To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) – Harper Lee

Countless people read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, or couldn’t read it because people fought to get it banned. In high school, for me, it was all about Le Petit Prince and The Catcher in the Rye. I’ve had a huge hole in my literary field. But I was finally glad to fill…

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…

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,…

High Plains Drifter (1973) – Clint Eastwood

High Plains Drifter marked the first time Eastwood directed a western. Keeping in line with the work he put in on his spaghetti westerns, the movie is a darker, grittier style western, as opposed to the type of film made prior to them. To illustrate that the Stranger he’s playing is a bad dude, Eastwood…

Hill Street Blues (1985) – Intestinale Fortitude, and Of Human Garbage

Elia Katz and David Stenn pen Intestinale Fortitude from a story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, and David Milch. It first aired on 10 January, 1985. LaRue (Kiel Martin) is less than thrilled to find that he and his partner, Washington (Taurean Blacque) have been assigned undercover work with Belker (Bruce Weitz) as garbage collectors….

The Equalizer (1989) – Heart of Justice, and Race Traitors

McCall (Edward Woodward) finds himself on the hunt for a vigilante after an innocent man is arrested for his crimes. Heart of Justice is a very dark story. Written by Gail Morgan Hickman this episode was first broadcast on 11 May, 1989. Michael Gianelli (John Shepherd) wants revenge on the two serial rapists (including Paul…

Finders Keepers (2015) – Stephen King

Finders Keepers is the second book in Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, though he, Jerome and the wonderful Holly Gibney don’t show up until about halfway through the tale. That doesn’t mean King doesn’t dole out another captivating tale, rather the reverse. We’re introduced to Morris in the late 70s. He’s arrogant, and while not…

The Equalizer (1986) – Shades of Darkness, and Nightscape

William Sadler goes toe-to-toe with Edward Woodward’s Robert McCall in Shades of Darkness. Written by Jack V. Fogarty this episode was first aired on 5 November, 1986. Sadler plays Rick Dillon, a murderer, rapist, sociopath and ex-soldier who has murdered a woman but Dan Turner (Lenny von Dohlen) is arrested for it when he’s found…

The Equalizer (1986) – Prelude, and Nocturne

The second season opener of The Equalizer brings up some personal and professional history for Robert McCall (Edward Woodward). Prelude was written by Carleton Eastlake and launched the season on 8 October, 1986. McCall discovers that his son, Scott (William Zabka) is in town after the latest school term has started because he’s been ousted…