Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – The Return of Doctor Mysterio, and The Pilot

The Doctor (Capaldi) returned to screens after a year away with the 2016 Holiday Special. Written by Steven Moffat The Return of Soctor Mysterio aired on Christmas Day. This light-hearted adventure follows the Doctor’s encounters with a young boy (and later man) named Grant (Logan Hoffman and Justin Chatwin) who loves his comic books and…

The Amber Spyglass (2000) – Philip Pullman

The final novel in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is on the book shelf this week, and I was curious to know if it would have the same effect on me as it did when I first read it eighteen years ago. I remembered nothing of the final half of the book after a…

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (1993) – The Phantom Train of Doom

Frank Darabont pens Indy’s (Sean Patrick Flanery) adventures this week when he encounters The Phantom Train of Doom. Originally broadcast as a television movie on 5 June 1993, this story sees Indy, with his friend Remy (Ronny Coutteure) returning to Africa, where they are promoted to lieutenant. The episode begins with the running gag that…

The Golden Compass (1995) – Philip Pullman

Having just recently rewatched the film version of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, I was eager to revisit the novel, which I had read only once about twenty years ago. I remember enjoying the series, but can’t remember anything that happened in the third book of the trilogy, only recalling that I cried a lot….

Marvel Studio’s Thor: Ragnarok Blu-Ray Review

Thor Ragnarok the immensely enjoyable third solo adventure of the Marvel hero comes home on blu-ray and DVD today, and continues to build on the Marvel Cinematic Universe while also bringing in something new to the adventure… A huge sense of humour and fun. Chris Hemsworth as the titular god shows that he can manage…

The NeverEnding Story (1984) – Wolfgang Petersen

The first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Fellowship of the Ring is Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 adaptation of only a small part of Micheal Ende’s fantasy novel, The NeverEnding Story. It has been more than thirty years since I watched this one, so I was…

Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – Robot of Sherwood, and Listen

The Doctor (Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) embark on a bit of a lark with Robot of Sherwood. Written by Mark Gatiss this episode first aired on 6 September, 2014. Clara has always wanted to meet Robin Hood, which the Doctor insists was made up. To prove the point he takes her to Sherwood Forest…

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (1993) – Travels With Father

The next adventure of Indiana Jones (Corey Carrier) is pieced together from two episodes shot in 1993 that didn’t air from a proposed third season.  The two episodes were written by Frank Darabont, Matthew Jacobs, and Jonathan Hales. They were combined into a television movie that first aired on 16 June, 1996. Russia, March 1909….