Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston David Tennant) – The Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion

The first series of the relaunched BBC series, Doctor Who , comes to a close this week with The Parting of the Ways. Written by Russell T. Davies and with an original airdate of 18 June, 2005 the episode saw the Doctor (Eccleston) confronting the Dalek fleet with Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) at his…

Doctor Who (Christoper Eccleston) – The Long Game and Father’s Day

The Doctor (Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper) and Adam (Bruno Langley) travel to the far flung future, to Satellite 5, orbiting the Earth, only to find something has gone dreadfully wrong with future history. The Long Game was written by Russell T. Davies and first aired on 7 May, 2005. The Doctor is sure something has…

Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston) – World War Three and Dalek

The Doctor (Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper) alongside Mickey (Noel Clarke), Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) and Rose’s mother, Jackie (Camille Coduri) take on the Slitheen in the conclusion to last week’s episode, Aliens of London. World War Three was written by Russell T. Davies and had an original airdate of 23 April, 2005. The episode…

Doctor Who (Christoper Eccleston) – The Unquiet Dead and Aliens of London

The Doctor (Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper) travel back to Cardiff (an in-joke because that is where the series shoots), 1869. There they quickly find themselves embroiled in alien mystery, and chatting with Charles Dickens (Simon Callow) in The Unquiet Dead. Written by Mark Gatiss, with an original airdate of 9 April, 2005, this episode…

Whistle Down the Wind (1961) – Bryan Forbes

As I return to the Family Genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, I come across a number of recommendations from a screening for E.T. which I’ve previously covered Whistle Down the Wind is a British film that focuses on a group of young children, including Charles (Alan Barnes), Nan (Diane…

Toronto After Dark 2016: War On Everyone – John Micheal McDonagh

My time with the 2016 Toronto After Dark film festival got underway last night with the exceptional, brash, bold, politically incorrect, devastatingly hilarious War On Everyone. I think the only thing I would have changed about it is the name, everything else, totally worked for me. Now, as a caveat, part of the enjoyment of…

Quantum Leap (1990) – Animal Frat and Another Mother

  Sam (Scott Bakula) is back in school, when he leaps into Knut ‘Wild Thing’ Wileton, in Animal Frat. This Animal House-like episode was penned by Chris Ruppenthal and aired 3 January, 1990. It’s 19 October, 1967, and Sam seems to be Big Man On Campus, but as always, he’s there to put something right,…

Runaway (1984) – Michael Crichton

  My time with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book continues as I dive into Michael Crichton’s other science fiction film from the 80s, Runaway, starring Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, and Gene Simmons. Selleck is Jack Ramsay, a cop that specializes in robots. With his partner, Thompson (Rhodes) at his side, he finds himself pulled into a…

The A-Team (1983) – One More Time and Till Death Do Us Part

  One More Time, written by Frank Lupo and Patrick Hasburgh from a story by Babs Greyhosky, with an airdate of 12 April 1983, sees Colonel Lynch (William Lucking) finally catching up with Hannibal (George Peppard), Face (Dirk Benedict) and B.A. (Mr. T) on the set of Hannibal’s latest acting gig. After a motorbike chase,…

TIFF 2015: Fire Song (2015) – Adam Garnet Jones

    Having its World Premiere screening today at Scotiabank, with additional screenings on September 15th and 20th, is Fire Song. Writer/director Adam Garnet Jones has created a gentle, and undeniably, moving film that invites you into the lives of its characters, as each one becomes mired and trapped in realities that they seem unable…