KAOS is up to such a dastardly plan, it had to be turned into a three-parter to finish off the second season of Get Smart! A Man Called Smart is a trilogy of episodes, the first one aired on 8 April, 1967 and was written by Leonard Stern. It was originally designed to be a…
Tag: formula
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) – J.A. Bayona
Five films in you can’t expect the series to forge too much new ground. They have a formula that works and people love seeing dinosaurs running amok. This story brings back Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to bookend the film, and puts Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard – bit of a crush) and Chris Pratt…
Invisible Agent (1942) – Edwin L. Marin
The next Universal Monsters movie (that I haven’t previously seen) is Invisible Agent, and honestly, it feels like a huge step up from The Invisible Woman, but too often goes for the comedic angle instead of playing itself as a straight thriller, which I think it could have done brilliantly. This time we are introduced…
The Saint (1997) – Phillip Noyce
Val Kilmer absolutely owns the role of Simon Templar in this big-screen adaptation of the classic novels and 60s television show. And while the film isn’t as strong as it could have been, Kilmer is nicely on point, and shares some wonderful chemistry with his co-star, Elizabeth Shue. Simon is a high-profile thief that can…
Starman (1986/1987) – The Gift, and The System
Jane Wyatt, who played Spock’s mother in Star Trek, The Original Series and The Voyage Home, plays Paul Forrester’s (Robert Hays) mother in The Gift. Written by Peggy Goldman, this is the series holiday episode and was first broadcast on 12 December, 1986. Paul and Scott (Christopher Danie Barnes) receive a letter from Stella, Paul’s…
Batman (1967) – King Tut’s Coup, and Batman’s Waterloo
King Tut (Victor Buono) is back after getting a bump on the head bringing back his royal Egyptian personality. And amongst his gang? Star Trek’s Grace Lee Whitney! This two-parter was written by Stanley Ralph Ross from a story by Leo and Pauline Townsend. The first episode, King Tut’s Coup, debuted on 8 March, 1967….
TIFF ’23: Chuck Chuck Baby
Chuck Chuck Bay is an ebullient experience. A delightful film about love, life, loss and music which brushes against deeper and heavier themes of community, hurt and acceptance but never loses track of the joy of falling in love and how every song seems to be about you. While not quite a jukebox musical, the…
The Facts of Death (1998) – Raymond Benson
James Bond is back. Building off his previous short story, Blast From the Past, the novel, Zero Minus Ten, and his adaptation of Tomorrow Never Dies, author Raymond Benson thrusts 007 into another globetrotting adventure that takes him from London to Texas, and Cyprus in an attempt to stop a viral outbreak and a growing…
Mission: Impossible (1971) – A Ghost Story, and The Party
Phelps (Peter Graves) and his IMF team get their Edgar Allan Poe on with Ghost Story in this episode written by Ken Pettus, and Ed Adamson from a story by Adamson and John D.F. Black. It first debuted on 27 February, 1971 . Barney (Greg Morris) gets to pull out all the tech wizardry as…
Zero Minus Ten (1997) – Raymond Benson
While I may not have cared for Raymond Benson’s 007 short story, Blast From the Past (to be clear I liked everything but for the Penthouse Forum ending of the story) I was more than ready to return to the world of James Bond, and see what Benson could deliver with his first novel featuring…
The Mind Reels 