*****BORG CUBE-SIZED SPOILERS!!***** I would’ve preferred to find some way of discussing the new CBS All Access series’ “Star Trek: Picard” in depth without going into spoilers, but given the number of revelations in the first hour alone, I’ve decided that’s more or less impossible, so I’m going to go full steam ahead and discuss…
Doctor Who S12.4: “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” adds a much-needed jolt of electricity…
After the uneven Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who hit a creative brick wall last week with the jaw-droppingly awful “Orphan 55”, it just as quickly rebounded this past weekend with arguably the best historical episode of the series to date. Scripted by Nina Metivier, “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” is, in some ways, a…
Retro-Musings: George Pal’s "The Time Machine" (1960) 60 years later…
Once Upon a Time… Published in 1895, Herbert George Wells’ “The Time Machine” was the seminal time travel story that spawned/inspired several film adaptations and various TV series (“Doctor Who” “Quantum Leap”). There have been at least four live-action adaptations of which I’m familiar, including an obscure 1949 movie, the popular 1960 MGM film, an…
“Star Trek: Voyager” slipstreams into its silver anniversary…
Before I get too deep into this personal retrospective of “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995-2001), I have to state upfront that “Voyager” (VGR) is perhaps my least favorite series of the Star Trek canon, but that’s not to say that I actively dislike it, or that this is going to be a hatchet job on the…
Doctor Who S12.3, "Orphan 55”; a worthwhile message is lost among the ‘dregs’…
The 12th season of Doctor Who (or 38th, including the classic series) has unveiled its third episode, “Orphan 55”, written by Ed Hime and directed with a distinct lack of panache by Lee Haven Jones, and it fails on multiple levels. I usually try to look for positives in my reviews, but this is a…
Short Treks 2.6: “Children of Mars” glimpses things to comes…
*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** CBS All Access has just released the latest “Short Trek” and this one is less of a story and more a tantalizing glimpse of what lies ahead for “Star Trek: Picard” which debuts January 23rd. Written by Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet and directed by Mark Pellington, “Children of Mars” feels…
Doctor Who, “Spyfall” Parts 1 and 2: The Doctor “Bonds” with her fam…
Doctor Who’s current showrunner Chris Chibnall has unveiled a new two-part Doctor Who 12th season opener (“Spyfall” Parts 1 & 2) after a year-long break following an uneven first year at the TARDIS controls in 2018. And the resulting spoof on the conventions of James Bond is well, once again, something of a mixed bag……
Galactica 1980: The Colonial Fleet came a calling 40 years ago…
On a January evening nearly 40 years ago, I was 13 years old, and eagerly awaiting the return of a favorite TV series of mine that had been unceremoniously cancelled the previous year. “Battlestar Galactica”, created by Glen Larson (“The Fall Guy”), was the TV-sized, Star Wars-styled opus chronicling the exodus of humans from a…
Smooth sailing for Season 2 of Netflix’s “Lost In Space”…
The second season of Netflix’s reimagined “Lost in Space” is now streaming, and it ups the stakes, both dramatically and cinematically, looking better than many current science fiction films, and providing a family drama series that isn’t hokey, corny or condescending. To say it surpasses this series surpasses both the original 1965-8 TV series and…
The Mandalorian, Chapter 8: “Redemption” ends Season One…
****BANTHA-SIZED SPOILERS!!**** The eighth and final chapter of The Mandalorian, “Redemption”, is now available for streaming on DisneyPlus, and it answers a few nagging questions that have cropped up in this short sophomore series of this young series. The episode was written by series’ creator Jon Favreau and was exceptionally well directed by Taika Waititi…
“Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker” solders together the saga’s many pieces…
*****PLANET-KILLER SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!***** The most difficult aspect of writing this review was deciding how to write it. I decided not to write a full-length story synopsis, because the moment-to-moment plot mechanics are a lot less important (or interesting) to me than how “The Rise of Skywalker” (TROS) manages to pull off a few cinematic…
The Mandalorian, Chapter 7: “The Reckoning” exacts a price…
****BANTHA-SIZED SPOILERS!!**** Chapter 7 of “The Mandalorian” is up now on DisneyPlus streaming, and as the second to last episode of the season, “The Reckoning” sees Mando and his allies headed back to Navarro (the Bounty Hunter Guild planet seen early on, but not named until later) for a final confrontation with ‘The Client’ over…
