The journey into film noir continues with the recommendations from my Great Movies – 100 Years of Film for my screening of The Big Sleep. Alan Ladd is Ed Beaumont, the right hand man, and best friend of corrupt politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy). When Madvig shuts down a gangster, Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia)…
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies IMAX (2014) – Peter Jackson
The last (or latest) trip to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth opened this weekend and, of course, being a fan of the world, I had to check it. The IMAX 3D presentation I saw, was in the higher frame rate presentation, and I was eager to see how it looked and felt. I walked out…
Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) – The Seeds of Death
The Ice Warriors return in this 6 part tale that was written by Brian Hayles and ran from 25 January to 1 March, 1969. The Doctor (Troughton), Zoe (Wendy Padbury) and Jamie (Frazer Hines) find themselves bouncing between 21st century London and the moon in this latest adventure. Earth has done away with the…
Extraterrestrial (2014) – The Vicious Brothers
I quite enjoyed the Vicious Brothers previous efforts – Grave Encounters and Grave Encounters 2, and were curious how they took on subject matter that really unnerved me, so I dug into Extraterrestrial, which is currently available on VOD and iTunes, and had a look. Whereas with Grave Encounters I felt they took on…
Airwolf (1984) – Sweet Britches and Firestorm
Season two of this helicopter thriller starts with a bang for Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine). First up, with an airdate of 22 September, 1984, is Sweet Britches, which was written by Bellisario, and features a couple of familiar faces, like Lance LeGault as corrupt sheriff, J.J. Bogan, and Jeff…
The Cabinet of Curiosities (2002) – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The third novel featuring FBI agent Pendergast is set, once again, in New York. It’s been a number of years since the journey into the sublevels of the Big Apple, but a curious discovery has drawn Pendergast back to the city. A charnel house has been discovered while the foundation of a new building…
The Rockford Files (1978) – The Jersey Bounce and White On White And Nearly Perfect
Jim’s (James Garner) fifth season finds him in more and more trouble. First up is The Jersey Bounce, which aired 6 October, 1978 which was put together by Cannell, Juanita Bartlett and David Chase. The phone gag features a fun call from Angel (Stuart Margolin). It seems Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.) is having trouble…
The Maltese Falcon (1941) – John Huston
Humphrey Bogart stars in this classic film noir that is the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of The Big Sleep. Dashiel Hammett’s book comes to life under the direction of John Huston, who also penned the adapted screenplay, with gumshoe Sam Spade (Bogart) finding…
The Big Sleep (1946) – Howard Hawks
The first title in the Crime and Thriller chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this wonderful classic based on Raymond Chandler’s book, adapted by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman, it is directed by Howard Hawks and features Humphrey Bogart as Chandler’s hardboiled detective Phillip Marlowe. The…
Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) – The Krotons
The next journey of the TARDIS is this four-part story written by Robert Holmes that ran from 28 December, 1968 to 18 January, 1969. The Doctor, Zoe (Wendy Padbury) and Jamie (Frazer Hines), find themselves on a planet inhabited by the Gond, who seem to be in some sort of slavery to machines known…
