Category Archives: Film and TV Reviews
M is for… Missing #AtoZChallenge
M is for… Missing 
Missing (or 1-800 Missing as it was known in the US) ran for three seasons 2003-2006
This is about Jess, a girl who, after being struck by lightning, begins having visions that link to missing people cases. After phoning into a tip line she is hired as a ‘consultant’ and is paired up with FBI Agent Brooke who helps interpret what Jess is seeing.
So the show itself isn’t really full on supernatural but Jess has a psychic power. It’s kind of like a young version of Medium.
Top 3 Episodes
Sea of Love – Season 2 Episode 1
A new series and a new partner
Jess trains to be an FBI agent – cue gun training scene at Quantico – and joins a new partner Nicole. Nicole is a lot more brash and out there than Brooke was, a rule breaker.
Lost Sister – Season 1 Episode 16
Jess goes undercover with cocky agent Jack Burgess to bust a drugs ring. They play lovers and might throw their own sexual tension into the ring. Jess’ s vision prove a little tricky at the bust though.
Basic Training – Season 1 Episode 14
This is my favourite episode and the one that I would select if I could only watch one episode again. Jess (not an agent at the time) goes undercover in a Military School to discover why cadets are going missing. Will Jess be a toilet toothbrush scrubber or one of the leaders. Thankfully the training at the academy in my book isn’t as gruelling as this.
This is based on a series of books by Meg Cabot (author of The Princess Diaries which I love) originally writing as Jenny Carroll (I believe they’ve been re-released under MC now). Has anybody read them? Worth a read?
And a quick nod to Merlin 2008-2012
I’ve only just starting watching this (I know late to the party) but I’ve enjoyed the episodes I’ve seen so far. No spoilers please.
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L is for… Lost #AtoZChallenge
L is for… Lost
Six series (2004-2010) of supernatural – what on earth is happening – goings on. If you haven’t seen or heard about Lost then I reckon you might be stuck on that island somewhere.
The stand out episode has to be the opening one with the plane crash scene. I found a video where someone has mashed up the opening and ending – great parallels/echoes. It doesn’t fully spoil but probably best not to watch unless you’ve seen it.
And a quick nod to The Little Vampire
The 1986 German series which I must have seen dubbed as a kid. Just found it available on amazon for over £50 for 13 episodes. I would like to see it again but not quite that badly.
Sponsored Amazon Associates link – doubt you’d buy it at this price!!
What TV series from your childhood have you re-discovered and how much did it cost you to do so?
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K is for… Kingdom Hospital #AtoZChallenge
K is for… Kingdom Hospital
Odd how both of my K posts today are Stephen King related – I didn’t plan it that way. In fact they are very related because I believe that the opening accident scene of Kingdom Hospital is based on King’s personal experience as discussed in On Writing (the book I am reviewing in my other K post today).
As a Stephen King fan I had to watch this series when it was released (2004 according to imdb). It is set in a hospital in, where else but Maine. The hospital was built on the scene of a fire where lots of children died so lots of spooky Poltergeisty type things happen. Peter ends up in the hospital after a hit and run accident, whilst he is unable to communicate with anyone he starts seeing a ghost girl called Mary and spends the series (13 episodes) trying to help her.
This isn’t one I can pick out top episodes because it is a continuous story really. It had a similar feel to American Gothic (who got the briefest of mentions in my A post). I believe the series has had mixed reviews but I enjoyed it for what it was.
Recently one of my good friends Cath stayed with me and she was talking about a Channel 4 comedy series from 2004 called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. She described it as a mockumentary about the writer of horror books and the ‘80s’ TV show Darkplace where they show the series interspersed with interviews’ with the actors. A quick search and we found it on 4 on demand and proceeded to watch the first episode in all its deliberately shoddy acting glory.
When watching Darkplace I was immediately reminded of Kingdom Hospital – Darkplace is a hospital after all – and I wondered if it was a spoof of that and Mr King himself. A bit of searching showed that this was released before KH and that they were both based on Lars Von Triers The Kingdom (which I haven’t seen). I’m still not sure that Mr King isn’t implicated here though.
Anyway if you like your comedy very surreal then GMD is a must see and it is immensely quotable – it was penned by two of its stars Richard Ayoade (Moss from the I.T. Crowd fame) and Matthew Holness (Garth Marenghi himself).
‘I’m Garth Marenghi. Author. Dreamweaver. Visionary. Plus actor. You’re about to enter the world of my imagination. You are entering my Darkplace.’ (Opening lines)
And my favourite – which I need to get into my PhD thesis somehow (from episode 2 – Hell Hath No Fury)
‘As a writer if you took away my paper I would write on my heart
If you took away my ink I would write on the wind
It wouldn’t be an ideal way to work.’
Thanks for the intro Cath – just finally watching the last two episodes as I’m writing this post.
Do you like seeing the same story retold in different versions?
If you are a fan of GMD share with us your top quote/scene/episode.
kirstyes 