THE DARK TIDE (2022) *** by Simon McCleave This paperback edition published by Avon, 2022, 376pp First published in 2022 © Simon McCleave, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-00-852482-1 Blurb: Three years ago, DCI Laura Hart was the top Hostage and Crisis Negotiator for the Greater Manchester Police. Then her husband was kidnapped. Despite her best efforts to reason…
TV Review – DOCTOR WHO: WILD BLUE YONDER (2023)
DOCTOR WHO: WILD BLUE YONDER (TV) (2023, UK, 54m, PG) **** Sci-Fi, Adventure dist. BBC; pr co. BBC; d. Tom Kingsley; w. Russell T. Davies; exec pr. Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson; pr. Vicki Delow; ph. Nick Dance (Colour | 2.00:1); m. Murray Gold; ed. Tim Hodges; pd. Philip…
UK Monthly Film Review November 2023 (Vol 1 No. 11) issue now available
Volume 1 Number 11 of UK Monthly Film Review is now available in PDF format. The bulletin includes all movies that went into general theatrical release for the first time in the UK during the period 28 October to 24 November 2023 or debuted on a streaming platform having been released theatrically in other territories….
TV Review – DOCTOR WHO: THE STAR BEAST (2023)
DOCTOR WHO: THE STAR BEAST (TV) (2023, UK, 57m, PG) **** Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure dist. BBC; pr co. BBC; d. Rachel Talalay; w. Russell T. Davies (based on the comic strip by Dave Gibbons and Pat Mills); exec pr. Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson; pr. Vicki Delow; ph. Matt…
The Restoration of The Swiss Conspiracy
In the break between seasons one and two of his TV series Harry O, David Janssen travelled to Europe to star in Warner Brothers’ action crime thriller The Swiss Conspiracy. The film is an obscure title from 1976, which dropped into obscurity only to resurface in dodgy home video releases having lapsed into the public…
Book Review – THE CHILL (1963) by Ross Macdonald
THE CHILL (1963) **** by Ross Macdonald This paperback edition published by Penguin Modern Classics, 2012, 344pp © Ross Macdonald, 1963; copyright renewed © Margaret Millar, 1991 ISBN: 978-0-141-19661-9 Blurb: Private detective Lew Archer has better things to do than take on an investigation for Alex Kincaid, a young man claiming that his new bride, Dolly, has…
UK Monthly Film Review October 2023 (Vol 1 No. 10) issue now available
Volume 1 Number 10 of UK Monthly Film Review is now available in PDF format. The bulletin includes all movies that went into general theatrical release for the first time in the UK during the period 30 September to 27 October 2023 or debuted on a streaming platform having been released theatrically in other territories….
Film Review – YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974, USA, 106m, PG) **** Comedy dist. 20th Century Fox; pr co. Gruskoff-Venture Films / Crossbow Productions / Jouer Limited; d. Mel Brooks; w. Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks (based on characters in the novel ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley); pr. Michael Gruskoff; ph. Gerald Hirschfeld (B&W | 1.85:1); m. John Morris; ed. John C….
Film Review – TOWED IN A HOLE (1932)
TOWED IN A HOLE (1932, USA, 21m, U) ****½ Comedy, Short dist. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM); pr co. Hal Roach Studios; d. George Marshall; w. Charley Rogers, Stan Laurel, George Marshall (all uncredited); pr. Hal Roach; ph. Art Lloyd (B&W | 1.37:1); m. Marvin Hatley (stock), Leroy Shield (stock); ed. Richard C. Currier. cast: Stan Laurel (Stan),…
Richard Roundtree – The Man Who Was Shaft
My first memory of Richard Roundtree was seeing him in the TV series Shaft sometime in 1974 on Granada TV here in the UK. I thought, even in this sanitised version (I knew of no other at that point), he was the coolest thing on TV. I then realised there were some paperback novels on…