The first recommendation following my screening of Jailhouse Rock for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is the very enjoyable The Girl Can’t Help It starring the stunning Jayne Mansfield. The film follows an alcoholic PR man, Tom Miller (Tom Ewell) who used to the top of his game, and could find the…
Tag: humour
Jailhouse Rock (1957) – Richard Thorpe
The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book brings me back around the Musical genre, and this time around it features Elvis Presley himself. The story, such as it is, follows Vince Everett (Presley) who is serving one year (!) for manslaughter. While in the joint he meets a former country singer, Hunk Houghton…
The Mummy (1999) – Stephen Sommers
While the updated version of The Mummy blasts into theatres this summer, the 1999 reboot was on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for follow-up titles to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This version, directed by Stephen Sommers, stars Brendan Fraser, Oded Fehr, Rachel Weisz and Arnold…
Spellbound (1945) – Alfred Hitchcock
A film starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck directed by Alfred Hitchcock can’t be anything but a winner, and is my next stop on the What Else to Watch list from DK Canada’s The Movie Book following their recommendation of the title, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The ever-appealing Bergman plays psychiatrist, Dr. Constance Petersen,…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1969) – The Mark of Gideon and That Which Survives
Captain’s log: stardate 5423.4 The Mark of Gideon, which was written by Stanley Adams and George F. Slavin first aired on 17 January, 1969. When Captain Kirk (William Shatner) beams down to the planet Gideon II, he is stunned to find himself still on the Enterprise. A seemingly empty starship, except for one other living…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – Mr. Dingle, the Strong, Static and The Prime Mover
I plunge back into Paramount Pictures The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series with another trio of episodes this week. Burgess Meredith returns to the Zone this week in Mr. Dingle, the Strong. Written by series creator, Rod Serling, this episode first aired on 3 March, 1961. Meredith is the titular Dingle, a timid vacuum-salesman, who…
The Twilight Zone (1961) – A Penny for Your Thoughts, Twenty Two and The Odyssey of Flight 33
Paramount Pictures plunges me further into The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on blu-ray. First up is A Penny for Your Thoughts. Written by George Clayton Johnson, the episode premiered on 3 February, 1961. When bank clerk Hector B. Poole (Dick York) tosses a coin to a newspaper vendor it lands on its edge and…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – Assignment: Earth and Spock’s Brain
Captain’s log: stardate unknown. Originally written as its own pilot, Assignment: Earth was later rewritten to work it into a Star Trek story. The script was by Art Wallace, and came from a story developed by him and Gene Roddenberry. The episode first aired on 29 March, 1968. 1968. The very year the Enterprise travels…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – The Ultimate Computer and Breads and Circuses
Captain’s log: stardate 4729.4 The Ultimate Computer. D.C Fontana writes the script from a story by Laurence N. Wolfe, and this episode first aired on 8 March, 1968. The U.S.S. Enterprise is stripped down a skeleton crew to test the new M5 supercomputer. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is a little anxious about the idea, because…
Clockstopper (2002) – Jonathan Frakes
Producer Gale Anne Hurd joins forces with Star Trek alumnus and director Jonathan Frakes to pair up with Nickelodeon Pictures in this family friendly film that is the next stop on the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. Playing to the tween audience, the film is sadly more suited to television movie territory than striving to be a…
The Mind Reels 