Gawd, I miss this show.

I remember growing up. I have many fond memories of watching the Thunderbirds television program, but, surprisingly, most people my age never heard of it. They were too busy with SPEED RACER and MAGILLA GORILLA to take Supermarionation seriously, but I never missed an episode.

THUNDERBIRD 6 is the video collection telling the story of Brain's ill-fated Skyship One; once again, the International Rescue team is the target of familiar puppetry terrorists, but they save the day ... but not without an ample supply of pyrotechnics applied to hundreds of miniature missiles, tanks, and fuel silos set for an incendiary climax. Supermarionation, cleverly mixed with live action photography, make T-6 the film to watch ... with some absolutely spectacularly aerial shows of the new Thunderbird 6 plane in action.

One great flick that's as spectacularly entertaining as it is laughable (every watch a puppet shot through the heart fall from a balcony? you catch my drift).

While some of the impact of this tale has tempered in time (it was originally published in 1952), the stark brutality of the narrator draws you in slowly ... and the novel's first 150 pages are relatively slow-paced ... until the reader comes to the full realization that Officer Lou Ford isn't committing the acts of violence that he does out of any other need than to feed the killer inside him.

The last forty to fifty pages of this book are captivatingly brilliant prose -- arguably the best by Mr. Thompson -- and should be carefully read (if not reread) by serious fans of mystery or noir as well as budding mystery, thriller, and suspense writers. They serve not only as a character study into the mind of a madman who finally understand what he is but also give a definitive explanation into why the narrator will never accept what he's done (the people he's killed, those he's punished, etc.) as being morally wrong.

All in all, it's one damn fascinating character study that takes a while to get going ... but, once it does, it's one wild ride.

Even on subsequent viewings, FARSCAPE keeps getting better and better. Going back now (after three seasons) and watching these 1st season outings, a viewer can only appreciate, in greater depth, the subtletys in all of the performances, characters, and situations. Truly, this is the 'thinking man's STAR TREK.'

DURKA RETURNS is relatively formulaic, creating a situation where Rygel revisits the horrors of his previous incarceration and torture when the spaceship Moya rescues a transport carrying his former captor, Durka. The torturer has been reduced to a peacenik through alien mind suppression programming, but -- as one might expect -- that doesn't last for long. However, also along for the ride is the introduction of Chianna, one of FARSCAPE's most beloved heroes or femme fatales, depending upon your perspective. Gigi Edgley plays Chi with an edge of sexual curiosity, brazen antiauthoritarianism, and moral promiscuity. If genre shows deserved Emmys in the acting category, Gigi would certainly be nominated.

A HUMAN REACTION, for me, is one of the highlights of the show's 1st season. Again, the story is relatively formulaic: a wormhole opens up directly in front of Moya, and John Creighton can see that it leads directly to Earth (a tad too convenient ... or is it?). Of course, not missing the chance to return home, Creighton travels back to his homeworld, but things are far different than what he left behind. Kent McCord is on board, guest starring (once more) as John's father, and the surprise / nonsurprise ending is handled with incredible poignancy.

Where STAR TREK has succumbed to appealing to a viewer's more basic instincts, FARSCAPE continues to strive to tell interesting, thought-provoking, CHARACTER-DRIVEN space opera stories with plenty of laughs AND flashes thrown in for good measure.

Long live FARSCAPE!

MCCOOL'S establishes that not only is Ms. Liv Tyler a talented actress but also she's appealingly shapely.

Beyond that, this highly-contrived noir-like comedy fails at every expectation it sets. John Goodman and Paul Reiser -- largely likeable and funny actors -- are wasted in physical comedy situations where lesser actors might've achieved. The long-mediocre Matt Dillon is, again, long on mediocrity. Michael Douglas (also showing producer duties here) makes the most on his small role, but even that isn't enough to rescue MCCOOL'S from sheer duldrums.

Also, the film's relatively bloody climax doesn't fit with the established mood of the picture ... namely, a comedy ... and not a dark one, at that.

Granted, no band is perfect, and no band wants to follow-up one album with a second that sounds uniquely like the first.

SheDaisy roared onto the pop/country/Nashville scene with a wildly popular THE WHOLE SHEBANG ... an album so successful that the ladies eventually released the album again, ALL MIXED UP, with remixed versions of their debut songs. They followed it up with an incredibly creative and adventurous Christmas album, further cementing their creative niche in the music world.

However, KNOCK ON THE SKY falls mostly flat. While it has a few memorable tunes, the ladies seem content to venture into uncharted territory here with songs that feel more like experiments than they do chart-topping hits. Gone is the sense of playfulness so pervasive on their earlier work; its replaced by songs of loss, confusion, and some unerring lyrical curiosities that just don't strike a chord.

Still, there is no doubt in my mind that KNOCK will be successful, especially with all of the SheFannigans out there around the world. However, I don't doubt that I'll be plunking in my copy of SHEBANG and its welcome remixed version far more times in my lifetime that I will this disappointing follow-up.

To the average music buyer, this KNOCK is best left unanswered.

BODY SHOTS is the kind of film that, probably, speaks to a generation. The real question is, "What is it saying?"

A group of four males and four females (Amanda Peet, Tara Reid, Sean Patrick Flannery, Jerry O'Connell, and more) get together for a night on the town, and, as is rarely the case in reality, all of them manage to 'hook up' (think 'sexually' here) in one way or another, but to what end?

One part art film, one part twentysomething film, one part point of view testimonial film ... BODY SHOTS never answers any of the questions it poses, nor does it honestly attempt to. None of the principals appear to be even remotely committed to a serious exploration of relationships, and the characters randomly speak out of scenes directly to the audience ... trying to expound a view on relationships, intimacy, and ... well, just about everything.

What's overwhelmingly disappointing is that four-fifths of the way into the film, an actual story develops, but the director and screenwriter have spent so much time exploring the nature of sex that there's little believability in such an 'engineered' situation. And, even the corner the filmmakers paint themselves into receives no resolution.

Without one unifying voice to tie the disparate threads together, BODY SHOTS sadly ends up being about little more than 103 minutes of wasted film ... with some gratuitous sex throw in to keep you interested.

"Dour," "laconic," and "dull" are the three finest words I can think of to describe THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST.

Geena Davis provides the film's only moments of interest as Kathleen Turner and William Hurt -- parents dealing with the aftermath of losing a child -- are sadly reduced to one-dimensional portraits of adult angst. The camera wants to spend time of the spritely Ms. Davis, whereas any believable film pacing grinds to a halt when she's away.

Notable for Lawrence Kasdan's participation, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST is one trip worth avoiding.

A few years back, I had the distinct privilege of seeing Bill Cosby perform live; and the pure magic of witnessing how one of life's great humorists is unforgettable. Just as he does here, in BILL COSBY HIMSELF, the master comedian works the crowd for laughs, feeding just enough information to suspect where he might be going ... and then wildly careening off into uncharted territories. Despite some strong language toward the latter half of this performance, HIMSELF is suitable viewing for the entire family.

Two words: not funny.

While the task was daunting -- if not impossible, the studio tried to follow-up the incredible success of AIRPLANE! ... but, instead, they ran out of air after the opening credits. Largely unfunny, the same cast from AIRPLANE! is brought back together to face the monumental task of delivering the same jokes. Don't waste your time, your money, or any brain cells on this horrible stinker.

AFTER HOURS is one of those rare comic gems that actually gets funnier as it grows older. While one could argue that 'after hours' New York City is truly the centerpiece to this comedy, give credit where credit is due to Griffin Dunne; he plays an average schmoe with a penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. AFTER HOURS has, for very long, been wrongly labeled a 'caper film'; there is no central storyline other than the exploration of one man's continuous series of misadventures and the unlikely malcontents he meets along the way. Darkly comic and not laugh-out-loud hysterical, it may not be to everyone's liking, but it's definitely worth one viewing if for no other reason than to explore sheer filmed lunacy.