Star Trek: Twilight’s End (1996) – Jerry Oltion

It’s a lot of fun getting back into classic Star Trek books, check out the awesome library available from Simon & Schuster to feed that need. The next book in The Original Series run is Twilight’s End. The story feels like it’s set at some point during the third season of the series, it makes…

The Frighteners (1996) – Peter Jackson

Michael J. Fox takes the lead in what was Peter Jackson’s first big studio film, with Bob Zemeckis serving as executive producer. While some of the special effects have not stood the test of time, it remains a fun film, trying to walk that balance between horror and comedy. Frank Bannister (Fox) is a con…

Executive Decision (1996) – Stuart Baird

Kurt Russell stars in this kinda Tom-Clancy-techno-thriller from director Stuart Baird, that not only has the awesome Russell in it, as well as Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, J.T. Walsh, and John Leguizamo – it also has Steven Seagal’s character getting killed off before the action really gets going (I call that a win,…

Escape From L.A. (1996) – 4K Review

You either love this film or you don’t. There’s really no two ways about it. Some of it is so out there, that you can’t help but roll your eyes. But if you want to see director John Carpenter, and star Kurt Russell bringing their anti-hero Snake Plissken back to the screen some fifteen years…

That Thing You Do! (1996) – Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks wrote and directed this joyful, song-filled film that took us inside the lives of the band members of a one hit wonder. It’s 1964, and popular music is the thing, and for a young band calling themselves the Oneders (the Wonders – like 1 ders) they are about to find that fame isn’t…

Cold (1996) – John Gardner

John Gardner’s final 007 novel, Cold aka Cold Fall, his sixteenth, feels a little bit more like the James Bond we know, a balance between Ian Fleming’s literary creation, and his cinematic iteration. Far more enjoyable than his adaptation of GoldenEye, the novel is split into two parts, taking place before, and then after, his…

The X-Files (1996/1997) – Paper Hearts, and El Mundo Gira

Vince Gilligan pens Paper Hearts, one of the best episodes of season four according to stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It first aired on 15 December, 1996, and earned composer Mark Snow an Emmy nomination. Mulder (Duchovny) has been having very vivid dreams, dreams that lead him to the unmarked grave of a little…

Millennium (1996) – Blood Relatives, and The Well-Worn Lock

Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) investigates a series of brutal murders that have a tie-in with a pretender who attempts to connect to people at funerals. Written by Chip Johanessen, Blood Relatives first aired on 6 December, 1996. James Dickerson (Sean Six) attends funerals, pretending to be a friend of the deceased in order to be…

The X-Files (1996) – Tunguska, and Terma

Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter bring Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) deeper into the mythology arc with Tunguska, which debuted on 24 November, 1996. That duplicitous rat, Krycek (Nicholas Lea) resurfaces, having been freed from the missile silo by an extremist far right group which found him on a salvaging haul….

Millennium (1996) – 5-2-2-6-6-6, and Kingdom Come

Writers James Wong and Glen Morgan pit Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and the Millennium Group against a serial bomber in 5-2-2-6-6-6 (which entered into a phone pad spells K-A-B-O-O-M), which first aired on 22 November, 1996. Raymond Dees (Joe Chrest) is a bomber, there is sexual transference involved, as well as the desire to be…