I return to the Ten Bad Dates with De Niro book, plunging back into the chapter on movies that cause trauma, and find myself face to face with Bambi. The classic Disney films has no doubt scarred viewers since its debut in ’42. People were used to cartoons being fun, delightful, occasionally frightening, as moments…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2011) – Darkness On Umbara, The General, and Plan of Dissent
“The first step toward loyalty is trust.” Matt Michnovetz penned the first episode up this week, Darkness on Umbara, which first aired on 28 October, 2011. When Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) is called back to Coruscant, Jedi Master Krell (Dave Fennoy) assumes his command, and his assignment, on the planet of Umbara alongside the 501st….
The Red House (1947) – Delmer Daves
I dug into another of the trauma inducing titles from the Ten Bad Dates With De Niro movie book, and this one is pretty dark, filled with intimations that can be drawn out as you observe the action, and the undertones at work in this film. Edward G. Robinson headlines this back country melodrama that…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) – Civilization, and Fortunate Son
Captain’s log: 31 July, 2151 Phyllis Strong and Mike Sussman pen this episode that first aired on 14 November, 2001. When the Enterprise arrives at an Earth-like planet, Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) leads an away mission that allows him to masquerade as one of the planet’s denizens. It seems T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) has discovered that…
Moonlighting (1988/1989) – The Color Of Maddie, and Plastic Fantastic Lovers
First airing on 20 December, 1988, The Color of Maddie was written by Barbara Hall. Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) and David (Bruce Willis) get down to some actual casework in this episode when Nora Cooper (Karen Landry) comes through the door of the Blue Moon Detective Agency. Nora wants the detectives to investigate her husband (Graham…
Star Trek: Double, Double (1989) – Michael Jan Friedman
Space, the final frontier… My ongoing voyages with the starship Enterprise continue this week with the next non-canon novel in the Pocket Books series. Set during the original five year mission, this novel is set a few months after the events of The Original Series episode “What Little Girls Are Made Of?” Captain James T….
Chasm City (2001) – Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds next science fiction novel, Chasm City, takes place in the same universe as Revelation Space but is not a sequel, instead we are given a future noir tale of revenge, and the human ability to commit good and horrible acts, redemption, and discovery. We visit a couple of planets that were mentioned in…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) – The Andorian Incident, and Breaking the Ice
Captain’s log: 19 June, 2151 Roxann Dawson directs while Fred Dekker pens the script for this episode from a story he developed alongside Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It first aired on 31 October, 2001, and added a new and interesting wrinkle to the Trek universe. In what became one of the defining episodes of…
Doctor Sleep (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
Mike Flanagan has been a name to watch since he appeared on the scene, and he’s become a huge hero to genre fans for his concentration on character and story as much as scares when it comes to horror films. And with Warner Brothers release of Doctor Sleep (available on blu and DVD today), he…
The Good Liar (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
Watching Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen dance and weave around one another in The Good Liar, was, for me, a cinematic joy. These two actors share the screen together for the first time, and Warner Brothers brings it home on blu-ray for you today. McKellen plays Roy, a conman who seems to have no scruples…
The Mind Reels 