Miami Vice (1986) – Free Verse, and Trust Fund Pirates

While Crockett (Don Johnson) is busy testifying, Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas) and the rest of the Vice team have their hands full in the first episode up this week. Free Verse was written by Shel Willens and Jim Trombetta, with Trombetta penning the teleplay. First airing on 4 April, 1986, the episode follows a political…

The Goddess of Yantai (2018) – Ian Hamilton

Ava Lee returns in a book that allows for the forensic accountant’s take on the film world and the darkness it hides, as she and her girlfriend, Pang Fai, a Chinese film star are caught up in the corruption and actions of the Chinese Movie Syndicate. Hitting bookshelves in the next week, Anansi Press lets…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) – Indiscretion, and Rejoined

Station log: stardate unknown LeVar Burton directs this episode from a script by Nicholas Corea, from a story by Toni Marberty and Jack Trevino. It first aired on 23 October, 1995. Kira (Nana Visitor) and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) go after a Cardassian freighter, the Ravinok, that disappeared six years ago. It served as a…

Being There (1979) – Hal Ashby

DK Canada’s The Movie Book continues to expand my cinematic knowledge, and today helps me fill in a glaring error in my viewing history, as I settle in for the Peter Sellers classic dramedy Being There. Featuring a screenplay by Jerzy Kosinski, who also penned the original novel, the story follows Sellers (in an Oscar…

Persepolis Rising (2017) – James S.A. Corey

The seventh volume in the brilliant, and highly enjoyable science fiction series, The Expanse, finally finds its way to the Book Shelf this week, and it was so worth the wait. I love this series so much, and this book, Persepolis Rising does two things that haven’t really happened in the series before: there’s a…

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – Frank Capra

DK Canada brings me this Frank Capra classic from its What Else to Watch list following its recommendation of It’s A Wonderful Life. THIS movie makes me regret the fact that schools, as a rule, no longer have civics classes. It needs to be seen, as it shows the good and the bad of democracy,…

The Running Man (1982) – Stephen King as Richard Bachman

Despite being a fan of the 87 Schwarzenegger flick, I’d never read the original source material, so being long past due, I dug into it and was delighted to find that the novel was a completely different experience, and worthy of a cinematic adaptation in its own right. Ben Richards lives in the slums, a…

Seven Fallen Feathers (2017) – Tanya Talaga

Seven Fallen Feathers is a defining book. It is a haunting, distressing and angering discourse on racism and loss in Northern Ontario, and across Canada. Talaga, a dedicated and insightful journalist turns her investigative eye, shining it like a spotlight onto a piece of Canadian life that many of us are loathe to discuss, accept,…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992) – The Outcast, and Cause and Effect

Captain’s log: stardate 45614.6 I love that The Next Generation did this episode. I just wish it had been better written.  Penned by Jeri Taylor, this episode debuted on 16 March, 1992. Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) finds himself involved with an androgynous life form, Soren (Melinda Culea), during their visit to the planet J’Nai. The…

The Shape of Water (2017) – Guillermo del Toro

del Toro’s latest film, The Shape of Water is very much a fairy tale for adults, as well as sharing a kinship with the horror films of the 1950s, specifically, 1954’s The Creature From the Black Lagoon (as well as to Abe Sapien as seen in del Toro’s own Hellboy series). But in this film,…