Quantum Leap: The Wall (1994) – Ashley McConnell

Ashley McConnell turns in another Quantum Leap novel, and except for a quick moment when we are given another limbo moment for Sam between leaps it is a really powerful tale about domestic abuse, alcoholism and breaking the cycle. Sam leaps into Missy, a six-year-old girl (something that couldn’t have been pulled off believably in…

TIFF ’22: The Wonder

With an opening, and an ending that reminds us that how we see stories is all perspective, The Wonder explores the line between fact and faith, science and religion. Based on the book by Emma Donoghue, The Wonder is beguiling, introspective, and moody. In the mid-19th century, an English nurse, Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) who…

Prisoners (2013) – Denis Villeneuve

Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal star in the emotional thriller, Prisoners, featuring yet another magnetic turn by director Villeneuve. What starts out terrifyingly enough with the abduction of two little girls turns into something horrific as twists reveal true natures, and narratives slowly shift the viewer’s perspective on what they are seeing. As two families…

Nightmare Alley (1946) – William Lindsay Gresham

Before I see del Toro’s new film, which is an adaptation of this novel, I wanted to visit the source material, because I do love me a good noir story, and this one is a classic. And perhaps because the beats and the tropes of the noir genre are so familiar it’s easy to suss…

The X-Files (1998) – Bad Blood, and Patient X

Vince Gilligan delivers a very comedic entry in The X-Files with Bad Blood, which first aired on 22 February, 1998. A riff on not only classic vampire beliefs as well as the classic he said/she said trope. The episode opens with a shocking moment, a young man, Ronnie (Patrick Renna) is being chased, and ends…

M*A*S*H (1975) – Aid Station, Love and Marriage, and Big Mac

Aid Station written by series developer Larry Gelbart and Simon Muntner is an exemplary episode that first hit the airwaves on 11 February, 1975. The entire camp is unhappy with the state of everything, though it is the food and coffee that most of the complaints are centred around. The O.R. is packed, and wounded…

Licence Renewed (1981)- John Gardner

In the early 80s, the estate of Ian Fleming reached out to author John Gardner to continue telling stories about James Bond, 007, and to perchance, bring him into the 80s. This involved a bit of a retcon moving the events of the previous novels from the 50s/60s to the 60s/70s. Gardner’s first effort, Licence…

I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story (2019) – Anthony Daniels

I’ve waxed poetic and nostalgic over Star Wars during the course of the blog. I’ve shared how much it means to me, and how much it has impacted me. How much it has been such a part of my life, and continues to help define it. To say that I love Star Wars is like…