It’s a holiday episode and it opens with Magnum (Jay Hernandez) is on a case watching for a bail jumper, Barry (Christopher Rodriguez Marquette) to show at a pawn shop disguised as a mall Santa while Higgins (Perdita Weeks) is an elf taking photographs of Santa and the kids. But that’s just the beginning of…
Tag: family
Butterfly Kisses (2018) – Erik Kristopher Myers
Found footage films can be hit or miss, and they usually need something exceptional to lift one above another to make it worthy of note. I think Butterfly Kisses falls into that category. What it ends up being is a film, within a film, about film. Gavin (Seth Adam Kallick), a would-be filmmaker, trying to…
Dark Skies (2013) – Scott Stewart
Keri Russell doesn’t often do genre films, and while I like the subject matter of Dark Skies, I wish she had chosen a slightly stronger film to be a part of. The last third of the film is just terrible and isn’t executed very well. And why are the Greys, which have been portrayed as…
Family Ties (1987) – Mister Sister, Citizen Keaton, and Father Time: Part 1
Nick (Scott Valentine) gets a new job. As a janitor. In Mallory’s (Justine Bateman) sorority where they make him an honorary member in Mister Sister. Written by Susan Borowitz this episode first debuted on 15 November, 1987. It was directed by Justine Bateman’s father, Kent. It’s fun to see Nick enjoying his job, and the…
Lawmen Bass Reeves: Season 1 – Blu-Ray
David Oyelowo brings Bass Reeves to life, in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which he helped produce alongside series creator Chad Feehan and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. Based on the true story of one of the first Black U.S. Marshals, we follow Bass from slave to one of the most respected lawmen to serve. Throughout eight episodes,…
American Fiction (2023) – Cord Jefferson
I’m a little upset that I didn’t go to see this one when it screened at TIFF, but I was very happy that this was a film that my partner and I could watch together, and we greatly enjoyed it. But it’s Jeffrey Wright, the man can do anything, and play anything, and he brings…
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3: Fire (2007) – Sokka’s Master, The Beach, and The Avatar and the Fire Lord
Sokka (Jack De Sena) is feeling left out when everyone else on Team Avatar has special gifts, abilities and fight skills. After discovering a fantastic sword in a weapons shop, he is directed to the great sword-master Piandao (Robert Patick) in Sokka’s Master. Written by Tim Hedrick, this episode first debuted on 12 October, 2007….
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) – Dean Fleischer Camp
Dean Fleischer Camp directed this faux documentary that follows a tiny shell, named Marcel, as he discovers a measure of internet fame, its upside and down, and a measure of loss and the importance of family and change. Filled with beautiful stop-motion animation blended brilliantly with live action, the story finds Camp playing a version…
Family Ties (1987) – Oh, Brother: Part 2, Higher Love, and Architect’s Apprentice
With the arrival of Maureen (Julie Cobb) the divorce discussion between her and Rob (Norman Parker) turns the Keaton household into a warzone as the kids try to figure out how these things happen. Oh, Brother: Part 2 was written by Alan Uger, and first aired on 17 January, 1987. Alex (Michael J. Fox), Mallory…
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 2: Earth (2006) – Zuko Alone, The Chase, and Bitter Work
Zuko Alone, written by Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, first aired on 12 May 2006. Zuko (Dante Basco) is on his own, and the episode explores his character and his past as he recalls his conflict with his father, Ozai the Firelord (Mark Hamill), as well as the fate of his mother, Ursa (Jen Cohn). The episode…
The Mind Reels 