SilverFin (2005) – Charlie Higson

The Young Bond series gets underway with SilverFin written by Charlie Higson, with the blessing of the Ian Fleming Foundation. It’s a curious idea. By giving us a young James Bond, you’d think the stories are meant to appeal to young adult readers. But the stories themselves are in keeping with the literary James Bond…

Armour of God (1986) – Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan directs and stars in this romp that seems to be a bit of a nod to an Indiana Jones-style adventure. Shot across Europe it’s not quite as exotic looking as a Jones film, or a Bond film for that matter, but it’s fast-paced, has some goofy humour, and features solid iconic stuntwork. Asian…

Devil May Care (2008) – Sebastian Faulks

Sebastian Faulks brings us the first post-Raymond Benson 007 novel. Picking up shortly after the final Ian Fleming novel, not short story collection, The Man with The Golden Gun finds James Bond on sabbatical in 1967. He’s not resting for long, as M calls him in to have him investigate Julius Gorner, who not only…

Family Ties (1985) – Remembrances of Things Past

Season three of Family Ties ended with an hour-long episode that was broadcast on 28 March, 1985 and was written by series creator Gary David Goldberg and Alan Uger. Steven (Michael Gross) gathers the family up to head to his family home to help his mother, May (Anne Seymour) sell the house. It also forces…

Indiana Jones 4K – 40th Anniversary Celebration!

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Paramount Pictures has remastered the original four films into a gorgeous 4K collection that is as crystal clear as my memories of seeing each and every one of them in the theatre… In 1981, I remember seeing television ads for Raiders on the television,…

Nobody Lives For Ever (1986) – John Gardner

Ian Fleming’s 007 James Bond is back in action in this 1986 thriller penned by John Gardner who carried on the series for the Fleming estate and updated the secret agent by retconning his early adventures into the late 60s and 70s allowing his Bond, slightly older, to prowl and protect the world of the…

Star Trek: Discovery (2019) – Point of Light, and An Obol for Charon

Captain’s log: stardate 1029.46 First airing on 31 January, 2019, Point of Light was written by Andrew Coville. It sees the surprise arrival of Micheal Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) adopted mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner) aboard the Discovery to ask for help regarding her son, Spock (Ethan Peck, still not seen), who, as we learned, is…

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963) – Ian Fleming

The eleventh 007 book, and tenth novel, by Ian Fleming is this week’s entry on the Book Shelf, and you could see how the film series would begin to influence the continuing novels as we get a mention of Bond’s parentage, with his father being a Scot, and there is an increasing sense of Connery…

The Couturier of Milan (2017) – Ian Hamilton

Next Monday, the adventures of Ava Lee continue in Ian Hamilton’s latest instalment in the addictive, page-turning series that began with The Water Rat of Wanchai and continues now with book nine(!) and one novella – The Couturier of Milan. Over the course of these books, I have grown to consider Ava Lee a friend,…