McCall (Edward Woodward) deals with the now-public reveal that Yvette (Melissa Sue Anderson) is his daughter and that whoever abducted and abused Manon (Anne Heywood) is going to use her to destroy McCall, his son Scott (William Zabka) and Control (Robert Lansing). The second part of The Mystery of Manon was written by Coleman Luck…
Tag: lies
Tropic Thunder (2008) – Ben Stiller
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…
Lord Edgware Dies (1933) – Agatha Christie
Murder most foul! Three of them in point of fact, but don’t be fooled by the image on the cover of the book, none of them are committed with a pistol! It’s been awhile since I read an Agatha Christie mystery, other books came along, and I knew her library of work would wait patiently…
The Lone Gunmen (2001) – The Lying Game, and The ‘Cap’n Toby’ Show
Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) shows up in The Lying Game, written by Nandi Bowe. This episode first debuted on 4 May, 2001. Frohike (Tom Braidwood), Byers (Bruce Harwood), and Langly (Dean Haglund) get pulled into a murder case, immersed in secrets, a government investigation and lies. And at the heart of it, Walter Skinner…
The Witch (2015) – Richard Eggers
Eggers’ atmospheric The Witch, is always an enjoyable Halloween watch, it’s beautifully executed, wonderfully scripted, and has everything you would expect in a classical telling of an 17th century new world fairy tale. A devout family in New England, whose father, Will (Ralph Ineson) has been deemed by the local village to be too extreme…
TIFF 2021: Dear Evan Hansen dir. Stephen Chbosky
Mental health. Suicide. Depression. Loss. Grief. Loneliness. These issues are usually trapped in the individual, and though a number of us share in these things, it’s never a shared experience. We are held in the prison of our issues, in a society where social media presentation, the illusion of life being better than it is…
Millennium (1999) – Seven and One, and Nostalgia
Here we are, the penultimate installment of Millennium, the first spin-off from Chris Carter’s The X-Files, and as we close in on the end of the series, the solid episodes just keep coming. Seven and One, written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter, is scary, unnerving and fantastic. First airing on 30 April,…
The X-Files (1997) – Redux II, and Unusual Suspects
The conspiracy works to protect itself in this episode, the third part of the season finale/opener that rocked many of us on our heels. Written by series creator Chris Carter, Redux II first aired on 9 November, 1997. While Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) cancer begins to appear to be terminal (or is it?), Mulder’s (David Duchovny)…
Ex Machina (2014) – Alex Garland
Alex Garland wrote and directed this stunning film, his first feature, that explores the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and the desire to live and survive. When a young programmer, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest to spend a week at his boss, Nathan’s (Oscar Isaac), remote estate, he loves the idea, when Nathan reveals that…
The X-Files (1994) – E.B.E., and Miracle Man
This week’s entry into exploration of The X-Files brings me one of my favourite episodes, E.B.E. written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. This episode truly lays the groundwork for the alien conspiracy arc that would play such a large part in the show’s mythology. Filled with lies, disinformation, shreds of truth, and the stark…
The Mind Reels 