The X-Files (1994) – Duane Barry, and Ascension

In its second season, The X-Files really got to show us what it could do, and the first two episodes up this week form a pair of my favourites, in a season packed with standout episodes (and a couple of clunkers). Agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Krycek (Nicholas Lea) are called in on a hostage…

Ju Dou (1990) – Yimou Zhang and Fengliang Yang

The beautiful, romantic and tragic Ju Dou is the next title on the What Else to Watch list as I continue to work my way through the immensely enjoyable The Movie Book from DK Canada. Following my screening of Raise the Red Lantern, this was one of the book’s recommendations. Starring Li Gong as the…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) -Past Tense: Part I, and Part II

Station log: stardate 48481.2 Robert Hewitt Wolfe pens this stellar episode from a story he developed with Ira Steven Behr. First broadcast on 2 January, 1995, the story follows Sisko (Avery Brooks), Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Dax (Terry Farrell) as, thanks to a transporter accident while the Defiant is in orbit around Earth, end up…

Space: 1999 (1975) – Breakaway, and Force of Life

After Star Trek, but before Star Wars, Gerry Anderson, who was responsible for such series as UFO, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Fireball XL5 took viewers around the world on an exploration of space, all on our planet’s own moon – which was jolted out of orbit by a nuclear explosion! Playing a little more cerebral…

633 Squadron (1964) -Walter Grauman

Cliff Robertson leads the lucky 633 Squadron in this World War II melodrama that is the next recommendation from my screening of The Dam Busters for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. The actual aerial photography of the film is stunning, above and around England, while the rotoscope work behind the cast…

Magnum, p.i. (1985) – Old Acquaintance and The Kona Winds

  There’s a bit of noir, and a bit of a fun ride, in this week’s installment of Magnum… First up is Old Acquaintance, written by Jill Donner, this episode had an airdate of 3 October, 1985, and may have heavily influenced the writers of Ace Ventura… Thomas (Tom Selleck) is delighted to hear from…

The Blue Angel (1930) – Josef von Sternberg

  The next section I`m jumping to in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, is Romance and Melodrama, and this has provided me with my first introduction to the films of Marlene Dietrich, specifically, The Blue Angel. A bit of a superior-type professor, Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings), runs a tight ship in the classroom,…