Sylvester McCoy’s final story, the close of Season 26, is the subject of this week’s review. Survival was written by Rona Munro, and aired in three parts from 22 November to 6 December, 1989. The story marks the final appearance of Sophie Aldred as Ace, and that of Anthony Ainley as The Master. Ace and…
Red River (1948) – Howard Hawks
John Wayne gets paired with Montgomery Clift as Howard Hawks directs in the next western recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Wayne is Thomas Dunson, a cattle driver, and a fast gun who is a bit of a tyrant as he seizes land for his cattle ranch, and heads to…
Quantum Leap (1991/1992) – Unchained and The Play’s the Thing
Unchained finds Sam (Scott Bakula) in the body of Chance Cole on 2 November, 1956. The episode was written by Paris Qualles and had an airdate of 27 November, 1991. Sam, as Chance, is part of a chain gang, and he and another convict, Jasper Boone (Basil Wallace) a man, Al (Dean Stockwell) informs him,…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) -The Doomsday Machine and Catspaw
Captain’s log: stardate unknow The Doomsday Machine sent me on many adventures when I was a child. Written by Norman Spinrad, this episode had an original airdate of 20 October, 1967. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the stalwart crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise encounter terror in space. They arrive in a destroyed planetary system, and discover…
Odd and the Frost Giants (2008) – Neil Gaiman
It’s always a delight to explore a Neil Gaiman book, and though this novella was far too short, it was everything I’d come to expect from this master storyteller. Incorporating Norse Mythology, which is also the subject of his latest book, the story follows a young boy, named Odd, who has an unexpected encounter with…
The Twilight Zone (1960) – The Four of Us Are Dying, Third from the Sun, and I Shot an Arrow into the Air
Paramount Pictures continues guiding me through the ins and outs of the dark turns and labyrinths of the Twilight Zone, as I journey through The Complete Series on Blu-Ray. First up this week is The Four of Us Are Dying, Rod Serling penned the episode, based on a short story by George Clayton Johnson. This…
Terminator Salvation (2009) – McG
The final stop with the Sc-Fi Chronicles book for me with the Terminator franchise, as I’ve now had a chance to cover all of them, is this interesting entry from the same pair of writers who gave us Rise of the Machines. This one could have been alright, though I feel McG was probably the…
Liv Stein
Combining near cinematic imagery that verges on the iconic and powerhouse performances from its actors, Liv Stein, presented by Canadian Stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto is sure to wow and elicit discussion. Director Matthew Jocelyn’s sure hand brings Nino Haratischwili’s original German play to the Canadian stage via a translation by Birgit…
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) – Jonathan Mostow
I’ve covered all the Terminator films on this blog, except for two, so now, thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles book I will be checking them out to complete my interactions with the T-101 and the many incarnations of John Connor. I remember being of a split mind on this film when I first saw it….
Doctor Who (Sylvester McCoy) – The Curse of Fenric
An ancient evil arises near a secret British base during World War II, and the Doctor (McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) find themselves taking it on, in The Curse of Fenric. This story, the penultimate of Season 26, was a four-parter that was penned by Ian Briggs and ran from 25 October to 15 November,…
The Mind Reels 