Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) – Burt Kennedy

Following the success of Support Your Local Sheriff! James Garner paired up again with director Burt Kennedy and a lot of the cast from the first film to shoot Support Your Local Gunfighter. It is not a true sequel, but more a spiritual one, this one showcases Garner’s charm and charisma once again. This time…

Magnum P.I. (2019) – Day of the Viper, and I, the Deceased

In a quick nod to the original series, Magnum (Jay Hernandez) is watching Stalag 17, one of the original Magnum’s (Tom Selleck) favorite movies. The homages to the original continue throughout the series, but the episode quickly takes a serious turn for Higgins (Perdita Weeks). Day of the Viper was written by Gene Hong and…

Quiz Lady (2023) – Jessica Yu

Awkwafina and Sandra Oh play sisters in the very enjoyable, Quiz Lady, which I missed at TIFF but was delighted to check out when it hit streaming platforms. Anne (Awkwafina) is quiet, set in her routines, and has some mental health issues that keep her confined to her job, and her couch, where she and…

Miami Vice (1989) -Hard Knocks, and Fruit of the Poison Tree

Switek’s (John Talbott) gambling addiction is getting worse as we find out in Hard Knocks. Written by Ken Solarz from a story by Robert Ward, Scott Shepherd and Solraz, this episode first debuted on 20 January, 1989. Switek sinks into drunkenness, and increasingly poor gambling choices getting him in more trouble with a gangster,who has…

Miami Vice (1986) – The Fix, and Payback

Detectives Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas) investigate a dirty judge in The Fix. Written by Chuck Adamson, the episode first aired on 7 March, 1986. When the Vice team busts a dealer, in a buy that goes bad, the judge, Ferguson (Bill Russell), overseeing her case sets a paltry bond,…

TAD 2018: The Inhabitant (2017) – Guillermo Amoedo

It’s unfortunate that The Exorcist is considered the gold standard in horror films, because the film having its Canadian Premiere at the Scotiabank Theatre as part of the Toronto After Dark film festival is no doubt going to draw comparisons because of it’s subject matter. And that is unfortunate, because the Mexican/Chilean coproduction of The…

Quantum Leap (1992/1993) – Promised Land and A Tale of Two Sweeties

Sam (Scott Bakula) finds himself back in Elk Ridge, Indiana, his home town on 22 December, 1971. Directed by Bakula, this episode was penned by Tommy Thompson and Gillian Hovarth, and aired on 15 December,1992. Sam leaps into Willie Walters, jr. who is in the process of robbing the local bank with his brothers Neil…

Hell or High Water (2016) – David Mackenzie

  Director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Sicario) update the western for the modern age, while tweaking and twisting it into this crime drama. Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby (Chris Pine) are brothers. Tanner is a career criminal, and Toby, like those in his family before him, is dirt poor. Like so many places…