Magazine Review: Fantasy Tales Autumn 1989 edited by Stephen Jones Fantasy Tales was a British fantasy and horror magazine that ran from 1977-1991, though since it only published twice a year that’s not a huge number of issues (24). It was modeled after the classic pulp Weird Tales, and had a high percentage of notable… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantasy Tales Autumn 1989
Tag: Great Britain
Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) directed by Chris Columbus Once upon a time, there was an Ugly Muggle named Harry. The Muggle family he lived with neglected, bullied and abused him because he was so bad at being a Muggle. But then one day a friendly giant appeared, and revealed to Harry… Continue reading Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Movie Review: The Hasty Heart (1949)
Movie Review: The Hasty Heart (1949) directed by Vincent Sherman Burma, 1945, what will turn out to be V-J Day, the last day of World War Two. Scots soldier Lachie (Richard Todd) takes a piece of mine shrapnel to the back. The military doctors manage to save his life, but he’s lost one of his kidneys.… Continue reading Movie Review: The Hasty Heart (1949)
Book Review: The Best of Analog
Book Review: The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova After the death of long-time editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Fact needed a new person at the helm. The winner of the selection process was Ben Bova (1932-2020), who intended to stay only a few years, those years winding up… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Analog
Book Review: Ireland for Beginners
Book Review: Ireland for Beginners by Phil Evans and Eileen Pollock This is not a full history of Ireland, but more a chronology of its subjugation by England, and its long struggle for independence. Thus it begins in 1169 with a Norman invasion invited in by a deposed Irish king. Henry II of England decides… Continue reading Book Review: Ireland for Beginners
Movie Review: The Adventures of Tartu
Movie Review: The Adventures of Tartu (1943) directed by Harold S. Bucquet Dateline: London, 1940. The Blitz is on, and recovery crews are working on a damaged hospital. One of the German bombs failed to go off, and Captain Terence Stevenson (Robert Donat) is called on to disarm it. (I got Danger: UXB flashbacks.) This task is complicated… Continue reading Movie Review: The Adventures of Tartu
Movie Review: For Your Eyes Only
Movie Review: For Your Eyes Only (1981) directed by John Glen James Bond (Roger Moore) is visiting his wife Tracy’s grave when he’s informed that a helicopter has come to take him to “the office.” This turns out to be a trap, as the pilot is murdered by his own headphones so that a man who… Continue reading Movie Review: For Your Eyes Only
Movie Review: From Russia with Love
From Russia With Love (1963) dir. Terence Young James Bond (Sean Connery) is being stalked through a garden maze by a mysterious figure. The stalker manages to get the jump on Bond and strangle him with a wire garotte concealed in his watch. Our hero is dead! But no, we swiftly learn that this was another… Continue reading Movie Review: From Russia with Love
Comic Book Review: The Complete Battlefields Volume One
Comic Book Review: The Complete Battlefields Volume One written by Garth Ennis, art by various. World War Two has been a favorite subject of comic books since the beginning of that conflict. Garth Ennis grew up on British war comics, and enjoys writing about the subject. So it’s not surprising that he did three miniseries… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Complete Battlefields Volume One
Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger
Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960) directed by Cyril Frankel (aka “Never Take Sweets from a Stranger”) The Carter family, Peter (Patrick Allen), Sally (Gwen Watford), nine-year-old daughter Jean (Janina Faye) and Sally’s mother Martha (Alison Leggatt) have moved from Britain to Jamestown in Canada so that Peter can take up a job… Continue reading Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger