Stargate: Atlantis (2008) – Quarantine, and Harmony

Carl Binder wrote Quarantine, which first aired on 18 January, 2008. The entire city is locked down, when a false quarantine sounds and no one is where they will need tot be, if they are planning on saving the day. McKay (David Hewlett) is nowhere near a computer. In fact he and Dr. Brown (Brenda…

The Beastmaster (1982) – Don Coscarelli

I remember seeing The Beastmaster back in the early 80s on one of the free First Choice/Super Channel weekends. I liked it a lot at ten years old, and hadn’t seen it since. So I was curious if I was going to enjoy it. The opening credits and title cards made me dubious, but over…

Star Trek: Spectre of the Sun (1971)

In May of 1971, Gold Keys delivered another installment in their Star Trek adventures. This is story writer Len Wein’s second issue. Alberto Giolitti continues to deliver art that is slowly embracing more of what we have seen in the series (as well as some odd additions). This issue, Sceptre of the Sun eschewed the…

Deathstalker (1983) – James Sbardellati

Deathstalker is pure 80s sword and sorcery, and while I’m all for gratuitous nudity, there is a lot of it, I don’t need all the rape, I don’t care what the thought process is behind it. It’s repugnant and doesn’t serve to tell us anything about the characters we didn’t already know. Setting that aside,…

One Piece: Season 1 – East Blue, Part 1

It’s hard to know where to start with anime, and with it all laid out before you on a streaming service like Crunchyroll, even with suggestions, it can be a little intimidating. But at Fan Expo this year, an anime called One Piece seemed to be everywhere, so that looked like a good place to…

TIFF ’23: Riddle of Fire

I started my TIFF experience this year with a title that will be featured at this year’s Midnight Madness, the popular venue that explores unique genre titles. Riddle of Fire definitely falls into that category, in conversations with other critics I ended up describing this film in the following manner: it was as if someone…

The Green Knight (2021) – David Lowery

The Green Knight is a stunning and lyrical film that completely blew me away with its storytelling and visuals. Using the 14th-century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as its launching basis, Lowery’s tale is fantastical and beautiful, telling the tale of a young Gawain (Dev Patel) looking to make his way in the…

TIFF ’22: The Lost King

Director Stephen Frears guides Sally Hawkins’ quest for the burial place of Richard III. She takes on the real-life role of Philippa Langley, an amateur historian, who turned away from the established historical ‘facts’ of Richard III as a usurper and began a hunt for his final resting place. Based on Langley’s own book, which…

Willow (1988) – Ron Howard

I remember the first time I saw Willow. I know where I was, and I remember how it swept me up in its narrative. I knew I had to see it the moment it told me it was from the imagination of George Lucas. I knew who Ron Howard was, but I was a teenager…