Captain’s log: stardate 4307.1 Like Balance of Terror, this episode encouraged a lot of daydreams as I navigated my school desk turned navigation console through the unexplored mass of the galaxy. The Immunity Syndrome is mostly confined to the bridge of the Enterprise and ts shuttlecraft as Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest…
Tag: story
The King and I (1956) – Walter Lang
Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr light up the screen in the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Oklahoma! The Rogers and Hammerstein musical soars to life in a stunning adaptation that doesn’t sacrifice story for musical numbers. Instead, the story is just as important, if…
Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston) – World War Three and Dalek
The Doctor (Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper) alongside Mickey (Noel Clarke), Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) and Rose’s mother, Jackie (Camille Coduri) take on the Slitheen in the conclusion to last week’s episode, Aliens of London. World War Three was written by Russell T. Davies and had an original airdate of 23 April, 2005. The episode…
The Twilight Zone (1960) – People Are Alike All Over, Execution and The Big Tall Wish
There’s the signpost up ahead… Paramount takes me even further into The Twilight Zone as I explore the next three episodes of the series. First up is People are Alike All Over written by Rod Serling, based on a short story by Paul Fairman. It stars one of my favourite character actors of all time,…
Transformers (2007) – Micheal Bay
Steven Spielberg served as executive producer on the next stop on my journey through the Sci-Fi Chronicles book, but when handed over to Michael Bay, the film is a nausea-inducing mess that lacks a real story. Bay’s editing style has never been my favourite. Most of the shots in the film don’t last much longer…
Rio Bravo (1959) – Howard Hawks
If someone mentions John Wayne to me, this is the movie I go to. Happily, it’s the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Searchers. Starring Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson, this, to me, is Howard Hawks best western. Wayne stars…
Terminator Salvation (2009) – McG
The final stop with the Sc-Fi Chronicles book for me with the Terminator franchise, as I’ve now had a chance to cover all of them, is this interesting entry from the same pair of writers who gave us Rise of the Machines. This one could have been alright, though I feel McG was probably the…
The Searchers (1956) – John Ford
John Ford and John Wayne. When it comes to westerns there are few names better, and they are my next stop in the Action section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Confederate soldier, Ethan (Wayne) returns to his family’s homestead in Texas after the end of the Civil War, where he…
La La Land (2016) – Damien Chazelle
From its opening, marrying classical screen musical tropes and modern times, Chazelle’s film proves that not only is the big screen musical still alive, it is in fact a vibrant event. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star as two Hollywood dreamers, Mia and Sebastian. She’s an aspiring actress, he’s a jazz pianist who dreams of…
Mad Max (1979) – George Miller
A twenty-one year old Mel Gibson put the pedal to the metal and rocketed to first cult, and then international fame alongside George Miller with the thrilling, verge of the apocalypse (which was to come between films), action-packed Mad Max, which is my next stop with the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. Civilisation is crumbling in Australia,…
The Mind Reels 