A spooky house, strange wait staff, secrets, monsters, aliens… Ghost Light is a lot of fun, and the Doctor (McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) have a heck of a time, as the Companion confronts a bit of her past. Written by Marc Platt, and encapsulated in a tightly paced and enjoyable three parts, Ghost Light…
Tag: fear
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – Who Mourns for Adonais? and The Changeling
Captain’s log: stardate 3468.1 Who Mourns for Adonais? had an original airdate of 22 September, 1967 and was penned by Gilbert Ralston. This was one of the first episodes that I realised at a young age that was about more than what it seemed. On the surface, the story follows the Enterprise as it encounters…
The Twilight Zone (1959) -The Lonely, Time Enough at Last, and Perchance to Dream
Paramount Pictures takes me deeper into the Twilight Zone this week as I continue my exploration of the dark reaches of the mind and psyche with The Complete Series blu-ray set. The first episode this week was The Lonely. Penned by Rod Serling, and having an original airdate of 13 November, 1959, this story definitely…
Quantum Leap (1991) – Heart of a Champion, and Nuclear Family
Sam is one part of a wrestling team, when he leaps into Terry Sammis in Heart of a Champion. With an airdate of 8 May, 1991, Sam finds himself in all manner of trouble in this script by Tommy Thompson. It’s 23 July, 1955 and Terry and his brother Ronny (Jerry Bossard) are professional wrestlers,…
Allegiance: A Cineplex Event
George Takei’s passion project, and historically important musical, Allegiance is getting a one night Cineplex Event. Inspired by Takei’s own experiences during World War II, the story, featuring music and lyrics by Jay Kuo and book by Kou, Mark Acito and Lorenzo Thione, follows the Kimura family in America after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor….
Quantum Leap (1991) – 8 1/2 Months and Future Boy
Sam (Scott Bakula) leaps into a very pregnant teenager this week in the episode 8 1/2 Months. It was penned by Deborah Pratt and had an original airdate of 6 March, 1991. It’s 15 November, 1955 and Sam is Billie Jean Crockett, 16 years old. And he’s there to not only make sure the baby…
Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve
First contact. The interpretation of words. How we communicate both person to person, and mass media. The very perception of our existence. These are all at work in Canadian director Villeneuve’s latest film. A hard science fiction tale that eschews lasers and space battles for deeper concepts like the way we interact and understand one…
Vertigo (1958) – Alfred Hitchcock
Perhaps one of Hitchcock’s best films, Vertigo, is next on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. With the combined star power of James Stewart and Kim Novak, this romantic thriller defines obsession as well as fear. Stewart is John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson a San Francisco police detective on…
Crash (2004) – Paul Haggis
Walking away with the Academy Awards for Best Picture (controversially – as Brokeback Mountain was the presumptive winner), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, writer/director Paul Haggis’ tale of a cross-section of denizens of Los Angeles, tied together by race, loss and redemption come together in Crash, my next recommendation from the Great Movies…
Batman: The Animated Series (1997) – Cold Comfort, Never Fear and You Scratch My Back
Freeze (Michael Ansara) is back in the first episode of the Batman: Animated Series this week. This one aired originally on 12 October 1997. When last we saw him, he was stuck in an iceberg with his still ill and frozen wife, but now he’s back, and Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Batgirl (Tara Strong)…
The Mind Reels 