The Taken miniseries aired over ten consecutive weekday nights. High Hopes, the third feature-length episode, aired on 4 December, 2002. Leslie Bohem continues to script the narrative, interweaving his fictional families around alleged UFO encounters and historical events. Set in October of 1962, things are developing for both the Keys family, the Crawfords and the…
Tag: drinking
M*A*S*H (1970) – Robert Altman
I grew up with the television series and when I first saw the film, it wasn’t my jam. So what did I think of it now, having rewatched it a number of years ago (and apparently previously written about it – too late now, I already wrote this one!). I greatly enjoyed it. I didn’t…
The Scarlet Claw (1944) – Roy William Neill
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) find themselves in Quebec, Canada (read as the Universal backlot) for their next adventure, The Scarlet Claw. An original story, this adventure sees the dogged duo working to solve a murder that may or may not have paranormal trappings. While Watson is played up for humor again,…
Hill Street Blues (1982) – Of Mouse and Man, and Zen and the Art of Law Enforcement
There’s a lot going on this week when a prominent public defender is murdered in a robbery gone wrong, something that shakes Joyce (Veronica Hamel) to her core, and makes her question her own future, and if she wants to keep working as a lawyer. Of Mouse and Man was written by Steven Bochco, Anthony…
The X-Files (1996) – War of the Coprophages, and Syzygy
Darin Morgan delivers another fun episode for Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) with War of the Coprophages, which first aired on 5 January, 1996. Mulder, investigating UFO sightings in a place called Miller’s Grove (a play on the Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds which took place in Grover’s Mill, when…
Gertie the Dinosaur (1915) – Winsor McCay
I move into another chapter in DK Canada’s immensely enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book from director John Landis. I leave behind Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales and move on to Dragons & Dinosaurs. And first up is one of the earliest examples of animation, Gertie the Dinosaur. This silent short film was originally created…
Werewolf of London (1935) – Stuart Walker
It’s time for things to get a little hairy as I move on to the werewolf chapter of DK Canada’s highly enjoyable coffee table tome, Monsters in the Movies by John Landis. I dug into this 1935 film, that is thankfully short, and can’t seem to decide how funny it wants to be with some…
The Twilight Zone (1960) – The Chaser, A Passage for Trumpet, and Mr. Bevis
It’s time to venture deeper into Paramount Picture’s The Twilight Zone this week as I take on another trio of episodes from The Complete Series on Blu-Ray. The first episode up this week is The Chaser. It was written by Robert Presnell Jr. and was based on the short story by John Collier. It first…
Anchors Aweigh (1945) – George Sidney
Frank Sinatra joins Gene Kelly in this recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Singin’ in the Rain. The two crooners star as naval officers Clarence Doolittle (Sinatra) and Joseph Brady (Kelly). They arrive in Los Angeles, having been decorated for their service on a four…
From Here to Eternity (1953) – Fred Zinnemann
An all star cast brings James Jones sprawling book to the big screen, and is my next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my revisit with Casablanca for the Romance and Melodrama genre. Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Ernest Borgnine, Claude Akins and Jack Warden bring…
