Brenden Carlson’s Night Call, available from Dundurn Press is set in the past, an alternate 1933, and yet in describing it, I lean towards the phrase retro-future noir. We are introduced to the cynical hard-boiled detective, Elias Roche, who is haunted by an incident in his past and walks a fine line between the law…
Tag: partner
M*A*S*H (1979) – Inga, The Price, and The Young and the Restless
Alan Alda writes and directs this episode, Inga, which first aired on 8 January, 1979, and definitely sees a bit of a course adjustment for Hawkeye’s (also Alda) sexist attitudes towards women. When Hawkeye hears about a Swedish female doctor coming to camp for a brief tour, he gets ready to turn on the charm,…
TAD 2021: Canadian Shorts
Canada delivers its own Shorts programme for Toronto After Dark, with 9 selections, that like the International Shorts features a variety of styles, sensibilities, and genre mashing. There’s some great work in here, and despite the fact that none of the films were as laugh out loud as the highly enjoyable Shiny New World, there…
Millennium (1998) – TEOTWAWKI, and Closure
Remember when the Y2K bug felt like a semi-legitimate fear? That’s what the first episode of Millennium is about. Written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator, Chris Carter, this story, which also takes on school shootings, first debuted on 16 October, 1998. Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) settling back in a little further back at the…
The Dead Pool (1988) – Buddy Van Horn
Dirty Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is back for one more go around in 1988’s The Dead Pool. And of all the sequels following Magnum Force, this is probably my favourite of the bunch. It’s a little sleeker, has the best cast since Magnum Force, and Harry isn’t quite as much a racist ass as he…
Fortune (2020) -Ian Hamilton
I discovered the writings of Ian Hamilton in April 2015. Before that, I had seen his books in a variety of bookstores and I kind of innately knew that I was going to read them sooner or later. So when I came across the first six books in one go, I picked them up in…
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…
Millennium (1996) – 5-2-2-6-6-6, and Kingdom Come
Writers James Wong and Glen Morgan pit Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and the Millennium Group against a serial bomber in 5-2-2-6-6-6 (which entered into a phone pad spells K-A-B-O-O-M), which first aired on 22 November, 1996. Raymond Dees (Joe Chrest) is a bomber, there is sexual transference involved, as well as the desire to be…
Black Rain (1989) – Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott remains one of my favourite technical directors, and it’s been awhile since I settled in for this crime thriller, that stars Micheal Douglas, Andy Garcia, Kate Capshaw, and Ken Takakura. Douglas plays Nick Conklin a less than clean New York bigoted cop currently under investigation by Internal Affairs when he and his partner…
The X-Files (1994) – Blood, and Sleepless
Mulder (David Duchovny) finds himself in a paranoia and violence filled town in Blood. Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong from a story by Darin Morgan (who had just appeared as the monster in the previous episode), this episode first aired on 30 September, 1994. A seemingly unconnected series of violent incidents leads Mulder…
The Mind Reels 