I like Robert Carlyle, I like Guy Pearce, and there’s some really horrific stuff in this film, but I have to be honest, the musical score kept ejecting me from the film. Beyond that it’s a tightly crafted film about cannibals, using the story of the Donner Party as a loose launching point. Guy Pearce…
Tag: surprise
It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023) – Tyler MacIntyre
With a title like It’s a Wonderful Knife, you can tell already what kind of film this is going to be. It plays on the classic Capra film, turns it into a horror movie, and also includes a lot of laughs. It has a solid cast and may become a new holiday favourite for horror…
Hill Street Blues (1985) – Washington Deceased, and Passage to Libya
It’s Belker’s (Bruce Weitz) thirty-seventh birthday (and gets a nice surprise by episode’s end), the police bowling league is playing, and some new directives from headquarters about officers being responsible for reimbursing phonecalls and vehicle conditions stir up a hornets’ nest in Washington Deceased. Written by Frank South, this episode was first broadcast on 7…
Batman (1966) – Hi Diddle Riddle, and Smack in the Middle
I have never seen the original Batman television series. I did see the movie that was released between seasons at a Saturday matinee when I was a kid and it inspired hours of play, but I’d never dug into the 120 episodes that comprised the series. I’m determined to fix that, so here we go…
The X-Files (2000) – First Person Shooter, and Theef
William Gibson and Tom Maddox pen First Person Shooter, an episode which first aired on 27 February, 2000.There are some elements of sexism and toxic masculinity throughout this story, because it has permeated the game culture that is at the episode’s heart. When a young man dies while playing an immersive First Person Shooter, evidence…
Rivers of London (2011) – Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London, originally released as Midnight Riot before it was retitled to launch the continuing series of novels it spawned, was a wonderful surprise and a complete joy to read, and a fantastic introduction into the genre of urban fantasy. PC Peter Grant is afraid he’s going to end up doing administrative duty once…
The Music Box (1932) – James Parrott
Philip Kemp’s Movies book leaps a little forward in time to bring me a comedic short starring that iconic pair, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy. In this half hour short, the pair struggle to deliver a piano up a the most imposing flight of stairs I’ve seen since those featured in The Exorcist. Something that…
Moonlighting (1985/1986) – Twas the Episode Before Christmas, and The Bride of Tupperman
David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) get into the holiday spirit this week with Twas the Episode Before Christmas. Written by showrunner and creator Glenn Gordon Caron, the xmas-themed episode aired on 17 December 1985. When a man in the witness protection program, Joseph (Ralph Meyering Jr.) is murdered by Leonard (Richard Belzer), his…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008/2009/2010) – Cat and Mouse, Hidden Enemy, and The Movie
I’ve been trying to find a reason to give the Clone wars, and after I finished War of the Worlds I decided to scratch that itch. However, with this series I will not be watching them in broadcast order, but chronological order, as the first few seasons especially bounced back and forth through the Clone…
Star Trek: Voyager (1995) – Maneuvers, and Resistance
Captain’s log: stardate 49208.5 Kenneth Biller penned this Chakotay (Robert Beltran) episode that first aired on 20 November, 1995. When the Voyager picks up a signal that is using Starfleet codes, they tumble right into a trap set by Seska (Martha Hackett) who after fleeing the starship has continued to align herself with the Kazon….
The Mind Reels 