Family Ties (1988) – The Spirit of Columbus, The Blues Brother, and Read It and Weep: Part 1

Charles J. Schlotter pens The Spirit of Columbus which first debuted on 17 January, 1988. Alex (Michael J, Fox) sees an opportunity when Nick (Scott Valentine) sells one of his pieces at a flea market for $200. However, when Alex keeps pushing him to work harder and harder to churn out more pieces Nick begins…

Batman (1966) – The Minstrel’s Shakedown, and Barbecued Batman?

Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) encounter an all-new villain when The Minstrel (Van Johnson) arrives in town. A talented singer and an electronic genius, he leans his talents toward villainy! This two-parter was written by Francis M. Cockrell and Marian B. Cockrell, with the first instalment, The Minitrel’s Shakedown, first airing on 21…

Blue Velvet (1986) – David Lynch

The next big title up for viewing in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable, The Movie Book is the David Lynch classic, Blue Velvet. It features a lot of familiar faces to Lynch fans, and in fact served as the launching point of inspiration for Twin Peaks. The Norman Rockwell facade of small town America (the town…

Miami Vice (1987) – Like a Hurricane, and The Rising Sun of Death

Anything has to be a step up after last week’s abysmal Missing Hours, and Like A Hurricane is a little bit more on track, but is a very Crockett (Don Johnson)-centric story. Written by Robert Palm, this episode first aired on 20 November, 1987. Vice detective Sonny Crockett is given babysitting duty. He’s supposed to…

A Star is Born (2018) – Blu-Ray Review

The Oscar nominated A Star is Born comes home today on blu-ray from Warner Brothers, and it makes a great addition to the collection, and a fantastic new iteration of the classic story. Starring Bradley Cooper (who also served as the film’s director) and a bravura performance by Lady Gaga (both of them were nominated…

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) – Sam Peckinpah

The next big title covered in DK Canada’s highly enjoyable and informative The Movie Book is the exemplary The Wild Bunch. Having previously covered it I moved onto the What Else to Watch list, and discovered a film I had often heard of but until now, had never seen. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo…

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (1993) – The Scandal of 1920

Young Indy’s (Sean Patrick Flanery) adventures are coming to a close in this the penultimate story. Jonathan Hales wrote this television movie that first aired on 3 April, 1993. Indy has left Chicago and is heading to New York for the summer. He’s going to be working as a stage hand in George White’s (Christopher…

To Have and Have Not (1944) – Howard Hawks

Bearing the loosest of resemblances to Ernest Hemingway’s novel, Howard Hawks directs Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall from a script penned by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner. DK Canada’s The Movie Book continues to bring me amazing films. This one is form the What Else to Watch list following the book’s recommendation of Casablanca. Bogart…

The Harder They Come (1972) – Perry Henzell

Featuring a fantastic 1970s reggae soundtrack, The Harder They Come, featuring Jimmy Cliff is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Jailhouse Rock. Ivan Martin (Cliff) is trying to find a way to succeed, even survive, in Jamaica. He sets his sights on making it…

Magnum, p.i. (1984) – Rembrandt’s Girl and Paradise Blues 

  Comedy legend Carol Burnett shows up in Hawaii this week in the first of the two episodes up for review this week. Rembrandt’s Girl was written by Chris Abbott, and aired on 2 February, 1984. Higgins (John Hillerman), with Agatha (Gillian Dobb) helping out is planning a meditation retreat weekend at the estate, and…