“The Crash of the UK-201” is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions Early Adventures range and is written by Jonathan Morris.  Peter Purves and Maureen O’Brien share narration duties while reprising their respective roles as Steven and Vicki. Purves also does continues his impression of the late William Hartnell as the First Doctor, although the Doctor really doesn’t appear properly all that much in this adventure.

Michael Lumsden. Carol Starks, and Stephen Fewell are included in the guest cast for this story.

This turned out to be a pretty fascinating story in spite of it being a pretty common subject in time travel stories.  Vicki is transported back in time to the spaceship that crashed on the planet Dido where she was discovered and then rescued by the Doctor and his two previous companions, Ian and Barbara.  Vicki has a chance to save her father and the other passengers, so to hell with established history basically. She lives a very different life than that aboard the TARDIS.  She marries, has children, and faces tragedy of a different sort.  She finds that she is able to move at will along this time stream and make corrections designed for a happier life, however as expected by us sci-fi enthusiasts, her situation gets worse.  Steven is somehow tethered to her as he appears at various moments of her life.  Also, strange creatures are stalking her, attracted to the paradox of this existence.

The constant shifts in Vicki’s time stream does get a little exhausting at times, however the overall story if very compelling.  I think what I find attractive about this episode is that I don’t think it fits in with the style of the series at that time.  Even the absence of the Doctor did not irritate me as much as it often does when some other stories kind of sideline him.  O’Brien puts on a compelling performance.  We get to hear Vicki at all kinds of stages of her life.  Purves also doesn’t slack off much either.

The concept of the story isn’t that original, but this particular episode was written well enough where that doesn’t matter.  It was pretty bold to provide a background to Vicki that was not really explored in the television series.

This turned out to be one of the strongest releases from Big Finish this year.

“Tolkien” is a film exploring the early years of a literary legend. Nicholas Hoult takes on the role of “Lord of the Rings” creator, J.R.R. Tolkien in this film directed by Dome Karukoski.  David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford are the scriptwriters.

Hoult is joined in the cast by Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, and Derek Jacobi.  I wasn’t too familiar with most of the other cast member, but the performances were engaging enough from everyone.  I am not sure that Hoult really resembles Tolkien all that much, but he had some pretty fascinating scenes.  He seemed to have some great moments with Lily Collins, who plays Tolkien’s eventual wife, Edith Bratt.  Tolkien and Bratt apparently met in a boarding home as orphans.  It was great to see Meaney in a pretty important role as Tolkien’s priest and legal guardian.

The movie isn’t without some difficulties though.  Tolkien is known to have been a very devout Catholic, which is mostly overlooked by this.  It’s a shame that the producers didn’t feel the need to explore this more, but it’s also unsurprising considering most of Hollywood’s derision when it comes to Christianity.  It gets a bit slow at times, however the set design and cinematography kind of makes up for this.

Tolkien apparently had a friendship with three other fellow students at an elite private school that helped spark his more creative leanings.  The film takes the audience through his participation in the First World War, which actually sort of frames the whole thing.  Much of it is presented as a flashback.

I think there is a lot that could have been explored more when presenting Tolkien’s life, but I was pretty interested in what I saw.  I do understand the frustration that many viewers may have over the absence of examination of Tolkien’s faith and share it to an extent.  It’s still a movie that’s worth a look in spite of what I think are some misguided decisions in the depiction.

“The Clovehitch Killer” is a film written by Christopher Ford and directed by Duncan Skiles.  Dylan McDermott, Samantha Mathis, and Charlie Plummer star in this slow-paced thriller as well.

The setting is a small town in Kentucky that was once menaced by a serial killer known as the Clovehitch Killer.  The killer extinguished the lives of ten women before going underground himself a decade before.  Dylan McDermott plays the head of a devoutly Christian family who seems to have some darker impulses which are suspected by his teen-age son.

It’s an interesting movie but it moves pretty slow.  There were also soon loose threads in the plot that could have been resolved a little neater.  The performances were pretty good.  Charlie Plummer plays the young son who has a growing suspicion of his father’s previous depraved extracurricular activities.  He has an encounter with a young lady with her own reasons to be somewhat obsessed with Clovehitch.

McDermott was well cast in this one, however that is no real surprise.  He usually delivers a convincing performance.

There’s not much to make this uniquely memorable, but it was reasonably engaging.

“The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles” is a Doctor Who audio boxset with four adventures released by Big Finish Productions. Jacob Dudman, who did this for “The Tenth Doctor Chronicles”, returns with a pretty good impression of Matt Smith’s version of the Time Lord and also narrates the stories.  Each entry drops in at various points of the Eleventh Doctor’s timeline.  I also came to appreciate Dudman’s talent for concocting other voices when presenting other characters.  As with the last set, there is another actor performing alongside Dudman in each episode. AK Benedict starts off with his contribution entitled “The Calendar Man” which also features Eleanor Crooks as a character named Olivia.  The Doctor and Amy Pond arrive on a colony world in the far future where some of the population are disappearing, and only one woman seems to notice.  The Doctor finds out that a malevolent legend known to his own people seems to be at the root of the mystery.  It’s a pretty good start to the set. It was pretty well written but nothing I would call that extraordinary.

“The Top of the Tree” by Simon Guerrier has the Doctor accompanied by Kazron Sardick, played by Danny Horn.  Kazron was the character from the Doctor Who episode “A Christmas Carol” who basically went on annual trips in the TARDIS in his younger years which contributed to him not being the familiar miserly cuss known in stories with this title.  The Doctor and Kazron arrive entangled in a very large tree where they encounter the denizens of this natural habitat.  It’s an interesting setting and seems to follow the man vs. nature concept in many stories.

I think my favorite would have to be “The Light Keepers”  by Roy Gill where the Doctor is reunited with Dorium Maldovar, the alien bar owner with his hands in all kinds of schemes.  Simon Fisher-Becker returns to the role on this tale which takes place before his beheading in the television series.  Of course, a simple beheading didn’t really spell the end of Dorium.  Anyway, when the Doctor crashes his TARDIS into Dorium’s bar, he is convinced to investigate the mysterious lighthouse where the Beacon People are engaged in some kind of mining operation.  Of course, an ancient force is about to awaken.  This was one story where I almost thought there was a third actor.  Dudman does a great voice for the leader of the Beacon People where it kind of threw me.  Also, Dudman is a very young man in his early twenties which sort of makes the vocal feat a bit more impressive.  The banter between Dorium and the Doctor is very amusing.  They’re pretty reluctant allies, which never fails to make the story a little fresher.

Alice Cavender’s “False Coronets” is the concluding episode and features Nathalie Buscombe as Jane Austen.  This time Clara Oswald is the companion, and she and the Doctor find the celebrated authoress awaiting her execution.  Jane Austen gets to assist the TARDIS crew in correcting the flow of history.  I thought it was a pretty good story for the most part.

None of the stories in this collection hit a particularly sour note.  Dudman’s impression of Matt Smith was quite convincing.  He is also very talented as a narrator and plays the other characters quite effectively as well.  Although many may have their preferences for favorite episodes, nothing in the set felt like a disappointment.

“The Detective” is an oddly titled film released in 1954 that features G.K. Chesterton’s sleuthing priest, Father Brown.  I say this is an odd title because it would seem to make more sense to somehow reference the main character upfront.  Anyway, Alec Guinness dons the robes and cross for his portrayal of cunning, crime-solving clergyman.  Robert Hamer directed this film which was co-written by Thelma Ross, Maurice Rapf, and himself.  Joan Greenwood, Bernard Lee, and Peter Finch are part of the cast as well.

It’s a pretty charming movie but probably not the most memorable in some ways.  Guinness is perfectly cast though as Father Brown.  Finch takes on the role of the flamboyant master thief appropriately known as Flambeau.

Father Brown and Flambeau go head to head over a valuable cross which is in the priest’s care as he transports it from London to Rome.  Father Brown is also trying to convince Flambeau to give up his criminal lifestyle though their several encounters.

There is some great scenery.  The acting is pretty solid.  It’s a charming, light-hearted mystery and adventure, but the banter between Finch and Guinness is about all that makes it stand out to any significant degree.  It’s just a fun movie to catch on a slow afternoon or evening.

“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Vile And Evil” is a film about the notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy.  Zac Efron stars as Bundy.  Joe Berlinger directed this piece which was written by Michael Werwie.  It was then in turn based on a memoir by a former girlfriend of Bundy’s, Elizabeth Kendall, author of “The Phantom Prince: My Life With Ted Bundy”.  I have read quite a bit about various serial killers over the years, with Ted Bundy usually being at the forefront of many studies in this subject.

First of all, Efron was very well cast in this role.  There were plenty of moments where he would particularly nail the part quite effectively and creepily.

The movie also stars Lily Collins as the beleaguered and conflicted Elizabeth Kendall. Jim Parsons, of “The Big Bang Theory” fame, is here as the prosecutor in Florida who sealed the final conviction that would lead to the execution.  Parsons is a talented fellow, however I am not sure I completely bought into him being that formidable a prosecutor. John Malkovich Judge Cowart also seemed an odd casting selection.  That pains me to say a bit because I love Malkovich in most parts.  He just didn’t have the same presence as the real Cowart, whom I have seen in video excerpts of the real trial in Florida which took place in 1979.  This was apparently first criminal trial to be broadcast nationally.

Jeffery Donovan and Haley Joel Osment are also part of this cast and do fine as well.

The talent here is pretty evident even if I sort of question the casting assignments.

My reaction to the film overall was a bit more mixed than I predicted.  It felt like a bit of a jumble as to the order events were depicted.  Much of it did focus on the effect the relationship with Bundy had on Kendall, which makes sense.  I also felt that some other more interesting aspects were overlooked, such as Bundy apparently conceiving a daughter with Carole Ann Boone while incarcerated.  On the other hand, I can sympathize with the plight of the filmmakers because there were so many facets to the Bundy story, it would have been hard to decide what to emphasize.  Also, I did not know much about this thread with Elizabeth Kendall so I guess I learned something new to me anyway about Bundy’s bloody saga.

It manages to still be an interesting film, but it didn’t quite captivate me as much as I hoped. It also annoys me a little that I don’t entirely know why this fell a little short for me.  Some parts of the storytelling just seemed a little clumsy at times.  Anyway, it’s a good movie that should have been better.

“The Midnight Line” is pretty recent novel by Lee Child and features the perpetually wandering Jack Reacher, former US Army major.

In this particular entry into the still growing series, Reacher wanders into a pawn shop where he notices a West Point graduation ring.  Since Reacher has no real obligations and an insatiable curiosity, he figures he has time to find out why a fellow military colleague would pawn such a well-earned memento.  His curiosity leads him to a crime lord and a private investigator looking for the same woman.  Yes, Reacher deduces he is looking for a woman.

Reacher is a modern day knight-errant who enjoys the freedom of wandering the highways with the aid of his thumb and occasional bus.  He has a wonderfully stoic and intensely practical demeanor when he is on these little flights of fancy.  Of course, matters take a much more dangerous turn than even Reacher predicts when he gets wind of his questions prompting a hit to be placed on his head.

As usual, he picks up a couple of allies along the way.  The private eye turns out to be a former FBI agent working for the sister of the wayward soldier whose military career ended tragically.

The story falls on the absurd side, but Child has created an interesting protagonist who can turn up in any part of the country and sometimes beyond.  The fate of the soldier who pawned the ring is actually pretty interesting.  It’s somewhat gruesome but interesting.  Reacher, of course, is undeterred in his goal of satisfying his curiosity and maybe lending a hand to someone who got more than their fair share of misfortune.

This is a pretty good novel even if this feels like more of the same from this series.  It is a little slow at times, but not unbearably so.

Next up, a return to the further reaches of space with Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of Starship Enterprise is in order.  Dayton Ward’s “Available Light” is the latest in the series of novels based on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Big Finish Productions has taken a leap and given the Fourth Doctor a new companion who was not in his television era. “The Syndicate Master Plan-Volume One” is a Doctor Who audio boxset and sets the Doctor on a new saga in this new collection of four adventures that is only half of what is store in the eighth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures.  Jane Slavin and John Leeson join Tom Baker’s version of the Doctor in the TARDIS as a new threat menaces the universe.

“The Sinestran Kill” by Andrew Smith starts off with Doctor meeting WPC Ann Kelso as he comes across a cosmic witness protection program in 1970’s England.  Alien gangsters have descended on Earth, and the Doctor and his new ally have their hands full in preventing an assassination. Frank Skinner and Glynis Barber are featured in the guest cast.  It’s an amusing start to this collection, and Kelso is a fairly interesting character.  I like the idea of her being a cop and what dynamic that can bring in her relationship with the Doctor.  It’s a pretty entertaining start to the series due mainly to Tom Baker’s admirably energetic performance.  It’s a serviceable episode to kick off a bigger story.

Phil Mulryne continues the journey with the Doctor and Kelso landing on “The Planet of the Drashigs”. Fenella Woolgar and Jeremy Clyde are part of the guest cast.  The Drashigs were creatures first introduced in a Third Doctor television story entitles “Carnival of Monsters”.  The Drashigs are once again on display in a park but this time, there are different variations of the most predatory of monsters.  They also have an ability not seen last time in which they can exert a psychic influence.  K9 also shows up. This series takes place between the departure of Leela and the arrival of Romana.  John Leeson is the first actor to perform as K9 and is still the best even after forty years.  I also love hearing him speak in his normal voice during the cast interviews.  He just sounds like a hell of a nice guy.  Anyway, it was an interesting new direction to go with the Drashigs.

“The Enchantress of Numbers” by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris has the Doctor and Kelso meet Ada Lovelace, played by Finty Williams.  Now this was the almost obligatory historical story that usually appears in sets like this.  Ada Lovelace was a 19th century mathematician who is credited to have composed the first algorithm that would have been used in computers if such devices existed in that time.  She also had the distinction of being the daughter of one Lord Byron, the poet who was once considered to be mad, bad, and dangerous to know.  Anyway, strange figures are appearing, and Lord Byron himself makes an appearance long after he was to have died.  Block transfer computation also makes a return to the series.  It is the ability to manifest physical objects from some incredibly complex mathematical equations.  It was first introduced in the Fourth Doctor’s last television serial, “Logopolis”. I guess this was a prequel to the concept.  It’s a pretty solid episode for the most part.  I ended up being partial because it introduced me to some historical figures who I did not know very well.  Computer programs being written long before the existence of computers is a pretty enticing idea to explore.

Finally, “The False Guardian” by Guy Adams closes out the first half of the eighth series for the Fourth Doctor.  Ann Kelso wants to return the Doctor to the task of finding out about the mysterious allies of the Sinestrans.  Yeah, those guys from the first episode in this collection.  They find a planet which is familiar to the Doctor. Time has also gone very much awry on this world where an asylum lies in the middle of the maelstrom.  The Doctor learns of the consequences during an early encounter with the Daleks back in his first incarnation.

It’s a pretty bold step for Big Finish to come up with a new companion for the Fourth Doctor.  Some stories are a little better than others, as expected, however Baker’s performance still makes most of the weaknesses in the plots forgivable.  I find Ann Kelso to be more interesting because she is new to the series, however she does not really stand out much from the other companions.  Fortunately, Slavin does fine with her performance.  Kelso doesn’t stand out for sheer awfulness either, so that’s good.  The collection was pretty good overall, but I am not sure there is anything outstanding about it.  It was good enough for me to want to see how this whole thing wraps up in the second volume, Big Finish accomplished that mission.

“The Curse of La Llorona” is a horror film that manages to not completely come apart.  It is considered as being part of the franchise known as The Conjuring Universe.  We get a brief mention of the not so cuddly doll, Annabelle.  Michael Chaves is a novice director who brought cinematic life to the script written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. The cast includes Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, and Sean Patrick Thomas.

The bulk of the film takes place in the year of my birth, 1973, however 300 years before that in Mexico, a woman drowns her children as vengeance against her husband who fell short on the fidelity part of his vows.  Yeah, she was rather miffed.

Anyway, a caseworker for Child Protective Services in Los Angeles finds that her own children are in the crosshairs of the curse brought on by the weeping woman, or La Llorona.  She is having to contend with another grieving mother who lost her two sons to this specter. She eventually gets help from some kind of renegade exorcist played by Raymond Cruz.

There quite a few effectively chilling moments that startled a stalwart movie viewer such as myself.  The make-up was quite convincing on La Llorona, who was portrayed by none other than Marisol Ramirez.  You may ask yourself “who is Marisol Ramirez?” And I don’t know other than she acted in this film, but she could be really scary so she earned her pay for this one.

This misses the mark quite wide on masterpiece of horror designation, however it doesn’t fall into the category of being a complete waste of time for fans of this genre.  It doesn’t appear to have much acclaim from the professional reviewers, and it probably doesn’t deserve it, however I did find it reasonably enjoyable in an unsettling sort of way.  It’s not fun watching children getting terrified, but the child actors in this film did a good job at being convincingly traumatized by the malevolent spirit.

The film does delve into a pretty interesting aspect of Mexican folklore and culture.  I know it’s very much exaggerated and twisted in the expected manner of Hollywood output, but it was still interesting.

I would say it’s a decent enough scary distraction from the pressures of real life as long as expectations are kept somewhat low.

“The Intruder” is a film that turns out to be an exercise in wasted potential, which is a shame because it has such a promising cast lineup.  Deon Taylor directed this piece written by David Loughery. Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, and Meagan Good star in this thriller about a young couple who purchase a lovely country house from a reluctant seller who has some mild psychotic tendencies.

Scott and Annie Howard are a gorgeous couple living in the big city somewhere in California.  It is probably Los Angeles, but somehow I ended up not being sure.  They purchase a pretty cool house in Napa Valley from a man named Charlie Peck, however Mr. Peck is having some trouble taking a hint.

There is no shortage of charisma and talent among the cast.  The credibility and some semblance of believability is the writing is where the trouble lies. For example, poor Annie!  Talk about a gorgeous woman who is a bit slow on the uptake about the potential trouble she and her husband are about to land in with Quaid’s Charlie Peck.  Her lack of suspicion so far into the film in spite of her husband’s growing sense of unease was a bit hard to buy into, considering she doesn’t come off as an idiot in other aspects of her role.

There also could have been better development in the background and explanation of some of these characters.  This was another film that sort of rushed up to and through the climax with what seemed to be a lack of detail as to how these people got to that point.

There were some pretty good moments of unsettling scares at times though.  I am not sure I have seen Dennis Quaid play a psycho before, but he seemed to be enjoying himself here.  He’s a talented guy, so he was able to keep me engaged and in suspense as to what shenanigans his character was going to pull next.

The other issue is that we have seen this similar setup so often before on the big screen.  There was a lack of originality that is rather hard to overlook and forgive in spite of the decent performances and attractive scenery.

I have seen considerably worse in my vast cinematic indulgences over the years, but this could have been better considering the talent that was on hand.  In the end, it’s another movie that is unlikely to leave a lasting impression either way other than these thoughts being transmitted out for Internet consumption.