There’s the signpost up ahead… Paramount takes me even further into The Twilight Zone as I explore the next three episodes of the series. First up is People are Alike All Over written by Rod Serling, based on a short story by Paul Fairman. It stars one of my favourite character actors of all time,…
Tag: mother
We Go On (2016) -Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton
Premiering on Shudder TV today is this tightly paced, solidly acted supernatural drama that pursues the life long question of what happens after we die. Written and directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton, the story revisits oft-explored ideas and themes, but does it in a solid way. At the film’s centre is Miles Grissom…
Show Boat (1936) – James Whale
The recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of Oklahoma! gets underway with the 1936 adaptation of the Hammerstein stage musical, Show Boat. Directed by James Whale, who, one year previous, directed the iconic Bride of Frankenstein, the tale follows a young woman, Magnolia aka Nola (Irene Dunne)…
Doctor Who (Paul McGann) – The Movie
Seven years after Sylvester McCoy’s last story, Survival, a weird co-production involving Fox television and the BBC, introduced Paul McGann as the Doctor when McCoy regenerated into him after being shot in San Francisco (actually Vancouver), at the end of the 20th century. The story is deeply flawed, conflicts with canon in a number of…
Quantum Leap (1991/1992) – Unchained and The Play’s the Thing
Unchained finds Sam (Scott Bakula) in the body of Chance Cole on 2 November, 1956. The episode was written by Paris Qualles and had an airdate of 27 November, 1991. Sam, as Chance, is part of a chain gang, and he and another convict, Jasper Boone (Basil Wallace) a man, Al (Dean Stockwell) informs him,…
Odd and the Frost Giants (2008) – Neil Gaiman
It’s always a delight to explore a Neil Gaiman book, and though this novella was far too short, it was everything I’d come to expect from this master storyteller. Incorporating Norse Mythology, which is also the subject of his latest book, the story follows a young boy, named Odd, who has an unexpected encounter with…
Quantum Leap (1991) – Dreams and A Single Drop of Rain
Deborah Pratt writes the first episode up for review this week, Dreams. It aired on 13 November, 1991, and finds Sam (Scott Bakula) on 28 February, 1979. Sam has leaped into a police detective, Jack Stone, who is working a murder case, but is also suffering from some terrible flashbacks. These trace memories are throwing…
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,…
A Monster Calls (2011) – Patrick Ness
It’s been a long time since a book has reduced me to tears, but Ness’ powerful, and beautiful young adult books, A Monster Calls has done just that. Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd who passed before she could tell it herself, the story is a singular experience that is heartbreaking in its truth…
Quantum Leap (1990) -Maybe Baby and Sea Bride
Sam (Soctt Bakula) is a kidnapper? This week out time traveller is on the run in Maybe Baby. Penned by Paul and Julie Brown, who also portrays Sam’s travelling companion, and stripper, Bunny, in this episode that aired 4 April 1990. It’s 11 March, 1963, and Sam as Buster, the bouncer from Bunny’s bar, and…
The Mind Reels 