If someone mentions John Wayne to me, this is the movie I go to. Happily, it’s the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Searchers. Starring Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson, this, to me, is Howard Hawks best western. Wayne stars…
Tag: humour
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – Operation – Annihilate! and Amok Time
Captain’s log: stardate 3287.2 Operation – Annihilate! closes out the first season of Trek. It was written by Steven W. Carabatsos and aired on 13 April, 1967. Playing as almost straight-up horror, this episode is a lot of fun, and introduces Kirk’s (William Shatner) family, his brother, Sam (also Shatner, with mustache) his wife, Aurelan…
Quantum Leap (1991) – Southern Comforts and Glitter Rock
It’s 4 August, 1961 and Sam (Scott Bakula) has leapt into the owner of a brothel in Southern Comforts. Written by Tommy Thompson this episode aired on 3 April, 1991. As Gilbert LaBonte, the proprietor of the long family-owned New Orleans-based business, Sam is there to help a young woman named Gina (Georgia Emelin). She’s…
Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary – Updated and Expanded (2014) – Jason Loborik, Neil Corry, Jacqueline Rayner, Andrew Darling, Kerri Doughtery, David John and Simon Beecroft
This week’s DK book is going to get a lot of use from me in the upcoming months, as I dive into the rebirth of Doctor Who (I’m almost done with my run through the original series as I write this). DK Books and the BBC have come together to create this very beautiful visual…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979) – Douglas Adams
After re-watching the movie earlier this week, I thought it would be nice to go back and read the original novel (based on the BBC radio play penned by Adams) and go travelling with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect again. This book first came into my hands decades ago, in the early 80s when I…
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) – David Yates
J.K. Rowling scripts and produces the return to the magical world we last saw on screen in 2011, with the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This movie has big foot steps to follow in, so does it pull it off? For the most part, yes, but it left me wanting to dig into things that were…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) -Garth Jennings
Grab your towel and Don’t Panic! Douglas Adam’s classic tale gets a big screen adaptation, of his book/screenplay, which had previously been so well used by the BBC as a miniseries, and before that a radio programme. There are things that work in this version, and things that don’t, but the effort is there to…
Doctor Strange (2016) – Scott Derrickson
Benedict Cumberbatch settles rather nicely into the Marvel universe, as he dons the cloak and mantle of the MCU’s (Marvel Cinematic Universe) latest superhero. Doctor Strange. Easing into an American accent, as easily as he does Strange’s costume, Cumberbatch fits the role perfectly, bringing to life the doctor’s arrogance, ego, and eventually his humbled, giving…
Judge Dredd (1995) -Danny Cannon
You need to worry about any movie that thinks it’s a good idea to use Rob Schneider as your comic relief, and this, my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is filled with potential, but those involved just didn’t seem to get the source material. Danny Cannon presents a busy MegaCity, a fairly familiar…
TIFF Bell Lightbox – Trek Talks Physics!
The celebrations around the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek continues at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Not only are the screenings continuing, classic episodes and all the theatrical releases, but a number of Trek Talks have been scheduled between now and the beginning of December. This evening’s event may have edged out the previous two as…
The Mind Reels 