F/X 2 (1991) – Richard Franklin

Five years after the first film, and a lifetime of difference for me, Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) were back in action. Unfortunately, an attempt to continue the gritty feeling special effects thriller comes across as a little disjointed, and honestly, more convoluted than it needed to be. An attempt to…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994) – All Good Things…

Captain’s log: stardate 47988.0 After seven seasons (and just over a year of posts on the blog) Star Trek: The Next Generation came to its series finale with this feature-length episode that was penned by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga (who were also deep into the writing of the first Next Gen feature film…

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…

TIFF Bell Lightbox, Trek and My Birthday

It’s October 12, my birthday, if you hadn’t circled it on your calendar, and TIFF Bell Lightbox will be my birthday starbase today apparently. First up, at 6:30 this evening is the first of the fantastic sounding Trek Talks programs, this evening’s topic, An Astronaut’s Voyage to the Final Frontier. Presented by Lt. Col. Jeremy…

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) – George Lucas

  Remember, right back before the Phantom Menace came out, when anticipation was reaching a fever pitch? I miss that. Sure we had the wonderful build up to The Force Awakens, but the gap between films was no where near as long as it had been for those of us who had been invested in…

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) – Chris Columbus

  The final recommendation from my screening of Way Out West in the family genre of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this wonderful Chris Columbus film starring Robin Williams, who turns in a wonderfully fantastic performance as Daniel Hillard. Daniel is a fun-loving voice actor, who can rarely take anything…

Toronto Fringe: I Love You, Judy Merril

Jim Smith takes to the stage of the Theatre Passé Muraille Backspace to pay homage and share his memories of science fiction writer Judy Merril. A writer, I’m ashamed to admit I had not heard of, especially when confronted by the list of titles she’d penned. Merril crafted tales during the heyday of pulp science fiction…

The Disciple of Las Vegas (2011) – Ian Hamilton

  I’m so glad that when I bought the first Ava Lee novel, I had the next one on my bedside table ready to go, because as I mentioned in the previous post, I am reading these voraciously. I haven’t been devouring books this quickly since my introduction to the Expanse novels! Picking up just…

Murdoch Mysteries S07E09 – A Midnight Train to Kingston

  This week’s episode of Murdoch Mysteries ventures into darker territory, at least as far as this season so far is concerned. Micheal Seater returns as the devious and nefarious James Gillies in a tense piece scripted by Peter Mitchell and Paul Aitken. Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) Crabtree (Jonny Harris), Ogden (Helene Joy)…