Captain’s log: stardate 42923.4 Peak Performance, which aired on 10 July, 1989 was penned by David Kemper and is a very enjoyable episode that sees the Enterprise being assigned a round of war games overseen by master strategist the rather prideful Sirna Kolrami (Roy Brocksmith). Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) are paired against…
Tag: game
People On Sunday (1930) – Robert Slodmak & Edgar G. Ulmar
People On Sunday is the next big stop in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. Called a film without actors, the film is fluid and natural, following five people on a Sunday. Erwin, a taxi driver, Brigitte, a retail, clerk, Wolfgang, a wine trader, Christl, a film extra, Annie, a model, are the film’s subjects, as…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – A Game of Pool, The Mirror, and The Grave
Paramount Pictures just keeps guiding me deeper and deeper into the Twilight Zone with their Complete Series on blu-ray. This week’s trio of episodes are a lot of fun. First up is A Game of Pool, penned by George Clayton Johnson, this episode first aired on Halloween, 31 October, 1961. Honestly I would have expected…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – The Gamesters of Triskelion and A Piece of the Action
Captain’s log: stardate 3211.7 The Gamesters of Triskelion was a bit of a fun episode when I was a kid, Kirk (William Shatner) got to kick lots of butt after he, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Chekov (Walter Koenig) are kidnapped across the lightyears to find themselves fighting in gladiatorial combat on the planet Triskelion. It…
Guys and Dolls (1955) – Joseph L. Mankiewicz
It’s time for another musical recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Oklahoma! and I have to tell you, this one I liked. With a caveat. I’ve never been a fan of Marlon Brando. I didn’t care for his performances, and I get the impression I would…
20 Years of Tomb Raider (2016) – Meagan Marie
Lara Croft has been around for twenty years. And, I have to say, she looks better than ever. Since her first appearance in the game-changing, well, game, Tomb Raider in 1996, Lara Croft has made a name for herself in the action adventure series that centred around, an admittedly cartoon-like interpretation of a beautiful woman,…
Ender’s Game (2013) – Gavin Hood
No matter what you think of Orson Scott Card’s personal politics, there is no denying that Ender’s Game is a solid, strong and involving novel. It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did for a film adaptation for this one to come along, but it finally did in 2013, and is my next stop…
Toronto After Dark 2016: As the Gods Will – Takashi Miike
Things got nigh on bizarre this evening at Toronto After Dark, as it continues to entertain at the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto. It was Japanese cinema night, and sadly, thanks to work constraints, I was only able to make one screening today, but what a screening! If you aren’t familiar with Miike’s work, it’s…
Star Wars: Battlefront – Twilight Company (2015) – Alexander Freed
Its back to a galaxy, far, far away this week as the Book Shelf takes on a Star Wars novel, based on a game, based on the universe George Lucas created. And you know what? It works, and it works well. This one, put simply, is a war story, we get glimpses of a number…
Quantum Leap (1989) – Genesis Parts I & 2
Quantum Leap. Scott Bakula. Dean Stockwell. I love a lot of science fiction television (and movies) and as much as I love my Star Trek, Quantum Leap has been my favorite show since my introduction to it. I came to it towards the end of Season 2 originally, in fact, I still recall the…
The Greatest American Hero (1983) – Wizards and Warlocks and It’s Only Rock and Roll
I’m coming up on the end of my time with Ralph (William Katt), Bill (Robert Culp) and Pam (Connie Sellecca), but there’s another Cannell series I grew up with cresting the horizon. I’m entering unusual territory here, in that from what I can garner from IMDB, this pair of episodes and next week’s were…
