The possibly demonic, and definitely evil, Donnie Pfaster (Nick Chinlund), last seen in Irresistible, returns in Orison. Written by Chip Johannessen who had served as showrunner for Millennium’s final season, this episode debuted on 9 January, 2000. Pfaster, serving life in prison, somehow seems to magically walk out of a maximum security instituion, and Mulder…
Tag: prison
Mission: Impossible (1968) – The Bargain, and The Freeze
The IMF team take on organized crime, and a dictator, in The Bargain. Written by Robert E. Thompson, and having an original airdate of 15 December, 1968, Phelps (Peter Graves), Rollin (Martin Landau), Cinnamon (Barbara Bain), Barney (Greg Morris), and Willy (Peter Lupus) go undercover to stop a deal arising between a dictator looking to…
TIFF 2021: Attica dir. Stanley Nelson
Taking a look at the five day rebellion, and hostage taking in September of 1971 at Attica prison, Nelson’s documentary is a stark, unflinching look at the prison system, the industry of it, the culture and race clash that is inherent in it, and the larger world as a whole. Filled with interviews from those…
Mission: Impossible (1968) – The Mercenaries, and The Execution
The IMF head down to Central Africa to bring down a mercenary and his army for hire in The Mercenaries, written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter. This episode first aired on 27 October, 1968, and is the first episode up this week as I continue to explore The Complete Series on blu-ray from…
Mission: Impossible (1968) – The Phoenix, and Trial by Fury
Phelps (Peter Graves) and his IMF team are back out in the field this week as I dive into another pair of assignments in Paramount Canada’s Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray. The Phoenix written by John D.F. Black from a story he created alongside Edward DeBlasio is first up, originally broadcast on…
Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Widow, and Trek
Season two of Mission: Impossible launched on 10 September, 1967, with The Widow written by Barney Slater. Viewers knew right away that something had changed, Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) was replaced without explanation by Peter Graves, taking command of the IMF team as Jim Phelps, and Martin Landau finds himself in the opening credits, right…
The X-Files (1998) – Kitsunegari, and Schizogeny
Robert Patrick Modell aka Pusher (Robert Wisden) is back to cause problems for Mulder (David Duchovny), Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) in Kitsunegari, written by Vince Gilligan and Tim Minear, this episode debuted on 4 January, 1998, and serves as a nice companion-piece to the earlier episode, Pusher (Season 3 Episode 17). When…
F/X 2 (1991) – Richard Franklin
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…
Tango & Cash (1989) – Andrey Konchalovskiy, and Albert Magnoli
There were so many action movies made in the 80s, and even if they were just goofy fun, like Tango & Cash, if there were big names attached, the studio would pull out all the stops. And this one does that, even if the story itself isn’t so great, it’s just so much damned fun….
Millennium (1997) – Force Majeure, and The Thin White Line
The first episode that really deals with the idea of the approaching millennium, and the prophecies created around it, Force Majeure, first aired on 7 February, 1997, and was written by Chip Johannessen. Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), Peter Watts (Terry O’Quinn) and Cheryl Andrews (Cch Pounder) get drawn in to a case featuring identical twin…
The Mind Reels 