Robin Williams headlines the next film recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Apocalypse Now. After the previous recommendations Good Morning, Vietnam comes across as a little too light and clean a depiction of Vietnam. It is also heavily fictionalised, as Williams’ portrayal of real life Adrian…
Tag: war
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – Data’s Day, and The Wounded
Captain’s log: stardate 44390.1 Airing on 7 January, 1991, this Data (Brent Spiner)- centric episode did something that hadn’t been done in Star Trek before. It gave us a ‘day in the life’ episode. It also further cemented Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) in the Trek Universe. Written by Harold Apter and Ronald D. Moore, the…
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Francis Ford Coppola
The brilliant, Vietnam epic, an update on the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, is the next stop in the War genre as I continue my cinematic journey with the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. The story behind the film is almost as incredible as the film itself. Boasting a cast that…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – The Rebel Flesh, and The Almost People
This week’s journey in the TARDIS brings us a two-parter written by Matthew Graham that aired on 21 and 28 May, 2011. The Doctor (Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) find themselves on 22nd century Earth, after getting caught in a solar tsunami. There, on a remote island, a factory and its employees…
Star Trek: Chain of Attack (1987) – Gene DeWeese
Don’t be fooled by the depiction of the Enterprise on the cover, this story is set just after the Original Series, so very definitely still within the setting of the Five Year Mission. It also does something that would later be revisited as a television series, as a Federation starship (in this case the U.S.S….
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990) – Yesterday’s Enterprise, and The Offspring
Captain’s log: stardate 43625.2 Yesterday’s Enterprise penned by Ira Steven Behr, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler and Ronald D. Moore from a story by Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell became an instant classic when it aired on 19 February, 1990. A spatial-temporal rift causes changes in the 24th century when it spits out the…
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989/1990) – The Vengeance Factor, and The Defector
Captain’s log: stardate 43421.9 The Vengeance Factor, a Riker (Jobathan Frakes) episode first aired on 20 November, 1989. The Enterprise is transporting Sovereign Marouk (Nancy Parsons) to a meeting with an offshoot tribe of her planet’s inhabitants, known as Gatherers. Picard (Patrick Stewart) is hosting peace talks between the troubled sides, and is hoping that…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – Cold Blood, and Vincent and the Doctor
Rory (Arthur Darvill), Amy (Karen Gillan) and the Doctor (Smith) have their hands full this week as we dive into the second part of the Silurian story that started last week with The Hungry Earth. Cold Blood was written by Chris Chibnall and first aired on 29 May, 2010. The Time Lord is going underground…
West Side Story (1961) – Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins direct the film that brings me back to the musical genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Stephen Sondheim pens the lyrics for this Academy Award winning musical (including Best Picture) that is an updated retelling of Shakespeare’s beautiful tragedy Romeo & Juliet with Richard Beymer…
Doctor Who (Matt Smith) – Amy’s Choice, and The Hungry Earth
Reality begins to mess with the Doctor (Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) when we join them in the TARDIS for Amy’s Choice. Written by Simon Nye this unique episode first aired on 15 May, 2010 and introduced us to the Dream Lord (Toby Jones). As they bounce between realities, our heroes must…
The Mind Reels 