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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.