After the heavier subject matter last week, The Great Spontini is a bit lighter fare (partially, though it does deal with a heartbreaking reality for families, divorce and custody battles) for Sam (Scott Bakula). Written by Cristy Dawson and Beverly Bridges, this episode first aired on 16 November, 1990. Sam finds himself as a magician, Harry Spontini,…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) – The Menagerie Part 1 & 2
Captain’s Log: Stardate 3012.4 How do you get value for your dollar if you shot a pilot that was never aired? Use it as the crux of a story and incorporate the footage! This was the first Trek two-parter, and I know I saw it a child, but I don’t remember having to wait a…
Bond By Design: The Art of the James Bond Films (2015) – Meg Simmons
I got into the 007 films fairly late, I was 11 going 12 and living in Bermuda, when we finally got a VCR and I was able to explore the world of Ian Fleming. Before we lived there, I had purchased a Bond book by John Gardner to read on our annual trip out east to…
Champion (2013) – Marie Lu
Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy comes to a conclusion on this week’s Book Shelf. A Young Adult series that isn’t quite dystopian in nature, but flirts at its edges with a United States torn into two halves, the Republic and the Colonies. War has been going on for a while, but with the introduction of the…
Superman: The Animated Series (1997) – Identity Crisis, Target and Mxyzpixilated
Clark Kent (Tim Daly) is seeing double in Identity Crisis, the first episode up this week. Originally airing on 15 September, 1997, this story introduced yet another DC character to the animated canon, that of Bizarro, a strange, flawed clone of Superman. There’s an amusing moment as Supes is patrolling Metropolis and he rescues a kid,…
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) – Bryan Spicer
I never quite got into the Power Rangers, nor understood the appeal, but they are my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. I never really saw much of the television show, and anything I did see, seemed fairly low-end, but the film tries to embrace a big budget theatrical look with a Point Break…
The Dam Busters (1955) – Michael Anderson
As I return to the war genre I plunge into the events of World War II and the creation of a ‘bouncing bomb’ that would help the Allies against the Nazis. The film is based on two books, one by Paul Brickhill about the creation of the weapon, and the other by Guy Gibson about…
Doctor Who (Colin Baker) – Terror of the Vervoids
The Trial of a Time Lord continues for the Doctor (Baker) this week with Terror of the Vervoids, a four part story penned by Pip and Jane Baker that ran from the 1 to 22 November, 1986. As the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) continues his case against the Doctor, but he s finally able to offer…
Doctor Strange (2016) – Scott Derrickson
Benedict Cumberbatch settles rather nicely into the Marvel universe, as he dons the cloak and mantle of the MCU’s (Marvel Cinematic Universe) latest superhero. Doctor Strange. Easing into an American accent, as easily as he does Strange’s costume, Cumberbatch fits the role perfectly, bringing to life the doctor’s arrogance, ego, and eventually his humbled, giving…
Uncovered – Queen & Bowie
Last night I had the good fortune of attending the closing night performance of Acting Up Stage’s annual Uncovered show. This year, an impressive assembly of Canadian talent performed selections from the musical libraries of David Bowie and Queen, and included a pair of actors who basically channelled the ghosts of Bowie and Freddie Mercury…
The Mind Reels 