The Expanse (2018) – Dandelion Sky, and Fallen World

Things are escalating quickly as Holden (Steven Strait) and The Investigator/Miller (Thomas Jane) arrive on the central node at the heart of the bubble that is the Slow Zone. Written by Georgia Lee, Dandelion Sky first aired on 13 June, 2018. He’s not the only one on his way there, however. It seems a Martian…

The Expanse (2017) – The Seventh Man, and Pyre

While Mars and Earth teeter on the brink of war, Anderson Dawes (Jared Harris) reminds the OPA that it’s the best place for the Belters to keep them. At the same time, Draper (Frankie Adams) begins to recall what really happened during the attack on Ganymede, remembering that the UN forces weren’t firing on her…

The Expanse (2017) – Safe, and Doors & Corners

Season two of The Expanse got underway with a two-episode premiere on 1 February, 2017 with Safe and Doors & Corners. Safe was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and plunges us right back into the realm of the Rocinante and the protomolecule, and the possibility of system-wide war. While Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) begins…

M*A*S*H (1982) – Promotion Commotion, Heroes, and Sons and Bowlers

Promotion Commotion by Dennis Koenig first aired on 1 March, 1982. It’s just a fun goofy episode, though there’s a nice story that develops between Potter (Harry Morgan) and a wounded soldier, Danielson (Jim Boyce) who is catching flak from the rest of his unit because he wants to stay faithful to his girl at…

The X-Files (2002) – Trust No 1, and John Doe

Series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz pen Trust No 1, a mythology episode that first aired on 6 January, 2002. Scully (Gillian Anderson), Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) find themselves being used in a plot to flush Mulder out of hiding. It seems there is a super-soldier element working within the NSA…

Battle Los Angeles (2011) – Jonathan Liebesman

Aaron Eckhart leads a squad of marines in this tale of alien invasion, that owes its pedigree to the likes of War of the Worlds and Independence Day. Is it great? No. But it ends up being fairly solid entertainment, and has a pretty solid cast surrounding Nantz (Eckhart) and his marines, including Michelle Rodriguez,…

Doom (2005) – Andrzej Bartkowiak

Karl Urban, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Rosamund Pike head to battle in this film adaptation of the hit video game Doom, my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. Strange things are happening in a research base on Mars, and a group of Space Marines, with Sarge (Johnson), kitted out to take on whatever…

Toronto After Dark 2016

It’s that time of year again, when horror, sci-fi, action, cult, and just the bizarre movies come to roost and entertain here in Toronto, with the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. 9 nights of movies that, as long as you have the right audience with you, can’t help but entertain. This year seems to be…