Captain’s log: stardate 5906.4 The Savage Curtain. It doesn’t get much simpler in terms of themes or ideas than this, the antepenultimate episode of the Original Series. Written by series creator Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann, it aired on 7 March, 1969. I always liked this one because it’s so simple, and has Captain Kirk…
Stephen King’s Triple Feature
Stephen King has legions of fans, and consequently, every now and again, a studio crafts another run at one of his novels, and while It! is on its way to screens in due course, Paramount Pictures and CBS DVD are releasing a collection of three of King’s mini-series in a very affordable collection. Over the…
Battleship Potemkin (1925) – Sergei M. Eisenstein
DK Book’s The Movie Book brings me the next big title they highly recommended, Eisenstein’s seminal Battleship Potemkin. Running at a lean 76 minutes the story follows the crew of the titular ship during the Russian Revolution of 1905. The crew stage a mutiny against the ship’s officers who rule with tyranny, events spin out…
A Scanner Darkly (2006) – Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly is the last recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book in the Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror genre. Based on the story by Philip K. Dick, the story is fascinating from a couple of perspectives – it’s a digitally rotoscoped animated film, and it features some top…
Doctor Who (David Tennant) – Evolution of the Daleks and The Lazarus Experiment
So after the introduction of a human dalek (Erik Loren) last week, where does Evolution of the Daleks go? Written by Helen Raynor the episode premiered on 28 April, 2007. The Doctor (Tennant) and Martha (Freema Agyeman) are still in the 30s, and confronting the Cult of Skaro as they seek to evolve and change…
Dark Matter Set Visit
It’s a cold December morning, the holidays are on the horizon, a storm cloud of twinkling lights, gift giving and and family. Clambering aboard the tarnished grey subway cars that burrow their way through the city, Sue and I prepared for a day in the far-flung future… The TTC delivers us, like a yuletide gift,…
Spellbound (1945) – Alfred Hitchcock
A film starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck directed by Alfred Hitchcock can’t be anything but a winner, and is my next stop on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following their recommendation of the title, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The ever-appealing Bergman plays psychiatrist, Dr. Constance Petersen,…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1969) – The Way to Eden and The Cloud Minders
Captain’s log: stardate 5832.3 If there’s a worse episode than Spock’s Brain, then The Way to Eden has to be it. I knew, even when I saw it as a child that this was a terrible episode. The story and I did not reach, man. Written by Arthur Heinemann from a story he developed with…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – The Arrival, The Shelter and The Passerby
The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series from Paramount Pictures takes me further this week, as we move deeper into Season 3. First up is The Arrival, penned by series creator, Rod Serling, this episode had its debut on 22 September, 1961. Grant Sheckly (Harold J. Stone) is an aviation investigator, but even he’s not sure…
Ur (2009) – Stephen King
Stephen King leaped aboard the digital reader revolution back in 2009 when he wrote this tale that was available only online as a download for said readers. The story follows an English teacher, Wesley, at a mediocre college. His relationship with Ellen, one of the college’s coaches is on the rocks, caused by a lack…
The Mind Reels 