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 (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…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989) – Manhunt, and The Emissary

Captain’s log: stardate 42859.2 Between last week’s episode Up the Long Ladder, and the first episode this week, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier opened on 9 June, 1989. It was also the only Trek movie I never saw in the theatre. ten days later, on 19 June, (days after I graduated high school) Manhunt aired…

Mulan (1998) – Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Lion King is this exceptional tale from Disney that brought a story little known to the North American world. This Disney version of an ancient Chinese folktale tells the story of a young woman, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen…

Red Dawn (1984) – John Milius

The final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Dr. Strangelove is John Milius’ dark and violent film, Red Dawn. With an all-star cast including Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Powers Boothe and Harry Dean Stanton, the film chronicles an invasion…

Doctor Who (David Tennant) – The Poisoned Sky, and The Doctor’s Daughter

The Poison Sky is the conclusion to last week’s cliffhanger. Written by Helen Raynor this episode first aired on 3 May, 2008. The Doctor (Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) save Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) from hit ATMOS car, and our heroes plunge into a full-on confrontation with the Sontarans and their errand boy, Luke (Ryan Sampson)….