Sunday, December 31, 2023

Blade (1998)

Blade (1998)

starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Chris Christopherson
directed by Stephen Norrington

121 minutes

Blade's mother was bitten by a vampire in 1967, while she was pregnant. She died giving birth to Blade (Wesley Snipes), a day walker, a vampire who can endure sunlight. Blade works with Whistler (Chris Christopherson), a human who lost his family to vampires. Together they wage war against vampires.

Blade and Whistler gain an unexpected ally, Doctor Karen Jenson, a blood specialist. She meets Blade when he arrives just in time to save her from Quinn, another vampire. She gets bit by Quinn, before Blade arrives but before she bleeds out he gets her to Whistler who patches her up. Karen is still in danger of turning into a vampire. She decides, after another close call, to stay close to Blade.

Better Call Saul 4.03

Something Beautiful

Victor and Tyrus stage a scene which makes it look like Arturo and Nacho were the victims of a hit. Nacho has a couple bullet wounds. One is in his side but he calls the cousins. They come and pick him up and take him to the doctor, the same doctor that Mike turned to for work. Nacho's life is saved but the doctor can't be sure that there aren't serious internal injuries.

Mike turns down Jimmy's job offer. He doesn't want it. Jimmy calls the doctor and finds someone else who is willing to steal the alpine shepherd boy figurine from the copier business office. Jimmy envisions the job as being quick and easy but it turns out to be anything but due to one unforeseen detail. The manage of the copier business is sleeping in his office because his wife is angry with him.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Park Row (1952)

Park Row (1952)

starring Gene Evans, Mary Welch
written, directed, and produced by Samuel Fuller

83 minutes

Phineas Mitchell (Gene Evans), an experienced newspaper man, gets the opportunity, in the late 1800s, to turn an old print shop into a newspaper. Mitchell runs with it and does everything he can to not only print newsworthy stories in The Globe but also hire people who help to innovate the technology of newspaper publications.

The Globe has a rival, a newspaper that has been around for quite some time, The Star. Charity Hackett (Mary Welch), the publisher of the Star, doesn't care for the competition. She does what she can to put the Globe out of business. 

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes 1.07

Hard Knocks

Reed is attempting to help his friend, Bruce Banner, when he unexpectedly causes him to transform into the Hulk. Reed is knocked unconscious. Reed's teammates, unaware that Bruce Banner is the Hulk, start to fight with the Hulk. Reed clues them in once he recovers consciousness.

The Baxter Building is infiltrated by agents of Home Base, led by Agent Pratt. The forces fo Home Base attempt to capture the Fantastic Four but in the end settle for their original target, the Hulk, who by then has transformed back into Bruce Banner. The Fantastic Four go after Agent Pratt and the Hulk. They catch up to them in the desert.

Friday, December 29, 2023

Breaker Morant (1980)

Breaker Morant (1980)

starring Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown
co-written and directed by Bruce Beresford

Lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown), and George Witton are put on trial for murdering prisoners of war and civilians in 1901, during the Boer War. They were part of the Bushveldt Carbineers, an Australian commando unit that frequently operated behind enemy lines. They were given orders that prisoners were to be shot and killed by their commanding officer, Captain Hunt, who was killed not long before they were accused of war crimes.

Major Thomas (Jack Thompson), a lawyer who has never defended anyone or even tried a case, is assigned as their legal counsel. He is given very little time to prepare for the trial. The prosecutor, by comparison is given six weeks to get ready. Major Thomas tries repeatedly to argue the facts of the case and prove that they were in fact ordered to kill prisoners.

The fact of the matter is that Morant, Handcock, Witton, and Thomas had the odds stacked against them. They were pawns in a bigger game. The British government was trying to get peace negotiations going by proving that it could be impartial.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.10

Risky Bismuth

Tinfoil Kevin builds Dr. Karamazov a robotic body that he can use to get around. Dr. Karamazov tells Arthur, Tinfoil Kevin, and the Tick about his personal history and why he thinks Superian is ill. The Tick continues to think that he's a robot.

Dot fins out where Ms. Lint's gang is planning to strike next. She tells Overkill but he isn't interested in what her sleuthing has turned up. 

Ms. Lint gets interrupted, by a phone call from the Terror who needs some business advice, while she is trying to lead her gang on a raid on a power plant. Overkill shows up despite telling Dot that he wasn't interested in what she found. The Very Large Man starts to head towards town and Superian is till in bad shape when the episode ends.

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes 1.04

Doomed

Dr. Doom injects Reed Richards with a serum that allows him to switch bodies with Richards. Doom proceeds to do what he can, while in Mr. Fantastic's body, to wreck havoc in the Bazter Building. Reed wakes up and finds himself trapped in Doom's body within a force field created by Doom within Doom's headquarters.

Mr. Fantastic, still trapped in Doom's body, escapes from Doom's lair and heads to the Baxter Building. His former teammates don't recognize him and attack him on sight/ Sue figures out what is up and teams up with Reed, while he is still trapped in Doom's body, and helps him reverse the process and defeat Doom.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 11.05.03

Planet of the Spiders - Part Three

Lupton and the spider teleport back to the meditation center. The Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and Mike Yates come looking for Lupton. The blue crystal is stolen by Tommy who thinks it is very pretty. Tommy tries to show the blue crystal to Sarah Jane but she is too busy to listen. He also tries to show it to the Doctor, who similarly is too focused on finding Lupton and Sarah Jane to listen.

Lupton and the spider are mystically transported to Metebelis III. Sarah Jane steps on the mandala and is also transported to Metebelis III. Sarah is captured by Tuar, a human who thinks she is a spy. Tuar's family disagrees. They hide her when the queen of the spiders shows up.

The Doctor gets in the TARDIS and travels to Metebelis III. he arrives just as Sarah Jane is about to be taken prisoner by the spider queen's guards. The Doctor fights with the guards but is struck down by one of guards with an electrical blast of energy.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

UFO Robo Grendizer 3.15

Destroy the Marine Base

or Suicidal Explosion of the Undersea Base
or Opération plongée (Diving operation)

Zuril gets pushed by Vega Daio to finish off Grendizer. Zuril launches a swarm of bomb carrying balloons. They strike the Space Science Center. Professor Umon orders Kouji, Maria, and Hikaru to head out in Double Spazer, Drill Spazer, and Marine Spazer and deal with the balloons. They do just that and find the source of the balloons but Grendizer shows up when things get to be a little too intense for them.

Grendizer and Marine Spazer combine and dive underwater in pursuit of the vessel that was launching the balloons. They are attacked by two saucer beast but they manage to make it back to surface and then back to the Space Science Center.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Better Call Saul 4.02

Breathe

Gus has Victor check up on Hector Salamanca, find out how he is doing.

Jimmy gets up early and goes to interview for a couple of jobs, sales jobs. He gets one offer but he turns it down and laughs in the faces of the guys who offer it to him.

Nacho goes to see his father. He tries to tell him that he has taken care of everything but his father doesn't buy what his son is telling him. Nacho soon finds out his father may be right.

Mike has a meeting with Lydia. She doesn't like what he did and wants him to stop. He sees it differently and says he will continue to act like a security contractor because it reinforces his cover story. Lydia calls Gus and asks him to get Mike to stop it. Gus does not. 

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

starring Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda
written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

124 minutes

in Japanese with English subtitles

Twelve year old Mahito Makai (Soma Santoki) moves with his father to the countryside after his mother is killed when the hospital in which she works is destroyed during a bombing run by Allied forces. Mahito grudgingly accepts Natsuko, his father's second wife who is also his mother's younger sister, as his new mother.

Mahito is intrigued by a gray herron that he sees the first day in his new home. Mahito is pulled into another world while investigating a mysterious abandoned building. Mahito is convinced that Natsuko, who went missing, must be somewhere in the abandoned building.

Mahito crosses paths with the gray heron (Masaki Suda) more than once. He meets Kiriko, a younger version of a women from the world from which he came. Kiriko helps him to find his bearings. Himi, a fire spirit who helps him find Natsuko, very much resembles a younger version of his mother.

Mahito's quest to find his new mother and bring her back home brings him into contact with his great grand-uncle who built the mysterious abandoned building.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfect Blue (1997)

starring Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji
directed by Satoshi Kon

82 minutes

in Japanese with English subtitles

Mima Kirigoe (Junko Iwao) is urged by her manager to move on from being the lead singer of a girl grop to try a career in acting. She has doubts but follows her manager's advice. She gets a small part in a popular TV show, Double Bind. The small part eventually grows into a bigger part.

Mima starts to experience hallucinations. Her career in front of the camera gets blurred with her real life. Someone has set up a fan page on the internet. Who ever is running the web site seems to know lots of intimate details of her life.

Mima imagines that she has stalker. He looks just like a security guard from her last concert with the girl group. She thinks she seems him on the set of the Double Bind, numerous times. People from her professional life get murdered. The stalker eventually comes after Mima.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Invincible 2.04

It's Been a While

Nolan flashes back and remembers how he almost killed himself after his fight with his son. Mark isn't ready to forgive his father. Nolan doesn't try to apologize but he does try to explain how he needs Mark's help. Mark eventually relents and agrees to listen. Nolan introduces him to his current lover and his new son.

Debbie starts to get rid of stuff that remind her of Nolan. Eve goes to see Amber and Will. Eve later fights a villain who kills a couple innocent bystanders. Amber decides to go back to living with her parents.

Three Viltrumites show up on Thraxa looking for Nolan. Mark tries to hide his father's gal and his half-brother but one of the Viltrumites finds them. He almost kills them but Nolan shows up and kills the other Viltrumite.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Cover Up (1949)

Cover Up (1949)

starring William Bendix, Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton
directed by Alfred E. Green

82 minutes

Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe), an insurance investigator, travels first by train and then by bus to a small town outside of Chicago. He meets Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton) as they are getting off the train and boarding a bus. He meets her parents and her younger sister once they get to town.

Sam goes to see Sheriff Best (William Bendix) after parting ways with Anita and her relatives. Sam is there to investigate the suicide of Phillips, a man who was insured for $20,000. He wants to make sure that it was really a suicide because if it was murder then the benefit doubles to $40,000.

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 11.05.02

Planet of the Spiders - Part Two

The giant spider leaps on the back of Lupton, the leader of the meditation center, and disappears. Sarah Jane and Mike are stunned by what they see but keep quiet and avoid detection. Mike sends Sarah back to find the Doctor. Mike tries to visit with Cho-Je, the monk, but first Tommy and then Lupton prevent that from happening.

The Doctor and the Brigadier wonder about what killed Professor Clegg. The Doctor rewinds the device that the professor was attached to and see that he was thinking of giant spiders. Sarah gets back and tells the Doctor about what she saw in the basement of the meditation center.

Lupton communicates with the giant spider that merged with him. It leads him to the same UNIT bulding where the Doctor is located. The spider senses the crystal. It wants the crystal. Lupton uses powers the spider gives him to zap guards, including Sergeant Benton, with bolts of electricity. Lupton steals the crystal and takes off in the Whomobile.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

The Phil Silvers Show 3.16

Bilko and the Colonel's Secretary

Colonel Hall gets a new secretary, Corporal Blanche Ripley. Biko tries to butter her up so that he and his men don't get picked for work details. His plan goes awry and he is forced to do what he can to get Corporal Ripley transferred.

Thoughts

This one is not so hot. It isn't downright awful but it felt like it was all build up to me. I was hoping there would be a big payoff in the end but there wasn't.

Monday, December 18, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.09

My Dinner with Android

An awkward conversation between Arthur and Dangerboat, while Arthur is showering, convinces Arthur that he and the Tick need to move out of Dangerboat and back into his apartment. 

Arthur is contacted by Professor Karamazov. He needs Arthur's help. Urmanian agents, a woman and a robot, approach Arthur and the Tick, before they find Karamazov. The Tick starts to think that he is robot when he notices some similarities between himself and the Urmanian robot.

Dot goes to see Overkill. She wants to return his gun. He gives her a new, smaller gun and shooting lessons.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Is That Black Enough For You? (2022)

Is That Black Enough For You? (2022)

written, directed, and narrated by Elvis Mitchell

This documentary presents Elvis Mitchell's theories about the development and impact of Black movies, primarily the ones made from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. There are clips of interviews with a number of people including, but not limited, to Harry Belafonte, Charles Burnett. Antonio Fargas, Lawrence Fishburne, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Glynn Turman, Mario Van Peebles, and Billy Dee Williams.

Mitchell describes the impact that dozens of Black movies and Black actors made on Hollywood and the business of making movies. The scope of the movie starts earlier than the late 1960s but it does not linger in the earlier period for very long. The scope of the movie does not extend past the late 1970s except to show images of movies that were influenced by movies from the late 1960s to late 1970s.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Better Call Saul 4.01

Smoke

Gene (aka future Jimmy) collapses at the Cinnabon. He is taken to the hospital. He didn't have a heart attack or stroke. He is released. He gets a bit of a scare while checking out when he is asked for his driver's license and social security number. Later, he gets scared enough by the cab driver that comes to pick him up at the hospital that halfway to his destination he gets out and walks.

Mike quits his job at the parking lot. He gets his first paycheck from Madrigal. He goes to the warehouse, sneaks in with someone else's badge, and takes stock of how things are run at the warehouse. He provides a report once he has gathereed enough evidence of employee behavior that does not conform to company standard operating procedure.

Don Hector is taken to the hospital. Nacho meets with Juan Bolsa, Don Hector's boss, and is ordered to keep things running smoothly. He gets rid of the extra pills after the meeting, unaware that one of Gus's men is observing him from a distance.

Chuck died in the fire. Jimmy mopes around. He doesn't seem to know what to do or how to act. Howard comes to see Jimmy, after the funeral. Howard tells him about the fight he had with Chuck and how he forced him out of HHM. Jimmy's mood picks up considerably once Howard confesses.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant
directed by Howard Hawks

102 minutes

David Huxley's (Cary Grant) life gets turned upside soon after he meets Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn). He's a paleontologist who is about to get married when Susan enters the picture. She's a woman with a leopard that loves the song I Can't Give You Anything But Love. She needs help transporting her leopard to Connecticut. He agrees to help her and then gets stuck at her aunt's home in Connecticut .

David brought a rare dinosaur bone with him to Connecticut but George, Susan's aunt's dog, runs off with the bone. Baby, the leopard escapes. David and Susan try to find the dog and the leopard. Susan's aunt doesn't understand what they are doing.

Baby gets confused with another leopard that escapes from a circus truck. The local police get involved.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Invincible 2.03

This Missive, This Machination!

Mark starts college with Amber and Will. He rooms with Will, on campus. He has sex with Amber on their first day in the dorm.

Allen the Alien gets a backstory spotlight. His people fought the Viltrumites and lost. Allen was scientifically bred to be superior to the average Unopan but he was never able to defeat a single Viltrumite.

Allen (in the present) meets with Thaedus, leader of the Coalition of Planets, on the planet Telescria. Thaedus tasks Allen with figuring out who is the spy in the coalition's midst. Allen spends some time with Telia, his girlfriend. Allen is approached and almost killed by a trio of Viltrumites before he can even get started on the task Thaedus has asked him to do.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 11.05.01

Planet of the Spiders - Part One

The Doctor and the Brigadier meet with Professor Clegg, a psychic. The Doctor is curious about the professor's mental abilities. The professor moves things with his mind, sees images of the past while holding the sonic screwdriver, and is able to see the contents of an unopened package the Doctor received from Jo Grant.

Mike Yates and Sarah Jane Smith investigate a mediation center. The men who run the center have their suspicions about Mike who has his own suspicions about the center. Sarah and Mike talk to a monk who lives on the premises and meet Tommy, a mentally challenged adult who works at the center.

Professor Clegg dies while he and the Doctor are conducting an experiment. The professor was holding the large blue crystal, that the Doctor received from Jo Grant, when he died.

Sarah and Mike leave the meditation center but then sneak back in to see whatever it is that the men who run the place are hiding in the basement. They get there just in time to witness a meditation ceremony during which a giant spider materializes.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

The Phil Silvers Show 3.15

Bilko and the Flying Saucers

Bilko wants to go to Washington, DC to reunite with Bonnie, a gal he hasn't seen since 1943. He cooks up a scheme to get him sent to Washington to report on recent sightings of UFOs near Fort Baxter. His scheme involves convincing MSgt Ritzik and Major Lukens that they also saw UFOs.

Thoughts

Colonel Hall is not in this episode. Major Lukens is left in charge of Fort Baxter while Colonel Hall is away.

Bilko's and Bonnie's recollections of their last meeting don't exactly match,

Monday, December 11, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.08

After Midnight

The Tick and Overkill make it out of the Terror's collapsed underground lair alive thanks to the Tick's quick thinking. The Tick, Overkill, Arthur, and Dot compare notes before going their separate ways. Overkill goes back to Dangerboat. Arthur and the Tick make a stop by his apartment and then go to a book event featuring Midnight, the talking super-heroic German Shepherd.

Midnight doesn't want to talk to Arthur and the Tick. They get ejected from the book event. Walter, Arhut's stepfather, is also at the signing. Arthur goes to see Overkill. Arthur has figured out that Overkill was once a superhero named Straight Shooter. Arthur wants Overkill to come to the book event and tell Midnight about the Terror's plan to kill Superian.

Ms. Lint starts to take over Ramses gang. Dot goes to the gun range. Someone is following Arthur and the Tick around in a dark car.

Overkill comes to the book event. He gets into first an argument and then a fight with Midnight.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

starring Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monte Woolley
directed by William Keighley

Sheridan Whitehead (Monte Woolley), writer and radio personality, is visiting a small town in Ohio when he slips and falls. The people at whose home he was supposed to have dinner allow him to stay until he gets better. They quickly learn to regret being so generous.

Whitehead pushes everyone around. The only person who pushes back is Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis), his secretary. She's had enough of his shenanigans. She decides to quit after meeting and falling in love with Bert Jefferson, the owner/editor/reporter for the local paper. Sheridan refuses to take the news sitting down, even though he is confined to a wheelchair while he recovers, and quickly comes up with a scheme to break up Maggie and Bert.

Sheridan Whitehead convinces Lorraine Sheldon (Ann Sheridan), an actress who spends most of her time chasing after a rich man, to come to Ohio. Bert has written a play and Sheridan is convinced that if Lorraine can distract Bert enough then Maggie will throw in the towel and continue to work for him.

Maggie gets wise to Sheridan's ploy and comes up with a scheme of her own to chase Lorraine away from Bert. It works until Sheridan figures out what she's up to and pulls the rug out from under her. The scheming doesn't end there.

Friday, December 8, 2023

The Killing (1956)

The Killing (1956)

starring Sterling Hayden
directed by Stanley Kubrick

85 minutes

Johnny (Sterling Hayden), recently released from prison, plans to rob the horse racetrack on the same day as a big race. He has several partners in the venture. Two of them work at the race track: Mike, a bartender, and George (Elisha Cook, Jr.), a cashier. Randy, a policeman, and Marvin are also in on the heist. Johnny also hires two men to cause confusion at the track on the day of the heist: Maurice and Nikki.

George is married to Sherry, who cares about nothing but money. George tries to impress Sherry by telling her about how he will soon be rich, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sherry has a boyfriend on the side. She tells her boyfriend about what George is up to. 

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.X

Into the Unknown: The Making of Underworld

2009

30 minutes

People Interviewed
  • Anthony Read, script editor (1976-79)
  • Bob Baker, writer
  • Dick Coles, designer
  • AJ Mitchell, electronic effects designer
  • Norman Tipton, Idas
  • Jonathan Newth, Orfe

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Invincible 2.02

In About Six Hours I Lose My Virginity to a Fish

Mark, Amber, Eve, and the rest of their class graduate from high school. He is still working for Cecil. His mother doesn't like it. She is still adjusting to her life post Omni Man's rampage.

The Global Guardians continue to train under the tutelage of the Immortal. They get a new teammate, a Martian who calls himself Shape Smith but doesn't reveal that he is really a Martian.

Cecil sends Mark to an underseas kingdom to face justice for something his father did. Mark thinks they want him to marry the queen. They don't. They make him fight a giant sea monster. 

Atom Eve goes home to see her parents/ Her father has lost the job he had for 20 years. He now works at Burger Mart, a fast food joint. She tries to help them but they don't want any assistance if involves her superpowers. Her father feels especially strong about not accepting his daughter's hand outs.

The episode ends with another view of Angstrom Levy and the Invincible of another dimension.

Monday, December 4, 2023

Moonlighting 1.06

The Murder's in the Mail

Roy Hirsch, a CIA operative, returns to the US only to discover that the flight he was originally scheduled to take crashed, killing everyone aboard. He heads home but something one of his neighbors tells him in the lobby of his building leads him to suspect that someone is trying to kill him. Hirsch leaves without entering his apartment.

Maddie and David squabble over bills. He reveals that he has found some more work for them collecting bills for a collection agency. The second person they go to collect from turns out to be Roy Hirsch. He is home by then but he is murdered between the time he buzzes them in and the time they get up to his apartment. Maddie and David try to get the police involved but the killer has already covered his tracks and moved the body.

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

starring Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld
directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

117 minutes

Teenager Miles Morales gets bit by a spider while hanging out with his Uncle Aaron. He thinks nothing of it until he discovers he has acquired super powers. He can stick to walls. He stumbles across a fight between Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and the Green Goblin.

The Green Goblin is working for the Kingpin and is trying to stop Spider-Man from interfering in an experiment being conducted by Dr. Olivia Octavius, who is also working for Kingpin. She is attempting to open an inter-dimensional portal. Spider-Man gets killed but entrusts Miles with a thumb drive or goober (as he calls it) which if used properly can shut down Dr. Octavius' portal.

Friday, December 1, 2023

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Cruel Intentions (1999)

starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon
directed by Roger Kumble

97 minutes

Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) makes a bet with Katherine (Sarah Michelle Gellar), his step sister, that he can seduce Annette (Reese Witherspoon) into sleeping with him. Annette wrote an essay that was printed in Seventeen in which she explained why she was planning to stay chaste until she got married. All three of them are students at an elite prep school in New York City. Annette knows nothing of the bet,

Sebastian gets close to Annette but things get complicated when he finds himself falling for her. She gives him an opening which would win him the bet but he feels conflicted. He is with her one minute and not the next. He breaks her heart and then sends her his journal which explains everything about the bet, Katherine, and Cecile another girl he seduced.

Annette is ready to forgive Sebastian when he is hit by a car and killed. She was in the vehicle's path. He pushed her to safety but was unable to escape the speeding car.

Thursday, November 30, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.07

Tale from the Crypt

The Tick can't find Arthur. He finally checks Arthur's apartment. He finds Overkill and Dot there but Arthur is nowhere to be found. The trio go back to Overkill's sentient boat and come up with a plan. Tick stays in the boat. Overkill and Dot go looking for signs of Arthur in a cemetery.

Arthur is chained up. The Terror plays the drums. Arthur escapes with some help from Ms. Lint, although it turns out she is doing it because the Terror told her to. Arthur gets out of his cell by using the key that Ms Lint gave him. He finds the flying suit and puts it on. 

Dot Finds a sign of Arthur. The Tick comes flying in and breaks into the Terror's underground lair, which is below the cemetery. Dot stays outside to keep watch while the Tick and Overkill go looking for Arthur in the underground lair.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.04

Underworld - Part Four

The Doctor, Leela, Idas, and the crew of the R1C break into the P7E. The crew of the R1C fight with the guards while the Doctor, Leela, and Idas go after the golden cylinders which contain the race banks of the Minyan people.

The seers decide to release Herrick and give him the golden cylinders. A temporary truce is declared. Herrick returns with the others and the cylinders (which turn out to be fakes) to the R1C.

The Doctor finds the real golden cylinders and has a chat with the oracle, the P7E's computer. It doesn't give up the golden cylinders willingly. The Doctor, Leela, and Idas return to the R1C. The fake golden cylinders are bombs, according to K-9's analysis. The Doctor returns them and comes back with all the Trogs.

The R1C blasts off and leaves the planet. The P7E blows up.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Invincible 2.01

A Lesson For Your Next Life

Angstrom Levy, a scientist who has the power to travel between dimensions, breaks the Mauler Twins out of the detention facility where they are being held. He wants their help. He has grabbed alternate versions of himself from other dimensions. He wants to know everything that his alternate selves know.

Invincible is still recovering from the fight with his father, from the end of the previous seasons. He wants to work for Cecil but Cecil tells him to cool his heels. He isn't ready to trust Mark just yet. Cecil eventually changes his mind. The New Global Guardians aren't as effective as he would like them to be. He brings in the Immortal to train them.

Invincible is sent to stop the Mauler twins. Cecil doesn't know that it's them but the energy readings coming from their new lab are off the charts. The Maulers have built a device that should help Levy to learn everything that his alternate selves know. He has altruistic motives but Invincible's interference changes things.

Levy bore no ill will towards Invincible, until now.

Monday, November 27, 2023

Moonlighting 1.05

Next Stop Murder

Ms. DiPesto wins a ride on J.B. Ballard's Murder Mystery Train. Maddie and David take Agnes to the train station. They escort Agnes on to the train but then they get stuck on the train and are unable to disembark before it takes off.

The planned murder mystery doesn't go exactly as planned. Ballard turns up dead. Agnes and Roy, one of Ballard's employees, get interested in one another. David and Maddie try to solve the mystery. More than one of the other passengers is suspected of killing J.B. until David solves the mystery.

There is a struggle when the killer tries to escape. David and Maddie chase the killer on to the roof of the train, while it is still moving.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

The Phil Silvers Show 3.14

Bilko F.O.B. Detroit

Bilko and his men are sent to Detroit to pick up some new trucks. They are supposed to be back at Fort Bazter in no more than two days. Bilko comes up with an excuse to stay longer. The owner of the company that manufactured the trucks sees right through Bilko's scheme and momentarily gets the upper hand. The tables turn once again when Bilko talks the company owner into one of his hairbrained schemes and turns the tables back in his own favor.

Thoughts

This was not a brilliant episode. It doesn't really go anywhere, other than Detroit.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Lady Snowblood (1973)

Lady Snowblood (1973)

starring Meiko Kaji
directed by Toshiya Fujita

97 minutes

Yuki is raised and trained to get revenge on the people who killed her father and raped her mother. One of them is already dead, killed by Yuki's mother who was later sent to prison where she died giving birth to Yuki.

Yuki, once she is an adult, seeks out the remaining two men and one woman.

Each of the three people she seeks presents their own challenge.

Friday, November 24, 2023

Training Day (2001)

starring Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke
directed by Antoine Fuqua

122 minutes

Jake's (Ethan Hawke) first day working for Alonzo (Denzel Washington), a decorated undercover LAPD detective, doesn't exactly go as he thought it would. He quickly finds himself butting heads with Alonzo and getting bullied into doing things that he otherwise would not. Before he knows it, Alonzo is asking Jake to kill another cop. Alonzo has his reasons for doing what he does and eventually these reasons become clear.

Thoughts

This is the second time I have seen this movie. The first time was about 21 years ago in early Nov 2002. That time it was a Netflix rental. This time I watched it on Tubi. I don't recall exactly what my reaction was to the movie in 2002.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.06

Rising

Arthur (and the Tick) and Overkill can't come to an agreement about what to do with Ramses. Overkill injects him with a truth telling serum which helps them to learn where the Terror's hideout is located. Arthur wants to turn Ramses over to the Feds, AEGIS, and let them handle the rest. Overkill disagrees with this approach but lets them walk out with Ramses.

Ms. Lint talks to the Terror. She thought he was killed 13 years ago. She was his right hand at the time. She has a hard time grasping why he didn't tell her that he was still alive. The Terror doesn't understand why she didn't kill Ramses years ago.

Dot decides that she needs to start hanging around with Arthur, in order to protect him. Arthur says no but Dot starts to gather some gear.

Arthur and the Tick get distracted and lose track of Ramses. The villain uses a RPG like weapon to try and kill a bus full of innocent civilians. Arthur and the Tick save everyone aboard the bus. The story goes viral.

Ms. Lint finds and kills Ramses. Arthur gets kidnapped by the Terror.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Orange Is the New Black 6.13

Be Free

Chapman finds out that she has been granted early release. Flores is also among those granted early release. Chapman has mixed emotions. She wants out but she doesn't want to leave Vause.

Flaca talks Cindy into covering the kickball game with her.

Barb and Carol get their respective gangs geared up for the kickball game. They each tell their people that they want there to be violence and lots of it.

CO Alvarez announces that the betting pool will have to end early because Mendoza found Luschek's score sheet.

Aleida comes to see her daughter. Daya is high at the time and it shows. Aleida confronts Hopper about what she witnessed, once she gets backto his place.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.03

Underworld - Part Three

The Doctor reverses the blowers. The noxious gas is sucked out of the caverns. The Doctor heads back to the R1C once he has recovered from the effects of the gas. He sends K-9 to find the crew of the R1C.

The Doctor, Leela, and Ilas go looking for Idmon, father of Ilas, who is due to be executed. They use a back entrance to get into the P7E. They are spotted and captured by the guards and brought to the chamber where Idmon is about to be executed. Ilas interferes with the ceremony and saves his father's life.

Jackson and the other crew members of the R1C show up just in time to help the Doctor, Leela, Ilas, and the other Trogs (workers) escape from the guards of the P7E. Herrick gets captured but everyone else gets away.

Monday, November 20, 2023

Moonlighting 1.04

The Next Murder You Hear

A late night radio talk show host is murdered while broadcasting. David suggests that he and Maddie should try to solve the case even though no one has hired them to do it. Maddie is reluctant but eventually she comes around.

Maddie and David discover that the "murdered" talk show host faked his own death. He has been having an affair with Laura, whose husband owns the radio station. The plan was to convince her husband that he was dead and then they could go on with their affair. The plot thickens when Arthur, the owner of the radio station, turns up dead.

Sunday, November 19, 2023

The Phil Silvers Show 3.13

Bilko at Bay

Bilko plans a trip to New York with Corporals Barbella and Henshaw. They make arrangements to stop at the homes of the men in the platoon in order to save money on food. Everything is going well until they get to Altoona, the home of Private Doberman. Mrs. Doberman runs a boarding house and has two men staying in her boarding house.

The two men staying at Mrs. Doberman's boarding are pretending to be on a vacation filled with fishing but they are actually bank robbers. They are waiting for the third member of their gang to show up.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Body and Soul (1947)

Body and Soul (1947)

starring John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks
directed by Robert Rossen

104 minutes

Charley Davis (John Garfield) aspires to be a professional boxer. His father, the owner of a small candy store, is killed by mob violence. Charley's mother does not approve of her son's chosen life style but Charley is determined.

Charley meets and falls in love with Peg (Lilli Palmer), a painter. She, unlike his mother, tries to be supportive. Charley has his heart set on making it in boxing to the point that he accepts an offer from Roberts, a fight promoter, to fix some fights. Charley can't see the dangerous path he is taking, even after Ben Chaplin, another boxer, gets seriously injured.

Charley's devotion to his career drives a wedge between himself and Peg. He starts hanging out with Alice (Hazel Brooks) who like him seems most interested in money. Charley eventually goes back to Peg after Ben dies. The climax of the film is a fight in which Charley has to defend the championship belt. He has already made a deal with Roberts to throw the fight and has to decide whether to honor that deal or be true to himself.

Friday, November 17, 2023

The Tick (2016) 1.05

Fear of Flying

Arthur gets the wings out and starts to fly but he had trouble controlling the suit. He calls Dot and gets her to put the Tick on the phone. Arthur explains the situation and that he needs help. He doesn't want Dot to know what's going on.

The Tick and Dot get in her car and go out looking for Arthur. Overkill becomes aware that Arthur is flying over the city but he doesn't know who he is at first. Ramses and several of his men are using a tracking device to follow Arthur's flight path.

Arthur is pulled out of the sky by Overkill while he is trying to land near a water tower. The Tick and Dot arrive near the water tower moments later. The Tick and Overkill almost get into a fight but then Ramses shows up with his men. Overkill and the Tick fight with Ranses and his men.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Orange Is the New Black 6.12

Double Trouble

Barb and Carol do not fight. They are eventually let out of the cell and returned to their respective parts of the maximum security section of Litchfield. They both start planning for war once they get back home.

Linda gets Fig's help in organizing a video shoot. It is all part of a branding campaign to improve what used to be MCC (and is now PCC) look better. Linda tasks Fig with ranking all the employees. Fig turns the work over to CO Hopper. 

Baddison continues to give Chapman a hard time. Chapman has a plan but Vause tries to talk her out of it, once she hears what it is. Chapman goes ahead with her plan and approaches CO Hopper. She tells him about the heroin that Baddison planted in her cell. He is confused but she doesn't get a shot or sent to the SHU.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.02

Underworld - Part Two

The Doctor's plan works. The R1C, the spaceship, blasts its way out of the debris that is forming around it. The crew uses the last of the fuel to escape from the debris. They pick up the signal from the P7E and follow it. They crash through the soft crust of a planet. They sink below the surface until they find the solid core of the planet.

There are people living down there. Some of the people are workers, others are guards. The crew goes out to do to a little reconnaissance. They insist that the Doctor and Leela stay behind in the R1C. The Doctor only hesitates briefly once the others have left before heading out for a look around.

The Doctor and Leela are spotted by the guards but manage to get away. Idas, one of the workers, runs away from the guards. He gets into the R1C. The Doctor and Leela find him there and try to help him. The Doctor heads out again even though it is clear that the area around the R1C is being fumigated. He collapses after being overcome by the smoke, while tinkering with some machinery he finds.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Invincible 2.00

Presenting Atom Eve

This is the story of Samantha Wilkins, the girl who became Atom Eve, how she got her powers, and what happened to her real mother. Samantha's birth mother was part of a government experiment to create a super-weapon. Samantha was supposed to be the super-weapon. Dr. Elias Brandyworth, the scientific head of the project, experienced a change of heart when Samantha's mother was close to being ready to give birth.

Dr. Brandyworth broke Samantha's mother out, of the government lab where she was being kept, and took her to a normal hospital. She died but Samantha survived. She was switched with another child and was raised by the Wilkins who never knew the truth about Samantha's origins.

Monday, November 13, 2023

Moonlighting 1.03

Read the Mind -- See the Movie

David and Maddie have been hired by SRT, a company that is developing a weapon for the US military. They get fired after a test goes horribly wrong. David is ready to move on but Maddie, who found the work, insists that they figure out what went wrong.

She has dinner with the president of SRT's number one competitor. She asks him how he found out what SRT was developing. He tells them he found out from a psychic. Maddie and David visit the psychic. David steals the psychic's appointment book which reveals that Brian, the current head of SRT, has been visiting the psychic.

David and Maddie return that night and stake out the psychic's home. They learn that night that the psychic has been helping Brian to convince his aging father, who owns SRT, that Vivian, Brian's sister, is incapable of running SRT.

Maddie and David are spotted while surveilling the house. They flee by undressing and jumping into the pool. Later that night they get a call from Vivian. She asks them to meet her at SRT. She tries to kill them with a laser gun but ends up bringing down a piece of the ceiling on herself.

Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Seventh Seal (1957)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

starring Max von Sydow
directed by Ingmar Bergman

96 minutes
Swedish with English subtitles

Antonius Block, a knight, and Jof, his squire, return from the Crusades and discover how the plague, the Black Death, has changed the land they left ten years before. The knight meets Death but he is not ready to go just yet. He challenges death to a game of chess.

Block and Jof are traveling back to Block's castle. Along the way they collect a few people who travel with them (an actor, an actress, and their child; a blacksmith and his wife; a teenage girl whom Jof saves from a predatory priest). They also cross paths with a young woman who has been accused of being a witch and is to be sacrificed for causing the plague, as her captors put it. 

Block encounters Death more than once. Each time they meet their game gets a little closer to ending.