Thus week, I returned to the desert planet of Arrakis, also known as Dune. The third book in the series picks up some nine to ten years after the last novel, Dune Messiah. The last novel ended with Paul Atreides, Maud’Dib, wandering into the deep desert in the Fremen tradition of discarding the old and…
Tag: smart
Trouble In Paradise (1932) – Ernst Lubitsch
As I turn to the next title in DK Canada’s brilliant, The Movie Book, I realised it was a film I had already seen, To Be or Not To Be, so it was off to the What Else to Watch list, and here were a number of films I had never taken in. The first…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – Ensign Ro, and Silicon Avatar
Captain’s log: stardate 45076.3 Michelle Forbes returns to The Next Generation this week. This time, she is playing the fan favourite character, Ro Laren. In this episode we are introduced to the Bajorans, their conflict with the Cardassians, and planting seeds for the upcoming series, Deep Space Nine. Airing on 7 October, 1991, this episode…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – The Best of Both Worlds Part II, and Family
Captain’s log: stardate 44001.4 How do you follow up a cliffhanger like the one that closed the third season of The Next Generation? Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is firing on the Borg, intent on destroying them, even if it costs the life of the abducted, and ‘enhanced’ Picard (Patrick Stewart) now known as Locutus. Michael Piller…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – Hollow Pursuits, and The Most Toys
Captain’s log: stardate 43801.4 First airing on 30 April, 1990, this episode, written by Sally Caves introduced fan favourite Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) to the Trek Universe. Barclay is smart, but shy, suffers from some anxieties, and releases them through escapes to the holodeck. In fact, he slips away every chance he gets, as, within…
Dumbo (1941) – Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, and John Elliotte
Animal cruelty, a bit of racism, and the revelation that his name isn’t really Dumbo are just three of the things I caught as I screened Disney’s classic elephant tale. I continue to work my way through the What Else to Watch list following DK Canada’s The Movie Book recommendation of Snow White and the…
Doctor Who (David Tennant) – The End of Time
The End of Time. Better get my tissues again. I was a wreck when these two episodes originally aired on 25 December, 2009, and 1 January, 2010 respectively. Written by Russell T. Davies, the two -parter brings an end to Tennant’s time in the TARDIS. Running for as long as he can to prevent the…
American Graffiti (1973) – George Lucas
George Lucas’ nostalgic American Graffiti is the next stop on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Jailhouse Rock. While not a musical in the technical sense of breaking into song and dance, the music and the voice of deejay Wolfman Jack play an…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – Plato’s Stepchildren and Wink of an Eye
Captain’s log: stardate 5784.2 Plato’s Stepchildren first screened on 22 November, 1968 and was written by Meyer Dolinsky. The episode is of historical note because of the first American broadcast interracial kiss when Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kisses Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Beyond that, the story is rather basic. The Enterprise is summoned to a…
Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston David Tennant) – The Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion
The first series of the relaunched BBC series, Doctor Who , comes to a close this week with The Parting of the Ways. Written by Russell T. Davies and with an original airdate of 18 June, 2005 the episode saw the Doctor (Eccleston) confronting the Dalek fleet with Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) at his…
The Mind Reels 