Ben Stiller directed the ultimate Hollywood satire with Tropic Thunder. He developed the story with Justin Theroux, and the pair wrote a script with Ethan Cohen. It’s sharp, pointed, and under its endlessly quotable dialogue and performances is a skewering look at Tinsel Town. Everything seems to be a lie, from promotions to images to…
Tag: lazarus
Outland (1981) – Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams writes and directs this galactic update of the classic western, High Noon, that sees Sean Connery stepping into the Gary Cooper role of a lone marshall awaiting the arrival of men who are coming to kill him. With a visual look that seems to marry it with the universe of Alien (aided by…
The X-Files (1994) – Lazarus, and Young at Heart
Trouble finds its way into Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) life again this week in Lazarus. Written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, it first aired on 4 February, 1994. Scully is working a bank robbery job with another agent, and former boyfriend, Agent Jack Willis (Christopher Allport). When the arrest goes wrong and both the suspect…
Toronto After Dark 2019: 8 (2019) – Harold Holscher
Toronto After Dark brings us a tale out of South Africa tonight with 8. Marrying the feel of a haunted house tale with the legends and myths of the tribes of South Africa this film plays almost as a gentle tale, and while light on real scares, there are some character moments that resonate and…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1967) – The Alternative Factor and The City on the Edge of Forever
Captain’s log: stardate 3087.6 Well, it had to happen. In a season with twenty-nine episodes, at least one of them had to be iffy, and The Alternative Factor is definitely that one. Written by Don Ingalls, this lacklustre episode had it’s premiere on 30 March, 1967. But it did introduce me to one thing, even…
Magnum, p.i. (1985) – Professor Jonathan Higgins and Compulsion
There are shades of Pygmalion for Higgins (John Hillerman) and Thomas (Tom Selleck) this week, in the episode Professor Jonathan Higgins, which was written by Jay Huguely from a story by Mary Lee Gaylor. This one originally aired on 10 January, 1985. Higgins is expecting his cousin Sally Ponting ( Jillie Mack) to arrive in preparation for her…
The Mind Reels 