The series penultimate episode, written by Karen Nielsen, and first airing on 14 March, 2018, is a bit of a monster of the week episode, while also pontificating on aging, belief and faith. And the fact that the I Want To Believe tag is removed from the opening credits and changed to I Want to…
Mission: Impossible (1970) – The Killer, and Flip Side
Season Five of Paramount’s Mission: Impossible gets underway on the blog this week, and there are a few changes to the series right from the start. We now get a teaser opening showing us both the villain of the piece, and Phelps (Peter Graves) receiving his assignment. We also have a new female lead, after…
Inhibitor Phase (2021) – Alastair Reynolds
Orbit Books was kind enough to invite me back to Revelation Space with Alastair Reynolds’ latest novel set in that far flung universe. And once again, he proves himself not only a solid storyteller, but able to constantly meld high space opera with hard-edged sci-fi. The novel, though well able to stand on its own,…
The X-Files (2018) – Rm9sbG93ZXJz, and Familiar
“We have to be better teachers.” For an episode that doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, this is an important message. It’s also important to remember how we treat those who can learn from us. In this episode written by Kristen Cloke, and Shannon Hamblin, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) learn that manners…
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) – Jun Fukuda
The dwellers of Seatopia send the drilling kaiju Megalon to the surface to destroy humanity for causing the destruction of a number of their people and their homes with the ongoing nuclear tests humanity is conducting. And despite the fact that they disappear about halfway through the film and don’t show up again, the rest…
The Medium (2021) – Banjong Pisanthanakun
Thailand delivers a moody, atmospheric character piece, shot in documentary fashion that explores spirituality, faith, belief, family and vengeance. Initially, the ‘documentary’ is supposed to be about shamnisim and focuses on Nim (Sawanee Utoomma), and how she serves as a vessel for a goddess that has selected females of her family for generations. Through Nim,…
M*A*S*H (1979) – Dear Uncle Abdul, Captain’s Outrageous, and Stars and Stripes
All Klinger(Jamie Farr) wants to do is write a letter to his Dear Uncle Abdul. Written by John Rappaport and Jim Mulligan this episode first debuted on 3 December, 1979. Each time Klinger settles in to write, he gets pulled into helping one of the officers with one of their eccentricities, Houlihan (Loretta Swit) is…
The Lovely Bones (2009) – Peter Jackson
Director Peter Jackson adapted Alice Sebold’s heartbreaking novel, The Lovely Bones, to the big screen alongside his collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and while there are a lot of differences from the book to film (the novel definitely has more adult themes, and things were toned down for the teen, twenty-something audiences), and some…
The X-Files (2018) – Ghouli, and Kitten
You See What I Want You To See replaces the usual tag of The Truth Is Out There in the opening credits for the episode Ghouli, written and directed by James Wong. First airing on 31 January, 2018, we are led to believe before the opening credits that this may be a cool monster of…
Fletch’s Moxie (1982) – Gregory McDonald
Fletch is back! In the fifth book of the series, Gregory McDonald brings investigative reporter, and accidentally wealthy, I.M. Fletcher to Florida, where he has been summoned by his on again off again romance with actress Moxie Mooney who is on location shooting a truly horrible movie. During prep for an on-camera interview, her manager…
