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…
Tag: writer
Get Out (2017) – Jordan Peele
With his directorial debut, Jordan Peele became a horror writer/director to watch, and cemented me as a fan. Crafting an unnerving and terrifying story layered in social commentary, Peele used the genre to deliver a powerful story about race, one that is executed with precision and perfection. Balancing mystery, truly horrific moments, and a sense…
A Quiet Place Part II (2020) -4K Review
For those of you who may not have Amazon’s Prime streaming service, or like me, and love physical media, Paramount Pictures has released the much anticipated follow-up to the horror thriller A Quiet Place directed by John Krasinski. The sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, written and directed by Krasinski, is now available on 4K,…
Predestination (2014) – Michael & Peter Spierig
Somehow this little sci-fi, time travel, paradox embracing film never hit my radar when it first came out. It would occasionally pop up in my recommended lists, and I would think yeah, I should check that out, and then promptly forget about it. But the wait was worth it, because when I finally did settle…
The Grudge (2004) – Takashi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu who wrote and directed the original J-horror version of The Grudge, Ju-On, delivers the North American adaptation that isn’t quite as creepy and unnerving as the source material, as it tries to find a blending of Western and Eastern film styles that doesn’t always work. I remember Ju-On freaked me out the first…
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…
Phantasm: Ravager (2016) – David Hartman
For the first time, Don Coscarelli lets someone else in the director’s chair for an entry in the Phantasm series (could you imagine a reboot, or a television series rework of this?) though he had his hand in the script as well as producing. Reggie (Reggie Bannister), Michael (A. Michael Baldwin), Jody (Bill Thornbury) and…
The X-Files (1997) – Detour, and The Post-Modern Prometheus
Detour, written by Frank Spotnitz gives us our first monster-of-the-week episode of season five of The X-Files. First airing on 23 November, 1997, the episode sees Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) in Florida on their way to a team-building/communication seminar held by the bureau, when a forest search and rescue holds up their…
Cobra (1986) – George P. Cosmatos
I’ve been enjoying revisting some of the classic 80s action films, and I even remember the first time I saw this one. I wish I could have told myself what I KNOW now, this film is horrible. It’s uneven, and as much as I enjoy an action film from the Stallone oeuvre, this one is…
Ex Machina (2014) – Alex Garland
Alex Garland wrote and directed this stunning film, his first feature, that explores the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and the desire to live and survive. When a young programmer, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest to spend a week at his boss, Nathan’s (Oscar Isaac), remote estate, he loves the idea, when Nathan reveals that…
The Mind Reels 