The final episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was written by Stephen McPherson and is a bit of rumination on guilt, justice, and terrorism. The series surprised me one last time by delivering a story on 16 April, 1981, that had a lot to say, but surprise, surprise, wasn’t allowed to thrive the…
Tag: guilt
Battlestar Galactica 11: The Nightmare Machine (1985) – Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston
It’s been a while since I checked in with the Galactica, and we’ve now left the episode adaptations behind and moved on to original stories. So, in 1985, long after the original series ended, as well as the short-lived 1980 continuation, Thurston and Larson give us new Galactica. And it’s not a winner. In fact,…
The X-Files (2002) – Hellbound, and Provenance
Reyes (Annabeth Gish) brings an unusual case to Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) in Hellbound. She also has a strange connection to it that she can’t quite figure out. Written by David Amann and first airing on 27 January, 2002, the agents find themselves a series of deaths involving ex-cons who were skinned…
Mother (2009) – Joon-ho Bong
The next film on the What Else to Watch list following my screening of Oldboy for DK Canada’s The Movie Book is this Korean thriller that features a stellar performance by Hye-ja Kim as the titular, Mother. Living with her son, Do-joon (Won Bin), a slightlu challenged young man, Mother prepares medicines, and performs acupuncture…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1996) – Hard Time, and Shattered Mirror
Station log: stardate unknown Robert Hewitt Wolfe writes the teleplay for this episode from a story by Daniel Keys Moran and Lynn Barker. It first aired on 15 April, 1996. This Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) story is exemplary, and stunning, The Chief tries to integrate back to station life, and deal with implanted memories of…
Space: 1999 (1976/1977) – The Lambda Factor, and The Bringers of Wonder: Part 1
The Lambda Factor is the first adventure for Moonbase Alpha this week. It’s a bit of a psychic horror story. Written by Terrance Dicks the episode debuted on 23 December, 1976. Alpha, on its continuing tumble through space draws close to a strange region of space that seems to be emanating lambda waves and it…
Annihilation (2018): Blu-Ray Review
Releasing from Paramount Pictures to blu-ray and DVD today is Annihilation a slow burn of a science fiction film from director Alex Garland. Based, subjectively, on the trilogy of novels by Jeff VanderMeer, it’s a gorgeous looking film A strange, possibly extra-terrestrial incursion in a swamp in Florida has claimed an untold number of teams…
Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – Time Heist, and The Caretaker
Steven Moffat and Steve Thompson pen this caper episode that first aired on 20 September, 2014. The Doctor (Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) receive a strange phone call and then find themselves in a highly secure bank with their memories wiped. They are recruited to rob a bank that is supposed to be impregnable. Will…
Ossessione (1943) – Luchino Visconti
DK Canada’s The Movie Book brings me a tale of love and jealousy as I settled in to take in Visconti’s Ossessione. When a drifter named Gino (Massimo Girotti) arrives at a restaurant, he finds himself caught up in a romance with the repugnant owner, Giuseppe’s (Juan de Landa) wife, Giovanna (Clara Calamai). Both characters…
The Twilight Zone (1964) – The Encounter, Mr. Garrity and the Graves, and The Brain Center at Whipple’s
Our penultimate trip to the Twilight Zone gets underway this week, with The Encounter as I draw to the end of The Complete Series on blu-ray from Paramount Pictures. Written by Martin Goldsmith, this episode first debuted on 1 May, 1964. It stars George Takei and Neville Brand. After World War II, prejudices and hatred…
The Mind Reels 