The X-Files (2002) – Sunshine Days, and The Truth
The penultimate episode of the ninth season is all about family, in a roundabout way. Written by Vince Gilligan, who also directed it, it first aired on 12 May, 2002. When a body is recovered from a location that sometimes appears to be the Brady house from The Brady Bunch television show, Doggett (Robert Patrick),…
The Mind Reels 