Saturday, September 16, 2023

Shanghai Express (1932)

Shanghai Express (1932)

starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
directed by Josef bon Sternberg

82 minutes

A group of passengers travel by train from Peking (Beijing) to Shanghai. Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) and Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook), former lovers who find themselves in proximity to one another for the first time in five years, are two of the passengers. Chang, one of the other passengers and the leader of a rebel army who hopes to overthrow the Chinese government. Chang takes the train hostage. 

Friday, September 15, 2023

Orange Is the New Black 6.03

Look Out for Number One

Linda finally gets out of prison. She spends four days in a prison in Cleveland and gets her head shaved before someone finally realizes that she's been telling the truth about not being an inmate. She gets a promotion out of it and a big raise but only after she threatens to make noise if she doesn't get what she wants.

Cindy moves into D Block and quickly runs into Flaca, Dayanara, and Morello. They all wind up on a cleaning crew together. They have to clean C block. They see some shower supplies left unattended. They take them but later find out that someone spiked the shower gel with urine.

Nicky meets with her father and Michelle Goldstein, his latest wife who is also a lawyer. Things quickly turn sour between Nicky and her father but once Nicky finds out that Piscatella is dead she calls her father and gets him to return.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo (1958)

starring Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak
directed by Alfred Hitchcock

128 minutes

John "Scotty" Ferguson is forced to retire from the San Francisco Police Department after he gets injured and develops a case of vertigo. He hangs out with Midge, a friend and artist, to whon he was once briefly engaged. Gavin, an old friend of John, asks John to do him a favor and keep an eye on Madeleine, his wife, who has been acting strange. Gavin thinks that she is possessed by the spirit of her great-grandmother.

John takes the job. He saves Madeleine once after she jumps into the San Francisco Bay in a trance like state. He isn't as lucky the second time around and is unable to prevent her from jumping from a church bell tower to her death. John is cleared of any wrong doing but the death of Madeleine causes him to break mentally and he is forced to spend some time in a mental facility.

John eventually gets out of the facility but then he starts thinking he sees Madeleine everywhere. Is he still around the bend or is she still alive?

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 1.02.01

The Dead Planet
(aka The Daleks - Part One)

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan step ouside to take a look around the area where they have landed. They don't notice that the radiation meter indicates high levels of radiation outside the TARDIS.

The Doctor and his companions take a look around but everything they see looks dead or petrified. They spot a city in the distance. The Doctor wants to investigate but Ian points out that it is getting dark. The Doctor reluctantly agrees to wait until the next morning.

Susan gets separated from the other briefly during their walk back to the TARDIS. She thinks that someone approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. The Doctor thinks she is being silly.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Enter the Dragon (1973)

starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly
directed by Robert Clouse

99 minutes

Lee (Bruce Lee) agrees to take part in a martial arts tounament sponsored by Han, a suspected drug kingpin. Han and Lee both trained in martial arts at the Shaolin Temple. Lee is there on behalf of an international law enforcement organization who are trying to get enough evidence on Han to raid his private island. Lee has another motivation for taking the job, one of Han's enforcers is responsible for his sister death.

Monday, September 11, 2023

Chewing Gun 2.03

I Just Need Some Company

Tracey feels unwanted, after meeting Emma, Connor's girlfriend. Boy Tracy, Tracey's cousin, talks her into going to a party with him. Candace and her boyfriend go with them. Tracey's mother is planning a meeting for her church in the community where she lives but gets some push back from the local government. The party that Tracey, Candace, Boy Tracy, and Candance boyfriend go to turns out to be a sex party. Tracey is conflicted but decides to go in to the party. Things don't so quite how Tracey imagined they might

Thoughts

This was a decent episode. The part with Tracey's mother was the weaker part of the episode. I was surprised by how far they pushed the envelope at the sex party.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 11.04.X

The Peladon Saga - Part Two (2009)
The Monsters and the Monarchs

22 minutes

People interviewed for this feature include
  • Barry Letts, producer 
  • Terrance Dicks, script editor
  • Chris D'Oyly-John, production assistant
  • Katy Manning, Jo Grant
  • Donald Gee, Eckersley
  • Nick Hobbs, Aggedor
  • Brian Hodgson, radiophonic workshop
  • Stuart Fell, body of Alpha Centauri
  • Sonny Caldinez, Ice Warrior
  • Nina Thomas, Queen Thalira
  • Ralph Watson, Ettis
  • Elizabeth Moss, makeup supervisor