Following a completely lackluster episode (the instantly forgettable “Tsungara Conundrum”, which felt like a patchwork of Doctor Who cliches), the series rebounds strongly with “Demons of the Punjab”; an episode that is easily on a par with “Rosa” and may even find its future status among the series’ all-time best episodes. Written by Vinay Patel (take a bow)…
Star Trek Discovery, Short Treks 2: “Calypso”…
CBS-All Access has just released the 2nd of four planned Star Trek: Discovery “Short Trek” vignettes; the first was the Ensign Tilly-as-diplomat offering “Runaway,” and now we have “Calypso”, another two-character piece which uses none of the regular Discovery cast. “Calypso” runs only 18 minutes, but manages to raise a TON of questions about the future of…
Revisiting “2001: A Space Odyssey” theatrically for its 50th anniversary…
First, I want to apologize to any regular readers for the lack of fresh content for the last couple weeks (feels like forever ago to me). Between Halloween (a very big deal at my house) and most of an Election Day week spent nauseously nervous, things have been a bit crazy around here. Secondly, I…
Doctor Who times two; a friend’s review of “Rosa,” and my own review of “Arachnids in the UK”…
“Doctor Who”’s new showrunner/writer Chris Chibnall and new Doctor herself Jodie Whittaker continue to impress in this latest season, which feels quite fresh and distinct from the Russell T. Davies/Steven Moffat years of the show. The latest two episodes demonstrate the variety of the season so far, with a potent historical drama about US Civil Rights hero…
The tricks and treats of “Halloween”…
A new “Halloween” film (the eleventh of the franchise to date) arrived in cinemas this past week. I’ve long been fan of both the films and the holiday, but I wish I hadn’t heard so much positive buzz on this one before I saw it for myself (it’s that whole ‘expectations’ thing). While I…
“First Man” delivers a first-person spaceflight experience…
“First Man” is the new film directed by “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle and written by Josh Singer (from a book by James R. Hansen). Chazelle, like the late Robert Wise, is on a varied career trajectory; going from a glitzy, stylized musical to a gritty, realistic story of real-life astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), the first…
A Tale of Two Hoods…
In the early late 1960s and early 1970s, British movies took up the horror anthology mantle left in the wake of groundbreaking American television anthology series such as “The Twilight Zone,” “Thriller” and “The Outer Limits” (“Zone” and “Limits” were two of my favorite shows as a kid; I still enjoy them very much today). These…
Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor truly sticks the landing in “The Woman Who Fell To Earth”…
You may be hearing things like the following in Doctor Who fan circles over the coming days; ‘Jodie Whittaker is brilliant’, ’Jodie Whittaker is born to play the Doctor,’ ‘Jodie Whittaker will bring in new audience members,’ and ’the show feels new.’ The reason you’re going to be reading these repeated phrases ad infinitum is because they’re true….
Discovery Short Treks, 1 of 4: “Runaway”…
I’d like to begin this recap/review of the first of four Star Trek: Discovery ‘Short Treks’ by saying that I’m saddened some kind of arrangement between CBS-All Access and Netflix couldn’t be made in time to simulcast this 15-minute short to the UK and the rest of Europe. To any readers who haven’t seen it, or…
Trekker Treat? Star Trek TOS: “Catspaw”…
I absolutely adore Halloween. It is easily my favorite holiday. See: This is Halloween: 25 years of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”… I also love Star Trek (that’s fairly obvious if you’ve seen the rest of this site). Like Halloween, I’ve loved Star Trek since I was a kid. It is one of my all-time favorite entertainment franchises,…
“Alien Nation,” 30 years later…
I remember catching a matinee showing of yet another ‘buddy-cop’ movie in the fall of 1988 called “Alien Nation.” The movie followed the same general template as “48 HRS,” “Lethal Weapon,” “Red Heat”, and a few dozen others, including the “Rush Hour” movies which came about a decade later. However, “Alien Nation” had a science…
This is Halloween: 25 years of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”…
When I was a kid, Halloween was (and still is) the coolest thing ever. It allowed us as kids to cosplay for an entire night (long before the word ‘cosplay’ was ever a thing) and we got paid in candy for our efforts! The thrill of the hunt; going to stranger’s houses, awing at their cool…
