Drug of Choice (1970) – Micheal Crichton

Micheal Crichton writing as his alter-ego John Lange delivers a fast-paced, odd, and occasionally uneven tale with Drug of Choice. I think the biggest problem with the story is that its too short. A number of the sequences could have been expanded on to unnerve the reader and immerse them into the mystery of what…

Death at a Funeral (2007) – Frank Oz

Frank Oz directs this uproariously funny film that puts the ‘fun’ in funeral, and amps up the hilarity by setting it in England. There’s just something horrendously funny about things going wrong around Brits, as they try to maintain some manner of decorum, dignity and civility. Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) is mourning the loss of his…

Baywatch (2017) – Seth Gordon

I’ll be honest, I quite enjoyed the big screen adaptation of the cult favorite Baywatch. One could argue it’s not as entertaining as the 21 Jumpstreet films, but it ended up being damned fun, and pokes fun at the entire series, while honoring it at the same time. And it’s got a beautiful-looking cast to…

Pirate Radio (2009) – Richard Curtis

Based loosely on a true story, Richard Curtis brings his talent for blending comedy and drama to a classic tale of rock and roll! In the early 60s when British Rock was at its height, England only played rock’n’roll for perhaps an hour all day on air. But just off the coast in the North…

Devil May Care (2008) – Sebastian Faulks

Sebastian Faulks brings us the first post-Raymond Benson 007 novel. Picking up shortly after the final Ian Fleming novel, not short story collection, The Man with The Golden Gun finds James Bond on sabbatical in 1967. He’s not resting for long, as M calls him in to have him investigate Julius Gorner, who not only…

The Equalizer 3 (2023) – Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington team up for another Equalizer sequel, this time moving the story to gorgeous Italy. With picturesque backdrops the power duo attempt to do something more with the Robert McCall character, but this one, despite sharing the story with Man On Fire co-star Dakota Fanning doesn’t quite have the punch of…

Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) – Steve Carver

With a musical score by Francesco De Masi and an opening credits sequence that feels very much in line with a Sergio Leone western, expectations surrounding Lone Wolf McQuade on my initial viewing went up a little. Despite the fact that I know Chuck Norris isn’t a very good actor. Norris plays the titular McQuade,…

21 Jump Street (2012) – Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

I tried twice to start watching 21 Jump Street, the first time, I only got about seven minutes in, and couldn’t vibe with it. The second time, I got all the way through, and while I’m not the biggest Jonah Hill fan, and didn’t care for all of the humour, I really enjoyed this one….

Magnum P.I. (2020) – The Night Has Eyes, and A World of Trouble

Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) are on the hunt for a stolen urn that may have been used in a murder and may in fact be more valuable than initially thought. Higgins also has to deal with the fact that her temporary visa is days away from expiring. Written by Ashley Charbonnet, this…

The Substitute (1996) – Robert Mandel

Its action sequences are flawed, and don’t look anywhere as near as cool, and sharp as they could, but 1996’s The Substitute (which spawned three increasingly bad direct-to-video sequels) is packed with familiar faces. The cast is led by Tom Berenger, and includes Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, Rodney, A. Grant, Ernie Hudson, Marc…