First contact. The interpretation of words. How we communicate both person to person, and mass media. The very perception of our existence. These are all at work in Canadian director Villeneuve’s latest film. A hard science fiction tale that eschews lasers and space battles for deeper concepts like the way we interact and understand one…
Tag: Alien
TIFF Bell Lightbox – Trek Talks Physics!
The celebrations around the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek continues at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Not only are the screenings continuing, classic episodes and all the theatrical releases, but a number of Trek Talks have been scheduled between now and the beginning of December. This evening’s event may have edged out the previous two as…
Doctor Who (Colin Baker) – Mindwarp
The Trial of a Time Lord continues with Mindwarp. This four-parter was penned by Philip Martin and ran from 4 to 25 October, 1986. As the Doctor’s (Baker) trial continues, as well as his clash with the prosecutor, the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) who presents his evidence. The story, and the case unfold, as the Doctor…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) – The Man Trap and Charlie X
Captain’s Log: Stardate 1513.1 I was going to wait until I finished one of the other shows that I am watching for the blog before I dove into Star Trek, but the 50th Anniversary beginning in September, and the DK Canada book, The Star Trek Book on the The Book Shelf this week drove me…
Superman: The Animated Series (1996) -The Last Son of Krypton Parts I, II and III
It’s time now to turn to the other titan of the DC universe as I dive into Superman: The Animated Series. Launching on 6 September, 1996, the series started with a three part story that retold the classic story of Kal-El’s (Tim Daly) arrival on Earth after the destruction of Krypton, and growing int…
Doctor Who (Peter Davison) – Frontios
The Doctor (Davison) takes on an almost good old-fashioned monster story in Frontios, written by Christopher H. Bidmead. This four part tale ran from 26 January to 3 February, 1984. The Time Lord, and his Companions, Teagan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) are forced to land the TARDIS on the remote world of…
Total Recall (2012) – Len Wiseman
The Sci-Fi Chronicles brings me to another remake, this time Total Recall. Based ever so loosely on the Philip K. Dick tale, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, it also seeks to prove itself a worthy successor to one of the biggest films of the early 90s. Most viewers will only know the…
Finding Dory (2016) – Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane
Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the short-term memory loss suffering blue tang is back in the latest entry from Pixar, that sees her on the journey to find her parents, with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence) helping her out, and going out on an adventure of their own, when Dory gets lost…
Doctor Who (Peter Davison) – Time-Flight
This week, we tackle the final story of the 19th season! Written by Peter Grimwade this four part story ran from 22 to 30 March, 1982. The Doctor (Davison), Teagan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) are trying to deal with the loss of Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) in the previous story and end up…
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – Zack Snyder
The Hero’s Code. It apparently means nothing to Batman (Ben Affleck). It apparently means nothing to Superman (Henry Cavill). And that’s troubling, because as a child, they were two of the characters I grew up with that taught me what it was. But even worse, the creative forces behind the scenes of the latest…
The Mind Reels 