Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) – Peter Segal

Not half as clever as the previous films, Naked Gun 33 1/3 is Leslie Nielsen’s final turn as Police Squad!’s Frank Drebin. Now retired and living with Jane (Priscilla Presley), Frank finds himself called out of retirement yo join his team one last time in an effort to stop a terrorist attack on the Academy…

Stargate SG-1 (2004) – Lost City: Part 1, and Part 2

The season seven finale is a two-parter that not only advances the story for SG-1, but also sets up Stargate: Atlantis, despite the fact that there will be some recasting before the show launches the following season. Written by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright, Lost City: Part 1 first aired on 12 March, 2004….

Blown Away (1994) – Stephen Hopkins

Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones star in a cop thriller about revenge and the past. Set in Boston, Jimmy Dove (Bridges) is verging on retirement from the Bomb Squad following his marriage to Kate (Suzy Amis). Unfortunately, Dove’s past comes calling for him in the form of Ryan Gaerity (Jones) an IRA extremist with…

TIFF24: The Life of Chuck dir. Mike Flanagan

Tears. Happy tears. When things just feel right, when something is translated so well from page to screen that it looks the way it did in your mind’s eye. The Life of Chuck moved me to happy tears. Mike Flanagan is at the top of his game. He has proven that he excels at adapting…

Running Scared (1986) – Peter Hyams

Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal are Chicago cops who are toying with the idea of retirement and moving to Key West to run a bar in the buddy-cop film Running Scared. Director Peter Hyams was coming off some success following 2010: The Year We Make Contact and recruited the actors for he film, and other…

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) – Jay Oliva

The Dark Knight Returns is an iconic graphic novel, a story that redefined Batman in the 80s, and was, perhaps, the one adaptation that I was looking forward to most. I liked that the creative team knew to tell the story properly, they had to take their time with it, setting everything up, which meant…

Star Trek: The Fearful Summons (1995) – Denny Martin Flinn

Space, the final frontier… I take up the journey with Kirk and company again this week, and was delighted in how most of The Fearful Summons read. It’s a fast read, and has the pacing of a screenplay, and even reading it, you can tell what things would be edited out of the film, or…

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) – Richard Donner

Roger Murtaugh’s (Danny Glover) retirement is only ten days away, so you can be assured that he and Riggs (Mel Gibson) are going to find their way into trouble in the third entry in the Lethal Weapon franchise. Reuniting director Richard Donner with all the familiar faces that have populated the universe returning, as well…

Star Trek: Shadows on the Sun (1993) – Michael Jan Friedman

Set shortly after the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Shadows on the Sun explores some of the backstory of Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, a character that has become one of my favourites over the years. It’s interesting, as a child, and teen, Kirk was always the character for me. But as I…

Bad Boys For Life (2020) – Adil El Arbi & Bilail Fallah

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for a third go round as those Bad Boys, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in Bad Boys For Life. It’s been seventeen years since we last saw these Miami PD cops ride together, they’re older, the world has changed and so have their lives. Marcus is now a grandfather…