District B13 (2004)

Original Title: Banlieue 13
French with English subtitles

Six years in the future, the authorities have given up on a run the down banlieue or district 13 of Paris. Walls have been built around it. There are no schools or hospitals. All sorts of services usually provided by the government like the police have been or are in the process of being withdrawn.

Leito is the last man willing to stand up to Taha, the drug lord who effectively runs Banlieue 13. He is arrested and sent to prison after Taha cuts a deal with the police.

Six months pass. Damien Tomaso, a police officer is tasked with finding a bomb that Taha's men stole. Damien is teamed up with an unwilling Leito. They need to find and deactivate the bomb which is set to go off in less than 24 hours. The bomb is powerful enough to kill everyone in the banlieue. Leito shows little to no interest in helping Damien until he learns that Taha (who also holds his sister captive) is the one in possession of the bomb.

Most of the movie is a fast paced action romp with a couple twists. There are lots of acrobatic action sequences. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Sopranos 1.11

Nobody Knows Anything

Tony gets word from Detective Makazian that Pussy has cut a deal with the Feds. Makazian is convinced but Tony needs more than just the detective's word. He questions Pussy. He talks to Silvio and Paulie about Makazian's reveal. He goes to visit Pussy at home. Pussy's been having back problems. According to Paulie (who heard it from Pussy's doctor) the man doesn't have anything wrong with his back. Tony gives Pussy a chance to come clean but he claims that he isn't hiding anything, he's just stressed out.

Tony becomes convinced that Pussy is talking to the Feds. Paulie offers to "take care" of Pussy but Tony insists that he has to see the wire on his body before he does him. Paulie tries taking Pussy to get a steam bath. Pussy won't get undressed. He says his doctor told him that heat isn't good for his back.

Uncle Junior finds out that Tony has been meeting with other mobsters at the home where Livia lives. He gets nervous and starts to plan something. He's worried that Tony is planning to have him killed. He wants to make a move before Tony gets a chance to whack him.

Makazian gets busted at a bordello that he frequents, along with a bunch of other men. He loses his cool, after he gets out of jail and commits suicide. This leaves Tony in a lurch. He still isn't sure who's talking to the Feds. He never got the confirmation he needed from Makazian to satisfy him that Pussy is wearing a wire. Jimmy Altieri comes to talk to Tony as soon as he gets out of jail. He and Pussy were both arrested during a bust earlier in the episode. Pussy got out first. Jimmy tells Tony about how they were giving him the third degree. He suspects that the Feds know something.

Tony starts thinking that Jimmy is the one working with the Feds. The episode ends with Tony still unsure if Pussy or Jimmy or someone else has cut a deal with Feds.

This marks the beginning of the final act of the season. I thought this was an excellent episode. I really enjoyed watching Tony sweat it out as he tried to figure out whom to believe. He even tried asking Dr. Melfi for advice. I recall the big outcomes of the season but I don't remember all the details. I am looking forward to the last two episodes and watching exactly how they play out.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.01

Broken Bow

Part 1

Captain Jeffrey Archer, commander of the Starship Enterprise (NX-01), takes up the task of returning KLaang, a wounded Klingon to the Klingon home world of Qo'noS. The Enterprise has recently been outfitted with a new engine which can travel at speeds up to warp 4.5. Archer's father designed the engine but up humanity has been held back from using it by Vulcans up until now.

Archer has to scramble to pull together the crew for the Enterprise. In addition to those he selected he is also forced to accept a Vulcan observer, T'Pol. Once they are on their way the ship is boarded by a team of aliens who abduct Klaang. One of the aliens is killed. It is a Suliban who has been genetically altered.

The Enterprise changes course and heads for Rigel 10 after learning from T'Pol that the abducted Klingon had been on Rigel 10 immediately before coming to Earth. Several of the crew descend to Rigel 10 to look for clues.

Part 2

Archer, T'Pol, Hoshi, and Tucker are captured by a group of Suliban. Archer is pulled aside to talk to Sarin, the leader of the Suliban group. She is not allied with the Suliban who captured Klaang. She tells Archer about the temporal cold war. She tells him about how the Suliban are interfering in the ruling order of the Klingon Empire. Klaang was carrying valuable information about the Suliban interference. They start to head back to the shuttle craft but are attacked by Suliban.

Archer is wounded and Sarin is killed but they make it back to the shuttle craft. T'Pol takes command, which ruffles more than a few feathers. Once they are back aboard the Enterprise the Captain is taken to sick bay and sedated while he heals from the wound. T'Pol and Tucker were infected with some sort of spore. Dr. Phlox makes them dress in skimpy clothing and rub gel on one another until the remains of the spores are gone.

T'Pol and Tucker get dressed in more appropriate attire and modify the sensors of the Enterprise to track the trajectory of the Suliban ship that boarded the Enterprise. The trail leads the Enterprise to a gas giant where they find a large number of small ships docked together. This seems to be the Suliban headquarters. They capture a small Suliban craft and use it to infiltrate the conglomeration of ships. They locate Kraang and head back to the small craft. Archer gets separated from Tucker and Kraang, who make it back to the Enterprise.

Archer sets off a device that causes the small ships to disconnect from one another. He then goes exploring and encounters Silik, the Suliban behind the capture of Kraang. The two men fight and Archer seems doomed when the Enterprise swoops in and uses the transporter to bean him aboard. This is significant because at this point in the Star Trek universe transporters are not used to transport living creatures.

...

This is at least my third time viewing this two-part story. I saw it when it first aired in 2001. I watched most if not all of the first season of Enterprise when it first aired. I enjoyed it but (for reasons that I do not recall) I did not pick up watching the show again when season two debuted. In late 2010, about 7 years ago I watched this story again. According to my notes from that time I watched it online on CBS web site. I didn't watch any more episodes of Enterprise at that time. Now I am trying to go back and watch some selected episodes from all 4 seasons. Who knows how far I will get.

I enjoyed the show this time around. It isn't perfect but I like it. I want to watch more.

The Defenders 1.03

Worst Behavior

Three months ago Elektra was revived thanks to Alexandra Reid and the Black Sky. She didn't remember who she was or how she got there. Alexandra has her trained to bring her fighting skills back to where they were. In the present Alexandra and Elektra interrogate Stick who was shown to be their prisoner in the last episode. Their methods aren't very effective and he escapes from the handcuffs they have him in by cutting off one of his hands. This part was a bit messy and I'm not talking about the blood but about how Stick managed to get one of the short swords (wazikashi) from with Elektra or Alexandra. It all happened very fast and it was kind of dark but it still seems kind of suspect the way it happened.

Claire Temple formally introduces Luke Cage to Danny Rand and Colleen Wing. The two men try to talk things out but they fail to see things eye to eye. They part ways having learned more about one another but without coming to any sort of understanding. This part of the episode felt very forced. Luke's scenes, later in the episode, without Danny were much better that the ones with him. Danny's scenes without Luke weren't better than their scenes together so I blame Finn Jones for the lack of anything approaching good in their scenes together.

After the inconclusive meeting, Danny heads to Rand Corporation looking for clues. Luke visits Cole in jail. Cole won't tell him anything. He knows that he needs to keep his mouth shut. He asks Luke to visit his mother and buy her some lottery tickets. Danny gets some information from Rand that leads him to a company called Midland, so he heads to Midland's corporate headquarters. Luke visits Cole's mother. While he is there Cole's mother gets word that Cole is dead. Luke consoles her and finds a clue, a wad of cash and a piece of paper with the name Midland.

Jessica Jones doesn't know who Matt Murdock is and doesn't want his help. Later in the episode she tails him into an alleyway. She takes a couple pictures of him as he leaps up a fire escape and disappears over a wall. Jessica goes to see Michelle Raymond and then she heads to the architecture firm where John Raymond worked. A representative of the architecture firm who thinks she is a potential client gives her the name of a few places they have worked on recently, one of which is a building for a company called Midland, so she heads there.

The episode ends with a big fight in the board room of the Midland Building. All four heroes converge and fight several squads of men and women in business attire who are presumably ninjas, members of the Hand. Every time they seem to take down one group of them more show up. Alexandra Reid is present but she hangs back and watches until she feels the time is ripe and then she sends Elektra into the fight.

Matt fights with his former lover. He is not in his Daredevil attire. He is just wearing Jessica's black scarf around the top half of his head. Elektra is much stronger than she once was. She almost kills Matt but Danny steps in and uses the Iron Fist to shatter her sword and send her flying backwards. The episode ends with the four heroes fleeing the Midland Building.

On the whole not a great episode. There was a little too much Danny and not enough Matt or Jessica. It was good to finally see all the heroes come together and work as a team but it still lacked in character moments. The best scenes were the fight scenes. The scenes that connected the fights were so-so at best. I'm going to stick with it for now but my hopes are not high that I will see a vast improvement in the quality of the show.

Veep 1.02

Frozen Yoghurt

Once again nothing goes right for Vice President Selina Meyers and her staff. She makes promises to a Senator that put her and the administration in an awkward position. Her plans for a photo opportunity get sidetracked first by a potential emergency and then by a stomach virus.

I'm not loving this show but it has its moments. Some of the humor connects with me, some doesn't. I will probably stick with the show the rest of the season, 6 more episodes, possibly longer

Teen Titans 2.12

Aftershock: Part 1

Terra returns. She now serves Slade. Not only does she serve him but she is also controlled by him. He sends her on a mission to destroy the Titans. She gets some help from a few other baddies: Overload, Cinder Block, and Plasmus. The episode ends with the Titans defeated but still free and vowing to take Terra down.

There were a lot of good fight scenes in this episode. I think my favorite was the one between Terra and Raven. It was a real knock out, drag down affair. It isn't quite as good as my recollection of the Judas Contract but it's still a fun episode and the right sort on which to conclude a season.

Haters Back Off 1.03

Netwerking at the Nursing Home

Miranda visits her aged aunt who lives in a nursing home. She meets a movie director who lives in the nursing home. She tries performing for him but Emily drags her away. She sneaks back in and while she is singing for the movie director he passes away.

Patrick confronts Owen about Miranda. Keith hits on Bethany.

Very good and funny. I was smiling throughout. This show has a very surreal feel to it. I think the music has something to do with that.