I haven’t read this book since the mid-80s when my schoolmate and friend, Michael Hay suggested I might like it. I dug into it, and for awhile there, birthdays or Christmases would bring me the latest Tom Clancy hardcover. I’ve been itching to kind of go back and see I still enjoy the stories, and…
Tag: american
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) – John Rawlins
Nazis, I hate these guys. Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes leaves behind the trappings of the 19th century for this 1940s adventure, based loosely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale His Last Bow. A radio broadcast from Germany is threatening destruction on England, and it gleefully predicts and calls out each moment of destruction with eerie…
Stargate SG-1 (2005) – It’s Good to Be King, and Full Alert
When SG-1 learns of an imminent Goa’uld attack, O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) authorizes the team to go and rescue Harry Maybourne (Tom McBeath) from his exile. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie from a story they created with Michael Greenburg and Peter DeLuise, It’s Good to Be King first debuted on 4 February, 2005….
Red Sparrow (2018) – Francis Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence trusts to Francis Lawrence, who directed her in the final three Hunger Games films. As such, she bares it all in this taut spy thriller. Based on the novel by Jason Matthews the story introduces us to Dominika Egorova (Lawrence). Her promising career as a ballerina is brought to a brutal end when…
The Challenge (1982) – John Frankenheimer
Scott Glenn sports a truly horrific bowl cut in his first leading role, starring alongside Toshiro Mifune in the Frankenheimer-helmed The Challenge. Featuring a score by Jerry Goldsmith and a supporting cast that includes Sab Shimono and Clyde Kusatsu, the film is a pretty solid action entry though it wasn’t the film Glenn and Mifune…
Forever and a Day (2018) – Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz delivers another fast-paced 007 spy thriller with some material written by the series creator Ian Fleming. Set just before the events of the novel, Casino Royale, the story follows James Bond as he gets his two assigned kills to get his Double-O number, and throws him into a case that helps shape the…
Gorky Park (1983) – Michael Apted
I remember seeing the book cover for Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith everywhere in the early 80s. I suppose had I wanted to I could have read it then. My parents were pretty liberal with letting me read whatever I wanted, and I had just started delving into mysteries, I read a couple of…
The Mummy’s Hand (1940) – Christy Cabanne
I dig into more Universal monsters this week to the first sequel to The Mummy. Released in 1940, The Mummy’s Hand features Tom Tyler as the Mummy. It’s hard to come down on anyone’s side on this one nowadays. The ‘heroes’ are led by an archeologist, Steve Banning (Dick Foran) who is a snappily-dressed American…
The Three Musketeers (1993) – Stephen Herek
Disney’s 1993 take on The Three Musketeers has some fun things going for it, Kiefer Sutherland, Tim Curry, Michael Wincott and music by Michael Kamen. Sure it’s not much more than a romp, an entertaining one to be sure, but it doesn’t do much to make itself authentic. The film is set in France, but…
The Russia House (1990) – Fred Schepisi
Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider, James Fox, John Mahoney, and J.T. Walsh star in the cinematic adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, The Russia House. Written for the screen by Tom Stoppard, the film was the first, big Western film to be shot on location in the Soviet Union. Featuring a gorgeous score by…
The Mind Reels 