Captain Harlock (1978) 1.28

The Ulysses Nebula

The Arcadia travels to the Ulysses Nebula. The nebula contains seven planets (Ice Planet, Insect Planet, Goat Planet, Wind Planet, Rainbow Planet, Twin Planets, Human Planet). The Arcadia goes to the Human Planet. There the crew meets a friend of Captain Harlock, Dr. Ayn. He lives there with Romeo (his son), Maria (Romeo's wife), plus Vena (his granddaughter) and Ikaru (his grandson), and several more people.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.03.03

Image of the Fendahl - Part Three

Leela saves the Doctor from the glowing skull. Max continues to put his plan into motion. He explains to Thea what he has in mind but it doesn't make much sense. Max captures Fendelman and Colby and ties them up in the basement.

The Doctor and Leela go to find Jack and his Gran. Jack's Gran seems to be in coma but the Doctor prattles on until she comes out if it. The Doctor talks to Mrs. Tyler and learns what he can about what she knows about whatever it is that's going on.

The Doctor and Leela go to the TARDIS for a bit. They try to find the origin of the 12 million year old skull but they wind up returning to the priory. Max and his followers are by then in the middle of a ritual. Max kills Fendelman.

The Doctor and Leela run into Jack Tyler and his Gran. They are talking when they get interrupted. They turn around and see a giant slug like creature headed towards them.

Watchmen (2019) 1.03

She Was Killed by Space Junk

FBI Agent Laurie Blake is tasked with investigating the death of Judd Crawford. There are doubts that the Seventh Kavalry killed Crawford. Her boss wants to send a team of agents with her but she only takes one, a very junior agent, Dale Petey. They arrive just in time for the funeral.

The funeral gets interrupted by a man in a Rorschach mask who has explosives attached to his body. He warns them that the explosives will detonate if he is killed. He demands that Senator Keane come with him. Agent Blake shoots and kills the man in the Rorschach mask.

Something on his body starts beeping. Angela quickly drags the dead man's body over to the open grave and pushes him in. She drops Crawford's coffin on top of it. The explosives detonate moments later.

The Phil Silvers Show 2.33

Bilko's Perfect Day

Bilko doesn't know it when he wakes up but it is his day. Everything is going to go his way. He fears the worst before he discovers what's going on. He scrambles to try and lay a wager on a horse race but the day ends before the race ends and takes his luck with it.

Thoughts

This was fun but not great.

The Great McGinty (1940)

The Great McGinty (1940)

starring Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff

written and directed by Preston Sturges

82 minutes

Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) a homeless man moves into local politics. He gets his start in politics by voting 37 times on election day. This impresses the local mob boss (Akim Tamiroff). The boss man hires him to collect protection money for him but it isn't long before McGinty graduates to running for alderman after the incumbent is sent to prison.

McGinty gets married to Catherine, his secretary, when he decides to run for Mayor. He doesn't really want to get married and neither does she. They come to an agreement which allows him to do as he pleases and her to continue working for him, as his wife.

Catherine and her young chidren, she's divorced, over time unintentionally push McGinty to reform his ways and try to be a better man. He can only do so much. Things come to a head after he wins the race for governor and gets into a fight with the mob boss who has been supporting him all along.

The Outfit (1973)

The Outfit (1973)

starring Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Karen Black

directed by John Flynn

103 minutes

Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) gets out of prison. He learns from Bett (Karen Black), his girlfriend, that his brother has been killed by the mob. Soon thereafter there is an attempt on Earl's life. Bett reveals that she was forced to set him up by Jake Menner, a mobster. It all goes back to a robbery that the two brothers pulled a few years before Earl got out of prison.

Earl and Bett go looking for Jack Cody (Joe Don Baker), the only other surviving member of the gang that pulled the heist. The three of them team up to get revenge on the mob for what they did to Earl's brother. They rob from the mob and demand a payout from Mailer (Robert Ryan), Menner's boss.

Eventually the mob starts to strike back and Earl decides that it is time for them to end the war by taking the fight to Mailer's home turf.

The Orville 1.10

Firestorm

The Orville passes through some astro-turbulence. Engineering is badly hit and a crew member gets caught under a piece of the wall that comes down on him. Alara rushes to Engineering to try and help when no one else can lift the debris under the trapped crew member. She freezes and more stuff falls on him and he dies. Alara blames herself.

Alara talks to Captain Mercer and tries to resign. He won't accept her resignation. Things start to get a little strange after that. She sees a clown, big spiders, a giant alien, Dr. Finn restrains Alara and tries to operate on her. 

Atlanta 4.04

Light Skinned Ed

Earn goes to church with his mother. They stop along the way to pick up her sister, his Aunt Jeanie, and her father. Earn and Jeanie get out of the car and then his mother drives off with her father. She told Earn she was going to do that, before she did it, before Jeanie and his grandfather got in the car. She just didn't share any details with Earn.

Earn's dad goes to the mall. He gets talked into buying a hat by a beautiful, young woman. He feels good about himself until he runs into a teen who makes him feel old.

Earn tries to leave church without his aunt but she catches him trying to sneak out. He goes to the studio where Alfred is hanging out with some of his friends. His Aunt Jeanie goes with him. She kicks everyone out except Alfred and Earn. She calls her siblings, including Earn's mother but that gets her nowhere so she calls the police. That doesn't help either. Alfred and Earn manage to sneak out while she is busy with the police.

Captain Harlock (1978) 1.27

The Will of the Arcadia

The Arcadia continues to battle with the Mazone fleet but Captain Harlock's men, including Yattaran, are overworked and need a break. Captain Harlock comes up with a a stratgy to buy them some time. The Arcadia attacks the civilian portion of the Mazone Fleet. This creates problems for Queen Lafresia.

The Mazone warriors are divided over the civilians within their midst. Some want to kill them. Queen Lafresia is not among them. She sends her agents to Earth to find out why Captain Harlock continues to fight for Earth. Her agents learn about Mayu. She is reluctant to kidnap Mayu but when various factions of the Mazone fleet start to turn on one another she decides that it must be done.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.03.02

Image of the Fendahl - Part Two

The Doctor escapes the thing in the woods that was approaching him at the end of the previous episode. Leela encounters Ted Moss again. He shoots at her with his shotgun and misses. She tears it out of his hands. They are soon joined by Jack Tyler. It is his gran's cottage that they are in and he wants to know what they are doing there.

Thea continues to be affected by the 12 million year old skull. Mitchell, one of the security guards, turns up dead with a bump on his neck. No one seems to know who did it. The Doctor shows up and starts asking questions of Colby. Thea collapses and starts glowing. Fendelman shows up and quickly accuses the Doctor of murdering Mitchell.

Suddenly (1954)

Suddenly (1954)

starring Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden

directed by Lewis Allen

77 minutes

John Baron (Frank Sinatra), a mob hitman, plans to assassinate the President of the United States during a planned stop in the small town of Suddenly. Baron and a couple of other mobsters, disguised as FBI agents, take over a house that overlooks the train station where the President will arrive. Pop Benson (James Gleason), the owner of the house, an elderly retired Secret Service Agent, lives there with his widowed daughter-in-law and his eight year old grandson.

Watchmen (2019) 1.02

Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship

Angela leaves the body but takes the old man in the wheelchair back to her bakery. He claims that is was he who hung the chief's body from the tree.

Angela has a flashback to the White Night, the night that most of the police officers in Tulsa were murdered, including Doyle. The children she now takes care of were Doyle's children.

Chief Crawford's body is found the next morning by the police. They suspect that the Seventh Kavalry is responsible for the murder. Red Menace leads the Tulsa police force in an act of retribution as they tear apart a camp of homeless White people. Angela is present but chooses not to participate until one of the homeless men attacks her.

NewsRadio 5.14

Hair

Joe attempts to cure Mr. James of his fear of hippies by using hypnosis. Lisa asks Max and Beth to look after Daisy, her puppy, but quickly regrets entrusting Daisy to her coworkers.

Thoughts

Dave "Gruber" Allen plays the part of a tech millionaire who has come to talk to Mr. James. This is his second and final appearance on NewsRadio. His previous appearance was in 4.04 (Super Karate Monkey Death Car) where he played a different character.

This isn't a great episode. I've seen worse but this wasn't a noteworthy episode.

Hexed (1993)

Hexed (1993)

starring Ayre Gross, Claudia Christian, Adrienne Shelly

written and directed by Alan Spencer

90 minutes

Matthew Welsh (Ayre Gross) lies to Gloria (Adrienne Shelly), his co-worker at Holiday Palace, about a lot of things. His penchant for lying and his adversarial relationship with Simon, his boss, leads him to fake his way into a relationship with Hexina (Claudia Christian), a supermodel.

Matthew soon discovers that Hexina isn't all that she seems. She has some skeletons in her closet. She kills someone and gets Matthew, while he is still in shock at what he witnessed, help her to cover up the crime. She later plants evidence to point the finger at him.

Matthew is pushed to further extremes as the police investigation, led by Detective Ferguson (R. Lee Ermey), gets closer to arresting him.

Charley Varrick (1973)

Charley Varrick (1973)

starring Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker

directed by Don Siegel

110 minutes

Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau) robs a bank with Nadine, his wife, and a couple accomplices They walk away with considerably more money than they thought they would. The getaway driver (Nadine)  gets shot during the heist and later dies from her wounds. Charley realizes that the money they got must be mob money and that they are in great danger.

Charley tries to get them out of town but the odds are stacked against him and Harman, the other surviving bank robber. The mob sends Molly (Joe Don Baker) after the bank robbers.

The Orville 1.09

Cupid's Dagger

Two aliens races, the Bruidians and the Navarians, are in dispute over the ownership of the planet Lopovius. They agree to let an archaeologist help them to settle the matter. The archaeologist is Darulio, the same Darulio that Ed caught Kelly sleeping with before they got divorced. Kelly quickly warms to Darulio and, before she knows it, she is back in bed with him. Ed is incensed but it isn't long before he starts to warm to Darulio, so much so that he grows jealous of Kelly.

Dr. Finn gives in to Yaffat's advances and gets intimate with him. Gordon, Alara, and the others are puzzled as to what is going on with Captain Mercer and Commander Grayson. It takes them a little while to piece it all together. A war almost breaks out between the Navarians and the Bruidians because Mercer and Grayson are ignoring them so that they can spend time with Darulio.

Atlanta 4.03

Born 2 Die

Paper Boi is hired by a middle aged white man to help his son, Benny, who is also a rapper. That gig leads to a meeting with Bunk, another music artist. Bunk introduces Paper Boi to a group that believes that in the power of the YWA (Young White Avatar). PB takes this to heart. He tries to sign Benny to a contract, even though he doesn't think much of his music, but Benny has already signed with Bunk. Paper Boi, instead, signs Yodel Kid, a friend of Benny. Yodel Kid becomes phenomenally successful extremely quickly but then he dies on the night of the Grammys.

Earn goes looking for D'Angelo, in the hopes of signing him. He is forced to wait for days. He finally gets in only to find that the man he has met isn't D'Angelo. He experiences a sort of spiritual awakening.

Captain Harlock (1978) 1.26

A Long Way Away Voyage

There is dissent within the ranks of the Mazone. Tesius, the Mazone's chief scientist, urges Queen Lafresia to let some of the civilians settle an inhabitable world. Cassandra, a Mazone military commander, urges Queen Lafresia to kill any and all who dare desert their cause, to retake Earth.

It was Tesius who first argued for moving the Mazone back to Earth. She now sees things differently and wants Queen Lafresia to consider another path. Tesius' words fall on deaf ears. Queen Lafresia cannot be swayed.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.03.01

Image of the Fendahl - Part One

Dr. Fendelman and the scientists working with him, (Adam Colby, Max Stael, Thea Ransome) at Fetch Priory (near Fetchborough) are performing some experiments (on what looks like a 12 million year old human skull) using electronics to probe into the origins of humanity. They don't realize it but their experiments are having some unintended consequences.

Max finds the body of a hiker, the next morning. Dr. Fendelman doesn't want anything to interfere with their work. He talks the others into keeping quiet about the body. He calls in some security to keep an eye on the perimeter.

Max performs a postmortem on the body of the hiker. He can't figure out how the man died. He tells Dr. Fendelman what he found and about how the body seems to be decomposing very rapidly. Fendelman orders him to dispose of the body.

The Phil Silvers Show 2.32

The Big Scandal

Bilko accidentally hynotizes Doberman into falling in love with Colonel Hall's wife. Bilko finds out that someone is in love with Mrs. Hall but doesn't know that person is Doberman. He gets Barbella and Henshaw to help him track down the identity of the Mrs. Hall's mystery lover. Bilko hires Stacked Suzie, a waitress, to be the Hall's new maid in an effort to make Mrs. Hall jealous and rethink her supposed affair.

Thoughts

This is a fun episode. It kind of silly but I like it. I like how Bilko is too confident in his own abilities to consider that the answer to the problem at hand is right in front of his face.

Stormy Weather (1943)

Stormy Weather (1943)

starring Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway

directed by Andrew L. Stone

78 minutes

This is a string of musical performances knitted together loosely by a bit of plot. The plot doesn't really go anywhere. The performances range in quality from good to great but the movie should be watched with the understanding that the plot is very whispy and ethereal.

If the movie has a central character then it is Bill Williamson (Bill Robinson). Selina Rogers (Lena Horne) gets introduced early on and sings a number of the songs but she is not really the central character even though she received top billing. Cab Calloway doesn't show up until past the halfway point in the film.

Priceless (2006)

Priceless (2006)

aka Hors de prix

starring Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmahleh

directer by Pierre Salvadori

Irene seduces Jean thinking that he is rich when he is actually just an employee of the hotel where she is staying with Jacques, her much older boyfriend. Jacques dumps Irene when he finds out what she's been up to. Jean wants to continue what happened between them but he can't afford to do that. A chance encounter leads to him meeting Madeleine an older woman who is more than happy to help him out in return for his attention and affection.

Irene and Jean continue to cross paths. She helps him to up his game with Madeleine while she keeps Gilles, her new boyfriend happy.

Watchmen (2019) 1.01

It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice

Tulsa, OK. 1921. A young boy escapes from mob violence.

Tulsa, OK. Present. A policeman almost gets killed during a traffic stop, at night. It's the work of a member of the Seventh Cavalry. The policeman was black. The shooter was white. 

Angela Abar (Regina King) works with the Chief Judd Crawford (Don Johnson) and his police officers to find the would be murderer. They locate him but he kills himself before they can arrest him.

The episode ends with Crawford driving to the hospital late at night. He drives into a trap, doesn't call for backup, and is killed. Angela finds his body after getting a mysterious phone call. The caller meets her under the tree where Crawford was hung. The caller is the boy who escaped the mob violence in Tulsa in 1921.

The Orville 1.08

In the Fold

Dr. Claire Finn tries to take Marcus and Ty, her two sons, on a brief vacation in one of the shuttles. Isaac is piloting when the shuttle gets sucked through a spatial fold. The shuttle is damaged and they are forced to land on an inhabitable moon. Dr. Finn gets separated from the others during the landing when the shuttle breaks in two.

Isaac looks after Marcus and Ty, who quarrel frequently. Dr. Finn is found by a local who locks her up but also takes care of her. He explains that most of the people on the planet have turned feral after getting infected by a waterborne pathogen. 

Isaac, Marcus, and Ty go looking for Claire but they are forced to turn back when Ty gets sick after falling in a stream. Dr. Finn escapes from the man who was holding her. She finds her communicator and contacts Isaac. She finds the others but dozens of feral people start closing in on them. Isaac and Marcus hold them off while Claire tries to do something for Ty. The Orville shows up just as it looks like the Dr. Finn and the others are about to get overrun.

Crash Landing on You 1.02

Episode 2

Yoon Se-ri finds out that she has unknowingly taken refuge Ri Jeong-hyuk's home. He allows her to stay. She wants to return to South Korea but there is no easy way to get her there. Kim Joo-meok, one of Jeong-hyuk's men who likes to watch South Korean television shows, knows someone who might be able to help smuggle her out of the country but not for a few days. For the present she will have to stay put and out of sight.

Atlanta 4.02

The Homeliest Little Horse

Earn goes to therapy. He talks to his therapist about why he left Princeton and how they want him to come back. It helps Earn or at least it seems to, at first.

Thoughts

That isn't much of a description. I didn't even mention the other central character in this story, Lisa. She wrote a book called The Homeliest Little Horse.

The purpose of this episode seems to be to make a statement about Earn's mental health. His visits to the therapist, I think there were two of them, are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Doctor Who (1963) 25.01 Extras (Part 2)

Davros Connections (2007)

43 minutes

This documentary charts the history of Davros, creator of the Daleks. It does it by examining the television episodes and audio dramas in which he appeared and through interviews with writers, directors, and actors.

Television

• Genesis of the Daleks
• Destiny of the Daleks
• Resurrection of the Daleks
• Revelation of the Daleks
• Remembrance of the Daleks

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Batman Be-Leaguered (2014)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Batman Be-Leaguered (2014)

22 minutes

Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg are forming a team, the Justice League. They invite Batman to be a member but he isn't interested. Members of the Justice League start to disappear which pushes Batman to investigate their disappearance and who might be behind it all.

Thoughts

This is one of several Lego DC Super Heroes short films. It doesn't feel like a film. It feels more like an episode of a TV show. 

My verdict is not great. I wasn't crazy about The Lego Batman Movie. This is in that same vein but not even remotely as funny or good (in any possible way) as the feature-length movie. I don't feel any desire to try any of the other short Lego DC Comics Super Heroes movies.

NewsRadio 5.13

Towers

Matthew turns 30 and gets distressed. He changes his look and starts acting very different. Mr. James decides that he wants to build his own twin towers that will look like his initials JJ.

Thoughts

I've seen worse from this show but this wasn't a great episode.

Mulan (1998)

Mulan (1998)

starring Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong

directed by Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft

87 minutes

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) takes her father's place in the army when the Huns invade. Her father is physically weak and she, not wanting to lose him and not looking forward to the life her parents and her society want her to live, takes the opportunity to take a different path. She has to conceal the fact that she is a woman. She has some help from Mushu (Eddie Murphy), a small dragon, who is sent by her ancestors.

Mulan proves to be a better soldier than most of her compatriots but she is eventually found out. She is dismissed from her service in the army by Li Shang (BD Wong), her commanding officer. She is getting ready to return home when she realizes that Li Shang and the others are in great danger.

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

starring William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette

directed by Michael Curtiz

73 minutes

Philo Vance (William Powell) investigates what at first glance looks to be a suicide. Vance quickly determines that it must have been murder, even though the victim was locked in a room with no clear way that the killer could have escaped. The chief suspect is the victim's brother but then he turns up dead in the same building, his brother's home, when he was supposed to have been hundreds of miles away.

Vance follows numerous clues and interviews a number of people who came into contact with the original victim in the last 24 hours before he was killed. More than one person seems to have had probably cause to kill.

The Orville 1.07

Majority Rule

Commander Grayson, Doctor Finn, Security Chief Kitan, and Lieutenant LaMarr take a shuttle to Sargus 4. They are there to retrieve a couple of Planetary Union anthropologists. The team disguises themselves as locals but quickly run into trouble. LaMarr gets arrested for insulting a national hero. His fate is to be decided by popular vote.

Captain Mercer turns to the Planetary Union for permission to break LaMarr out but that request is denied even though it could result in John getting lobotomized. Commander Grayson stays near to LaMarr while Security Chief Kitan and Doctor Finn turn to a local for help. They take her to the Orville. She gives them some advice on how they could sway the voting.

Captain Harlock (1978) 1.25

Dr. Zero and Mii

The Arcadia comes into contact with the Mazone fleet. Three comets passing nearby jam everyone's instruments. Dr. Zero decides that it is time for him to be more than a doctor and join the fight. The Arcadia launches fighters and attacks the Mazone fleet, once the comets have ceased to jam their instruments.

The Arcadia goes after the largest ship in the fleet, believing it to be the Queen Lafresia's flagship. The humans discover that it is a passenger ship, loaded with Mazone civilians.

Atlanta 4.01

The Most Atlanta

Darius tries to return an air fryer while the department store he takes it to is getting looted. He gets chased by an older white woman in a motorized wheelchair. He's still got the air fryer that he was trying to return. She thinks he stole it.

Alfred goes on a scavenger hunt that ultimately leads him to the funeral for another musical artist, Blue Blood.

Earn and Van get trapped in a mall where they keep running into people they've dated before.