Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994) – Blood Oath, and The Maquis: Part I

Station log: stardate unknown Blood Oath sees the return of some familiar Klingon names (and the actors who brought them to life) in this episode that was penned by Peter Allan Fields. It first screened on 27 March, 1994. Kor (John Colicos), Kang (Michael Ansara) and Koloth (William Campbell) all arrive on Deep Space Nine…

The Big Red One (1980) – Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller wrote and directed the final film recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Saving Private Ryan. This title closes out my time with it. The tagline for the film says it best, “The real glory of war is surviving.” And that is what the heart…

Space: 1999 (1975) – Collision Course, and War Games

Moonbase Alpha continues it’s journey across the stars in this week’s pair of episodes! Up first is Collision Course, written by Anthony Terpiloff, this episode first debuted on 18 September, 1975. Alan (Nick Tate) is leading a flight of Eagles in front of Alpha to blow up an asteroid that is on a collision course…

Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Steven Spielberg

I was stunned when I first saw Saving Private Ryan on opening day, 24 July, 1998. I had never seen war depicted so realistically, so heart-breaking, graphic, and impactful. I held onto the names of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks like a mantra through the film, to guide me through it, to make everything be…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994) – Armageddon Game, and Whispers

Station log: stardate unknown Morgan Gendel, Ira Steven Behr and James Crocker pen this episode from a story by Gendel. The episode debuted on 30 January, 1994. This ends up being another O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and Bashir (Alexander Siddig) story. The pair are helping a pair of races, the T’Lani and the Kelleruns put an…

Ran (1985) – Akira Kurosawa

I return to the War section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and settle in for Ran, Kurosawa’s epic opus. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare’s King Lear, the film is a visual masterpiece delving into tragedy, drama and action. It is also one of the top recommendations on the What Else…

Persepolis Rising (2017) – James S.A. Corey

The seventh volume in the brilliant, and highly enjoyable science fiction series, The Expanse, finally finds its way to the Book Shelf this week, and it was so worth the wait. I love this series so much, and this book, Persepolis Rising does two things that haven’t really happened in the series before: there’s a…

The Pianist (2002) – Roman Polanski

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Schindler’s List is this film, based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Spillman. The film sees Adrien Brody taking on the role, and going home with the Oscar for Best Actor because of it. Too right too, considering his…