Smallville (2002) – Hug, and Leech

Hug is another freak of the week episode. This one debuted on 5 February, 2002. It was written by Doris Egan. We are introduced to Bob Rickman (Rick Peters) a conniving businessman who has his eyes set on Smallville. And there may be no one to stop him, because he has a strange ability to…

Smallville (2001) – Cool, and Hourglass

Sure it’s another freak-of-the-week episode, but the series is still finding itself, and building its characters and narratives. Cool first aired on 13 November, 2001 and was written by Michael Green. This time out, Sean (Michael Coristine) apparently drowns in ice-covered Crater Lake. At the bottom of that crater, kryptonite-infused rocks (as usual) which give…

Smallville (2001) – Hothead, and X-Ray

Hothead takes onto the Smallville Crows, the highschool football team overseen by the arrogant Coach Arnold (Dan Lauria). And Arnold is going to be our freak of the week. Written by Greg Walker this episode, which is helping to continue setting the pace and style for the series, first aired on 30 October, 2001. Arnold…

Death at a Funeral (2007) – Frank Oz

Frank Oz directs this uproariously funny film that puts the ‘fun’ in funeral, and amps up the hilarity by setting it in England. There’s just something horrendously funny about things going wrong around Brits, as they try to maintain some manner of decorum, dignity and civility. Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) is mourning the loss of his…

The Naked Gun 2 1/2 – The Smell of Fear (1991) – David Zucker

Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) and the members of his Police Squad! are working in Washington and soon finds himself embroiled in another case. And encountering Jane (Priscilla Presley), who backed out of their relationship after the end of the first movie. Once again, Jane is involved with the baddies. This time around, it’s Quentin Hapsburg…

Northern Exposure (1995) – Little Italy, and Balls

The series has begun stumbling towards its now seemingly inevitable end. The stories have become less and less engaging, though there are some great character bits. The character bits that stand out in this episode are very much Ruth-Anne’s (Peg Phillips). She has become a bit of a radio storyteller, and it’s a great new…

Farscape (2003) – Mental as Anything, and Bringing Home the Beacon

Mark Saraceni pens Mental as Anything, which first debuted on 20 January, 2003. We get a wrap-up of D’Argo’s (Anthony Simcoe) series long quest to bring justice to his wife’s murderer. But it doesn’t quite work as well as it should, and definitely doesn’t feel quite as epic as it should. D’Argo, Crichton (Ben Browder),…

They Call Me Trinity (1970) – Enzo Barboni

They Call Me Trinity is a spaghetti western that riffs slightly on the classic Seven Samurai story, but is filled with lots of comedic moments, and is led by a pair of charming actors, Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer. It gently pokes fun at the tropes of the genre, plays to them, and enjoys them,…