The Long Kiss Goodnight should be better than it is. It’s got quite the pedigree. Director Renny Harlin had given us Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and a solid entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street series with The Dream Master. There’s a score by Alan Silvestri, a script by Shane Black (who is damned reliable…
M*A*S*H (1973) – Divided We Stand, 5 O’Clock Charlie, and Radar’s Report
Season two of M*A*S*H launched on 15 September, 1973 with Divided We Stand. Written by Larry Gelbart, who developed the series for television, the episode serves as a bit of a second pilot to introduce new viewers to the characters and bring every one up to speed. In Seoul, General Clayton (Herb Voland) is worried…
Live Free or Die Hard (2007) – Len Wiseman
Except for one blatantly over the top moment that completely destroys credulity, the fourth entry in the Die Hard series is pretty damned solid entertainment. Bruce Willis returns (without his hair) for a fourth time as NYPD John McClane who gets swept up in what appears to be a techo-terrorism plot to bring down as…
The X-Files (1996) – Sanguinarium, and Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Valerie Mayhew and Vivian Mayhew pen Sanguinarium,an episode that combines witchcraft and dark magics against the backdrop of a cosmetic surgery clinic. First airing on 10 November, 1996, this episode sees agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) called in to investigate a violent death during a run of the mill plastic surgery operation,…
Chuck (2012) – Versus the Kept Man, Versus Bo
Gertrude Verbanski (Carrie-Anne Moss) returns to court Casey (Adam Baldwin) in this episode while Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) worries she’s pregnant, Chuck (Zachary Levi) worries about Carmicheal Industries, and Lester (Vik Sahay) and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) begin their own investigation into the strange happenings in the BuyMore. Chuck Versus the Kept Man was written by Craig…
Star Wars: Prophets of the Dark Side (1993) – Paul Davids and Hollace Davids
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… The young adult/tween series christened The Jedi Prince comes to a conclusion with its sixth book this week, that sees the culmination of the Alliance’s conflict with Kadaan the Dark Side Prophet who has installed himself as the new Emperor after doing away with the…
Win, Lose or Die (1989) – John Gardner
John Gardner’s eighth 007 novel is on the book shelf this week, and honestly, as much as I have been enjoying his take on James Bond, I think this may be my favourite one so far. Bond finds himself facing off against a terrorist organisation known as BAST who have plans to infiltrate a Russian/American/British…
Millennium (1996) – Dead Letters, and The Judge
Glen Morgan and James Wong pen Dead Letters, an episode that doesn’t deal with any arcs of the season, but gives us a look at the procedure and the strain of hunting a serial killer. Dead Letters first aired on 8 November, 1996, and sees Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) teaming up with a profiler that…
Megaforce (1982) – Hal Needham
I haven’t watched this movie since coming across it as a kid during a SuperChannel preview (man those were the days huh?). And re-watching it now, I’m struck by one thing, Megaforce is a pendulum, it’s bad, it’s so bad it’s good, and then it’s back to bad again. This is a terrible film, and…
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) – John McTiernan
Director John McTiernan returns for the third (and arguably the last real) Die Hard film that sees Bruce Willis reprise his role as New York Police Detective John McClane (Michael Kamen returns as well to deliver the score) in a story that, this time, is set in New York. Joining Willis on screen is Jeremy…
The Mind Reels 