Thursday, October 31, 2024

Dan Da Dan 1.02

That's a Space Alien, Ain't It?!

Momo and Okarun go over to her place. Her grandmother isn't home. Okarun experiences great pain and catches on fire when he tries to walk through the gate to the property. It has something to do with a barrier that her grandmother erected and the fact that Okarun has had a curse placed on him.

Momo disables the barrier and they go inside. They change clothes and are talking about what to do next when they realize that something is outside. The something turns out to a giant creature that kind of resembles a sumo wrestler.

Momo and Okarun aren't sure what to do, at first, but they eventually try some things and expel the alien. Momo re-installs the barrier once they have left the property and then she passes out.

Mad Love (1935)

Mad Love (1935)

starring Peter Lorre, Frances Drakes, Colin Clive
directed by Karl Freund

68 minutes

Doctor Gogol (Peter Lorre) is in love with performer Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drakes). He comes to see her show every night but she is married and doesn't have any interest in him. Stephen (Colin Clive), her husband, is a composer and concert pianist. His hands are badly damaged in a train wreck.

Doctor Gogol does what he can for Stephen, after Yvonne begs him for his help. He replaces Stephen's hands with those of Rollo, a knife-throwing murderer who was executed that same day. The operation is a success, to a degree. Stephen is able to use his new hands but he can't play the piano as well as he once did.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Dark Winds 1.05

Ha'iinini

Frank Nakai escapes from jail thanks to some dark magic. Jim Chee finds out that Whitover has been hiding things from him and something about the Buffalo Society's operations. Manuelito has it out with Sally Growing Thunder's mother. Joe Leaphorn learns a little more about what happened on the day that his son was killed. Whitover shows up just as Manuelito is about to go after Frank Nakai. Joe Leaphorn finds Nakai and keeps an eye on him from a distance.

Thoughts

This episode, especially towards the end, felt messy. There's a lot happening at once. Not everything makes logical sense. In some cases there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to explain why some things are happening. It feels like there is just too many things to cover and not enough time to give them all the proper treatment.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Doctor Who (1963) 2.02.04

The End of Tomorrow
(aka The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part Four)

David disarms the bomb that the Robomen left behind. The Doctor is still recovering and in no condition to travel. David convinces Susan that the Doctor will be safe there, Together, Susan and David, head into the sewers to see who and what they can find.

Ian and Larry explore the area where the Dalek saucer landed. They see a work gang and meet a man named Wells who fills them in on how things are going. Their conversation gets interrupted by a Roboman. The Roboman is getting ready to take them to the Daleks but they overpower him and knock him out.

Barbara and Jenny talk about what Dortmun did and then load up in a truck. They drive towards the outskirts of London. They have to run a Dalek blockade. They drive right through it.

Monday, October 28, 2024

Moonlighting 2.11

The Bride of Tupperman

David and Maddie are hired by Alan Tupperman to find him a wife. David is excited about taking the case. Maddie is not. Tupperman gives them a document containing a description of what he is looking for in a wife.

Maddie and David disagree over how to interpret the description. They decide to have a contest. Each will bring Tupperman a woman and they will see which one he picks. Maddie finds Molly, who is an expert chef, speaks three languages, but doesn't spend a lot of time on her appearance. David finds Stevie, who presents herself as a woman who spends most of her time on her looks and not much else.

David and Maddie argue over which woman Tupperman will pick. David is certain that it will be Stevie. They get paid by Tupperman for finding him a wife but there is some confusion as to which woman Tupperman picked. 

They follow Tupperman back to his home Connecticut in the hopes of solving the mystery. There they discover a crime.

Sunday, October 27, 2024

The Phil Silvers Show 3.36

Bilko's School Days

Bilko feels as though there are too many soldiers who are wise to his tactics. He applies for a transfer to another base. Colonel Hall is more than happy to sign it.

Bilko quickly retracts his request when he learns that 1500 new men are going to be transferred to Fort Baxter. Bilko is surprised to learn that the 1500 men due to be transferred to Fort Baxter are all MPs.

The MPs get in the way of Bilko's gambling. He comes up with a new plan. He enrolls in the MP school and proceeds to lock up everyone from his platoon and all other essential services for minor infractions in the hopes of bringing the base to a standstill.

Bilko's plan is for the most part successful. When it looks like the MP school is going to get moved to another base and he is going to have to go with them he comes up with another scheme to allow himself to stay at Fort Baxter.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

starring Hedy Lamarr
written and directed by Alexandra Dean

88 minutes

Hedy Lamarr was born and raised in Austria. The first of her six marriages happened when she young and still living in Austria. She fled her first husband and her life in Austria when World War 2 was looming on the horizon. She fled first to England and then to the United States. She got work acting in Hollywood at MGM and later directed some of her own projects.

Lamarr's first love wasn't acting but inventing. Her father was also someone who liked to tinker with devices. During World War II she came up with and worked with a scientist to develop an idea that was turned over to the War Department.

Justice League Action 1.21

The Trouble with Truth

HIVE planted a bomb somewhere in Metropolis. Superman is on New Genesis so it is up Wonder Woman, Batman, and Green Arrow to find the bomb before it is too late. The trio is joined on their quest by the goddess Athena. 

Thoughts

The HIVE Master looks a little like Steven Seagal.

I really like the humor in this episode but on the whole it was decent but not great.

Friday, October 25, 2024

Orange Is the New Black 7.12

The Big House

Taystee meets with her lawyer who has reviewed what Suzanne wrote about what really happened on the night Piscatella was killed. Her lawyer says it won't be taken seriously based on Suzanne's history.

Nichols tries to keep an eye on Morello. She tries taking to Morello but Morello won't listen. Eventually another inmate picks a fight with Morello and they both get dragged away.

Daya sets a trap for Aleida and Hopper. The happy couple gets together in the SHU and are having sex when Ward and a couple other COs walk in to the room where they are going at it. Ward fires Hopper but opts not to press charges.

Cindy resurfaces. She is living on the street, in a tent but is working at the nursing home. 

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Noir City DC 2024

Noir City DC 2024

The theme of this is year's edition of Noir City DC was Darkness Knows Know Borders. Fifteen double features were shown. I made it to ten of them, two of the screenings I saw were introduced by Eddie Muller, three by Foster Hirsch, and five were without introduction because I saw them on weekdays. Most of the double features paired an English language film with one in a foreign language.

Week 1

Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Week 2

Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Thursday

There was just one movie that I saw this year that I had seen before, Rififi (1955), but I had never seen it on the big screen and it had been about 21 years since I last saw it. There were three other movies screened that I had seen before but I chose not to revisit them this year.

The theme for the 2025 festival has been announced, Pick Your Poison, and it looks like they will be showing double features once again. I have no idea what films will be showing but educated guesses can be made based on what they will be shown at Noir City film festivals in other cities, once those schedules are announced.

For more about Noir City see my posts about Noir City DC 2023 and 2022.

Strongroom (1962)

Strongroom (1962)

starring Colin Gordon, Ann Lynn
directed by Vernon Sewell

80 minutes

Griff, Len, and Alec rob a bank. They lock the bank manager (Colin Gordon) and his assistant (Ann Lynn) in the vault after they have grabbed the cash. They expect that someone will probably rescue them before the air in the vault runs out. Len offers to anonymously notify the police and let them know where they can find the keys to the vault but then Len dies in a car accident.

Griff and Len argue about what to do but ultimately decided that they have to do something before the bank manager and his assistant run out of air.

Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958)
aka Elevator to the Gallows

starring Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin
directed by Louis Malle

91 minutes

in French with English subtitles

Julien Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) is having an affair with Florence Carala (Jeanne Moreau), the wife of his boss. He kills his boss and stages it to look like a suicide. He is getting ready to leave the office when he realizes that he left a piece of evidence behind. He runs back into the building and jumps on the elevator.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Dan Da Dan 1.01

That's How Love Starts, Ya Know!

Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura (aka Okarun) meet when she stands up for him in school. She believes in ghosts. He believes in UFOS (or UAPs or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). She has never seen or encountered a ghost. He has never encountered alien beings.

They challenge one another to visit sites that aliens (in her case) and ghosts (in his case) are supposed to frequent. She encounters aliens who try to have sex with her. He encounters and is possessed by Turbo Granny, a spirit. They both gain or discover supernatural powers in the course of their encounters.

It isn't until the end of the episode that she learns that his name. Ken Takakura, is also the name of the actor on whom she has a crush.

Dark Winds 1.04

Hooghandi

Raymond Begay is confronted by the Buffalo Society (Father Tzo, Frank Nakai) as he getting ready to exit the water at the reservoir. Tzo shoots and kills him. They weigh his body down and leave it in the reservoir.

Emma wants Sally Growing Thunder to stay with her and Joe when Sally gets out of the hospital.  Joe objects but Emma brings Sally home with her anyway. Joe is not happy.

Joe finds out about Chee and Manuelito. He's surprised by the reveal.

Leaphorn tasks Manuelito with finding Frank Nakai. Leaphorn and Chee dig into Father Tzo's past and find out that he had a twin brother. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Doctor Who (1963) 2.02.03

Day of Reckoning
(aka The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part Three)

The attack on the Dalek flying suacer doesn't go well. Many of the rebels are killed. Barbara makes her way back to the rebel base of operations with Jenny, one of the rebels. Susan escapes with David. Ian gets the Doctor out of the flying saucer after a couple rebels rescue the Doctor from the operating table.

Ian retreats back into the flying saucer. A rebel named Baker gets the Doctor away from the flying saucer and eventually meets up with Susan and David.

The flying saucer takes off. Ian hides in a crawl space aboard the flying saucer. He helps Larry, a rebel who is also still aboard the flying saucer, to fight off a Roboman.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Moonlighting 2.10

Twas the Episode Before Christmas

Mary and Joseph Goodman wake up in the middle of the night. Two men have broken into their apartment. They force Joseph to drink some alcohol and then throw him over the balcony of his apartment, killing him. Mary escape with their baby in the confusion.

Mary goes upstairs and leaves the baby in Agnes DiPesto's apartment. Agnes was in the middle of doing laundry and left the door to her apartment open. Mary disappears, leaving Agnes to find the baby without a clue as to where it came from.

David and Maddy have questions for Agnes, the next day, when they find her with a baby. She tells them what she knows. They go back to her apartment looking for answers. In the lobby of her building they meet three detectives names King. The three Kings are looking for the Mary and her baby and tell Maddy and David about what happened to Joseph.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Aimless Bullet (1961)

오발탄 (1961)
or Obaltan
or Aimless Bullet

starring Kim Jin-kyu, Choi Mu-ryong
directed by Yu Hyun-mok

110 minutes

in Korean with English subtitles

Cheol-ho (Kim Jin-kyu) and Yeong-ho (Choi Mu-ryong), brothers, struggle to make ends meet, in the aftermath of the Korean War. Cheol-ho is married and has children. He works as an accountant but earns a meager salary. He doesn't have enough to go to the dentists when he has a toothache, buy his children the clothes they need or feed them properly. His 10-yea-old son has taken to selling newspapers on the street.

They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)

They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)

starring Sally Gray, Trevor Howard
directed by Alberto Cavalcanti

99 minutes

Clem Morgan (Trevor Howard), a former RAF ppilot who is unemployed and desperate for work, joins a criminal gang in London. Narcy, the leader of the gang, steals Clem's girlfriend and frames Clem for the murder of a police officer that another member of the gang committed. Clem is sentenced to 15 years in prison but escapes less than a year later and goes on the run.

Clem gets framed for another murder while he is on the run, this time by a woman who asks him to kill her husband. She ends up doing it herself when he turns down her request. Clem looks up Sally Conner (Sally Gray), a dancer who once offered to help him. She helps him evade the police and Narcy's gang until she is taken hostage by Narcy and his gang.

The police capture Clem but then let him go in the hopes that he can help them get the goods on Narcy and his gang.

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Across the Bridge (1957)

Across the Bridge (1957)

starring Rod Steiger, David Knight, Marla Landi
directed by Ken Annakin

103 minutes

Carl Schaffner flees to Mexico after learning that Scotland Yard is after him for financial misdeeds. He runs into and changes places with Paul Scarff, a man he met on the train south to a Texas bordertown. His bid to flee to Mexico is complicated by the fact that the man with whom he changed places is wanted for murder in Mexico.

Scarff gets killed by the police in Texas. This complicates Schaffner;s situation there because Scarff was a local hero in the border town where he winds up.

Scotland Yard figures out where Schaffner is holed up but has no easy way to get him extradited back to the UK as long as he remains in Mexico.

Zero Focus (1961)

ゼロの焦点 (1961)
or Zero no shōten
or Zero Focus

starring Yoshiko Kuga, Hizuru Takachiho, Ineko Arima
directed by Yoshitarō Nomura

95 minutes

in Japanese with English subtitles

Teiko Uhara (Yoshiko Kuga) has only been married for a week when Kenichi, her husband, vanishes while on a business trip. She travels to Kanazawa, the town where he was last seen, and conducts her own investigation. Her husband's brother joins her in investigating the case but then he turns up dead, a victim of cyanide poisoning.

Justice League Action 1.20

Freezer Burn

Ronnie Raymond, half of Firestorm, has a crush on Killer Frost. Professor Stein doesn't approve of Ronnie's feelings for her and neither does Killer Frost.

Killer Frost is more interested in Mr. Freeze but she reconsiders her feelings for him after he knocks her out and forces her to become the power source for his new airship. Firestorm and Batman team up to free Killer Frost and stop Mr. Freeze from wrecking havoc.

Thoughts

This was a fun episode. Batman is in it but it is really Firestorm's episode.

Friday, October 18, 2024

Rififi (1955)

Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)
aka Rififi

starring Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin
directed by Jules Dassin

118 minutes

in French with English subtitles

Tony "le Stéphanois" (Jean Servais) plans and executes the robbery of a jewelry store in Paris with three other men: Jo "le Suédois" (Carl Möhner), Mario Ferrati (Robert Manuel), and César "le Milanais" (Jules Dassin). They are successful in stealing the jewelry but things come apart soon after that.

High Sierra (1941)

High Sierra (1941)

starring Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart
directed by Raoul Walsh

Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) leaves prison after receiving a pardon. He quickly returns to his old ways and joins a gang that is getting ready to rob a resort hotel in California. One of the other robbers has a girlfriend, Marie (Ida Lupino) whom he recently met. She loses interest in him and gets interested in Roy once she meets him.

The robbery doesn't go so well. Earle kills a security guard and then two or three of his accomplices are killed in a car accident as they are fleeing the hotel. Roy and Marie hide out after the robbery. Big Mac, who hired Roy for the job, dies before Roy can get him the stolen jewels and collect his pay.

Roy gets identified as the missing robber. He convinces Marie to catch a bus to Las Vegas while he tries to fence the jewels. The police catch up to him before he can get anywhere with that plan. The movie ends on a mountainside with a showdown between Roy and the police.

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Plunder Road (1957)


Plunder Road (1957)

starring Gene Raymond, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook Jr., Stafford Repp
directed by Hubert Cornfield

72 minutes

Five men rob a train carrying $10 million in gold. They get the gold off the train as planned but run into some problems while transporting it (in three separate vehicles) from Utah (where the heist took place) to California. In the end only one of the vehicles makes it to their destination. 

Hardly a Criminal (1949)

Apenas un delincuente (1949)
aka Hardly a Criminal

starring Jorge Salcedo, Sebastián Chiola, Tito Alfonso
directed by Hugo Fregonese

88 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

José Morán (Jorge Salcedo) embezzles half a million from his employer. He is quickly caught, while gambling. He doesn't make any effort to evade the police. He has hidden most of the money and refuses to reveal where it is.

José is convicted and sent to prison for six years. He takes the whole experience very lightly. He expects that he will serve his term, get out, recover the money, and be rich. He makes the mistake of telling some of his fellow prisoners about his plan.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952)

Si muero antes de despertar (1952)
or If I Should Die Before I Wake

starring Néstor Zavarce
directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen

67 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

Lucho Santana (Néstor Zavarce) makes friends with Alicia, one of his classmates, when they are in third grade. She tells him about a secret friend she has, a man, but only after Lucho has taken a solemn oath not to tell anyone about Alicia's friend. Days later Alicia disappear and soon thereafter her body is found.

Never Open That Door (1952)

No abras nunca esa puerta (1952)
aka Never Open That Door

directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen

80 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

This movie was originally intended to be an anthology of three stories all based on short stories by Cornell Woolrich. Three stories were filmed. All three were released but only the first two are contained within this feature.

The first story is titled Alguien al teléfono or Somebody on the Phone. It stars Ángel Magana and Renée Dumas.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Cairo Station (1958)

باب الحديد 
or Bāb al-Ḥadīd
or Cairo Station

starring Farid Shawqi, Hind Rostom, Youssef Chahine
directed by Youssef Chahine

in Arabic with English subtitles

Qinawi (Youssef Chahine), a newspaper seller who works in Cairo Station and walks with a limp, is obsessed with Hannuma (Hind Rostom), a beautiful young woman who sells bottled drinks in Cairo Station. Abu Siri (Farid Shawqi), Hannuma's fiancé, works in Cairo Station as a porter and is in the process of trying to create a union for the porters.

Qinawi snaps after Hannuma teases him one too many times for fawning over her. Qinawi, inspired by a story about a man who killed a woman and chopped her up into pieces, buys a knife and seems ready to do the same to Hannuma.

Union Station (1950)

Union Station (1950)

starring William Holden, Nancy Olson, Barry Fitzgerald
directed by Rudolph Maté

81 minutes

Civilian Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson) helps two Chicago police officers, Lieutenant Bill Calhoun (William Holden) and Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald), track down and recover Lorna Murchison. The kidnappers hoped to ransom her for $100,000. 

The movie ends with a gun battle between Calhoun and one of the kidnappers in the tunnels beneath Union Station.

Monday, October 14, 2024

Victims of Sin (1951)

Víctimas del pecado (1951)
aka Victims of Sin

starring Ninón Sevilla
directed by Emilio Fernández

84 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

Violeta (Ninón Sevilla), the new featured act at Changoos, a nightclub, adopts a baby boy whom she found in a trash can. The boy belonged to Rosa, one of the other women who worked in the nightclub. Rosa threw her baby in the trash after being given an ultimatum by Don Rodolfo, her pimp, and choosing the pimp over the baby.

Violeta does her best to raise the child and continue to work at Changoos but ultimately is brings her into conflict with the owner and Don Rodolfo. She is forced to quit after being given the same sort of ultimatum that Rosa was given, her job or her baby.

Violeta eventually meets Don Santiago, owner of La Machina Loca, another nightclub, who treats her much better and doesn't make her choose between her baby and her job. Don Rodolfo, isn't impressed, and attempts to force Violeta to stay put and continue to work for him.

Odd Man Out (1947)

Odd Man Out (1947)

starring James Mason, Kathleen Ryan, Robert Newton
directed by Carol Reed

116 minutes

Johnny McQueen (James Mason) is a member of an Irish nationalist group. He became a minor celebrity six months earlier when he broke out of prison. He has been in hiding since then in the house that belongs to Kathleen Sullivan (Kathleen Ryan) and her grandmother. 

Johnny and three other men rob the pay offices of a mill operation in Belfast, Northen Ireland. Johnny shoots and kills one of the guards after the guard has shot him in the shoulder. He gets separated from his friends as they are trying to escape and wanders through Belfast in bad shape trying to find his way back to the house in which they planned they heist.

Johnny's friends go out looking for him. Two of them get killed and the other gets arrested. Kathleen searches for Johnny, with whom she has fallen in love. She is determined not to see him fall into the hands of the police who are putting a lot of effort into finding him.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Le Trou (1960)

Le Trou (1960)
aka The Hole

starring Michel Constantin, Jean Keraudy, Philippe Leroy, Raymond Meunier, Marc Michel
directed by Jaques Becker

131 minutes

in French with English subtitles

Gaspard (Marc Michel) is put in a cell in La Santé Prison with four other prisoners: Roland (Jean Keraudy), Manu (Philippe Leroy), Monseigneur (Raymond Meunier), and Geo (Michel Constantin). All of them, including Gaspard, are facing sentences of 10 or more years behind bars. The four are suspicious of Gaspard at first but eventually share with him their plans to break out of La Santé.

Black Tuesday (1954)

Black Tuesday (1954)

starring Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves
directed by Hugo Fregonese

80 minutes

Mob boss Vincent "King" Canelli (Edward G. Robinson) is headed for the electric chair when some of his guys break him out of prison, minutes before he is due to be executed. They take with them Peter Manning (Peter Graves), another death row inmate who is due to be executed just after Canelli. Manning killed a cop while robbing a bank of $200,000. He hid the money well enough that it has yet to be found.

Canelli and Manning take a few hostages with them. They hide in an abandoned warehouse but the cops find them and a gun battle breaks out. Canelli threatens to start killing hostages if the police don't back off and let them leave.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

Armored Car Robbery (1950)

Armored Car Robbery (1950)

starring Charles McGraw, Adele Jurgens, William Talman
directed by Richard Fleischer

67 minutes

Dave Purvis (William Talman) leads three men on a daring daylight robbery of an armored car. A police detective is killed and one of the robbers is badly wounded in the process of the robbery. Lieutenant Jim Cordell (Charles McGraw), the partner of the slain detective, leads the search for the robbers and the loot.

Yvonne LeDoux (Adele Jurgens), the estranged wife of the wounded robber, is seeing Purvis on the side. This fact complicates the robbers efforts to evade the police. McGraw works with a new partner, Detective Danny Ryan to capture the robbers.

Assault on the Pay Train (1962)

O Assalto ao Trem Pagador (1962)
or Assault on the Pay Train 

starring Eliezer Gomes, Reginaldo Faria, Jorge Doria
directed by Roberto Farias

102 minutes

in Portuguese with English subtitles

Six men rob a train. One of them explains to the others that they have to maintain a low profile. He threatens to kill anyone who spends more than 10 percent of their take from the robbery. Things seem good at first but cracks in the foundation of their group start to take shape and the group is pulled apart. Things get worse when the police catch one of the train robbers.

Justice League Action 1.19

Rage of the Red Lanterns

Lobo arrives on Earth. A handful of Red Lanterns (Atrocitus, Bleez, Zilius Zox, Dex-Starr, Skallox) are after him. He has stolen three of their rings. Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Batman are on duty at the Watchtower when Lobo arrives minutes ahead of the Red Lanterns.

Lobo claims to not know why the Red Lanterns are after him. He makes it look like the Justice League stole the missing rings. Lobo steals the Spider Gauntlet from the Watchtower while the Justice League and the Red Lanterns are fighting. Batman was examining the Spider Gauntlet when Lobo arrived. 

The Spider Gauntlet gives Lobo great power. The Justice League and the Red Lanterns team up to defeat him.

Friday, October 11, 2024

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)

starring Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondou, Satomi Hanamura
written and directed by Makoto Shinkai

62 minutes

This movie consists of three stories. The first is about Takaki (Kenji Mizuhashi) and Akari (Yoshimi Kondou). They met when they were in 4th grade. They bonded to the point that others teased them about being married. Her family moves away but they stay in touch through letters. Takaki decides to visit Akari after he learns that his family is going to be moving very far away.

Takaki takes the train to see Akari one day in March. It snows. The train gets delayed but he eventually gets their, hours late. She is waiting for him. They share some food, go for a walk, kiss under a tree, and then spend the rest of the night huddled up together. He goes back home the next day.

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Ranma 1/2 (2024) 1.01

Here’s Ranma

Mr. Tendo announces to his three teenage daughters (Kasume, Nabiki, Akane) that one of them is going to have to marry Ranma Saotome the son of his friend Genma Saotome. His daughters are both annoyed and then surprised when Ranma shows up but is a girl instead of a boy and is accompanied by a panda bear.

The three Tendo sisters quickly learn that all is not as it seems. Genma and Ranma were both cursed. Genma is transformed into a panda and Ranma into a female version of himself when they are doused with cold water. They change back to their original forms when they are dowsed with warm or hot water.

Nabiki and Kasume decide that Akane will have to be the one to marry Ranma. Akane has no interest in marrying Ranma. She is a devoted martial artist, like her father, but not at his level or the same level as Genma or Ranma Saotome.

Dark Winds 1.03

K'e

A big part of this episode is a ceremony that Nanobah, Emma and Joe Leaphorn's niece, goes through. The ceremony happens because she recently had her first period. Her father doesn't know how to deal with it so she turns to Emma for help.

Joe hires Raymond Begay, who was a diver in the Navy, to see what he can find in the reservoir behind Hosteen Tso's home. It takes a while but he finally turns up something.

Lieutenant Leaphorn goes to Flagstaff to meet with Special Agent Whitover. Leaphorn tells Whitover about the missing Mormon family. Whitover is content to let Leaphorn deal with it. Joe returns home with the bodies of Anna Atcitty and Hosteen Tso. He turns Anna's body back over to her parents. He buries Hosteen Tso when he can't find his grandson, the priest.

Chee and Manuelito spend time talking and working together. They also help out with the ceremony for Nanobah. 

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Doctor Who (1963) 2.02.02

The Daleks
(aka The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part Two)

The Doctor and Ian are taken prisoner by the Dalek and the Robomen. They are taken taken to the Daleks’ flying saucer. They are thrown in a cell with Craddock, another prisoner. Craddock tells them all about how the Daleks took over the Earth.

The Daleks identify the Doctor as having above average intelligence. They place a device in his cell. He uses it to escape from the cell but it was just a test. The Doctor does not get more than a few steps outside his cell before he is recaptured. 

The rebels take care of Susan and Barbara. The rebels are planning an attack on the saucer where the Doctor and Ian are being held prisoner. Dortmun, their wheelchair bound leader, has made some bombs which he believes will be very effective against the Daleks.

Some of the humans disguise themselves as Robomen, an idea that Barbara thought up, and they use that scheme to allow them to get close to the saucer without being detected. They use the bombs and break into the saucer. 

The Doctor is taken against his will to an operating room. He is sedated and operated on as the attack on the saucer begins.

Monday, October 7, 2024

Moonlighting 2.09

Atlas Belched

Maddie gets an offer from another agency that wants to buy Blue Moon Detective Agency. David advises her against selling but she does anyway. David runs into a man, Phil West, who is about to lose his job. His story is that a rolodex was stolen off his desk. It's a rolodex with a lot of phone numbers for very important people, worldwide.

David helps Phil find the rolodex and then finds out that Maddie sold the company. David goes to Phil's boss and tries to impress him by pointing out that he's the one who found the rolodex. It is then that David learns that someone is holding the rolodex for ransom. Phil's boss assumes that Phil is the one ransoming the rolodex and accuses David of colluding with Phil.

David runs out of there ASAP. Maddie, meanwhile, discovers that everything has changed at the office since she sold the company. She doesn't like it. Maddie and David track down the rolodex and Phil. They talk him into giving it back. They promise to tell his boss that he was held hostage along with the rolodex.

Sunday, October 6, 2024

The Phil Silvers Show 3.35

Bilko's Prize Poodle

Doberman buys himself a dog, a poodle that he names Louise, to keep him company after his girlfriend dumps him. Bilko gets the impression, due to a mix-up, that the poodle has an impressive pedigree. He makes plans for the poodles but his plans get derailed after Doberman gets transferred to Alaska.

Louise isn't the same after Doberman leaves. Bilko scrambles and gets Doberman back in time for the dog show. Louise's mood improves enough to place first at the dog show. Bilko's plans fall apart and when the truth comes out about Louise's pedigree.

Thoughts

Colonel Hall is not in this episode. 

This was decent. It wasn't the best but it was a good episode.

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

starring Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano
directed by Zelda Williams

102 minutes

Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) was still in shock over the brutal murder of her mother when her father married Janet. She was forced to move and change schools for her final year of high school. She starts to wake up to the world around her with some help from Janet's daughter Taffy (Liza Soberano) and her father, when a mute but animated corpse (Cole Sprouse) enters her life.

The corpse is incomplete. It is missing a hand and an ear. Lisa helps it correct these deficiencies. She uses a combination of her sewing skills and Taffy's tanning bed to perform surgery on the corpse. Fixing the corpse isn’t enough for Lisa. She has other ambitions and, although she doesn’t realize it at first, the corpse has ambitions too.

Justice League Action 1.18

Plastic Man Saves the World

Brainiac attacks Metropolis. He plans to shrink it and put it in a bottle. Superman, Batman, Vixen, and Cyborg defend the city but someone else saves the day.

Thoughts

This was a decent episode. It went a little too heavy on the silly humor for me to appreciate it quite as much as some might.

Friday, October 4, 2024

One Week (1920)

One Week (1920)

starring Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, 
directed by Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline

22 minutes

A newlywed couple have been given a house kit by hit uncle. They assemble the house, furnish it, and then invite family and friends over for a housewarming party.

This was a lot of fun to watch. I love some of the visual gags. There isn't much in the way of text cards. For the most part it is just the two leads although there are a few scenes with others.

Orange Is the New Black 7.11

God Bless America

Piper gets invited to a fancy charity fundraising event by Zelda. She runs into Bursett who helps her get her hair ready for the event. Piper's mother helps her with finding a dress to wear.

Ruiz volunteers to work in the ICE kitchen. She tries to make amends with Mendoza but Mendoza is not interested in wiping the slate clean.

There is a surprise inspection of the cell block. All of Daya's drugs are found. Aleida seems to have had something to do with it. None of her stuff is found.

Linda has a court room installed in Litchfield. Carla's hearing is moved up. The judge denies all her reasons for wanting to stay in the United States. Flores gets a second chance but only by asking that her plea deal for her role in the riot be thrown out and that she be put on trial.

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Dark Winds 1.02

The Male Rain Approaches

The episode opens with a flashback to three years before the heist. There was an explosion at an oil drilling site. Joe Leaphorn's teenage son worked there and was killed in the explosion. Joe Jr. was dating Anna Atcitty. Guy, Anna's father, was warned that something might happen. It is unclear but unlikely that he passed that information on to Joe Jr.

Leaphorn tricks Chee into revealing that he is an undercover FBI agent. Leaphorn asks Chee to get him some information about the two murder victims and to get a water sample analyzed. 

Leaphorn visits Sally Growing Thunder. He tries to talk her into moving to Gallup. He thinks she will be safer there. She doesn't want to leave the reservation. Later in the episode, she moves in with Joe and Emma.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Doctor Who (1963) 2.02.01

World's End
(aka The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part One)

The TARDIS arrives in London but the city looks quite abandoned. The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara exit the TARDIS. Susan climbs up a wall but then gets injured when she slips and falls. Her ankle is sprained. Some debris from a nearby bridge falls on the TARDIS, preventing the Doctor and the others from accessing it.

The Doctor and Ian go looking in a nearby warehouse for something to help remove some of the debris. Barbara and Susan stay behind because Susan's ankle is hurting too much.

A man named Tyler approaches Susan and Barbara. He warns them against staying where they are. He carries Susan. Barbara follows on foot. They go underground through a tunnel. They meet a couple more men, David and Dortmun, who is in a wheelchair. David goes back to find the Doctor and Ian when he learns that there are others.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Batman: Caped Crusader 1.10

Savage Night

Barbara Gordon goes to some lengths to protect Harvey Dent. He tries to dissuade her, numerous times. Thorne sends two crooked cops to kidnap Dent and bring the former DA to him. Dent and Barbara Gordon interfere with those plans. Commissioner Gordon and Detective Montoya respond to Barbara's call for help, as does the Batman.