KAOS has come up with another devious plan in Perils in a Pet Shop. First airing on 10 December, 1966, this episode was written by Martin Ragaway. It seems KAOS is training parrots, having them memorize secret formulas, and then getting them out of the country. Can Agent 86, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and Agent…
Tag: prison
A Better Tomorrow (1986) – John Woo
A Better Tomorrow was a hole in my John Woo and Hong Kong cinema that I wanted to fill, People have raved about it for years, that it helped define a generation of HKers and became a cult classic among North American film lovers. It features melodrama and lots of gunplay. It also has a…
Get Smart (1966) – The Only Way to Die, Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Ballantine, and Casablanca
The Only Way to Die riffs on the idea of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) being publicly dead, and using that as cover to get his mission done. But everyone is going to have to believe he’s dead including 99 (Barbara Feldon), the Chief (Edward Platt) and Fang. Written by Arne Sultan, this episode first aired…
White Lightning (1973) – Joseph Sargent
Burt Reynolds stars as Gator McClusky, who feels like he may be a more rough and tumble relative of the Bandit. And speaking of Smokey & the Bandit, Hal Needham, who went on to direct that classic film, served as the second unit director on this film. Gator is in prison, and he’s a model…
Stargate: Atlantis (2005) – Condemned, and Trinity
Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), Teyla (Rachel Luttrell), McKay (David Hewlett), and Ronon (Jason Momoa) arrive on a planet via puddlejumper and a stargate that they have never been to before. Moments after arrival, they fall under attack. They are rescued, and learn from their rescuers that the stargate is located on a prison island. Condemned was…
Logan Lucky (2017) – Steven Soderbergh
Logan Lucky is a hugely entertaining, and laugh-filled heist film. Something we should have come to expect knowing that Steven Soderbergh, who also delivered the Ocean’s Trilogy, is at the helm. There’s a lot of fun to be had with a great cast led by Channing Tatum. Tatum is John Denver-loving Jimmy Logan, a down…
Top Secret! (1984) – Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams
It’s been a couple of decades since I last watched Top Secret! I remember from my time working in a video store that it was a perennial favourite of my friend Ted. And with the passing of Val Kilmer, I felt it was definitely time to take it in again. And wow, did I laugh….
Blue Ruin (2013) – Jeremy Saulnier
I enjoyed Rebel Ridge, and quite liked Green Room, so I figurd I would take a look at another one of Jeremy Saulnier’s works, Blue Ruin. What I found was a solid, revenge drama whose violence, when it happens, is shockingly real and bloody. Dwight (Macon Blair) has turned into a bit of a drifter,…
Death Rides a Horse (1967) – Giulio Petroni
Lee Van Cleef stars alongside John Phillip Meceita in this spaghetti western from Giulio Petroni. My knowledge of spaghetti westerns is pretty slim, so it should come as no surprise that I had never heard of this one, but with Lee Van Cleef in it I figured why the hell not? What it is, is…
The Invisible Man Returns (1940) – Joe May
It’s more time well spent with the Universal Monsters as I dive into the first sequel to 1933’s The Invisible Man. Vincent Price in one of his earliest performances is Geoffrey Radcliffe, a man imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. His beloved Helen Manson (Nan Grey) is stunned and refuses to believe he’s guilty….
The Mind Reels 