What classics did you see last week, Apr 11 to Apr 17?

Daredevil (2003).



Love & Other Drugs (2010).



The Next Karate Kid (1994).



How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

Jezebel / William Wyler (1938). Warner Brothers. Cinematography by Ernest Haller. Revisit after almost 40 years. David O. Selznick was looking for an actress to star as Scarlett O’Hara, a spoiled headstrong Southern belle who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Bette Davis really really wanted the part but Selznick never seriously considered her. So Warner found her an alternate project about, well, a spoiled headstrong Southern belle who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. And Bette made the most of it, winning her second Oscar as Julie Marsden, a New Orleans single lady in 1852 New Orleans in love with and expecting to marry banker Preston “Pres” Dilland (Henry Fonda). Julie’s stubborn and headstrong nature causes Pres to break with her and leave New Orleans. When he returns a year later he brings his new wife with him. Julie makes up her mind to get him back with disastrous repercussions. Bette Davis never shied away from playing unsympathetic characters and she doesn’t hold back here. Julie is unredeemable. Or is she? Davis’ final moments is one of the great acting scenes in movie history. This is really a great movie. It’s power never left me from my first viewing in the 1980s and it remains powerful today. Of course there is the problem of all the happy slaves, but on the plus side the movie did provide employment for at least two dozen African-American actors, in particular Theresa Harris, Lew Payton, and Eddie Anderson.






La Règle Du Jeu (The Rules Of The Game) / Jean Renior (1939). France. Revisit. The original upstairs/downstairs comedy-drama. The granddaddy of them all. In his old age, Renior said that he wanted to make a pleasant movie about a class of people (the upstairs uppercrust) who he detests in the extreme. The movie begins with an aviator landing Paris after a non-stop flight from New York. Even though greeted as a hero with press and adoring fans, all he can think about is that the woman he is in love with wasn’t there. His good friend Octave (Renior, himself) scolds him for it. The woman is Christine (Nora Gregor) who laughs about this with her maid Lisette (cutie Paulette Dubost). Christine is married to Robert (Marcel Dalio) a wealthy Marquis who is having an affair with Geneviève (Mila Parély). Meanwhile, Lisette’s angry and jealous husband is gamekeeper at the Marquis’ country house where all these people (and others) will meet up for a week of hunting and partying. What could possibly go wrong? Well, what does go wrong is delightful. Funny, thoughtful, and ultimately tragic. A true classic that must be seen and enjoyed and appreciated.






Pépé Le Moko / Julien Duvivier (1937). This is one of the most famous movies that hardly anyone in America could see for about 60 years. Critically acclaimed worldwide upon its release, Hollywood immediately rushed an English language version into production. That movie, “Algiers,” starred Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. This very popular re-make gave us the (misquoted) “Come with me to the Casbah” line and Pepe Le Pew. But the French original was suppressed in favor of the remake. “Pépé Le Moko” did get a U.S. release in 1941 to great acclaim but since then “Pépé” has not been available except in unwatchable 16mm prints and pirated videos until the restored Criterion release in 2002. Jean Gabin stars as a French gangster who has taken refuge in the labyrinthian Casbah. The police would like to flush him out, but he is protected by the other inhabitants. Pépé, himself, longs to break out, but he knows the police will be waiting if he attempts to leave. As Graham Greene has written, this is, in many ways, a typical crime thriller, but is raised to something much higher by Duvivier’s poetic telling of the story. The setting – the Casbah – becomes a character in the story. It is not just background. This section of Algiers and how it is photographed is what is mainly distinctive about the movie. Also influential is the performance of the great Jean Gabin (who was to appear in “Grand Illusion” the same year as “Pépé”). He redefines what it means to be a cool tough guy in ways that other movie cool tough guys are still trying to live up to.






Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) / Ingmar Bergman (1957). Svensk Filmindustri. Cinematography by Gunnar Fischer. The elderly Dr. Isak Borg (revered Swedish director and actor Victor Sjöström) is driving to another city to receive an honorary degree. On the way he passes locations that he knew when young. Stopping off at these spots he recalls important times in his young life. Sometimes he watches them acted out in front of him; at other times he participates as his own younger self. Audiences, at least American ones, sometimes got lost in the time shifting. NYT reviewer Bosley Crowther found it hard to follow (but then, it seems to me that Crowther got most things wrong). Of course, it appears to modern viewers as pretty straight forward. Even though Bergman is generally thought of in relation to his “Faith” trilogy and there themes of being and nothingness as a serious, if not depressing, film maker. But rewatching some of his titles, I see a lot of humor and warmth in his pictures, most of all “Wild Strawberries.” My only complaint relates to this observation: Borg is accused by all the other characters who have known him over the years as a cold and ungiving person, something he is now trying to come to grips with. But we never see him acting coldly or dismissively to anyone even before his visions begin. He even has a playfully argumentative relationship with his longtime housekeeper that they both enjoy. When she gives him an order he says, “We’re not married, you know.” She shoots back, “I thank God every night for that!” An essential from Ingmar Bergman.






Koto No Ha No Niwa (The Garden Of Words) / Makoto Shinkai (2013). Japan. This romantic anime is a short feature (40 minutes), a mood piece, about a spiritual connection formed between a high school freshman boy and a 27-year-old woman. The boy, a dreamer about becoming a shoe designer and craftsman, skips school one rainy morning in Tokyo. He stops for shelter in the middle of a city park and shares the bench with a woman who is not very communicative. But he starts going back only on rainy days. After a while they both begin to converse but not opening up about themselves. We see them out side of their meetings. The boy is very lonely with not many friends and left pretty much to take care of himself. The woman (we find out she is 27) suffers from serious depressions. This is mostly a quiet, moody, contemplative movie often accompanied only by a soft piano score. Very near the end when secrets come out the story turns noisy and melodramatic for a time which was against the grain and a minus, to me anyway. Mostly though this is one to sort of drift on a cloud as you watch.
   This is my second film from director/animator Makoto Shinkai. The first was “Your Name” (2016). If “The Garden Of Words” was minimalist, “Your Name” is maximalist. It is time-bending, body/mind switching, apocalyptic science fiction but just as masterful in its own way as the slow-moving, meditative “Garden Of Words.” Perhaps we are seeing the development of a worthy successor to Hayao Miyazaki.






Phoenix / Christian Petzold (2014). Revisit. Director Petzold (“Yella”, “Jerichow,” and “Barbara”) has produced what may be his first masterpiece. The story begins in Germany almost immediately after the end of WWII. Nelly Lenz, a concentration camp survivor, has been shot in the face and left for dead. She is being driven to a hospital by her friend Lena. At the hospital, her face is given reconstructive surgery, but the doctors can’t restore exactly the way she used to look. Returning to Berlin, Nelly is consumed with finding her husband, Johnny, even though Lena tells her that evidence indicates that Johnny (who is not Jewish) had betrayed her to the Nazis to save his own skin. When she finally finds him, she wants desperately for Johnny to recognize her, but all he sees is a woman with a resemblance to the wife who he believes is dead. Johnny sweeps her into a scheme for her to impersonate Nelly so Johnny can get his wife’s rich inheritance. Some brief echoes of “Vertigo” will sound in our ears, but in this case, the woman is being transformed back into herself. This psychological thriller about returning to life and reclaiming identity leads to a perfect, powerful, and un-guessable final scene. Nina Hoss – who starred in the other Petzold features mentioned at the top of this review – gives the performance of her life, internal and understated. Hoss takes Nelly through a painful but necessary rediscovery of her own identity. “Phoenix” is tied (with Armando Iannucci’s “The Death Of Stalin” from 2017) as my picks for best films of the 2010s decade.

“Voyagers”   Distributed by Lionsgate Pictures, 108 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released April 09, 2021:

We should’ve listened to the warnings.

Set in the near future, in “Voyagers,” after years of ecological abuse ruin the earth’s atmosphere scientists discover another world where mankind can get a fresh start. The problem--getting there requires an 86-year space voyage.

So a plan is devised to specifically breed 30 young boys and girls for the mission. And with a veteran astronaut (Colin Farrell) traveling with them as a sort of shepherd, the kids will gain physical maturity along the way and eventually breed among themselves--their grandchildren will become the new world’s first settlers.

Ten years into the mission the hyper-intelligent kids, now teenagers, discover that their complacent personalities--and their shortage of sexual curiosity--is the result of a medication included in their daily regimen. As a protest, the kids collectively stop drinking the juice...and soon begin to display some troubling behavior indeed.

A moderately involving but ultimately forgettable science fiction saga, “Voyagers” is well-written but not particularly well directed. Filmmaker Neil Burger (“Divergent”) should’ve concentrated more of his attention on basic storytelling and less on rapid-fire editing, elaborate montages, and shaky-cam photography. Still, with a plot that’s a blend of “Village of the Damned” and “Lord of the Flies,” the audience remains invested throughout and the picture never wears out its welcome, in large part thanks to charismatic performances from its young cast.

21-year-old Lily-Rose Depp contributes a serviceable performance as a strongminded and assertive teenage Eve to two highly competitive Adams--young Depp’s acting becomes more effective as the viewer gets past the young actress’ strong resemblance to her famous dad. Tye Sheridan is solid as the more stable of Depp’s suitors, while Fionn Whitehead resembles a walking corpse as Sheridan’s manipulative rival. Irish actor Colin Farrell, affecting American tones, appears in the fairly thankless supporting role of the space-age Noah.

Filmed in Romania, “Voyagers” is rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, bloody images, brief strong language, and a scene depicting sexual assault.



“Sinatra: All or Nothing at All”   Distributed by HBO Films and Netflix, 240 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released April 5 and 6, 2015:

Either you get Frank Sinatra or you don’t--there’s not a lot of middle ground on that.

Usually acknowledged as the greatest pop singer of all time, Sinatra was indisputably the most popular and influential single musical artist of the 20th century. Also a gifted actor, producer, businessman and performer, Frank Sinatra during an astonishing sixty-year career released some 59 record albums and 297 singles, selling some 150 million recordings--a number which continues to grow to his day.

One man who “gets” Frank Sinatra is filmmaker Alex Gibney, the director of “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All,” a 240-minutes documentary on Sinatra’s life now streaming on Netflix. Produced by frequent Spielberg collaborators Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy with the cooperation of the Sinatra family, Gibney’s documentary was originally shown on the HBO premium streaming service, debuting in two parts on April 5 and 6, 2015.

You get the feeling from watching the film that filmmaker Gibney gained his appreciation for Sinatra through hard work, research, and viewing all existing documentary, television, and motion picture footage of the entertainer. Concentrating on Sinatra’s recording career and live appearances over his six decades as an entertainer, much of the available footage depicting the singer’s life is here, distilled from thousands of hours of archival material...including some segments barely ever seen before, some accompanied by rare interviews with Sinatra himself.

In a way, Sinatra’s life was the story of America in the 20th century. Born into a family of Italian immigrants in 1915 and raised in a tenement building in urban Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was expelled from school in the tenth grade on a charge of “general rowdiness”...but eventually was the recipient of three educational degrees, four Golden Globe Awards, eleven Grammys, a Peabody Award, the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 1954 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, and was honored on a 2008 United States postage stamp.

Taught by an early music instructor to sing not only the notes of a song but to also read the words and give voice to the emotions behind them, Frank Sinatra as a performer became something of a Barrymore of song, the equal of the great actors of the stage and cinema--watch as he throws an imaginary set of dice while performing “Luck by a Lady,” or seemingly swims among the musical notes through the long, long crescendo of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Actor Charlton Heston said of Sinatra, “Every song this man sings is in essence a 4-minute movie.” Sinatra himself phrased the same sentiment more plainly: ”I can’t sing what I can’t feel.”

With recorded commentary from friends, associates, music critics, and contemporaries of the artist, “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All” tells the singer’s story, both the good and the bad, concentrating on his primary fame as a singer. Gaining early success as a teenage contestant on radio’s Major Bowes Amateur Hour, Sinatra began his professional career as the vocalist for the Tommy Dorsey swing band. Later, as a solo artist, Sinatra became a sensation--the idol of millions of teenage fans, inspiring during personal appearances a screaming frenzy similar to the Beatlemania of a generation later.

Sinatra seemed to have it all...at first. He married his childhood sweetheart in 1939 and became the attentive if often-absent father of three children. But a history of extramarital affairs led to scandal--a bitter divorce in 1951 and immediate remarriage that same year to the glamorous and strong minded Hollywood star Ava Gardner, a relationship that proved turbulent and sometimes even explosive. Sinatra and Gardner’s public antics often attracted the attention of photographers and gossip columnists, leading to Sinatra’s lifelong distrust of the press.

Meanwhile the singer’s popularity dwindled. Considered a has-been at age 38, Sinatra’s career was rekindled when he was cast as the tough-talking, chip-on-his-shoulder loser Army Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 film adaptation of James Jones’ World War II bestseller “From Here to Eternity.” Sinatra won the Academy Award for his performance, and the enormous popularity of the film put him back on top--a position he guarded and maintained for the rest of his life.

Tempered by age 40 by both success and failure, Frank Sinatra developed both a maturity in his singing voice and an attitude in his public persona--in a way, Sinatra never stopped playing the role of Maggio. With a unique ability to turn a song into an American, standard copied and imitated endlessly by dozens of less-talented performers, Sinatra’s stage persona was as a streetwise hipster with an easy smile and not a shred of self-doubt, always on the lookout for a good time and an easy angle. If an audience was willing to accept him on his own terms, Sinatra engaged them as equals--audiences paid to revel in his attitude as much as his music.

Offstage, Sinatra’s friendships and romances were legendary. Married four times, Sinatra’s friends included both kings and commoners, presidents and fellow entertainers, entrepreneurs and businessmen...and prominent figures from organized crime. His show business friendships with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. were the stuff of legend--the three performed in tandem for years, both onstage and in movies such as “Ocean’s 11.” Sinatra’s anonymous generosity was legendary, as was his quiet support of charities and his fearlessness in committing his name to progressive social change.

Sinatra’s impact as both an entertainer and an humanitarian is best depicted in Gibney’s documentary in a segment from a 1966 benefit concert for the NAACP--an organization whose work was dear to Sinatra’s own heart. Sinatra was working in California at the time, but when asked by the civic awareness organization to contribute a personal performance to their scheduled night of entertainment, he left the set of the picture he was filming, boarded a plane, and travelled across the country to New York for the show, arriving in the city barely in time for the performance.

Sinatra drove directly from the airport to the theater, walked onstage, and delivered a performance of the American standard “Ol’ Man River.” Originally composed for the 1927 Broadway musical “Show Boat,” “Ol’ Man River” is written from the perspective of an impoverished black laborer performing backbreaking physical labor on a waterfront dock. Usually delivered with an operatic bravado by a black artist, for a white performer to attempt the song at all was potentially a deeply offensive gesture, particularly before a predominantly black audience...including Dr. Martin Luther King.

But instead of performing the song’s notes in a manner to display his personal talent and enormous range as a singer, Sinatra acted the lyrics with an infinite weariness and resignation that effectively gave voice to the African experience in America--murmuring some phrases in a voice so low that the audience strained to hear, building in gradual intensity and finishing the song with a power that suggested infinite determination, continued resolve, and eventual resolution and triumph.

Sinatra’s performance that evening was rewarded with thunderous applause from an appreciative audience, and moved Dr. King to tears. Few performers besides Frank Sinatra could’ve performed such a delicate and risky gesture...and succeeded. It’s to filmmaker Gibney’s enormous credit as a documentation that he’s located a rare film of Sinatra’s performance at the NAACP benefit that evening, and includes it in the documentary--presented plainly, unadorned by narration, preserved in its entirety by a single camera.

Gibney gracefully omits the ignominy of Sinatra’s final shows. The consummate entertainer, Sinatra performed live concerts until 1995, when he was nearly 80. A shadow of his former self, the legendary singer relied on an oversized teleprompter during his shows, and sometimes became disoriented and bewildered--a few times he even needed to be removed from the stage mid-show, in a wheelchair.

Gibney instead closes the documentary while the legend is still at the top of his game--performing in his own indomitable way the hit songs he defined, and that became the soundtrack of generations of Americans.

Either you get Frank Sinatra or you don’t...and filmmaker Alex Gibney plainly gets him. After viewing the terrific “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All, “ you will too.

Shown in a pair of two-hour episodes, “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All” is rated TV-14 for some language concerns, scenes of drinking and smoking, and some suggestive material. The documentary is presently streaming on Netflix.


“The Dig”   Distributed by Netflix, 112 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released January 15, 2021:

Superb performances and straight, uncomplicated storytelling illuminate two periods of world history in “The Dig,” a new drama streaming on Netflix that tells the story of a discovery ancient historical artifacts and priceless treasure.

Based on the actual events surrounding the 1939 archaeological excavation at the Sutton Hoo estate near Woodbridge in Suffolk, England, in “The Dig” estate owner and history enthusiast Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) has an idea, part research and part wishful thinking, that a remote part of her property might contain historical treasure. Acting on her hunch Pretty hires rough-edged, self-taught amateur archaeologist Basil Brown (an excellent Ralph Fiennes) to investigate and begin digging.

Suspecting at first that a Suffolk excavation is likely to yield only some fairly routine Viking artifacts, Brown begins digging at one of the large mounds on Pretty’s land, and quickly begins to uncover relics from an earlier age. And as the excavation continues, the unschooled expert Brown and the history buff Pretty are astonished to find the remains of an entire 7th-century ship of Anglo-Saxon origin, completely intact, a relic of the Dark Ages outfitted for the burial of a king and filled with priceless relics.

Directed by Simon Stone from a screenplay by Moira Buffini, “The Dig” is one of those rare movies that seemingly flies so far under the radar that you barely notice it at all, but then becomes a movie you’ll never forget. No matter how successful, everyone’s an underdog in some respect, or feels that way. And when a movie tells a true story of gifted amateurs who through persistence, hard work, research, and a love of their craft achieve their highest hopes and wishes, it celebrates us all.

The Sutton Hoo excavation provided one of the richest sources of archaeological artifacts from a previously misunderstood period of England’s development. Basil Brown’s discovery modified history’s knowledge of some of the first chapters of British social evolution, and provided a light into the Dark Ages. Thanks to the efforts of the gifted and uneducated amateur archaeologist and his benefactor Edith Pretty, an entire era of English history once believed to be uncivilized and backward was instead revealed to be cultured and sophisticated.

In the nearly three decades since his breakthrough role as the morally bankrupt concentration camp commander Goeth in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Fiennes has never allowed himself to craft an actual image or personality in the public eye. A consummate character actor, movie fans begin to suspect that, like Lon Chaney, Ralph Fiennes does not exist between movie roles. The notion might’ve been the only obstacle to the actor becoming either a household name or a motion picture superstar.

Also a Tony Award-winning stage actor, Fiennes modifies his personality and even his appearance from movie to movie, alternating effortlessly between leading roles in blockbusters like 1996’s “The English Patient” and supporting parts in edgier fare like 2008’s “The Reader” or 2009’s “The Hurt Locker.” It’s almost appropriate that Fiennes’ most visible role to date is all but anonymous, buried beneath makeup and prosthetics as the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter pictures.

As Basil Brown in “The Dig,” Fiennes continues the tradition of the great British actors by seeming to quietly disappear into his role. His face a mask of stony British stoicism and indifference, Fiennes’ Brown betrays neither elation when he discovers the scope and importance of his Suffolk excavation nor outrage and dejection when more prominent and educated archeology experts arrive at the site and try to push his contributions aside. The actor’s impassive manner as he mounts his bicycle and pedals home after his more famous colleagues arrive at the site is heartbreaking.

In the smaller--or at least less prominent--role as Edith Pretty, Carey Mulligan continues a methodical climb as one of the finest character actresses working in motion pictures. Already the recipient of Best Actress award from the National Board of Review, Mulligan like Fiennes has a gift for disappearing into her roles: There’s little continuum between her characterizations in 2013’s “The Great Gatsby,” 2015’s “Far From the Madding Crowd” and the current “Promising Young Woman.” As Pretty in “The Dig,” Mulligan provides the inspiration for Fiennes’ determination.

“The Dig” adheres fairly closely to the actual events of the Sutton Hoo excavation in 1939. A fictional romantic triangle is added to the dynamic between Pretty’s dashing RAF cousin and the neglected wife of one of the archaeologists, but it’s easy to overlook. And Pretty at the time of the excavation was in her mid-50s, but the age was modified when actress Nicole Kidman needed to drop out of the production. As in real life, the artifacts from the Sutton Hoo project were stored in the London subway during World War II, and now reside in the British Museum.

All things considered, “The Dig” is a gem among recent motion picture releases. Intelligent. Engaging, illuminating, and sweetly inspiring, it’s the rare film that educates the audience while it entertains them. Check it out.

Filmed in the lovely Surrey countryside not far from where the actual events took place, “The Dig” is rated PG-13 for brief sensuality and a quick flash of partial nudity.



“In the Earth”   Distributed by Neon Pictures, 107 Minutes, Rated R, Released April 16, 2021:

There’s a scene about thirty minutes into the new horror picture “In the Woods” in which the two central characters are lost in the woods and being stalked by unseen forces. You can see from the expressions on their faces that they’re wondering what in the world they’ve gotten themselves into. Sadly, it’s also at about that time that the viewer begins wondering the same thing.

In “In the Earth, while in the throes of a devastating (fictional) global pandemic a medical journalist and a wilderness guide flee the chaos of civilization in search of a rumored scientific research facility located in the remote forests of England.

After enduring various indoctrination procedures, the two finally discover evidence of the research station, only to learn they’ve delivered themselves into the hands of an estranged couple of obsessed naturalists, and are about to be used as either subjects for their hosts’ demented scientific experiments...or as bait for something much, much worse.

Probably the very first horror thriller of the post-Covid era (the end credits list a “Covid Health and Safety Advisor), “In the Earth'' opens with a disclaimer warning away viewers sensitive to photoelectric-induced seizures, and then spends the remainder of its running time seemingly thinking up ways to outrage, nauseate, or otherwise repulse virtually everybody else. This is one time when the destination is definitely not worth the journey, especially for an audience already weary of the relentless existential despair of a global viral epidemic.

Written and directed by Ben Wheatley, “In the Earth” is plainly inspired by Ari Aster’s “Midsommar” from 2019 but also contains elements of 1974’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project.” The makeup effects are terrifically realistic, for what it’s worth, and seem designed to put as much of the carnage as possible right under the viewer’s nose...including a pointlessly prolonged scene of traumatic amputation. If that’s how you spell entertainment, the movie is effective enough. For the rest of us, “In the Earth” unfortunately crosses a line early on and becomes outright sadistic.

The best advice: Skip “In the Earth” and wait for the movie to be released for streaming online. And then skip it again.

“In the Earth” is rated R for...well, pretty much everything it contains. The movie should’ve been rated NC-17. Look for the eventual home video version to contain footage removed from the theatrical release at the insistence of the censors, and be released in an unrated edition.

This week’s selection for MASTERPIECE 50 is: HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1975), a six-part BBC Tv Serial based on Richard Llewelyn’s Novel on Welsh Miners life, starring Stanley Baker and Sian Philips (real life Wales natives). I watched “Episode 1” Acorn Media PAL DVD.
I also viewed LORD PETER WIMSEY MYSTERIES “The Five Red Herrings” (1975) the final arc of the Ian Carmichael version of the series. Acorn Media DVD.

Sunday 11
IN THE LINE OF DUTY: THE FBI MURDERS (1988) Today marks the 35th Anniversary of the Miami FBI Shootout (April 11 1986) that killed psychotic crooks Michael Lee Platt and William Russell Matix (here played by David Soul and Michael Gross) and two FBI agents (Ronny Cox and Bruce Greenwood). This 1988 TV film recounts the event (and the events leading to) shootout. VHS Recording of NBC Premiere Broadcast November 1988.

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941) “Chapter III: Time Bomb” 80TH ANNIVERSARY The first Archaeologist dies, but not before making an epiphany about the Scorpion’s ID that is never confessed. Republic VHS.

BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (1991) “April is The Cruelest Month” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Brandon reads the play of a pressured poor little rich kid (Matthew Perry) that ends with a tragedy he fears might soon become reality. Meanwhile, ascended extra Donna Summers (Tori Spelling) gets an actual storyline, focusing on her learning disability. This marks the intro of Mrs Teasley (Denise Dowse who played an analyst in a previous episode). Saw the promo back in the day; when I finally saw it in 2009, I was surprised to see Pre-FRIENDS Perry. VHS Recording of a SoapNet Broadcast 2010.

Monday 12
THE SLAYERS NEXT (1996) “Xellos the Mysterious Priest” 25TH ANNIVERSARY The series starts its main plotline, the search for the Claire Bible (the recap is original footage of Amelia changing to her Warrior of Justice garb). Introduced in this episode is the mysterious Xellos. Watching the trailer, I wondered if this guy was related to Syphiel. Japanese with English Subtitles. Software Sculptors DVD.

ROBIN OF SHERWOOD (1986) “Herne’s Son Part 2” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Conclusion of the season opener, as Robert gets the band together to save Marian. Acorn Media DVD.

THE LEMON DROP KID (1951) 70TH ANNIVERSARY this month. Bob Hope comedy notable for the introduction of the Christmas song “Silver Bells.” Shout Factory DVD.

Tuesday 13
THE FLASH (1991) “Twin Streaks” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Scientists make a clone of the Flash. I recall watching a little of this episode back in the day, albeit channel surfing. Warner DVD.

Wednesday 14
See Parts of Below

Thursday 15
The following were VHS recordings of a USA Network “Night Flight” Marathon Broadcast July 5 1987. This DRAGNET marathon was to promote the upcoming 1987 film. Tom Hanks and Dan Akroyd make a brief cameo segment.
DRAGNET (1968) “The Big Clan”
DRAGNET (1970) “Narco: Missing Hypo”
DRAGNET (1967) “The Missing Realtor”
DRAGNET (1970) “The Victims”

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) Dubbed and edited version of HERCULES CONQUERS ATLANTIS (which is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this month). First time I've seen in it Widescreen. I watched the Tim Lucas commentary version. Film Detective BluRay.

Friday 16
PROMISE TO KEEP (1985) TV-film with Robert Mitchum playing an ill father trying to reconcile with the family he abandoned 30 years ago. His son Christopher and grandson Bentley play the estranged relatives, with Claire Bloom, Merritt Butrick, Jane Sibbett, and Tess Harper. Betamax Recording CBS TV Premiere Broadcast October 15 1985.

BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY YEARS (1979) Richard Lester’s Prequel on the gang with Tom Berenger and William Katt. Watched most of this on a Betamax Recording of its CBS TV Premiere 1980.

Saturday 17
ANGEL (2001) “Disharmony” 20TH ANNIVERSARY The Second Season resumes to its final round of episodes. Here, Mercedes McNab’s Harmony heads over to LA to see her old friend Cordelia. Alyson Hannigan’s Willow also makes a guest appearance (sharing a phone scene with Cordelia).

Saw Parts of:
BULL OF THE WEST (1972) Edit of two THE VIRGINIAN episodes “Duel at Shiloh” & “Nobility of Kings” put together for theatrical release. Before learning the truth, I did notice a disconnect with the two stories, expecting a together, but that didn’t happen. VHS Recording of a USA Network Broadcast 1988.

THE CHANGELING (1980) Haunted House movie with George C. Scott and Melvyn Douglas. Betamax Recording of a 1981 HBO Broadcast. Unfortunately, the tape stopped right at the climax. My Uncle remedied this by recording the ending on a different Betamax (of which I viewed the week of March 14-20).

WELCOME HOME (1987) HBO Special/Telethon for impoverished Vietnam veterans, with John Ritter, Ricardo Montalban (and his son Mark, who was in Vietnam) and others presenting performances by Neil Diamond, James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Crosby Stills & Nash, John Sebastian, Dan Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, and Frankie Valli. VHS Recording of HBO Broadcast July 4, 1987. I’m listing this as ‘part of’ because my Uncle (who recorded it) did some channel surfing (among the other ALIENS (1986), two Intros to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (one on NBC, host Sigourney Weaver, the other appeared to be from Season 3 or 4 on another channel), A DAY AT THE RACES (1937), a Colorized TOPPER (1937), etc. Viewed on Wednesday 14.

DRAGNET (1967) “The High Sign” VHS Recording of a USA Network “Night Flight” Marathon Broadcast July 4 1987.

LATE NITE WITH DAVE LETTERMAN (1985) “Dyan Cannon” Betamax Recording of NBC TV Broadcast October 16 1985.

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) Betamax Recording of CBS TV Broadcast 1980, evidently to promote CBS broadcasting BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY YEARS later that week.

PINK FLOYD: THE WALL (1982) “Brick in the Wall” sequence. Betamax Recording.

AMERICA’S TOP 10 WITH CASEY KASEM (1984) Kasem hosts the top singing duos. Betamax Recording of an unknown TV Broadcast.

BLUE THUNDER (1983) Columbia Betamax.

NIGHT COURT (1984) “Santa Goes Downtown” Betamax Recording of NBC Broadcast 1984.

GET TO KNOW YOUR RABBIT (1972) VHS Recording of an unknown TV Broadcast.

LATE NITE WITH DAVE LETTERMAN (1991) “John Larroquette” VHS Recording of NBC Broadcast 1991.

NO MERCY (1986) VHS Recording of an unknown TV Broadcast.

LATER WITH BOB COSTAS (1991) “Henry Mancini” VHS Recording of NBC Broadcast 1991.

I guess if this week had a theme it would be Cleaning Out My Netflix List, or more specifically, cleaning out the Netflix produced movies I've been avoiding until now...

I also saw three movies all called The Package, two Sandra Oh movies, two Adam Devine movies, two Ed Helms movies, two Amanda Seyfried movies, and shockingly enough, two Netflix produced movies in which someone's manhood is separated from his body, both featuring Blake Anderson!

Critical Care (1997)



Double Happiness (1994)





Catfight (2016)



The Lighthouse of the Orcas (2016)



When We First Met (2018)



Game Over, Man! (2018)



Crossing Delancey (1988)



When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)



Coffee & Kareem (2020)



The Clapper (2017)



Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)



21 (2008)






The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)



The Package (1989)



The Package (2013)



The Package (2018)



What Lies Below (2020)

The Package (1989) has some nice looks at Chicago, including a rather tacky bar in my old South Side neighborhood.