Hill Street Blues (1981) – Cranky Streets, and Chipped Beef

Robert Crais pens the teleplay for Cranky Streets from a story by Michael Kozoll and Steven Bochco. It first debuted on 10 December, 1981. With city and union negotiations faltering tensions are running high on the hill. Renko (Charles Haid) and Hill (Michael Warren) find themselves assigned to be training officers. When Renko pulls a…

Hill Street Blues (1981) – Choice Cut, and Up in Arms

Seven episodes in writer Lee David Zlotoff brings us full circle with Choice Cut. First airing on 14 February, 1981, the episode sees Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) dealing with a hostage situation in a supermarket, not entirely dissimilar from what happened in the first episode. In fact, it’s the same hostage takers! They went…

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) – Ishiro Honda

Japan’s countryside, city, and infrastructure is in danger again as Godzilla returns in Mothra vs. Godzilla, which sees the giant kaiju slug it out in an enjoyable piece of melodrama. This time around things get underway when a giant egg comes ashore in Japan, and a photographer, Juno Nakanashi (Yuriko Hoshi) and newspaperman, Ichiro Sakai…

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) – Motoyoshi Oda

Even before Godzilla came ashore in North America with the recut 1954 feature Godzilla (Gojira)/Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, a sequel was unleashed on Japan with Godzilla Raids Again. Gone are the more serious overtones of the first film, the commentary and subtext; the exploration of radiation and its effects on the Japanese, the still…

The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) – Blu-Ray Review

Cecil D.DeMille knew how to make an epic, and both versions of his Ten Commandments prove that point, but I was always more intrigued by what I had heard about his circus picture, The Greatest Show On Earth, mainly because it was the film that really ignited Steven Spielberg’s love of moviemaking. I had never…

Beverly Hills 90210 – The Ultimate Collection

Teen drama. The words are synonomous whether you watch television or not, because every teen is drama, whether they admit or not. And Darren Star knew he had struck gold when he took typical teen stories, filled with angst, love, heartbreak and social issues and placed them in what, thanks to the show, has become…