Magnum P.I. (2019) – Payback for Beginners, and Honor Among Thieves

Season Two of Magnum P.I. opens with another White Knight sequence from a Robin Masters’ novel, which Abby (Brooke Lyons) is reading but it doesn’t take long for Magnum (Jay Hernandez) to take a new case, something he chooses to do while Higgins (Perdita Weeks) decides whether or not she’s going to become his partner…

Deadpool (2016) – Tim Miller

Ryan Reynolds was made for the role of Deadpool, the Marvel meta-merc. His appearance as the character in Wolverine: Origins was horrible, and this is nothing but redeeming, and insanely funny. While the film is an origin story, showing how Wade Wilson (Reynolds) became Deadpool, it also knows to make fun of itself and origin…

Ancillary Justice (2013) – Ann Leckie

Ann Leckie delivers an interesting space opera read that uses the feminine pronoun she throughout, as a part of its language, not as a descriptor of the people themselves, who are predominantly genderless. It’s a great touch, and really plays nicely with the casting of characters in the mind’s eye. We are introduced to Breq,…

The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) – William A. Fraker

There are a few things to redeem the 1981 iteration of the Lone Ranger story, it has a score by John Barry, and features Christopher Lloyd as the film’s baddie. But beyond that, this one is pretty horrible. The story, while violent, isn’t layered, sophisticated or much stronger than a grade-school tale. And that’s to…

Doubleshot (2000) – Raymond Benson

The next Raymond Benson 007 novel, takes place a few short months after High Time to Kill. Ian Fleming’s creation, James Bond, is on medical leave and isn’t doing so well. There may be a lesion in his brain causing blackouts, and his medication seems to be exacerbating things. Even dealing with these issues, Bond…

Hill Street Blues (1985) – An Oy for an Oy, and Fathers and Huns

Belker (Bruce Weitz) is worrying about Robin’s (Lisa Sutton) pregnancy, and where their relationship is going. He’s thinking about marriage. But he’s also having a problem with a pair of brothers (Michael Lerner and Alex Henteloff) who seem to be screwing one another over for some diamonds, and Belker is caught in the middle. An…

Extraction II (2023) – Sam Hargrave

So despite the crap shape Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is at the end of the first film, he gets rescued, saved, and rehabilitated. In fact, Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) retires him to Austria in a little cabin by the lake, but when an unnamed man (Idris Elba) shows up and offers him a job, one with…