Harry Morgan directs the first episode this week, End Run, which was written by John D. Hess and debuted on 25 January, 1977. Morgan keeps his story threads separate, giving us some comedy with Klinger (Jamie Farr), Frank (Larry Linville) and Zale (Johnny Haymer) when Frank decides to pit the two against one another in…
Tag: war
M*A*S*H (1976) – The Nurses, The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan, and Dear Sigmund
Loretta Swit has a pair of episodes this week that allow her to shine as her character Margaret Houlihan. First up is The Nurses. Written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it was first broadcast on 19 October, 1976, and lets the main cast step back a bit to let a supporting cast of nurses have a little…
Full Metal Jacket (1987) – Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick’s look at the Vietnam War isn’t only a commentary on the war itself, but the dissolution of the self, and the soul of humanity to be replaced by an animal nature that restrains us a species and diminishes who we are. From the introduction to the Marine Corps on Parris Island, South Carolina,…
Congo (1995) – Frank Marshall
A script based on a Micheal Crichton novel, creature effects by Stan Winston, directed by Frank Marshall who has a long association with Spielberg and Amblin, an all-star cast including Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Bruce Campbell, Dylan Walsh and Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje. Seems like a sure-fire win right? I hadn’t watched this one since…
M*A*S*H (1976) – Smilin’ Jack, The More I See You, and Deluge
B.J. (Mike Farrell), Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and Potter (Harry Morgan) hane to ground a pilot, the titular Smililn’ Jack (Robert Hogan) in this episode penned by Simon Muntner and series developer Larry Gelbart, which first aired on 3 February, 1976. Smilin’ Jack is a helluva pilot, going for chopper pilot of the year, all he…
M*A*S*H (1976) – Hawkeye, Some 38th Parallels, and The Novacaine Mutiny
Series developer Larry Gelbart and Simon Muntner pen this bottle show (one set, or existing set shoots to save money) that features Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and was first broadcast on 13 January, 1976. After surviving an accident, Hawkeye delivers a seemingly unending and wandering monologue in a Korean home while waiting for a pickup from…
The Prophecy (1995) – Gregory Widen
There are a number of movies that seemed tied inextricably with my memories of working at Jumbo Video in the mid-90s, and The Prophecy is one of them. No one I know saw it in the theatre, but once we received a screener copy for it in the store, it made the rounds, and I…
M*A*S*H (1975) – Welcome to Korea Part 1, Part 2, and Change of Command
Season four opened with a two-part premiere that aired on 12 September, 1975. Written by series developer Larry Gelbart as well as James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. To deal with Trapper’s (Wayne Rogers) abrupt departure from the series, as well as Blake’s (McLean Stevenson) leaving for home, the episode had to reintroduce the series (again)…
Battlestar Galactica 4: The Young Warriors (1980) – Robert Thurston and Glen A. Larson
Robert Thurston delivers a full length novel based on a single episode of Battlestar Galactica. His previous novels had encompassed double episodes, but despite that, Thurston delivers a strong story, that takes the episode The Young Lords, and layers out and tells almost a completely different story, while still giving us the same basic tale….
Star Trek: Recovery (1995) – J.M. Dillard
Space the final frontier… J.M. Dillard delivers the fourth and final instalment of The Lost Years saga this week, a series of novels she started that cover the time frame between the end of The Original Series and The Motion Picture. This time out, pieces are being moved into position for where we find them…
Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World (1978) – Glen Larson and Robert Thurston
“There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. They may have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilisations of Lemuria or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who…
Edge of Tomorrow (2014) – Doug Liman
Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson and Bill Paxton star in this fun sci-fi action film that plays like an alien war version of Groundhog Day. Cruise stars as Cage, a major in the American army, working as a media adviser, following the beginnings of an alien attack that has taken over most of Europe….
