Five years after the first film, and a lifetime of difference for me, Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) were back in action. Unfortunately, an attempt to continue the gritty feeling special effects thriller comes across as a little disjointed, and honestly, more convoluted than it needed to be. An attempt to…
Tag: murder
F/X (1986) – Robert Mandel
Bryan Brown plays Roland Tyler, one of the top special effects people working in the business. He’s built a name for himself as well as a brand, but he’s just been approached for a special kind of gig in Robert Mandel’s F/X. He’s approached by a member of the Justice Department to help out on…
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929) – Agatha Christie
The Seven Dials Mystery is a delightful romp.It takes us back to Chimneys, reacquaints us with Superintendent Battle, as well as Lady Eileen, better known to her friends as Bundle, as she and her friends get caught up in mystery, murder, romance and adventure. While Chimneys is occupied by another family, whose renting it for…
Millennium (1997) – Maranatha, and Paper Dove
With the penultimate episode of the first season, Maranatha, Millennium continues its move towards tying in end of the world mythology (heavily influenced by Christian texts) with the rise in crime, and specifically murder. Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) finds himself brushing up against possible events from the book of Revelations in this story written by…
Cobra (1986) – George P. Cosmatos
I’ve been enjoying revisting some of the classic 80s action films, and I even remember the first time I saw this one. I wish I could have told myself what I KNOW now, this film is horrible. It’s uneven, and as much as I enjoy an action film from the Stallone oeuvre, this one is…
Millennium (1997) – Powers, Principalities, Thrones, and Dominions, and Broken World
Ted Mann and Howard Rosenthal expand Frank Black’s (Lance Henriksen) in this episode of Millennium that first aired on 25 April, 1997. Still reeling from the murder of his friend, police detective Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich), Frank is unsure of his gift and may not be ready to return to work with the Millennium Group, despite…
Magnum Force (1973) – Ted Post
Clint Eastwood returned as Detective ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan for a second outing in 1973’s Magnum Force, despite the fact that he seemed to be quitting at the close of the original film. This time out the gritty, and occasional racist and misogynistic film sees Harry hard at work in his beloved San Francisco, when a…
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) – Agatha Christie
Before Hercule Poirot took the Orient Express, he found himself on the Blue Train, sans Hastings, in a mystery that has a murder, missing jewels, stagecraft, thieves, divorces, a love story, rich Americans, and devious criminals. While not quite the romp of Poirot’s previous tales, this story was fun, and while most of the clues…
The X-Files (1997) – Unrequited, and Tempus Fugit
Howard Gordon and series creator Chris Carter pen the teleplay for this episode from a story developed by Gordon to show that even in the late 90s the horror and worry over Vietnam POWs was still with us and haunting American society. With an original airdate of 23 February, 1997, Mulder (David Duchovny), Scully (Gillian…
The X-Files (1997) – Memento Mori, and Kaddish
Series creator Chris Carter penned Memento Mori which first aired on 7 February, 1997. It brings Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) cancer to the fore as the tumour becomes more aggressive and sends Mulder (David Duchovny) into an investigation of the MUFON group Scully met last year, a group of women who claim to be abductees and…
The Mind Reels 