I have raved countless times about how much I love Stephen King novels. I love when I hit up one I have never read, though they are becoming fewer in number. Happily, Later was one that I hadn’t dug into yet and it absolutely delighted me. Later introduces us to Jamie Conklin, a young boy…
Tag: single mother
Magnum P.I. (2021) – Island Vibes, and The Harder They Fall
Robin introduces a new character in his White Knight books, and it sounds very much like Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks), who by the way, is still with Dr. Ethan (Jay Ali) on his Doctors Without Borders assignment. A misstep there causes Higgins to get some help from her old employers at MI6. Meanwhile, back on…
Family Ties (1985) – Oh, Donna, Auntie Up, and Philadelphia Story
Alex (Micheal J. Fox) comes down with Daddy Fever when he helps his parents out with their Lamaze class, and becomes enchanted with the idea of becoming the father to the child of a single mother in Oh, Donna. Written by Alan Uger, this episode was first broadcast on 3 January, 1985. Initially dismissive of…
TIFF ’23: Flora and Son
John Carney, who has delivered great musically-themed films like Once, Begin Again and Sing Street has the International Premiere of his latest film, Flora and Son at TIFF this year. Apple Films has its distribution and will be carrying it on Apple+ as of 29 September. So if you miss it at the Festival, be…
Evil Dead Rise (2023) – Lee Cronin
Lee Cronin wrote and directed Evil Dead Rise a nice new spin on the classic horror franchise that promises the ultimate in grueling horror. As much as I love the originals, and Bruce Campbell, I love that the new films have eschewed some of the comedic elements and really leaned into the brutal gore and…
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) – Jason Reitman
Ignoring the 2016 film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife leans into its nostalgia, ties itself firmly directly to the 1984 original and while it can be seen as a little oversentimental in its final act, it checked all the boxes I needed for a Ghostbusters legacy sequel. Callie (Carrie Coon) is a single mother whose absent father died…
Murphy’s Romance (1985) – Martin Ritt
James Garner earned his only Academy Award nomination for his turn as Murphy Jones, a local widower, handyman and pharmacist in the small town of Eunice, where the newly divorced Emma (Sally Field) and her young son, Jake (Corey Haim) arrive in to make an attempt at running a horse ranch. Emma has a tough…
Hill Street Blues (1983) – Praise Dilaudid, and Goodbye, Mr. Scripps
Michael Wagner wrote the teleplay for Praise Dilaudid from a story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis and David Milch. It first debuted on 17 November, 1983. Chief Daniels’ (Jon Cypher) political aspirations seem on the edge of imploding this week after a number of debacles, including the events around Doris Robson (Alfre Woodard) and some…
Episode Thirteen (2023) – Craig DiLouie
Orbit Books brings me my first real creepy novel of 2023, Episode Thirteen. Using the familiar structure of the found footage genre, something that has been co-opted successfully for all of the ghost-hunting shows that seem to plague reality television, DiLouie compiles a literary found footage film, offering up video transcripts, EVP recordings, text messages,…
Hill Street Blues (1981) – Jungle Madness, and Hearts and Minds
The two-hour finale to Hill Street Blues inaugural season first aired on 26 May, 1981. It was written by series creators Steven Bochco, Michael Kozell and story editor Anthony Yerkovich. There’s a lot going on, Washington (Taurean Blacque) and LaRue (Kiel Martin) are running up leads and suspects in the shooting by a racist officer,…
The Mind Reels 