Slum Enchanted Evening, the penultimate episode of the sixth season of Hill Street Blues first aired 27 March, 1986 and was written by Walon Green and Robert Ward from a story by Jonathan Lemkin and Micheal Wagner. There’s a lot (A LOT) of melodrama but there’s also some nice character beats. Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti)…
Tag: politics
TIFF ’23: Summer Qamp
My first documentary of this year’s TIFF was the joyous celebration that is Summer Qamp. The film crew led by director Jennifer Markowitz heads to Camp fYrefly located in, of all places, Alberta. A week-long summer camp for queer, non-binary and trans teens, fYrefly is a safe space for everyone who goes there and allows…
Holly (2023) – Stephen King
Wordsmith and beloved storyteller, Stephen King, delivers his latest tale this week. Released by Simon & Schuster, the story allows the readers and King to spend some time with one of his favourite characters, private investigator, Holly Gibney. Holly has become a beloved character, appearing in the End of Watch trilogy, The Outsider and a…
Family Ties (1982) – Summer of ’82, I Never Killed for My Father, and Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss
Michael J. Weithorn wrote Summer of ’82 which first debuted on 27 October, 1982. Alex (Micheal J. Fox) is working his job at the local grocery store, Adler’s Grocery, and doing deliveries with Jennifer (Tina Yothers) when he meets Stephanie (Amy Steel) and loses his heart. But it’s not only his heart he loses when…
An Assassin in Utopia (2023) – Susan Wels
I occasionally find a non-fiction historical book that catches my interest, I’ll devour Erik Larson and Stephen B. Ambrose works voraciously, but when I read the blurb for Susan Wels’ An Assassin in Utopia, I had to add it to the list. Following historical events of the mid to late 19th century, Wels’ work centers…
The Three Musketeers (1993) – Stephen Herek
Disney’s 1993 take on The Three Musketeers has some fun things going for it, Kiefer Sutherland, Tim Curry, Michael Wincott and music by Michael Kamen. Sure it’s not much more than a romp, an entertaining one to be sure, but it doesn’t do much to make itself authentic. The film is set in France, but…
The Equalizer (1987) – Mission: McCall: Part 2, and Shadow Play
Edward Woodward’s recovery from his heart attack between seasons necessitated the creation of a story that would cover his absence while he recovered. Mission: McCall: Part 2, is the second half of the storyline to explain his absence. Written by Ed Waters, Scott Shepherd and Robert Eisele from a story by Waters and Coleman Luck,…
Transporter 3 (2008) – Olivier Megaton
Transporter 3 should work. Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is back in Europe, there’s a solid actor, Robert Knepper, as the film’s villain, there’s a solid supporting cast including Jeroen Krabbe and Francois Berleand returning as Tarconi, but this one just feels like it flounders. Part of that problem, sadly, rests on the casting of Natalya…
Lincoln (2012) – Steven Spielberg
Daniel Day-Lewis takes the titular role in Spielberg’s masterful film about the iconic president and his struggle to pass the 13th Amendment in support of his Emancipation Proclamation, even as the Civil War continues to tear the country apart. Filled with themes and ideas that are still sad, and frighteningly relevant, this looks at a…
Hill Street Blues (1982) – The World According to Freedom, and Pestolozzi’s Revenge
Things get pretty dark on the Hill in The World According to Freedom, and Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) is pissed. Written by Michael Wagner, it first aired on 7 January, 1982. A gruesome collection of murders and rapes seems to be gang motivated, and it makes Furillo and the rest of the precinct incredibly angry….
The Mind Reels 