Arnold Schwarzenegger in shorts and converse is laugh-worthy on its own. From that first reveal I was in for the ride, and while some of it isn’t so great, there’s a lot of heart and laughs to be mined from this classic 1988 comedy. Julius (Schwarzenegger) is a product of a genetic experiment, and has…
Tag: marshall bell
No Way Out (1987) – Roger Donaldson
It had been a while since I originally watched this Kevin Costner thriller, but the ending remained with me, so I was able to revisit the film for the first time in decades knowing how things play out and watch the performances and the clues that lead things to play out the way they do….
Hill Street Blues (1987) – Days of Swine and Roses, and The Runner Falls on His Kisser
A very young Don Cheadle makes an appearance in Days of Swine and Roses. Written by David Black from a story by Black and John Litvack, this episode was first broadcast on 31 March, 1987. While the city rallies around a contest that promotes outrageous incidents, the precinct prepares for a full day. Renko (Charles…
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) – Jack Sholder
One year after Wes Craven changed the horror genre (again) with the introduction of the dream stalker, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), New Line Cinema delivered the first follow-up sequel. All of the Nightmare sequels can be hit or miss, with the third one arguably the best of the bunch. And while the film was successful…
The Puppet Masters (1994) – Stuart Orme
Somewhere in The Puppet Masters, despite its continuity errors, its plot holes and poor performance by its lead actor (who is surrounded by some fantastic character actors and recognizable faces) is probably a decent film, I mean it’s based on Heinlein’s novel, so it had a great starting point. When something comes down in the…
Millennium (1996) – Dead Letters, and The Judge
Glen Morgan and James Wong pen Dead Letters, an episode that doesn’t deal with any arcs of the season, but gives us a look at the procedure and the strain of hunting a serial killer. Dead Letters first aired on 8 November, 1996, and sees Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) teaming up with a profiler that…
The X-Files (1993) – Space, and Fallen Angel
Series creator Chris Carter gives us what is arguably not only the worst episode of the first season, but the entire series in the first entry this week. The episode, Space, first aired on 12 November, 1993, and sees Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigating a sabotaged space shuttle mission. Surprise, surprise, Mulder…
Virus (1999) – John Bruno
Gale Anne Hurd serves as the producer on my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles, 1999’s Virus. Once again, the film is packed with a fairly solid cast, Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Joanna Pacula, and Marshall Bell, and once again, most of it is poorly executed. Based on the Dark Horse Comic…
Starship Troopers (1997) – Paul Verhoeven
Verhoeven returns to the 101 Sci-Fi Movies with this loud, violent and gory action film that sees humanity at war with a race of insects in a distant system. Based loosely on Robert Heinlein’s original novel, the tale follows a group of high school graduates, barely two-dimensional characters in their creation, as they sign…
Total Recall (1990) – Paul Verhoeven
Using the short story, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick, as a springboard, this entry on the 1010 Sci-Fi Movie list, sees Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a secret agent on Mars, under Paul Verhoeven’s direction, who was last seen on the list for Robocop. Bored with his construction job, and dreaming…
The Mind Reels 