Stargate: Atlantis (2007) – Vengeance, and First Strike

The penultimate episode of season three is setting things up for the season three finale. Written by Carl Binder, this episode debuted on 15 June, 2007. Remember the people who lived on the planet with the super-volcano? The Taranin. Well, the expedition has lost contact with their new settlement. So Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), McKay (David…

Smallville (2001) – Pilot, and Metamorphosis

The Superman mythos got the teen drama remix with Smallville. Perfectly cast and solidly scripted, the series ran for ten seasons, and while I did enjoy it, I never got past season five originally. We’re going to fix that this time out. The show launched with its Pilot on 16 October, 2001. Written by Alfred…

Stargate SG-1 (2006) – The Scourge, and Arthur’s Mantle

SG-1 is given a babysitting detail when the International Oversight Advisory committee wants to visit the Gamma Site. Mitchell (Ben Browder), Carter (Amanda Tapping), Daniel (Michael Shanks) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) are less than impressed. As often happens, things will go sideways and everyone, including Woolsey (Robert Picardo) will be glad SG-1 is there. Written…

Batman (1966) – The Minstrel’s Shakedown, and Barbecued Batman?

Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) encounter an all-new villain when The Minstrel (Van Johnson) arrives in town. A talented singer and an electronic genius, he leans his talents toward villainy! This two-parter was written by Francis M. Cockrell and Marian B. Cockrell, with the first instalment, The Minitrel’s Shakedown, first airing on 21…

Fringe (2011) – Immortality, and 6B

Immortality takes us back to the other side in this episode written by David Wilcox and Ethan Gross. It first aired on 11 February, 2011. Broyles (Lance Reddick) seems to be missing so Lincoln (Seth Gabel) is in charge of Fringe Division, just as a new and horrifying case comes along and Fauxlivia’s (Anna Torv)…

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – 4K Review

Warner Brothers has sent me back to The Matrix with a copy of their 4K version of The Matrix Resurrections, which is available today in wonderful physical media form of blu-ray and 4K disc. Like everything after the first film, released back in 1999, this installment is as divisive as Reloaded and Revolutions, but for…

The Three Body Problem (2008) – Liu Cixin

Wang Miao and Ye Wenjie are the central characters in a vast cast in this epic Chinese novel that is the first in a trilogy, also known as The Three Body Problem. Treating its subject matter with intelligence, and pouring on the science, the story takes us through the first steps of contact with an…

Prince of Darkness (1987) – John Carpenter

Prince of Darkness was the third John Carpenter movie I saw ever, before that I was delighted with Big Trouble in Little China, and had found my favourite horror movie with The Things (Jaws is not a horror film, it’s an adventure movie).I remember seeing print ads for it on the back of the comic…

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) – Edward Neumeier

  Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) returns to the franchise in this second direct to DVD sequel that sees the fight with the bugs continue. After the second one, I don’t know if things would get better or worse, but with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book as my guide, I dove into the worlds, based loosely…

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) – Phil Tippett

  Special effects expert and modelmaker, Phil Tippet, slips into the director’s chair for the first of two direct-to-dvd sequels to Paul Verhoven’s original militaristic sci-fi war film, which is the next stop in the supremely enjoyable, Sci-Fi Chronicles book. A group of troopers, in an abandoned outpost find that they are in deeper trouble…