M*A*S*H (1977) – The General’s Practitioner, Movie Tonight, and Souvenirs

Everything seems to happen just a bit too quick in this episode, The General’s Practitioner. Written by Burt Prelotsky, this one first hit the airwaves on 15 February, 1977. A Colonel Bidwell (Leonard Stone) shows up in camp on behalf of his general, Korshak (Edward Binns) in order to recruit the best doctor the 4077th…

Silverado (1985) – Lawrence Kasdan

Occasionally a film comes along and revitalises the genre. Eastwood would return to the western trough countless times before he revitalised it with his own take on it, Unforgiven, but in the mid-80s, that shake-up was left to Lawrence Kasdan and his brother Mark. Lawrence had his fingers in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and…

F/X 2 (1991) – Richard Franklin

Five years after the first film, and a lifetime of difference for me, Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) were back in action. Unfortunately, an attempt to continue the gritty feeling special effects thriller comes across as a little disjointed, and honestly, more convoluted than it needed to be. An attempt to…

F/X (1986) – Robert Mandel

Bryan Brown plays Roland Tyler, one of the top special effects people working in the business. He’s built a name for himself as well as a brand, but he’s just been approached for a special kind of gig in Robert Mandel’s F/X. He’s approached by a member of the Justice Department to help out on…

Ratatouille (2007) – Brad Bird, and Jan Pinkava

The Oscar winning Ratatouille (Best Animated Feature) is the next title on the What Else to Watch list following the recommendation in DK Canada’s The Movie Book for Toy Story. Featuring an incredibly talented voice cast including Patton Oswalt, Peter O’Toole, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Will Arnett, Brian Dennehy and Lou Romano the story follows…

Miami Vice (1987) – Amen… Send Money, and Death and the Lady

Vice detective Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas) finds himself in trouble in the first episode this week, Amen… Send Money. Written by John Schulian. It first aired on 2 October, 1987 and sees Brian Dennehy as Reverend Bill Bob Proverb. Rico and his partner Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) get in deep when Tubbs busts a…

Trailer Tracks: First Blood (1982) – Ted Kotcheff

Fresh off the successes the Rocky series, Sylvester Stallone took on the role of Vietnam vet John Rambo, a wanderer who is pushed too far by a small town sheriff played by Brian Dennehy. Richard Crenna co-stars as Rambo’s former commander, and despite the violent looking trailer, the body count in this film is an…

First Blood (1982) – Ted Kotcheff

I came across First Blood when I was a kid, it showed up on my television screen on the now defunct but never forgotten First Choice or Super Channel. I was still a little squeamish at that age, and the film had already started, so the first thing I saw was a man (with a…