Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Outlaw Star 1.21

Grave of the Dragon

The Outlaw Star travels to a planet where the Way of the Dragon is found. Fred Luo gave them the coordinates. Aisha is convinced that it is where they will find the Galactic Leyline. The others aren't so sure. Melfina hopes that whatever they find it will shed some light on her past.

The MacDougall brothers follow the Outlaw Star to the planet. They plan their attack while the crew of the Outlaw Star is exploring ancient buildings they find on the planet. Harry approaches Melfina when she goes outside for some air. He tries to convince her to come with him but she declines his offer.

Gene finds Melfina with Harry and attacks. Ron MacDougall attacks the others with some help from robotic attack dogs. The fights get broken up by seismic activity. The crew of the Outlaw Star heads back to the ship and leave. Ron finds what is left of Harry, crushed.

Monday, October 24, 2022

Doctor Who (1963) 15.02.04

The Invisible Enemy - Part Four

The virus loses its effect on the Doctor and he is healed. Leela disguises herself as a nurse and helps the Doctor to escape. Lowe and the others who have been infected help the Nucleus to escape and take it to Titan Station.

The Doctor, Leela, and K-9 stay at the Bi-Al Foundation long enough to cure Professor Marius with antibodies from Leela's blood. Leela changes back into her traditional clothes. The professor mass produces the antibodies and gives them to the Doctor. The Doctor, Leela, and K-9 take the antibodies and return to Titan Station.

Leela suggests that they should blow up the station but the Doctor prefers to use a gentler touch. It isn't until his plan fails that he decides to follow Leela's advice. The Doctor, Leela, and K-9 return to the Bi-Al Foundation. Professor Marius suggests that the Doctor and Leela should take K-9 with them so they leave.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

The Phil Silvers Show 2.24

Bilko's Black Magic

Private Lester Mendleson, who was stuck on a deserted island near Japan for more than 10 years, is assigned to Bilko's platoon soon after he is found. Bilko doesn't want him until he learns that Mendleson is due $7,000 of backpay.

MSgt Grover and MSgt Ritzik get Mendleson to play poker with them. They take all his money in no time at all. Bilko comes up with a plan to scare Grover and Ritzik into giving the money back.

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Noir City DC 2022

Noir City DC 2022

This is the 3rd time I have gone to the Noir City Film Festival. The first time was in 2010. I saw one movie that year, Scarlett Street (1945). The second time was in 2018. I saw two movies that year, I Wake Up Screaming (1941) and Among the Living (1941).

I saw four movies this year:
My favorite of the four was Brute Force. The only one that I felt came up a bit short was Crossfire. I re-watched Born to Kill after I got home because I felt like I had missed something.

I should try to make it to this festival more frequently than I have in the past. I'm not sure that I will go to more movies than I did this year. It was possible to stay all day Fri-Sat-Sun, on two consecutive weeks and see all 28 films. That's too much for me. Four films is plenty. Maybe next year I will try to increase my intake to 5 or 6 films but I can't see going further than that.

Friday, October 21, 2022

Brute Force (1947)

Brute Force (1947)

starring Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford
directed by Jules Dassin

Collins (Burt Lancaster) is the leader of the 6 men imprisoned together in one of the cell blocks of Westgate Prison. One of them was recently killed. Collins has just been released from solitary confinement and allowed to return to the cell block where he usually resides. He was put in solitary after a knife was found among his possessions. It was planted by Wilson, another prisoner, and one of Collins first orders of business is to reward Wilson for his betrayal.

Gallagher (Charles Bickford) runs the prison newspaper. He has no interest in trying to escape until he learns that all opportunities for parole have been suspended indefinitely. 

Born to Kill (1947)

Born to Kill (1947)

starring Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, Walter Slezak
directed by Robert Wise
screenplay based on the novel Deadlier than the Male by James Gunn

Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) is getting ready to leave Reno, after getting divorced, when an acquaintance gets murdered. She finds the body but decides against notifying the police and heads to the train station where she crosses paths with Sam (Lawrence Tierney), the killer, for the second time. She met him earlier that night in a casino. He was throwing dice. She first bet on him and then she bet against him.

Helen and Sam are both headed to San Francisco. They spend the train trip together. Sam is interested in staying in touch but Helen doesn't seem to feel the same. Helen returns to the home where she lives with Georgia, her foster sister. It isn't long before Sam shows up. He takes an interest in Georgia when he finds out that Helen is engaged and that her sister is single and rich.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Abbott Elementary 1.04

New Tech

The teachers are given tablets to help them track how well their students are doing and to help them teach. Janine hopes that the new tablets will give her a chance to help Barbara. 

Jacob gets help from Melissa teaching his class about labor unions.

Thoughts

This episode didn't exactly do it for me. There was potential here but it fell short. The funniest moment was the one that Gregory and Janine shared in the hallway and it was only tangentially related to the main subplot.

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Russian Doll 2.02

Coney Island Baby

Nadia returns to the present after getting into an argument in 1982 with Vera, her grandmother, over the stolen money. She tracks down Chez in the present. She wants to know what he did with the money. He explains that he doesn't have it. She leaves after getting a hint as to where she can find him in 1982.

Nadia returns to 1982 and tracks down Chez at a sports club where he plays racquet ball. She asks him for the money. He tells her that she (Nora)  has it. He gave it to her last night. He insists that he doesn't have it. Nadia realizes Nora must have spent it on the Alfa Romeo.

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Outlaw Star 1.20

Cats and Girls and Spaceships

The Outlaw Star is on its way to Symka 5 space station when it is attacked by another ship. Gene thinks he can take the other ship but he quickly discovers that the other ship is more powerful than he thought. He creates a diversion and then runs away in the end.

Gene and Jim find a mechanic to repair the Outlaw Star once they get to Symka 5. Gene and Melfina go looking for a bar. Aisha and Suzuka each go their separate ways while the ship is being worked on. Jim meets a girl named Hanmyo.

Jim meets up with Hanmyo a second time. They spend time in a park together. Once the Outlaw Star is repaired they take off even though Jim had plans to meet up with Hanmyo a third time. The Outlaw Star encounters the mystery ship that attacked them before.

Monday, October 17, 2022

Doctor Who (1963) 15.02.03

The Invisible Enemy - Part Three

The clones of the Doctor and Leela find themselves in the Doctor's body. They make their way to the mind/brain area of the Doctor's head. They are attacked along the way by various parts of the Doctor's body.

Leela and K-9 stand guard while Professor Marius and his two assistants keep an eye on the Doctor. Lowe comes for the Doctor with his three followers. K-9 kills one of them but then the virus spreads to him. He is ordered to attack Leela. She slips and falls just as he is about to shoot her. She hits her head and is knocked out.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Storm Warning (1951)

Storm Warning (1951)

starring Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day
directed by Stuart Heisler

93 minutes

Marsha Mitchell (Ginger Rogers) stops in Rock Point where Lucy (Doris Day), her recently married sister, lives. Marsha arrives at night and is unable to get a cab. She walks through town looking for her sister and witnesses a White man get lynched by the KKK. The Klansmen don’t see her but a couple of them aren’t wearing hoods and she sees their faces.

She later learns that the faces she saw were those of Hank Rice (Steve Cochrane), her brother-in-law, and Charlie Barr, the head Klansman. The murdered man was a reporter from out of town. Burt Rainey (Ronald Reagan), a lawman from the county government, investigates the murder. No one in town wants Rainey’s investigation to succeed.

Crossfire (1947)

Crossfire (1947)

Starring Robert Young, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Based on the book The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks

86 minutes

A Jewish man is found dead in his home in Washington DC. The last people seen with him were three soldiers. Captain Finley (Robert Young), of the Metropolitan Police Department investigates the case. The investigation focuses first on Corporal Mitchell, who is nowhere to be found. The focus shifts to Sergeant Montgomery (Robert Ryan) once Corporal Mitchell has been found, his story checked, and a friend of Montgomery turns up dead.

Friday, October 14, 2022

Un Village Français 2.06

Coup de Grace
or Death Blow

11 March 1941

Lorrain is ready to kill Raymond. Marie begs him not to do it. He ties Raymond up in the barn and takes Marie into the house. Marie talks him into letting Raymond live but Lorrain insists that he will have to leave Raymond crippled.

Doctor Larcher is confronted by a mob of mothers who are desperate because they don't have any food for themselves or their children. He tries to tell them that everyone has it bad. They don't back off until German soldiers show up.

Janine Schwartz goes to the police station looking for Raymond. She tells De Kervern what she knows. He encourages her to go home, it is after dark and after curfew. De Kervern goes to the Germain farm. He gets there just as Lorrain is getting ready to cut Raymond's throat. De Kervern shoots Lorrain in the hand. Marie helps De Kervern to tie up her husband. Schwartz goes home to his wife and tells her that it is over between him and Marie

Thursday, October 13, 2022

The Orville 1.05

Pria

The Orville rescues Pria Lavesque. Her ship is at the time stuck on a comet which getting dangerously close to a star. She is human and from Earth. She grew up in the same area as Captain Mercer. He likes her and gets annoyed when Commander Grayson suspects that there is something that Pria is hiding.

Commander Grayson talks Lieutenant Kitan into conducting a search of Captain Lavesque's quarters. They find an object which their scanners cannot penetrate but Pria returns before they can investigate further. They tell her that they were looking into a radiation leak and leave quickly.

Captain Mercer reprimands Grayson and Kitan for what they did. Grayson tries to plead their case but they get interrupted because the ship has encountered a dark matter storm. The crew of the Orville doesn't know how to respond but Pria does. Captain Mercer gives her permission to take the controls. She guides the ship out of the storm.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Russian Doll 2.01

Nowhen

Nadia visits Ruth, her godmother, in the hospital just after a car accident. Nadia talks to Maxine on the phone. Nadia gets on the subway and finds herself transported back to 1982. She finds a matchbook in her pocket with a message from someone named Chez who wants her to meet him at a bar called The Black Gumball.

Nadia goes to the bar. Chez seems to recognize her. Nadia has no idea who he is. She goes with him once she discovers that he is Chez. Together they rob an apartment and then go back to his place. Nadia goes to use the bathroom. looks in the mirror and sees her pregnant mother staring back at her.

Nadia freaks out and leaves. She catches the train back to 2022. She talks to Alan, and tells him about what happened. He has a date lined up and doesn't seem to take her story seriously. Nadia goes to see Ruth in the hospital. She asks Ruth about Chez, learns that he's the one who stole kugerrands from her grandmother, and then heads back to the subway.

Nadia catches the train back to 1982. She returns to Chez's apartment. She confirms what they stole form the apartment. Chez runs off with the coins while she is in the bathroom. She runs after him but is unable to keep up.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Outlaw Star 1.19

Law and Lawlessness

The Outlaw Star is about to start salvaging what they can from a pirate ship that they just defeated when a powerful military ship arrives on the scene. The Outlaw Star and its crew are taken into custody and transported to a nearby base. Two officers of the Angel Links Security Service Force, Duuz and Valeria, interrogate Gene and Jim.

The Angel Links officers have their doubts about the story they are getting form Gene and Jim. They suspect that they are pirates. Everything changes when the real pirates attack. Gene and the crew of the Outlaw Star take off and engage with the pirates. The Outlaw Star is outnumbered until the Security Service Forces launch their ships and join the fight.

Monday, October 10, 2022

Doctor Who (1963) 15.02.02

The Invisible Enemy - Part Two

The Doctor is able to resist shooting Leela. He goes into a trance but before he does the Doctor sends Leela to find help. She finds Lowe who has been infected but he hides that fact from her. Together they take the Doctor in the TARDIS to the Bi-Al Foundation to get him medical help.

Lowe infects three doctors at the Bi-Al Foundation. Together they go looking the Doctor. Leela and K-9 prevent them from getting too close. 

The Doctor is examined by Professor Marius and K-9, his robot assistant, at the Bi-Al Foundation. The Doctor and Professor Marius talk about the infection. The Doctor comes up with a plan of attack. He asks Professor Marius to clone himself and Leela. Professor Marius shrinks the clones down so that they can be injected into the Doctor.

Sunday, October 9, 2022

The Phil Silvers Show 2.23

Rock 'n' Roll Rookie

Elvin Pelvin, one of the hottest acts in the country, gets drafted into the US Army. The Army decides, after numrous failed attempts to place him at big bases, that the best place for him is at Fort Baxter in Bilko's platoon. Colonel Hall tries to talk them out of sending Pelvin to Fort Baxter but he loses the argument.

Bilko sees dollars signs when he learns that Pelvin will be joining his platoon. He 
tries to record Elvin singing, without his knowledge, but every attempt fails miserably. Bilko finally gets Elvin recorded only to have second thoughts about what he is doing.

Friday, October 7, 2022

It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)

starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert
directed by Frank Capra

Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert), a grown woman who recently married someone to whom her rich father objects, dives off the side of her father's yacht, swims back to shore, and goes on the run. She is desperate to get back to her husband. She catches the bus from Miami. She is headed for New York City.

Peter Warne (Clark Gable), a reporter who recently got fired, runs into Ellen on the bus. They don't know one another but are forced to sit together due to a lack of seating. He figures out who she is and offers to help her if she will give him an exclusive story. She is reluctant to take him up on his offer but she accepts his assistance after her suitcase and most of her money is stolen.

Things get complicated after someone else on the bus recognizes her. They leave the bus and start hitchhiking. They get closer and closer to New York. 

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Abbott Elementary 1.03

Wishlist

Janine tries to create a video wishlist for school supplies for her cless. She turns to Ava for help creating the video. The wishlist is wildly successful thanks to Ava's video expertise. Janine talks Ava into creating a video for Barbara even though Barbara says she doesn't want or need the help.

Janine encourages Gregory to decorate his classroom. Jacob tries to fix an old fax machine which no else think is worth salvaging.

Thoughts

Melissa didn't get much to do in this episode. Everyone else seemed to get their own little moments.

I thought this one started a bit slow but it picked up. I like how it all turned out in the end. I especially like how Ava turns out to be a genius when it comes to making videos.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Cobra Kai 1.10

Mercy

The 2018 All-Valley Under 18 Tournament begins. Cobra Kai is represented by Miguel, Aisha, Hawk, and several other of Johnny's students. Robby also signs up for the tournament. Zander, the 2017 champion, is also there.

Miguel, Aisha, Hawk, and Robby all make it to the quarterfinals. Aisha gets eliminated in the quarterfinals. Sam is there with her parents and her brother. She has a chat with Aisha after her quarterfinal match. It starts off a little bumpy but it ends with Aisha encouraging Sam to get back into karate.

Miguel goes on to face and defeat Zander in the first semifinal match. Hawk and Robby square off in the other semifinal. Hawk is eliminated for striking Robby during an official pause in the fighting. Robby's shoulder is injured but he insists on continuing.

Robby and Miguel face off in the final. Robby is still hurting. Miguel gets away with an illegal move. The fight goes the distance but Miguel wins in the end. He looks around for Sam but she has already left with her mother and brother.

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Captain Harlock (1978) 1.24

The Shooting Star of Pure Love

Captain Harlock and his crew take on board the Shooting Star, a much smaller ship. It is piloted by Zorba, son of Zol, and Lucia, a medic. He is Tokagan but she is Mazone. They have escaped from the main Mazone fleet.

Daiba is suspicious of Zorba and Lucia but Captain Harlock welcomes them. He talks to Zorba about Zol. He tells him about how they crossed paths and what happened to Zol. 

Queen Lafresia contacts the Arcadia and demands the return of Zorba and Lucia. Queen Lafresia has Lumani, Zorba's mother. She is torturing the Tokagan woman. She shows him a hologram of his mother. Zorba is ready to return but his mother tells him not to.

Captain Harlock refuses to hand over Zorba and Lucia. The Mazone send a squadron of ships after the Arcadia. They attack the Arcadia. Zorba decides that he cannot stay. He and Lucia sneak away in the Shooting Star. The Mazone squadron shifts its attack to the Shooting Star. Zorba and Lucia are gunned down when they approach the Mazone flag ship.

Monday, October 3, 2022

Doctor Who (1963) 15.02.01

The Invisible Enemy - Part One

A spaceship arrives at Titan Base after passing through a mysterious cloud. The three human crew members have been infected and are now possessed by whatever was in the cloud. They are supposed to change places with three others who are waiting for them on Titan but the three from the shuttle kill their replacements.

The three possessed men go after Lowe, the station supervisor. He sees that something is wrong and sends out a distress signal. The Doctor and Leela receive the distress signal and head for Titan Base. They pass through the same mysterious cloud. The Doctor is infected but doesn't know it. Leela senses that something is wrong but the Doctor won't listen to her.

Lowe tries to arrest the three possessed me. He shoots at them, killing one of them, when they don't drop their weapons. The Doctor and Leela find the body. but no one else. The Doctor tells Leela to stay put but she goes exploring. She finds Lowe almost dead. She revives him and asks him what's going on.

Sunday, October 2, 2022

NewsRadio 5.04

Noise

Joe buids Dave a white noise machine because everyone at WNYX thinks he is stressed out. The machine relaxes Dave so much that everyone gets worried that he is too relaxed.

Max feuds with Lisa over a new segment that she added, This Day in History. Matthew has a chat with Beth which leads him to believe that Max needs mothering.

Thoughts

This was not a great episode. It wasn't awful, I've seen worse but I found it to be lacking. A few of the jokes were funny but none of the storylines pulled me in or felt like anything more than a framework for jokes.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur
directed by Frank Capra

Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) inherits a fortune from an uncle that he didn't really know. Longfellow moves from the small town where he has always lived to New York City. He quickly becomes a punching bad and a laughing stock.

Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur) talks her boss, the editor of a local newspaper, into letting her work her magic on Deeds. Bennett figures him out pretty quickly. She writes a story about him that makes him very angry. She refers to him as the Cinderella Man. The nickname sticks and she keeps using it in the articles she writes about Deeds.