When an SG team goes missing on a mining expedition SG-1 is sent to investigate and find themselves encountering a a transplanted tribe of Indigenous peoples who have very strong views about the SGC turning their mountain into a mining site. Written by Tor Alexander Valenza, Spirits first aired on 23 October, 1998. Before SG-1…
Tag: mining
TAD 2023: The Deep Dark dir. Mathieu Turi
Mathieu Turi delivers a delightful and ominous creature feature with The Deep Dark and the practical effects, and oppressive setting make this one spark, and it’s definitely something the Toronto After Dark crowds are going to love. Amir (Amir El Kacem) arrived to join a mining team in the 1950s. He’s paired with a rough-and-tumble…
Three Miles Down (2022) – Harry Turtledove
I hadn’t picked up a Turtledove book before. He’s made a name for himself telling tales of alternate histories, picking a historical event and letting it play out differently. I was never too worried about those things, though I do like a good alternate timeline. This time, however, I was intrigued as it set a…
Screamers (1995) – Christian Duguay
Screamers is a bit of a mess. It has a solid pedigree but somewhere between its origin and its filming, I imagine a number of things went wrong, culminating in the disappointing movie it became. The film stars Peter Weller and is originally based on a story by Philip K. Dick and Dan O’Bannon had…
Outland (1981) – Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams writes and directs this galactic update of the classic western, High Noon, that sees Sean Connery stepping into the Gary Cooper role of a lone marshall awaiting the arrival of men who are coming to kill him. With a visual look that seems to marry it with the universe of Alien (aided by…
Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1978) – Alan Dean Foster
Back in 1978, we had just one movie, and a handful of toys available from Kenner, not taking into account a ton of tees, trading cards, and almost anything else they could plaster the name Star Wars on. People were clamouring for more adventures from Luke Skywalker and the rest of the rebel alliance, but…
Star Trek: Enterprise (2003) – The Shipment, and Twilight
Captain’s log: date unknown Chris Black and Brent V. Friedman pen this episode of the Xindi arc that first debuted on 29 October, 2003. Archer (Scott Bakula) discovers a mining operation that seems to be compiling resources and components for the Xindi weapon that is being prepared for Earth. He, Reed (Dominc Keating) and Hayes…
Doctor Who (Tom Baker) – The Pirate Planet
The Key to Time story arc continues this week with the Doctor (Baker), Romana (Mary Tamm) and K9 arriving on The Pirate Planet. This story ran from 30 September to 21 October, 1978, and was written by Douglas Adams, yes, that Douglas Adams. The next piece, the travellers, learn is located on the planet Calufrax,…
Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee) – The Monster of Peladon
The Monster of Peladon, a six-part story, which aired from 23 March to 27 April, 1964, penned by Brian Hayles is Pertwee’s penultimate tale. I can’t believe his time in the TARDIS is almost up! He’s been a lot of fun. The Doctor (Pertwee), with Sarah-Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) at his side, returns to the planet…
King Kong Eacapes (1967) – Ishiro Honda
My time with that big ape continues with my exploration of King Kong titles thanks to the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. The fun, goofiness of King Kong Vs. Godzilla would be hard to top, and this film can’t quite seem to do it, though it does introduce the pretty cool, and drastically underused Mechani-Kong!! The…
The Mind Reels 