Ashley McConnell turns in another Quantum Leap novel, and except for a quick moment when we are given another limbo moment for Sam between leaps it is a really powerful tale about domestic abuse, alcoholism and breaking the cycle. Sam leaps into Missy, a six-year-old girl (something that couldn’t have been pulled off believably in…
Tag: alcoholism
Mission: Impossible (1971) – The Miracle, and Encounter
Phelps (Peter Graves) and his team work to convince the mob that one of its high-profile hitmen have turned against them by having a change of heart, literally. The Miracle was written by Daniel B. Ullman and debuted on 23 October, 1971. And no matter what I think of the episode (it was okay) what…
M*A*S*H (1981) – Oh, How We Danced, Bottoms Up, and The Red/White Blues
Oh, How We Danced written by John Rappaport, and with an original airdate of 23 February, 1981, has a fantastic A-story, that really touches the heart (even as it messes with series continuity), and a completely forgettable B-story. The B-story first then. Charles (David Ogden Stiers) delivers a substandard sanitation rating to a nearby American…
The Nice Guys (2016) – Shane Black
With the exception of The Predator, I love me some Shane Black. From the moment I first saw Lethal Weapon, I knew I had found a writer (and later a director) that I would enjoy following. Keeping in the vein of his other film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys plays with the detective…
M*A*S*H (1975) – Bulletin Board, The Consultant, and House Arrest
Alan Alda steps behind the camera to direct Bulletin Board, a bit of a vignette episode written by Simon Muntner and series developer Larry Gelbart. It debuted on 14 January, 1975. Trapper (Wayne Rogers) is writing a letter home to his kids (and occasionally smooching a nurse or two), Frank (Larry Linville) and Margaret (Loretta…
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) – Richard Donner
1989. I graduated high school and was living on my own for the first time, and my movie collecting addiction was swinging into full gear and this film, along with Last Crusade and Batman were some of my purchases that year, making me choose for the first time between proper meals or cinematic confection. It…
The Lost Weekend (1945) – Billy Wilder
I dig into a new movie book today, Ten Bad Dates with De Niro, which have a number of different chapters and submissions. There’s going to be a lot of interesting films in this one. The first section is titles Losing it at the Movies – Pure Emotional Responses to Cinema. I found myself coming…
South Park: The Complete Ninth Season
This week I dove into the ninth season of the Comedy Central series, South Park on blu-ray, available now from Paramount Pictures. Over the course of fourteen episodes we get more comedic tales featuring Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Butters, Jimmy and the gang, including the highly controversial, and incredibly enjoyable, Scientology episode, Trapped in the…
Leonard (2016) -William Shatner with David Fisher
It was just over a year ago, that Leonard Nimoy passed, and like many people around the globe, I was profoundly affected by it. I grew up with Leonard, well not literally, I grew up with his most famous character, Mr. Spock on my television screen, in the books I read, and every few…
The Rockford Files (1979) – Guilt and The Deuce
Jim (James Garner) finds himself in all manner of trouble this week… First up is Guilt, that was written by Juanita Bartlett and originally aired 19 January, 1979. The phone message this time around features a message from Angel (Stuart Margolin) who gets a hot tip about a horse, but needs to bum some…
The Mind Reels 