Ralph Bakshi paired up with his good friend, famed fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and delivered 1983’s Fire & Ice. An animated rotoscoped sword and sorcery adventure, this film feels more in line with the 70s style of animation and storytelling, despite the rise of Dungeons & Dragons at the time. An evil ruler, Nekron (Sean…
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 2: Earth (2006) – The Avatar State, The Cave of Two Lovers, and Return to Omashu
Book 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender got underway on 17 March, 2006 with The Avatar State. Written by Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick and John O’Bryan, the episode sets the stage for what is to come. Zuko (Dante Basco) and Iroh (Mako) are shocked to discover when Zuko’s sister, Azula (Grey Griffin)…
The Ninth Configuration (1980) – William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty the author of The Exorcist, wrote and directed this spiritual sequel, now defined as part of the faith trilogy formed by The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, and The Exorcist III. It’s a fascinating film, in parts funny, in parts heartbreaking, and in parts horrifying. In a remote part of the Pacific Northwest…
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023) – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Among the Lotus Eaters
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow gives us a time travel story in the vein of The City on the Edge of Forever, Tomorrow is Yesterday, and Assignment: Earth. Written by David Reed, the episode first aired on 29 June, 2023. La’an (Christina Chong) is still trying to find her way back to the crew after…
Family Ties (1986) – Beauty and the Bank, Mrs. Wrong: Part 1, and Part 2
Alex (Micheal J. Fox) makes a series of sexist mistakes when he applies for, and finally gets, a job at a bank. Written by Stephen Curwick, Beauty and the Bank first aired on 30 October, 1986. Alex makes a number of mistakes, when he applies for the job, mistakenly thinking Rebecca Ryan (Melinda Culea) is…
Ancillary Justice (2013) – Ann Leckie
Ann Leckie delivers an interesting space opera read that uses the feminine pronoun she throughout, as a part of its language, not as a descriptor of the people themselves, who are predominantly genderless. It’s a great touch, and really plays nicely with the casting of characters in the mind’s eye. We are introduced to Breq,…
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023) – The Broken Circle, and Ad Astra Per Aspera
Season two of Strange New Worlds got underway with The Broken Circle. Written by Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman, the season got underway on 15 June, 2023. The Enterprise is docked at a starbase as Captain Pike (Anson Mount) goes off in search of someone who will be able to help Una (Rebecca Romijn)…
Dead Heat (1988) – Mark Goldblatt
I never saw the trailer for Dead Heat when it came out, if I had, I may have seen it a lot sooner. Everytime I saw the poster art at the video store I thought it just looked too silly and without sounding too harsh, I was never a Joe Piscopo fan. So I finally…
Capricorn One (1977) – Peter Hyams
Moon landing conspiracies didn’t really have any traction until Peter Hyams wrote and directed Capricorn One. Citing the fact that the most important event in mankind’s history had taken place, and the only witness was a television camera sparked his imagination about what could and couldn’t be done with that idea. The Apollo missions were…
Avatar: The Last Airbender- Book 1: Water (2005) – The Siege of the North Part 1, and Part 2
Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) and the rest prepare for Admiral Zhao’s (Jason Isaac) assault in The Siege of the North, Part 1. Written by Aaron Ehasz, and directed by Dave Filoni and Lauren MacMullan, this episode debuted on 2 December, 2005. As the Northern Water Tribes prepare for the assault, lots of things are going…
The Mind Reels 