Stallone not only returns in one of his most iconic roles, but he also settles into the director’s chair to bring the grittiest incarnation of Vietnam vet to the screen. Continuity is key, and Rambo (Stallone) is still in the Far East, attempting to live a quiet life as best as he can, when, like…
Tag: tension
Don’t Breathe (2016) – Fede Alvarez
I was pleasantly surprised by Don’t Breathe, though I didn’t like a single character in the film. They’re all evil in their way, and that made it hard to empathize. In fact, for the first part of the film, I sympathize with the Blind Man (Stephen Lang), until that twist of course. But it’s interesting…
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) – Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson’s second 007 novel was an adaptation of the second Pierce Brosnan film, Tomorrow Never Dies. And while he seems to have some trouble adapting some of the more over the top action beats of the film, his take on the story actually works really well, and is one of the strongest film adaptations…
The Vast of Night (2019) – Andrew Patterson
The Vast of Night is very much my kind of film, part Twilight Zone, part early Spielberg, there’s a vibe to this film that I just totally dig. A lot of the film feels like an homage to old dramas, encouraging the theatre of the mind, but there is a nice payoff at the end…
Hotel Mumbai (2018) – Anthony Maras
Hotel Mumbai plays out as a white knuckle thriller, made all the more breathless because it is based on an actual event. The terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008, At the story’s center is the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, the lap of luxury for its guests, with a staff that are devoted to making sure…
Alien 3: The Unproduced First-Draft Screenplay by William Gibson (2021) – Pat Cadigan
Author Pat Cadigan takes William Gibson’s original script for Alien 3 and transforms it into a white knuckle thriller ride of a novel that gives us a glimpse at what could have been in the Alien film series. Fans know the convoluted story of how Alien 3 came to the screen, and that were countless…
M*A*S*H (1977) – Post Op, Margaret’s Marriage, and Fade Out, Fade In
The penultimate episode of the fifth season is a hectic affair with a teleplay by Ken Levine and David Isaacs from a story by Gene Reynolds and Jay Folb. Post Op first aired on 8 March, 1977. There are patients everywhere, and more arriving all the time. The doctors and nurses of the 4077th are…
M*A*S*H (1977) – The General’s Practitioner, Movie Tonight, and Souvenirs
Everything seems to happen just a bit too quick in this episode, The General’s Practitioner. Written by Burt Prelotsky, this one first hit the airwaves on 15 February, 1977. A Colonel Bidwell (Leonard Stone) shows up in camp on behalf of his general, Korshak (Edward Binns) in order to recruit the best doctor the 4077th…
A Quiet Place Part II (2020) -4K Review
For those of you who may not have Amazon’s Prime streaming service, or like me, and love physical media, Paramount Pictures has released the much anticipated follow-up to the horror thriller A Quiet Place directed by John Krasinski. The sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, written and directed by Krasinski, is now available on 4K,…
The X-Files (1995) – Anasazi, and The Blessing Way
Series creator Chris Carter (who makes a cameo in this episode) penned the teleplay from a story he and David Duchovny developed, and season two of The X-Files came to a conclusion on 19 May, 1995, with Anasazi. In a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, something that looks like an alien corpse is recovered from…
The Mind Reels 