Unhinged is a thriller film starring Russell Crowe as the ultimate road rage perpetrator here. The film was written by Carl Ellsworth and directed by Derrick Borte. Caren Pistorius plays the young mother in the crosshairs of the murderous Tom Cooper after a somewhat unpleasant exchange at an intersection. Other cast members include Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P. McKenzie, and Michael Papajohn.

The film starts of with a couple being murdered and the house being burned to the ground. Tom Cooper apparently feels that he did not get a fair shake in his divorce and went a bit overboard in expressing his dissatisfaction. Rachel Flynn is a young mother going though her own divorce and apparently has an aversion to punctuality, but she tries. While taking her young son to school, she rather loses her patience with a driver in front of her at an intersection, who does not move when the light turns green. Unfortunately, the inattentive driver is Tom Cooper, who does not appreciate the insistent honking from behind him. From there, the body count starts to ratchet upward. Rachel is terrified understandably but is still hesitant to offer the sincere apology that is being not no nicely requested by Tom. There are car chases aplenty. There is some impressive brutality when Tom starts finding out about Rachel’s friends and family. It’s just crazy violent.

Unfortunately, the film has some shortfalls as expected. Tom Cooper’s background and the reasoning to his rage is not really explained all that well. Russell Crowe does do a good job and conveying that madness though. He is a talented guy and has been known to flip out a bit in real life, so he was well cast for this one. He can do a convincing madman. Pistorius is pretty good in her role, but I did not find her character all that interesting or sympathetic really. Maybe she needed to be a little sassier or something. I think it had more to do with the writing than the performance though. Pistorius did her best with it, but the material with which she had to work was not all that much of an attention grabber. Another issue I had was that the police were already supposed to be looking for Cooper since the beginning of the film for the murder of his ex-wife and her new beau, and yet I was not sure how he was successfully eluding the manhunt up to that point. Some of the plot points don’t make much sense, but I could be expecting too much for this type of film. Basically, some of it works adequately, but much of it doesn’t. It’s not a complete waste of time, but it certainly isn’t a hidden gem either.

The Blazing Hour is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions. James Kettle is the scriptwriter while Ken Bentley serves as director. Peter Davison returns as the Fifth Doctor with Mark Strickson reprising his role as Turlough. The guest cast is comprised of Rakie Ayola, Lynsey Murrell, Raj Ghatak, and Donna Berlin.

The Doctor and Turlough arrive at a scientific installation on a planet known as Testament. Testament is the site of some experiments that allow for long-distance space travel. The experiments could have very dire consequences for the planet, however the Doctor finds his efforts to save the populace hampered by the greater threats of politics and bureaucracy. The Doctor will be hard pressed to enjoy a complete victory on this one.

Well, this episode has a bit of a slow start for my taste, however it does get better. That’s fairly common for these audio dramas and for Doctor Who in general. Turlough is one of the most intriguing of the Doctor’s companions since his over developed sense of self-preservation makes him not so trustworthy. Strickson delivers a strong performance here. Davison is also pretty good here. There is a time where the Doctor believes Turlough to be dead, and Davison performs the anguish pretty convincingly. The most interesting guest character is Ayola’s Violet Hardaker. Violet is so condescending and shifty that she probably is cut from the same cloth as Turlough may have been at one time. Violet is also not the woman in charge as she first appears. Anyway, the other cast members are fine, but I think Ayola likely had the most fun with her character. I had the most fun following her anyway.

Some of the action sequences are a little hard to follow, which is a common issue with audio plays. The sound effects sound great, which is a very common accomplishment of Big Finish’s.

The story itself is pretty interesting. The Doctor and Turlough are separated much of the time, which is a common occurrence in these episodes, but it tends to work and gives the listener a couple of threads to follow. This one is no exception to that. The Doctor and Turlough make an interesting pair when it is just them in the TARDIS. The television viewers did not get much with just these two, but Big Finish has done a decent job of making them compelling.

It took me until the second half of this story to appreciate it properly, but I did end up enjoying it overall.

The Daleks’ Master Plan is a Doctor Who television series which was aired by the BBC in late 1965.when William Hartnell was still in the lead role. Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner share the writing credit for this twelve episode saga. A prologue episode known as Mission to the Unknown is included in this CD set. The serial exists mostly in soundtrack. Peter Purves provides narration an does well.

Peter Purves plays Steven Taylor, one of the First Doctor’s companions, during this era. The Doctor has stolen a component for the Time Destructor from the Daleks and fled through space and time. Nicholas Courtney makes his first appearance in the series before he became better known as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Jean Marsh joins the TARDIS crew as Space Security officer Sara Kingdom. Kevin Stoney plays Mavic Chen. Adrienne Hill joined the TARDIS crew in the previous adventure as Katarina.

As a fan, it was fun to finally experience the performances even if I could not see them. Hartnell still messes up some lines and not all of the writing is all that well thought out. The performances are a little hit and miss throughout the cast. This thing is twelve episodes of varying quality, but nothing ended up being truly awful. There was obviously some noticeable padding and somewhat unnecessary detours.

There were some interesting risks taken in that the notion of possible death of those who join the Doctor in the TARDIS gets explored here.

This was not worth twelve episodes, but the serial has a certain iconic place in Doctor Who history, so it was still quite the treat to finally hear it. It was a fairly enjoyable adventure even if it did take some extra concentration to stay engaged.

The War Doctor: Infernal Devices is a Doctor Who audio boxset containing a trio of episodes starring John Hurt as the incarnation that has come to be known as the War Doctor. All three episodes are directed by Nicholas Briggs, who also performs as the Daleks. Hurt is joined by an impressive guest cast that includes David Warner, Jacqueline Pearce, Zoe Tapper, and Tracy Wiles.

The War Doctor was introduced during the fiftieth anniversary episode known as Day of the Doctor in 2013. This incarnation renounced his name due to his disdain for what he would have to do as the Time Lords and the Daleks faced off in the Time War. The cosmos has gone insane and was on the verge of the being ripped apart as the conflict escalated. The Doctor became a warrior when he found that he could no longer stay on the sidelines. Big Finish Productions released some stories which chronicled the actions of this darker version of the Doctor.

Legion of the Lost by John Dorney starts off this little bundle in which the War Doctor finds that Time Lord casualties are being resurrected at the cost of another intelligent species. Dorney delivers a solid start here Hurt portrays the War Doctor’s outrage at this latest atrocity committed by his own people quite convincingly. I thought some of the ethical dilemmas presented here were quite intriguing.

A Thing of Guile is up next is written by Phil Mulryne. Pearce takes a more central role as Cardinal Ollistra, a Time Lady in power willing to cross all manner of boundaries to defeat the Daleks. The War Doctor is considered a prisoner of war and compelled to help the Time Lords investigate the latest Dalek stratagem. Pearce and Hurt have an amusing and fascinating banter containing threats and mutual disdain. The story also contains giant worms, and who doesn;t appreciate that? The antagonism between Ollistra and the war Doctor is quite the treat in this one.

Matt Fitton concludes this set with The Neverwhen. This is where the War Doctor gets the shock of his lives when he finds the most of infernal of devices being used in a war that has escalated to more than a fever pitch.

The writing is pretty good, although I am not exactly sure how John Hurt’s take on the Doctor is that different than his other incarnations. The War Doctor still wants to save lives. Hurt has a distinctive voice and delivers the barbs at his fellow Time Lords effectively enough. Some of the battle sequences are a little hard to follow with just audio. Big Finish does an effective job with post-productions. I don’t really dislike the War Doctor, but I am not finding him quite as dangerous as I imagined when he was first introduced. Anyway, it’s a solid enough series of adventures. The performances are great, and the battle of wits between Ollistra and the War Doctor keeps one interested.

Night Witches is a non-fiction historical account written by Bruce Myles. It was first published in 1981 and was then republished some years later by Academy Chicago Publishers. This tells the story of Russian female pilots who fought in the Second World War. Myles actually interviewed many of the surviving pilots for this during that time. The reader gets to know such figures as Katya Budanova, Nadia Popova, and Lily Latvik, These women were involved in many missions that rivaled those of their male counterparts.

I am not sure that many people have even heard of this squadron dubbed the Night Witches. What is also striking is that term hardly shows up in the text. There are a few times when the historical background is presented somewhat dryly, however that may not be able to be helped. It’s still a fascinating piece of little known world history. I was reminded of the movie Hidden Figures, which told the story of a group of black female mathematicians who worked for NASA during the dawn of the United States space program. Also, the women who worked as code breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II in England is something that is not common knowledge. I am not someone who could readily be described as a feminist, however these contributions from these extraordinary women should be acknowledged and celebrated. Even though we have plenty of reason to be skeptical of the Russian government these days, that country were allies during one of the most horrific periods in world history. The women who flew in the Russian air force may not have worked directly with US forces, however their contribution to the overall effort to defeat Adolf Hitler is nothing to dismiss either.

So I am coming back to more familiar territory with my next read with a fictional female heroine created by Dean Koontz. It is time to see what secrets and threats await Jane Hawk as she opens The Forbidden Door.

Colony of Fear is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions and was written by Roland Moore. It was directed by John Ainsworth. Colin Baker and Miranda Raison lead this episode as the Doctor and Mrs. Constance Clarke. Joining them as the guest cast are Nicholas Asbury, Rachel Atkins, Misha Malcolm, Leighton Pugh, and Andrew James Spooner. I have heard none of these people, but they all did quite well considering this was recorded during COVID lockdowns in the United Kingdom. Baker and Raison always do well, and Mrs. Clarke has become a favorite of mine among the original Big Finish companions. So More Mrs. Clarke please!

The TARDIS answers a distress call which brings the Doctor and Mrs. Clarke to a human colony on a planet known as Triketha. The colonists are being menaced by a swarm of wasp-like beings which places them in a coma after their sting. The colonists recover after about three days, but something may have been left behind which will have more permanent effects. As the Doctor works to discover the origins of these insects, he finds that someone from his past has also appeared. The problem for the Doctor is that he has no memory of this person and would need to submit himself to the hive mind of the alien insects to learn the truth.

This episodes presents some interesting mysteries and threats here for the Doctor. There are some familiar elements such as ravenous alien insects and isolated colonies or bases under siege. It feels like no new ground has really been broken here, however the story still works. The mystery of the character known as Tarios and his connection to the Doctor was quite compelling. The Doctor has a rare moment of facing up to the consequences of his sometimes haphazard way of treating those in his company. Whatever new ground was broken is pretty subtle and intriguing. The performances were solid as expected. I enjoy the banter between the Doctor and Constance Clarke. Mrs. Clark was known as a WREN during World War II and has a pretty strict demeanor which plays well against the Doctor’s sometimes brash approach to various challenges. Mrs. Clarke is not just strict though. She does have the courage and compassion needed to cope with the Doctor’s various adventures.

Anyway, this particular episode did have plenty of intriguing elements and not all of the questions get answered regarding the Doctor’s relationship to Tarios. Moore displayed a talent to tantalizing the audience’s imagination and curiosity. This story apparently had gone through several revisions, and it seems that Roland Moore and the script editors landed on a very satisfying version.

The Crusader’s Curse is the latest entry from Titan Books into their range known as The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Stuart Douglas, long-time Holmes pastiche contributor, penned this latest effort.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are asked to attend the auction of an estate known as Thorpe Manor. There ate many secrets and legends swirling around the legacy of the Thorpe family. A cursed heirloom known as the De Trop Diamond has been missing for years. A ghost is said to be wandering the grounds. Not long after Holmes and Watson arrive and meet the various character there to make their bids, a murderer takes down one of the guests.

I enjoy reading these pastiche works featuring one of my favorite fictional sleuths, however I have often groused about the repetitive tendencies these authors tend to share. Once again, Holmes is having to find some cursed trinket and deal with some legendary curse. Once again, his adherence to the rational and scientific is challenged by some apparent supernatural entity lurking about the grounds of a sprawling manor. Douglas is another writer who seems to take elements that may have only appeared once or twice in the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon and somewhat inflate them. It gets a little irksome.

In spite of my little rant in the previous paragraph, I have to say this is still not a bad novel. Holmes and Watson seemed pretty close to how Doyle originally presented them. I do have an almost automatic affection for stories with claustrophobic settings where a small group of diverse characters have to contend with dark machinations of one of their member. Douglas does provide some effective red herrings in his plot and lets Holmes work for the solutions a bit. Although this novel does have some elements that triggers some mild exasperation when it comes to these pastiche efforts, Douglas is a talented enough writer to keep a curmudgeonly reader such as myself pretty well engaged.

A few years ago, I became aware of a rather interesting piece of World Ward II history through a Doctor Who audio play. A family member gave me a small small book concerning a squadron of Russian female fighter pilots known as the Night Witches. It is time for a departure from my usual reading preferences and see what Bruce Myles could tell us about this extraordinary group of women in “Night Witches”.

Godzilla vs. Kong brings two gigantic cinematic icons together finally. It is the latest addition to Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse. This film is directed by Adam Wingard. The screenplay is written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein. Just when you think I am done with this part, they story was apparently conceived by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields. Starring alongside the giant lizard and the big ape, there are a number of human to mention. Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez, Kyle Chandler, and a young hearing impaired girl named Kaylee Hottle. There are several other people in this cast, but quite frankly, it is time to move on.

King Kong is found to be under surveillance in a dome on Skull Island. Godzilla suddenly appears in Florida and attacks a factory for some unknown reason. In this series, the giant creatures are known as Titans and apparently come from realm within the Earth known as Hollow Earth. A group of scientists are furnished with vehicles capable of reaching this place and have Kong act as their guide. However, it seems that Kong has some ancient beef with Godzilla going which comes to light. The two of them go at it ferociously on water and on land. Then, MechoGodzilla makes an appearance, and then it goes even crazier.

Unsurprisingly, the special effects are fantastic. It’s pretty fun to watch Godzilla and Kong go at it in the couple of fight scenes they have. It was rather a neat to have two groups of humans tackling the mysteries of the corporations behind the aggravation of the monsters. One group was with Kong trying to get him to lead the way to Hollow Earth while the other was trying to find out the reasons for Godzilla’s seemingly inexplicable attacks. Although the movie is pretty entertaining overall, it is not without some flaws. The plot could seem a little more convoluted than necessary at times and some of the dialogue caused an occasional wince.

The actors were well chosen. I think Millie Bobby Brown has a real distinctive presence for a teen-ager to go along with her great name. Kaylee Hottle is also quite a find as the deaf Iwi native who develops a friendship with Kong. I am not sure how old she is since she has yet to get a Wikipedia page, but she may be around 10 years old. This apparently is her film debut and is already a bit of a scene stealer. Brian Tyree Henry is quite good as the half-crazy conspiracy theorist who is actually more clever and courageous than he appears. I only know Rebecca Hall from a couple of other films, but I thought she did very well here as well. Really, no one let the side down when it comes to performances.

Basically, it’s an enjoyable popcorn flick that works better when not following the plot too closely. This is one series of films I would not object too strenuously if it were to continue a while longer.

Charlie Chan’s Secret is a mystery film released in 1936 and was directed by Gordon Wiles. The screenplay was written by Robert Ellis. The character of Honolulu detective Charlie Chan was first created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers. Warner Oland stars on the lead role. The cast includes of Rosina Lawrence, Henrietta Crosman, Jonathan Hale, and Charles Quigley.

The film starts off with Charlie Chan looking into the sinking of a boat which supposedly had the heir of a large fortune aboard. Chan is not sure that Allen Colby, the heir in question, in fact did perish below the sea waves. His investigation to the mainland where he finds a troubled family, a vast estate with secret passages, and murder. In fact, Colby does appear again but his death subsequently becomes more certain.

Warner Oland was one of several Caucasian actors during that time who was heavily made up to appear Asian. He puts in a solid yet stereotypical performance as a Chinese immigrant. The plot ends up getting rather absurd with quite a bit of overacting from much of the cast. Oland had played Chan in several films and does fairly well, although it goes without saying that an actual Chinese actor would have been a much better choice. But Hollywood studios did not operate that way back in the early days. This film is almost ninety years old, which is rather remarkable to realize.

Anyway, the film is a bit dull and does not really hold together when it comes to the plot. It’s not terrible but it feels typical of the movies being made at the time. In spite of the numerous flaws and reasons for exasperation at Oland’s performance of a Chinese protagonist, it was kind of fun to revisit Charlie Chan. I had not seen a film in this series since I was very young.

Hopefully, there are better Charlie Chan films. He is still a somewhat intriguing concept in detective fiction. On the whole, the movie isn’t great, but it is still worth a look since Charlie Chan was a rather iconic piece of cinematic history.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is an autobiography written by the late Anthony Bourdain. It was first published in 2000 and has probably had an update or two over years. Bourdain had died by suicide in 2018, which is very unfortunate. I am no student of the culinary arts, and I really followed Gordon Ramsay because I find his explosive temper rather entertaining. I have missed out on most of the Bourdain experience and only read this book since I am in a book club that chose this one for the month of March 2021. It turns out that I actually found quite a bit to appreciate about this selection in spite of my lack of kitchen expertise.

Bourdain uses his words to paint very vivid imagery of the restaurant culture, particularly of the 1970’s and 1980’s. He throws out very creative analogies as easily as one would expect him to whip up a uniquely delicious omelet or something. There is also the unflinching account of his struggles with drug addiction during his early years in the biz. He did manage to avoid a lot of detail about that and how is was he finally lay that demon to rest, at least back then. Bourdain obviously had plenty of demons which led to his tragic decision to end his own extraordinary life, and the book sort of opens one’s eyes a little to some of those struggles. Assuming of course there is not a ghostwriter, I am going to consider Bourdain as talented a writer as he was a chef. I will take the word of others when it comes to judgment on his gifts as a presenter. His colorful and complicated personality was easy to detect in this book and I am sure those who are more familiar with his television presence will recognize his voice easily enough throughout the many tales. I know that he has other literary examples out there, so I may try out some of those as well in my own efforts to add a bit more diversity in my reading indulgences.

Even for those of us with no culinary talent or ambition, I will say Kitchen Confidential does contain plenty of wisdom and entertainment within its pages. It also deepens my sense of sorrow that such a talented man who had such an impact on a culture and apparently helped and influenced individuals with their own troubles to a more constructive path could not find any reason to stay in this world a little longer.

Even though I do strive for newer and more unfamiliar pastures in my literary choices, I am not abandoning my old favorites. I think I have earned a visit back to familiar furnishings of 221 B Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes has another cursed diamond or trinket to find in The Crusader’s Curse by Start Douglas.