Matthew Reilly brings his thrill-a-minute style of writing back to the 16th century as he populates his novel with historical figures caught up in intrigue, lust and a legendary chess tournament in the heart of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople. A young English princess, Elizabeth Tudor, Bess, all of thirteen years old, accompanies her teacher Roger…
Batman: The Animated Series (1998) – Old Wounds, Legends of the Dark Knight and Girls’ Night Out
So what happened to cause Nightwing (Loren Lester) to have a falling out with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Batgirl (Tara Strong) and has caused their relationship to be so strained since the beginning of the new series? We find out in Old Wounds, which aired 3 October, 1998, as Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, reveals…
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) – George Lucas
The Sci-Fi Chronicles brings me to the final entry in the Prequel Trilogy, and arguably the strongest despite some troubling moments. While still suffering from the too clean, too digital, green-screen EVERYTHING, this one feels the closest to a Star Wars movie, and that opening sequence through the space battle over Coruscant is highly…
From Here to Eternity (1953) – Fred Zinnemann
An all star cast brings James Jones sprawling book to the big screen, and is my next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my revisit with Casablanca for the Romance and Melodrama genre. Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Ernest Borgnine, Claude Akins and Jack Warden bring…
Doctor Who (Colin Baker) – Attack of the Cybermen
Season 22 gets underway this week with the Doctor (Baker) confronting one of his age-old nemesis, the Cybermen. It also features a bit of a revamp in the way it was broadcast, eschewing the 25 minute episode, and instead going with a 45 minute episode, this story was composed of two parts, running from…
Brief Encounter (1945) – David Lean
I dive into the recommendations for the Romance and Melodrama genre following my screening of Casablanca for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book and first up is the David Lean film, based on the play by Noel Coward, Brief Encounter. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard star as Laura Jesson and Dr….
Quantum Leap (1990) – Animal Frat and Another Mother
Sam (Scott Bakula) is back in school, when he leaps into Knut ‘Wild Thing’ Wileton, in Animal Frat. This Animal House-like episode was penned by Chris Ruppenthal and aired 3 January, 1990. It’s 19 October, 1967, and Sam seems to be Big Man On Campus, but as always, he’s there to put something right,…
Star Wars: Battlefront – Twilight Company (2015) – Alexander Freed
Its back to a galaxy, far, far away this week as the Book Shelf takes on a Star Wars novel, based on a game, based on the universe George Lucas created. And you know what? It works, and it works well. This one, put simply, is a war story, we get glimpses of a number…
Batman: The Animated Series (1998) – Critters, Cult of the Cat, and Animal Act
Not sure if the stories and the series are getting tired, but the first entry this week has to be one of the worst episodes of the series. Critters aired 19 September, 1998, and sees Batman (Kevin Conroy), Batgirl (Tara Strong) and Robin (Matthew Valencia) menaced by Farmer Brown (Peter Breck). It seems Brown…
The Mind Reels chats with Vikings’ Clive Standen
Sue and I were delighted to get a few minutes with one of the stars of History Channel’s fascinating, and compelling historical drama, Vikings, Clive Standen. This show seemed to come out of nowhere, one moment no one was talking about it, and the next, everyone is. As we mention in our interview, it is…
The Mind Reels 