The third story of the second season is a two-parter penned by David Whitaker and airing on the 2 and 9 of January 1965. The Doctor (Hartnell) is napping, and I think dealing with his depression of leaving Susan (Carole Ann Ford) behind in the previous story, when the TARADIS materializes on Dido (the planet…
Afflicted (2013) – Derek Lee & Cliff Prowse
Opening today is this found footage film that falls into the could-have-been-great category. It manages to take a fairly exhausted genre and do something new with it, which is great, but the entire second half of the movie seems to be too long, and the film’s climax seems to take forever. That’s saying something…
Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982) – Pilot
The next Bellisario series that came along after Battlestar Galactica that caught my attention (despite the fact that Magnum, P.I. started first, I came to it a little later) was this 1930s high adventure series starring Stephen Collins as ex-Flying Tiger Jake Cutter in his Grumman Goose, and his one-eyed dog Jack. Bellisario wrote the two-hour pilot…
Sunrise – A Tale of Two Humans (1927) – F.W. Murnau
Following on the tail of Pandora’s Box, this recommendation from Great Movies – 100 Years of Film,a splendidly filmed silent movie, is a moving and involving drama, that follows two characters on their rediscovery of their love for one another, and the threat of its loss. Set in a small village, frequented by city dwellers,…
The Rockford Files (1975) – Counter Gambit & Claire
This week’s delving into the files of private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) is a lot of fun in terms of plot and cast. The phone gags are a lot of fun as well, in the first episode, it’s a friend of Jim’s who wants to give him the money he owes, but he’s…
Possession (1981) – Andrzej Zulawski
A bizarre, and troubling tale was recommended to me by this odd list I came across listing horror movies, the majority of which I’d seen, but this one I’d never heard of… After his turn as Damien Thorn in the Omen III, Sam Neill took on the role of Mark in this haunting and…
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) – Carl Reiner
Where Monsieur Hulot’s recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book suggested Blazing Saddles as a western send-up, the hilarious Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Steve Martin skewers the noir genre lovingly by intercutting out hero Rigby Reardon (Martin) with actual footage from classic noir films. Reardon, a cynical gumshoe…
Doctor Who (William Hartnell) – The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Terry Nation scripts the return of the Doctor’s (Hartnell) most famous and nefarious enemy the Daleks in this six part adventure. Airing from 21 November to 26 December 1964, the story is epic in size, and sees the first departure of a companion from the TARDIS. In the first episode, World’s End, our travelers…
2014 Toronto Screenwriting Conference
The annual Toronto Screenwriting Conference is coming up next weekend (April 5 & 6), and I have to tell you, I am getting very excited for it. Last year was the first time Sue Maynard and I had been to the event, and were intent on covering as much of it as we could, and…
Battlestar Galactica (1979) – Take the Celestra & The Hand of God
And just like that, one of the series that helped influence my childhood, and generated my love for pop culture comes to an end… For me, Galactica, and it’s follow-up series, the less than stellar Galctica 1980 (except the one episode The Return of Starbuck) will always be joined in my mind with CFB Borden,…
