Spielberg returns to another examination of humanity and history with his 1997 film Amistad. Based on an actual event in 1839, the film explores a revolt of Mende captives aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. When the captives take over the ship they demand that the surviving crew take them back to Africa, but instead,…
Tag: property
The Family Plot (2016) – Cherie Priest
Haunted house stories take a fine hand to craft and make them entertaining, believable, and scary. Cherie Priest accomplishes all of that with her superior horror novel, The Family Plot. Music City Salvage is barely staying afloat, and Charles Dutton the owner, risks everything to keep it afloat when he buys the Withrow house for…
12 Years a Slave (2013) – Steve McQueen
What kind of species are we that we can enslave our fellows? There are two scenes in McQueen’s masterpiece 12 Years a Slave, that shook me to my core. The first was a scene in which Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Solomon Northup is left to hang, while life goes on around him, and another when Solomon is…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – Devil’s Due, and Clues
Captain’s log: stardate 44474.5 With an airdate of 4 February, 1991, this episode, written by Philip LaZebnik, from a story by LaZebnik, and William Douglas Lansford, has always been a fun one for me. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) find themselves in a mystery when they answer a call from a planet that…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989) – The Measure of a Man, and The Dauphin
Captain’s log: stardate 42523.7 The Measure of a Man, definitely in the top ten Trek episodes of all time, this gem was written by Melinda M. Snodgrass this classic first aired on 13 February, 1989. Data (Brent Spiner) is on trial for his synthetic life as the debate on whether or not he is a…
Maximum Ride (2016) -Jay Martin
James Patterson’s young adult novel series, Maximum Ride, takes flight cimematically this week from Paramount Pictures. I read the first book when it came out in 2005. It was fun, engaging. Patterson is a very entertaining and imaginative writer, and Max seemed perfectly suited for exploration in other media. The downside to this big screen…
Batman: The Animated Series (1992) – Nothing to Fear, Be a Clown, Appointment in Crime Alley
Time for more Bat-goodness with these three episodes that originally aired on 15, 16 & 17 of September, 1992. First up is Nothing to Fear, which sees the Scarecrow (Henry Polic II) being introduced to the Batman’s (Kevin Conroy) rogues gallery. When Bats is exposed to the villain’s scare-gas, he begins to fear that…
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – George Miller
It’s been 30 years since Max wandered into the sunset after Thunderdome, but director George Miller shows that the character, now played by Tom Hardy, is still at home on the big screen. And while factoring in Hardy’s age and portrayal, he is definitely not the character 30 years older than when we last…
The Rockford Files (1975) The Deep Blue Sleep & The Great Blue Lake Land and Development Company
Private Eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) has his hands full in this week’s installment of The Rockford Files. The first episode, The Deep Blue Sleep was written by Juanita Bartlett from a story by Roy Huggins, and aired 10 October, 1975. It has a great phone gag with a young lady calling to agree to…
The Mind Reels 