Author: Peter Kanelis

I was born in Portland, Oregon and currently reside in Texas. I am an avid reader and movie watcher. I also am a long-time Doctor Who fan and collect the audio dramas as well as watch the television series. I have been writing reviews of this nature on social media for a few years now and want to expand on that practice.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Knights And Time Meddlers

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Doctor Who: The First Doctor Unbound: Knights of the Round TARDIS is an audio drama that kicks off a new range for Bog Finish Productions. David Bradley returns to his version of the First Doctor alongside Claudia Grant, Jamie Glover, and Jemma Powell returning to their versions of original TARDIS companion, Susan, Ian, and Barbara.

The script was written by LR Hay, and the director is David O’Mahoney. The guest cast is comprised of Matthew McQuinn, Robert Gill, Ewan Goddard, Adam Howden, Sophie Matthew, Joseph Millson, and Keith Wickham.

The TARDIS has taken its occupants to thirteenth century Oxford where they encounter a figure known as a precursor to English democracy, Simon de Montford. Friar Roger Bacon is also there; however, he seems to have another identity that knows the Doctor very well. The Monk is back in a new guise, but the Doctor has not encountered him before from his perspective. History is about to be radically changed unless the Doctor intervenes.

Bradley does a decent job in his presentation of the First Doctor, yet he seems to be able do it without relying on an impersonation of the late William Hartnell. Bradley, of course, played Hartnell some years ago in a special docudrama about the origin of Doctor Who.

The idea is to have a series that isn’t quite so hung up on the continuity within the television series, although I am not really sure how successful the writers and producers are in actually accomplishing that.

I am not that familiar with the historical context this series was supposed to convey, but I still enjoyed it. I may have to research some of the figures like de Montfort and Roger Bacon to understand their significance to British history to better appreciate this story.

Bradley is considered something of a legend in British drama, or at least he works pretty consistently for a guy his age, which is eighty-three. Anyway, I love his portrayal of the First Doctor.

Wickham also seems to be a solid casting choice for Bacon, who turns out to be the renegade Time Lord known as the Monk. Apparently, he was inspired to emulate the style of the original actor, the late Peter Butterworth, who appeared in the original television serial entitled The Time Meddler alongside Hartnell.

It’s fun to revisit the First Doctor era in its many iterations presented by Big Finish, and this episode is a promising new direction.

Book Review: Never Just Sightseeing When In The TARDIS

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Sightseeing in Space is a volume containing two mediocre Doctor Who novellas written by David Bailey and Steve Lyons.

To be fair, I think the target audience for this release is significantly younger than me, but I couldn’t help still being a bit disappointed.

The first story is entitled Terminal of Despair written by the usually reliable Steve Lyons. He has been writing Doctor Who fiction for many years for several ranges in print.

The Doctor and his companions, Amy and Rory, arrive on a spaceport in which would-be passengers have been quarantined for several months by strange creatures which feed on hope. These creatures resemble three-legged bulldogs that have some tentacle that protrude from their mouths to latch on a victim’s neck and drains any sense of hope from them.

The alien species dubbed Desponds is new, but I had some trouble visualizing these things. Also, there was no real clear opponent in charge of this chaos. Lyons does a decent job of capturing the Eleventh Doctor’s mannerisms for the most part.

I had some trouble maintaining any real interest in the side characters. Also, no one died, which I guess is an indicator that the youth were the intended audience.

I remember looking forward to a Lyons novel and usually appreciating his imagination, so I had high hopes for his contribution here. Sadly, my hopes were unrealized. The story was not terrible, but there was not much of an impression left.

The second story, David Bailey’s The Web in Space, is a slightly better. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory become trapped in a spaceship which is being attacked by scavengers. It also becomes trapped in a giant web in space where a massive spider awaits to feed. A maniacal robot has its eyes set on access to the TARDIS. The Doctor has a lot of threats to resolve before he and his friends can be on their way.

I enjoyed this story more, but there are still better contributions to Doctor Who literature. Bailey is a competent writer, but there is nothing that really stands out about his writing style.

At least it was some Doctor Who I had not read before. The volume is another that is not a complete waste of time, but it does not leave much of a lasting impression.

Next up, I am revisiting a reliable and favorite thriller writer of mine. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis being investigating a curious double murder at a poolside in Jonathan Kellerman’s The Ghost Orchid.

Film Review: Trouble On The Water

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The Woman in Cabin 10 is a mediocre adaptation of a pretty good novel by Ruth Ware. Simon Stone serves as director and is also the co-writer of the screenplay alongside Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel. Keira Knightley is in the lead as journalist Laura Blacklock alongside cast members including Guy Pearce, David Ajala, David Morrissey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Art Malik.

“Lo” Blacklock is assigned to join a group of billionaires on a luxury yacht on the way to a fundraising event. A rich woman dying of leukemia is going to make a major announcement regarding the fate of her riches. While on the yacht Lo is awakened by a troubling disturbance on a nearby cabin. She catches sight of a figure in the water. When she proclaims an emergency, chaos and confusion ensues. She is later told that the cabin where she met a mysterious woman is unoccupied, and it is not certain who may have gone overboard since the crew can apparently account for all of the passengers. Lo begins her own investigation which could unravel a conspiracy that could lead to her own disappearance.

This is a typical claustrophobic thriller, which is a setting I often enjoy; however, this one didn’t quite hold my interest as well as I would have liked. Knightley did her best, but the script sort of let her down.

I didn’t find it to be a terrible movie, but it was clear the book is better. It was a pretty forgettable watching experience. Not much made a lasting impression.

Just another humdrum adaptation that failed to do justice to the original source material.

Book Review: An Innocent Needle In A Haystack Of Guilt

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Resurrection Walk is another compelling addition to the Lincoln Lawyer series created by Michael Connelly. As a special treat to his readers, Harry Bosch also gets plenty of pages to lend his expertise to Mickey Haller’s latest legal escapade.

Mickey Haller hires his half-brother, Harry Bosch, review a bunch of letters from convicted criminals claiming their innocence after he wins a major victory in court in which he was able to prove somoni’s innocence. Bosch finds a needle in the proverbial innocence with the case of a mother who is serving time for killing her ex-husband, who happens to be a sheriff’s deputy. Bosch has about forty years under his belt with LAPD, so he would know what to look for in a solid murder case. It doesn’t take long for the signs of a dangerous conspiracy to appear, and Bosch and Haller may have to fight for their lives as well as for the truth in a case of misplaced justice.

Connelly has created a pretty engaging plot here. Haller is as wily as ever in the courtroom. Bosch remains ever relentless when it comes to his hunt for the truth. Bosch doesn’t even let medical treatment for cancer to derail his investigation.

Even Renee Ballard shows up for a scene or two.

The story is a little outlandish, however Connelly does well enough on keeping my attention.

This isn’t the first time Haller and Bosch have collaborated on a case, but this one seems to be the best of those novels.

Anyway, the novel is another feather in Connelly’s cap, and I look forward to seeing what else is in store for his most popular protagonists.

It’s time to take a literary trip in the TARDIS with a Doctor Who double header under the umbrella title Sightseeing in Space presented by two writers, Steve Lyons and David Bailey, so that’s the next read.

Audiobook Review: Broken Bodies, Broken Minds, And An Unbreakable Davenport

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Broken Prey is another novel in the Lucas Devenport series by prolific thriller writer, John Sandford, and is pretty compelling in spite of this being one of the more gruesome entries into the canon.

I do not usually listen to audiobooks, but I made an exception here. Richard Perrone is the reader for this one and is does pretty well.

Lucas Davenport gets called out to a case where a young woman was scourged, raped, and killed. A few weeks later, a man is found in much the same condition with his young son also murdered. A suspect is identified early, and clues lead Davenport and his team to mental health prison where a very unusually grotesque trio of killers may have an important link to these murders. As Davenport delves deeper into the hunt, he finds that this hunt may have more red herrings and complications than even he can anticipate. He has to determine if a psychotic named Charlie Pope is more devious than thought or if there is another more malevolent mind behind the terror.

The plot twists are actually pretty clever in this one, but the violence and foul language was almost more than I can tolerate at times, and I have a pretty high threshold for that sort of thing in my taste of literature. I have not read much of Sandford’s works, but with what I have consumed so far, it seems that Davenport sure gets injured more seriously than many of the other series protagonists that I follow. Davenport does come off as a bit cleverer and more formidable in this one than I have noticed in the few I have read before. He does display an admirable amount of grit in spite of taking some pretty serious knocks.

Ferrone is an interesting enough reader. There is nothing too extraordinary about his contribution, but he gets the job done. His efforts to emulate female characters is a little amusing as well as distracting, but he can’t really help that.

If one can stomach the gratuitous gore and sexual depravity of the killer, it’s actually a pretty compelling plot.

There are some moments of humor involving Davenport’s sudden interest in compiling his list of greatest rock songs that sort of pop up from nowhere. That helped ease the tension of the horrific scenes at times.

Anyway, it is an intriguing story, and Davenport manages to grab my interest a bit more than in previous forays into this series. It did keep my interest for the most part, even if I had to suffer through some pretty graphic descriptions of complete depravity. Ferrone was a solid choice as narrator.

This isn’t the most noteworthy of literary efforts, but it may just be better than previous samples of Sandford’s works.

Film Review: A Deadly Upgrade

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M3GAN 2.0 was the inevitable sequel to a rather surprising hit horror, sci-fi movie from a couple of years ago and an almost inevitably mediocre one.

Gerald Johnstone serves as writer and director with a shared story credit with Akela Cooper. Returning cast members include Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, and Jenna Davis. Ivanna Sakhno joins the AI madness as a new rival construction known as AMELIA.

Basically, another Artificial Intelligence high-powered doll goes on a killing blitz, and M3gan is resurrected and upgraded to go after her. M3GAN also has gone through something of a personal growth and decides that maybe she overreacted a bit in her previous life by killing several people and a dog. Anyway, more blood is spilled, more sass is uttered by M3gan, and second chances are given.

The film isn’t really that much of a mess. There are some interesting and amusing moments in the midst of the gore. Allison Williams is actually an interesting lead. M3GAN does get a few pretty witty moments, which are delivered effectively by Jenna Davis. Jenna Davis provides the voice while Amie Donald is the body. Donald is actually a teen-ager which lends a little more credibility to M3GAN’s appearance. Of course, there is another distinctive dance number where Donald gets to display that talent. Davis does also deliver the barbs quite well as M3GAN throughout.

Sakhno did well as AMELIA. Of course, she is a beautiful Ukranian woman with a great impassive demeanor. It is kind of fun when the two killer dolls go head-to-head.

Most of this was pretty predictable though. Not much really stood out creatively. The visual effects were fine.

It’s a reasonably enjoyable film but keep the expectations pretty low.

Big Finish Audio Review: The Doors To Dark Gallifrey Should Remain Closed, But Where’s The Fun In That?

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Big Finish Productions begins a new trilogy of Dark Gallifrey audio plays with The War Master: Part One with David Warner and Lisa Bowerman an alternative Unbound Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield. James Goss is the writer with Scott Handcock serving as director.

The supporting cast is comprised of Jason Forbes, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Tariye Peterside, and Homer Todiwala.

Bernice Summerfield is traveling with a Doctor from another reality. Warner has previously played this version in a series called Doctor Who Unbound. Benny is intrigued by the prospect of unlocking the secrets of something known as Dark Gallifrey, however she and the Doctor have yet to discover a familiar adversary also has his eyes on the same prize.

This play is somewhat interesting, but it’s a little confusing on the first listen since it basically unfolds backwards. Bowerman and Warner are a good match since they are both so experienced as actors. Bowerman has been around Big Finish pretty much since its kickoff in 1999. Warner is just British acting royalty at this point. This was apparently one of his last projects since he died in 2022.

The performances were solid, but it’s hard to really understand what is going on due to the method of experimenting with basic storytelling. Trying to tell a story backwards just seems to work a little better on a more visual medium.

Derek Jacobi has yet to make an appearance in this first installment of the trilogy, but I am looking forward to his entrance.

I found this to be an underwhelming start. but not because of the caliber of performances. I just don’t like too many mental gymnastics going on in just trying to follow a plot.

Anyway, the sound effects are fine. The other actors seem to be well-considered in their casting. The technical demands are admirably met.

Hopefully, the next installment will have more Jacobi, and Warner’s take on the Doctor will become more engaging for me.

Book Review: Somone Is On a Hunt For The Hunters

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Blood Trail by C.J. Box is a pretty good thriller featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett and delivers an impressive twist toward the end as to the motivation behind the murders.

A man has been gutted and flayed on the mountain, resembling the treatment of elk after they have been hunted and killed. Joe Pickett has been especially assigned by the governor to look into the matter. He has had a tumultuous time in his career due to the politics and chaos surrounding him and his family. Pickett is going to rely on some dubious allies to determine if these latest killings is because of some extreme anti-hunting views or a much more personal vendetta. Pickett will have to deal with a hostile supervisor and just the general trappings of political figures to get to the bottom of this rather gruesome mystery.

Like any good thriller writer, Box does put his heron through the wringer. Not everything here strikes me as completely plausible, but real life is even more troubling, so I won’t complain too much about Box’s plotting.

It’s still pretty well written, and I like that Pickett has a pretty stable family life in spite of all the chaos his profession beings upon the homestead. There is some pretty scathing commentary in the subtext of this story about the cruelty humans can exhibit. Also, the friendship between Pickett and Nate Romanowski is rather intriguing. Nate is some kind of an avenging falconer who will go to great and sometimes lethal lengths to protect his friends, especially Joe and his family.

Box also revisits some of Joe’s checkered history from previous books involving old foes and other questionable characters.

Anyway, Box comes through again with an engaging addition to the Joe Pickett canon, and I look forward to getting the next novel in this series to explore the aftermath and the emotional wreckage that is left behind.

Before I circle back to the works of C.J. Box, it looks like the spirits of leisure reading have led me to return to Michael Connelly and his novel, Resurrection Walk.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Rest, Recreation, and Regret

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Alixion is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions and is the latest addition to The Lost Stories range. The addition has its good points, especially with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred leading the cast as the Doctor and Ace, respectively, however it’s a bit of a confusing mess as far as the story goes at times.

This story was originally intended to be produced during the television era in the 1980’s, however that is when the series got cancelled. Robin Mukherjee wrote the script and was able to adapt it to the audio format. David O’Mahoney serves as the director. Ali Bastian, Jon Edgley Bond, Matthew McQuinn, Beverly Longhurst, and Shri Patel make up the guest cast. Even O’Mahoney himself lends his own vocal talents to the effort.

Another planned holiday for the Doctor and Ace goes awry when they arrive at a luxury resort that has been compromised by an entity that feeds off memories and regrets. The Time Lord and his young friend have to face their own darkest secrets and fears as well as a malevolent alien who can inflict the most diabolical of mental tortures.

The plot itself sounds pretty intriguing; however, I think this would have worked better on television since there is quite a bit of flashbacks.

McCoy and Aldred are too good themselves to make me regret listening to this, so I may just need to return to this one to get a better grasp of the events that I can only picture in the mind’s eye.

The Seventh Doctor can be considered one of the more complicated incarnations depicted, and this story does play with that, which still keeps things intriguing.

I know I called this episode a confusing mess at the top of this post, but that doesn’t mean that I disliked it overall. Sometimes, the joy of listening the performances of pretty much any of the Doctors and their companions does carry manage to carry me to some significant enjoyment, and this experience was no exception.

I have found that listening to the cast and crew interviews most of these releases now contain does help my comprehension of the story quite a bit.

In spite of my occasional perplexion of some elements of the plot, I still found quite a bit to appreciate about this release and hope that McCoy and Aldred have a lot more gas in the tank to perform new stories to represent their era of the series.

Film Review: An Exorcism For The Road

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The Conjuring: Last Rites is a decent enough send-off to this branch of the horror franchise that starred Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The film is directed by Michael Chaves, and the screenplay is written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick with James Wan sharing story credit.

Wilson and Farmiga reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the reputed paranormal investigators who allegedly conducted several exorcisms over the years. Mia Tomlinson plays their only daughter, Judy Warren. Ben Hardy, Elliot Cowan, Rebecca Calder, and Steve Coulter are also included in the cast.

The Warrens have largely stepped away from exorcisms and major investigations in favor of writing and lecturing due to Ed’s heart issues. Their daughter gets drawn into the supernatural plight of the Smurl family, who have been dealing with various ghostly manifestations for several months that seen to be centered around a strange-looking mirror that was gifted to one of the daughters. Judy is also recently engaged, and the young man is pulled into this last dance with the demonic.

This film is actually pretty good. It is somewhat predictable, but I have come to enjoy the chemistry between the two lead actors here. I am not sure that I really believe in the legend of the Warrens, but I like the portrayal put forth by Wilson and Farmiga. The film also strangely seems to promote the benefits of a loving, committed marriage and even manages to not bash the Christian faith.

The jump scares are pretty standard but well done. The background of the spirits menacing the Smurls is pretty standard. Not much is done here to break new cinematic ground, but I didn’t necessarily mind that.

The performances were solid enough, and I felt sympathy for the people involved. It’s pretty obvious that quite a bit of artistic license was used, but the film worked well enough to shrug that off.

This film is not really any sort of masterpiece of the horror genre, but it gets the job done as far as being a reasonable diversion from the daily stressors of life. That’s just fine with me. Go see it with my blessing, for all that is worth.