On this day in television history - Justified (2014):

Justified

Season 5. Episode 2.

Episode entitled: The Kids Aren’t All Right.

Released January 14, 2014.

Directed by Bill Johnson.

Written by Graham Yost, Dave Andron, Leonard Chang.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Jere Burns, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Michael Rapaport, James Le Gros, Sam Anderson, Xander Berkeley, Riley Bodenstab, Gabrielle Dennis, Kaitlyn Dever, Rick Gomez, Shashawnee Hall, Steve Harris, Wood Harris, Damon Herriman, Jesse Luken, Don McManus, Amy Smart, Bill Tangradi, Karolina Wydra, Mickey Jones, William Gregory Lee, Justin Welborn, Boo Arnold, Cathy Baron, Cascy Beddow, Kaitlin Ferrell, Jonathan Kowalsky, Clifford McGhee, Livia Treviño, Aubrey Wood, Gregoer Boru, Lisbeth Kingsley, Natasha Kojic, Lisa Pevc.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: Voyager (1998)

Star Trek: Enterprise (2004 & 2005)

Star Trek: Discovery (2018)

Star Trek: Voyager

Season 4. Episode 13.

Episode entitled: Waking Moments.

Released January 14, 1998.

Directed by Alexander Singer.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by André Bormanis, Bryan Fuller, Lisa Klink.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by David Bell.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Biggs-Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Mark Colson, Jennifer Gundy, Majel Barrett, Stuart Coleman, Tarik Ergin, Gunnel Eriksson, Sylvester Foster, Kerry Hoyt, Mark Major, Adrian Tafoya.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Season 3. Episode 12.

Episode entitled: Chosen Realm.

Released January 14, 2004.

Directed by Roxann Dawson.

Written by Manny Coto, André Bormanis, Jonathan Fernandez.

Created by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Opening theme song: Faith of the Heart, performed by Russell Watson.

Closing theme: Archer's Theme, by Dennis McCarthy.

Music by Paul Baillargeon.

Cast: Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, Conor O'Farrell, Vince Grant, Lindsey Stoddart, Taylor Sheridan, David Youse, Gregory Wagrowski, Matt Huhn, Kim Fitzgerald, Alexandrea Ortiz, Ron Balicki, Steve Blalock, Jackson Bolt, Autumn Leigh Brown, Mark Correy, Duncan K. Fraser, Hilde Garcia, Michael Glover, Glen Hambly, Aldric A. Horton, Roy Joaquin, Amina Julianna, Andrew Macbeth, Aouri Makhlouf, Dorenda Moore, Aric Rogokos, Lidia Sabljic, Ron Sarchian, Paul Anthony Scott, Paul Sklar, Chris Torres, Max Valentine.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Season 4. Episode 10.

Episode entitled: Daedalus.

Released January 14, 2005.

Directed by David Straiton.

Written by Alan Brennert/Michael Bryant, Ken LaZebnik.

Created by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Opening theme song: Faith of the Heart, performed by Russell Watson.

Closing theme: Archer's Theme, by Dennis McCarthy.

Music by Paul Baillargeon.

Cast: Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, Bill Cobbs, Leslie Silva, Donovan C. Knowles, Noel Manzano, Alexandrea Ortiz, Mark Correy, Daphney Damaraux, Glen Hambly, Scott Sterling Hill, Andrew Macbeth.

Star Trek: Discovery

Season 1. Episode 11.

Episode entitled: The Wolf Inside.

Released January 14, 2018.

Directed by T.J. Scott.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Lisa Randolph, Bo Yeon Kim, Erika Lippoldt, Kirsten Beyer, Sean Cochran.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Jason Isaacs, Wilson Cruz, James Frain, Michelle Yeoh, Emily Coutts, Riley Gilchrist, Julianne Grossman, Devon MacDonald, Ali Momen, Dwain Murphy, Tasia Valenza, Chris Violette, Romaine Waite, Cait Alexander, Harry Judge, Demi Oliver, Shelley Owens, Marco Perretta, Spencer Robson.

Scanners (1980) - still blows my mind … kind of:

Scanners

Whenever I hear the subject of “guilty pleasures”, Scanners (1980) is one of the movies I immediately remember.

At the time I first watched Scanners, I’d already seen director David Cronenberg’s previous cinematic ventures into the “body horror” genre: Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood.

I wasn’t too impressed with any of those movies.

They had interesting concepts, but were flawed, and often hampered by wooden acting.

Scanners is no exception, sadly, but it still entertains me.

If I had to make up a category, I guess Flawed But Fun would fit.

Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly – I enjoyed. 

Videodrome, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and eXistenZ – I loved.

Naked Lunch – I hated.

Eastern Promises and A History of Violence were both thought-provoking and gripping conventional thrillers, breaking away from his principal horror genre. 

I have yet to see his other works.

Scanners, released in the United States on January 14, 1981, is a mix of horror, science fiction, and espionage-thriller, with a James Bond-esque plot of world domination

The Scanners of the title are people with an invisible mutation: a form of telekinesis enabling them to link, control and even destroy humans and computers by the power of thought.

This is a fun movie to be enjoyed simply for what it is: fantasy.

Whenever I watch Scanners, I ignore the numerous plot holes and inconsistencies.

I wish I could ignore the lousy acting in particular … however, that’s simply impossible.

Stephen Lack, as great and jovial a guy as he is, in my movie-watching experience, gives the worst performance of a lead actor I have ever seen.

He acts as if he’s in a daze and says his lines in a droning monotone.

He’s so wooden; I felt I could have made a solid bookcase just out of his performance!

The man was cheated out of his Razzie Award!

I laugh every time I see and hear him deliver the line:

“The future! You murdered the future!”

On the plus side: this movie made me a fan of Michael Ironside.

He’s excellent as the villain, Revok, and his presence in a movie has always inspired me to view it.

Ironside, along with Patrick McGoohan, Jennifer O’Neill, and Lawrence Dane, all give good performances.

The special effects fall into the “good for the time” category, but even with no CGI at the time it was made, and a limited budget, Cronenberg still did a great job.

The vein and eyeball-popping final battle between the hero and villain will make you smile at how fake it all looks.

For all its faults and fall-shorts, there’s still a lot to enjoy in this movie, and no blog about Scanners would be complete without mentioning the landmark exploding head scene.

This effect alone makes Scanners a classic must–see … even if you do have to ignore the fact that there is not one spot of blood or gore on either Michael Ironside, or the table at which they were seated!

When I first saw Scanners, I knew very little about the story, so this scene had a similar surprise element of the head falling out of the hole in the bottom of the boat, in Jaws, or the shock ending of Carrie.

It was a long time before a making-of documentary revealed to me how they achieved the exploding head effect in Scanners: a latex life-cast was made of actor Louis Del Grande’s head:

The cast was fitted with a plaster support, filled with dog food, fake blood, rabbit liver, portions of burger, syrup, and sealed with wax.

After numerous failed attempts to produce a convincing effect, special effects artist, Gary Zeller, finally took a shotgun, positioned himself low behind the seated dummy, and blew its head off!

The resulting effect is … even now … mind blowing!