Death at a Funeral (2007) – Frank Oz

Frank Oz directs this uproariously funny film that puts the ‘fun’ in funeral, and amps up the hilarity by setting it in England. There’s just something horrendously funny about things going wrong around Brits, as they try to maintain some manner of decorum, dignity and civility. Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) is mourning the loss of his…

Run (2020) – Aneesh Chaganty

Run is a crisp and engaging thriller that rushes its twists and turns at a breakneck speed, driven by the performances of its two leads, Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Chloe (Allen) is confined to a wheelchair, and battling a number of illnesses. But she has her mother (Paulson) by her side, tending to her…

Magnum P.I. (2018) – Sudden Death, and Death is Only Temporary

Magnum (Jay Hernandez) helps T.C. (Stephen Hill) and one of his football little leaguers in Sudden Death. It first aired on 22 October, 2018, and was written by David Fury, and features Cyndi Lauper as a local lawyer, Vanessa Nero. Young Makoa (Zio Junk) looks for help from T.C. and Magnum when his father, Honi…

End of Watch (2016) – Stephen King

The final novel in the Bill Hodges trilogy, End of Watch, adds a bit of the supernatural flavour that King is known for as Brady Hartsfield, the Mercedes Killer from Mr. Mercedes returns for a final confrontation with retired police detective Hodges, his partner Holly Gibney, and their friend Jerome. The thread of material woven…

Hill Street Blues (1983) – Midway to What?, and Honk If You’re a Goose

There are some interesting things going on in Midway to What? written by Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Wagner, Karen Hall and Mark Frost, from a story by Lewis and David Milch. First airing on 1 December, 1983 the episode shows Belker (Bruce Weitz) interacting with a wheelchair-bound man, Gerry (Gary Frank) after Gerry spray paints Belker’s…

Chuck (2007) – Versus the Sizzling Shrimp, and Versus the Sandworm

Professional, spycraft, and personal get more mixed up for Chuck (Zachary Levi) this week as he tangles with a Chinese agent, and has his first stakeout in this episode written by Scott Rosenbaum. Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp first aired on 22 October, 2007, and sees lots of humour and trouble arising as the stakeout…

War of the Worlds (1988) – The Resurrection

Back in 1988, a year after Paramount launched the Enterprise back into space with The Next Generation, they turned to another sci-fi property they owned, with the intentions of bringing it to the small screen in a weekly syndicated series. Serving as a sequel to the classic 1953 film, the series developed by showrunner Greg…

Silver Bullet (1985) – Daniel Attias

The next werewolf title to come along in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies is an adaptation of Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf starring Corey Haim, Megan Follows and Gary Busey. This one hasn’t stood up well to my nostalgia, but on reflection, if you have someone (a younger viewer) that you want to…

Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) – Stephen King

Reading like a cross between Our Town and The Wolfman, Stephen King’s too short novella, Cycle of the Werewolf is on the Book Shelf this week. Serving as the basis of the 1985 film, Silver Bullet, Werewolf reads as a not fleshed out enough short story. That’s not to say it doesn’t work. It does….