TxMike Reviews (6,121)

Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)

My favorite TV series from the 1950s.

[17 March 2025]

I suppose there aren't too many of us remaining, who actually watched the original TV series during the 1950s. I read Superman and Superboy comics so naturally this Superman TV series was my favorite.

George Reeves as Clark Kent and Superman was not chiseled as modern Superman actors, plus he didn't wear a costume that was as form-fitting. He was in his late 30s and early 40s during the run of the TV series. Thinking back, and watching an old episode today, the production values were nowhere near modern TV or movie productions but, as a kid, what was presented was just fine.

We weren't wealthy and as such didn't even have a TV at home until 1959 when I was 14, when my older sister got a job and bought us one. "The Adventures of Superman" will always be my favorite original TV series.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Superman 2 - The director Donner's cut.

[17 March 2025]

With Gene Hackman passing away recently at the age of 95, I took the opportunity to revisit some of his movies, some I had never watched and some, like Superman 2, that I watched over 30 years ago.

I found this one on Blu Ray at my public library. It is the 2006 Donner cut which, interestingly, runs about 20 minutes shorter than the original 1980 theatrical version. The story is the same in both versions but some scenes are portrayed differently, plus some new scenes were recreated from audition footage.

The disc has several very interesting "extras", including one on the restoration process for this, the 2006 version.

This movie starts with Jor El on Krypton, imprisoning General Zod and his two cohorts into a two-dimensional glass plate and sending them into empty space, doomed to there for eternity. Until something unexpected happens and they quite by accident find themselves on Earth.

As soon as they find they have superpowers on Earth they start their quest for absolute domination. The inevitable conflict with Superman becomes the final chapters of the movie.

Interestingly Gene Hackman gets first billing and is superb as the dastardly, untrustworthy Lex Luthor.

Good, entertaining movie, especially for those of us who grew up with Superman comics and the original 1950s Superman weekly TV show with George Reeves as Superman.

March or Die (1977)

French foreign legion in the desert.

[17 March 2025]

Gene Hackman died recently at the age of 95. He had a successful career, some reports list his estate at about $80 Million. As part of my quest to watch many old Hackman movies I came across this one on Prime streaming.

Aside from Gene Hackman as Major William Sherman Foster, the cast also includes a number of well-regarded stars of that 1970s period, including Terence Hill as the slick and untrustworthy Marco Segrain, Catherine Deneuve as wealthy and mysterious Simone Picard, Max von Sydow as Francois Marneau, Ian Holm as El Krim, and Jack O'Halloran as Ivan.

Honestly, I found it a chore getting through this movie. Hackman is good, as he always is, but I had a hard time latching onto the core story and it was not entertaining to see so many scenes of misery in the desert.

I am glad I took the time but frankly it is not a very good movie for me.

The French Connection (1971)

New York drug cops hunt down the "Frogs."

[16 March 2025]

Many years ago the English began calling the French 'Frogs.' While it rarely is heard anymore, the New York cops refer to the French suspects as "Frogs."

This is the movie that earned Gene Hackman, who passed away recently at the age of 95, his first of two Oscars. While he is clearly great here, my favorite Hackman role is in the 1995 "The Quick and the Dead", playing Herod, the outlaw that "owns" the town.

Here Gene Hackman is Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a New York cop who is in the narcotics division. He has a checkered career, relying a lot on intuition, but with some glaring failures.

Here he has a strong intuition about a French group, traveling to New York by ocean liner but bringing along their car. Was the car being used to smuggle contraband? Perhaps illegal drugs?

Hackman was 40 when this movie was filmed in 1970. It has all the earmarks and looks of a 1970s crime drama, some foot chases, some car chases, some subway chases, a few gunmen and a sniper. Officers raiding bars and manhandling suspects.

I found it streaming on Prime, part of my quest to re-watch many of the old Hackman movies now that he is gone. The media says his estate was roughly $80 Million so is acting career was nicely profitable.

Camera (2024)

How the camera in the hands of a 9-yr-old unites the community.

[16 March 2025]

This smaller movie, filmed in a California coastal community stars Beau Bridges who also was the producer. The cast also includes his 30-yr-old son. Just interesting facts, nothing more.

There are several things going on in this story but the main one is a hotel corporation evaluating the community for a new resort. That is in conflict with what many (or most?) want, a new cannery for this fishing community.

A new family moves into the area, a woman who works at the local restaurant/bar and her 9-yr-old, non-verbal son named Oscar. He was born premature, had some needed surgery which damaged his vocal cords, but he is very bright and catches on to new things quickly.

The boy has an old Mamiya C220 TLR camera that was handed down from his deceased dad, who had gotten it from his dad. The camera wasn't working, needed some cleaning and repairs, but the boy often carried it around his neck. He seemed interested in photography but under the circumstances made drawings instead in his notebook.

A chance meeting with Eric (Beau Bridges), the local fix-it man, who also was an avid photographer, changed everything. Eric had an identical camera, loaned it to Oscar, gave him some instruction, taught him the art of B&W film developing and printing in his darkroom.

A number of things transpire from that start, Eric becomes the friend Oscar needed, someone who appreciated him for who he was. And, Oscar's photography ended up uniting the community after much turmoil.

Good movie, my wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Prime. After our usual Saturday evening steak and wine dinner. With chocolate cake for dessert, of course.

Wyatt Earp (1994)

Life and times of Wyatt Earp.

[15 March 2025]

Just recently actor Gene Hackman passed away at the age of 95. Realizing I had not watched all of his movies, I looked this one up and found it on Blu Ray at my public library. It is a long movie at just over three hours but I can honestly say "Never a dull moment." Being retired I watched it at home in several sittings.

Most of us are familiar with, or at least have heard the phrase, "the gunfight at the O. K. Corral." Well that was Wyatt Earp and his brothers, lawmen who were enforcing the "no guns in town" ordinance. That, plus many others events, are covered in this movie. Costner is good in the role.

Hackman is also good even though he has a small, but important, role as the father of Wyatt. The movie starts when Wyatt is a boy and the family begins their trek west to California.

After I watched the movie I looked up the biographies of Earp and Doc Holliday (played excellently by Dennis Quaid). In all the storyline in the movie follows the general facts about the characters, however with much embellishment for entertainment purposes. One example, when Wyatt's young wife died of typhoid fever the movie shows him torching their home right as he was leaving for good. In fact he did not burn it down, instead sold it for $75.

I don't expect this type of movie to be 100% accurate and such deviations do not detract from the overall impact of the movie which is made primarily for entertainment.

There are some closing captions which state that during his career and shootouts Wyatt was never even wounded by a bullet. That seems to be factual.

Night Moves (1975)

Hackman is a P.I. hired to find a runaway 16 yr old girl.

[13 March 2025]

My interest piqued by Gene Hackman's recent passing away at age 95, I looked up this movie of his that I had never watched. It came during the few years after he had established himself as an A-lister in movies such as "The French Connection" (Oscar for Best Actor), "The Poseidon Adventure", and "The Conversation."

This 1975 movie was actually filmed in 1973. Gene Hackman is P. I. Harry Moseby, hired by a wealthy lady to find her 16-yr-old daughter, played by Melanie Griffith right about the time she actually did turn 16.

The hunt takes him to the Florida Keys, he suspects she is there because that is where her stepfather is.

I watched it on DVD from my public library. It is an interesting and entertaining movie. Finding the girl turned out to be the easy part but some serious criminal activities came to light and Harry gets into quicksand very quickly.

Saturday Night (2024)

The 90 minutes before the 1st SNL.

[13 March 2025]

This year, 2025, Saturday Night Live turns 50. I remember clearly what I was doing in 1975, with a promotion and new job, but with kids in the house watching SNL was not a priority. Did I see that first episode in 1975? I don't remember but probably not.

This movie runs just over 90 minutes and it examines the final 90 minutes leading up to the very first live telecast. In essence the movie follows a similar time line of the initial episode.

I found the whole thing fascinating, a live comedy show like this had never been done. Down the halls and backstage rehearsals were still going on as the minutes ticked by. The "schedule" was a series of notes tacked onto a cork board. Not everyone there was sure they would actually go on. Acts that had prepared for 5 minutes were asked, right before the show, to cut them down to 3 or even 2 minutes. What is depicted here was chaos and the show runner was even being encouraged, right up to the last minute, to postpone it for a week to be better prepared. He didn't.

Now I suspect some, maybe much, of the content of this movie was either fictionalized or at least exaggerated for purposes of entertainment. In fact some of the original cast have spoken out in recent days, saying that things were running much smoother than the movie purports.

Regardless, I found it to be totally entertaining. I watched it on DVD from my public library. My wife skipped.

Quick Change (1990)

Slapstick bank robbery in NYC.

[11 March 2025]

I am a fan of many (but not all) of the movies Bill Murray is in. One of my very favorites is "Groundhog Day" from 1993. This movie came out three years earlier but in it one can see many of the same mannerisms Murray uses in both movies.

Here he is Grimm and as the movie begins we see him in a full clown costume and makeup, carrying balloons, on the NYC subway. He gets to street level and heads for the bank.

At first it seems like a lone wolf job but we soon see that two of the "customers" in the bank at the time are accomplices of his. One is his girlfriend, Geena Davis as Phyllis, the other is their mutual friend, Randy Quaid as Loomis. (Murray and Quaid were both born in 1950, making them likely 39 during filming. Davis was born in 1956 making her likely 33 during filming.)

So, all that takes place early in the movie, the three of them manage to execute their escape plan, in plain sight as the cops and sharpshooters arrive. Then the rest of the plan is to take the $Million or so and fly to a remote island nation to start their new life.

Nothing goes as planned after that, most of the movie is the three trying to get to JFK airport while the police are trying to find them.

Lots of slapstick, about as entertaining as three episodes of a generic half-hour TV sitcom.

I am glad I watched it because of the actors but truthfully it is not one I'd like to watch again.

At home, on DVD from my public library. My wife skipped, not her type of movie.

Heretic (II) (2024)

Heretic - someone who has beliefs or acts that go against the accepted beliefs of a group or religion.

[10 March 2025]

This an interesting movie all the way through but for me it is a one viewing movie. A big part of the interest is not knowing where it is going next and not knowing how it will be resolved. Hugh Grant is just absolutely superb in his role.

Filmed in England, it starts with two 20-ish girls sitting on a bench outdoors on a pretty day, taking a short break, discussing of all things, condoms and whether the larger ones are really larger.

We soon find out they are on the typical Mormon missionary trip, riding their bicycles to assigned addresses to spread the word. When they identify themselves and where they are from each states a city in Utah, the state where Mormons are most populous.

They knock on the door of Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed. He is a curious character, invites them in, out of the rain, and assured them his wife is home and she has a blueberry pie in the oven, as missionaries are not allowed to enter unless a woman of the house is also present.

The two girls are American actresses, Sophie Thatcher as "Sister" Barnes and Chloe East as "Sister" Paxton. They soon start to suspect that not everything is right in the Reed household.

From that point it gets deeper and deeper into the subject which is the title of this movie. It explores whether all the different religions are just successive iterations in slightly different forms originating eons ago. It explores whether religion exists to control people.

I would think some who are deeply religious and don't want any challenge to their beliefs might find the story here objectionable. However, it does not form a conclusion, it does not attempt to convert a believer into a heretic. But it does present some ideas that I found interesting and absorbing.

I watched it at home on Blu Ray from my public library, my wife skipped, not her kind of movie.

Picture This (2025)

Indian-British family and their efforts to marry off their daughter.

[10 March 2025]

My wife and I were looking for some interesting entertainment and settled on this movie, made by Amazon and streaming on Prime. The past few years we have watched lots of, I am reluctant to admit, very marginal "made for streaming" movies and were skeptical, but this is a really fine and entertaining movie.

I had never seen Simone Ashley before, she plays the main character Pia. I just couldn't take my eyes off her, she is gorgeous, but best of all she is a really good actress and her performance here is very authentic.

The basic story is this - she is single and soon turning 30, her younger sister is getting married soon, the sister and her mother are strongly encouraging Pia to find a suitable husband. But she has a career as a photographer and co-owns a studio with her gay friend. But business isn't great and they may go under.

The story has many complications but most things are resolved in good, meaningful ways. We found it to be a worthwhile, entertaining movie.

Love in Glacier National: A National Park Romance (2023 TV Movie)

Studying and predicting avalanches in the mountains.

[9 March 2025]

My wife and I usually look for a pleasant movie for after dinner on Saturday nights. The choice is frequently a Hallmark movie. After a bottle of wine we don't want to think too hard and the formula is almost always the same, with what we call "the Hallmark kiss" coming almost exactly at one minute to go in the movie. Yep, it does here too!

The title of this one attracted us in particular because one June we spent the entire month in NW Montana, and visited Glacier National Park at least six times. However, fully aware that most Hallmark movies are filmed in Canada.

As is this one. There are a few aerial establishing shots and some of them could have been the Glacier Park but it indeed was filmed in Canada. Still, the beautiful snowy mountain scenery is very nice to see.

Ashley Newbrough is very attractive and a believable actress, here she is Dr. Heather Lawrence, a scientist that specializes in developing methods to predict avalanches. She travels to the site to test her methods and instruct the staff.

Stephen Huszar plays the head guy, Chris Parker, and we eventually find out why an old incident made him distrustful of Heather's research. But he and she are attracted to each other very soon and most of the story here is to see if they will end up together. "IF", wink wink. It also helps that he, as a widower, has a cute 12-yr-old daughter that bonds with Heather.

We found it streaming on Peacock. There are several annoying ads but overall we found it to be a nicely entertaining movie.

Hoosiers (1986)

Indiana, 1950s small school basketball.

[4 March 2025]

I re-watched this movie as a tribute to Gene Hackman who just last month was found deceased at 95 in the mud room of his home in New Mexico. They figure he (and his wife) had passed away 8 to 10 days earlier. The autopsy showed he had heart disease and dementia.

I had watched the movie some years back and remembered the basic story but much of it was fresh.

Hackman plays the old coach, now in his 50s, who had much success a number of years back but got into some serious hot water which ended his career. That is, until he was hired to try to rejuvenate the basketball for this high school. Not all the faculty and townspeople were in favor of that.

I am from 1950s and 1960s Louisiana where basketball took a back seat to football so, when I decided to attend graduate school at a Big Ten college in Indiana I was surprised to learn what a basketball state it is. All that is depicted here, with rabid fans, including the townspeople who can get a bit intrusive with their desire to help the team win.

The fictional star on this small high school team reminds me of Rick Mount who was a genuine high school star, a deadly shooter, he played at Lebanon High School and was named Mr. Basketball in 1966. From there he went on to an All American college career at my school, Purdue.

Anyway, Hackman is his usual excellent self and a pleasant surprise was Dennis Hopper who knows basketball but has to tame his serious drinking problem to help the team.

A good, feel-good movie.

Under the Influencer (2023)

Timely for its relevance in this social media age.

[27 February 2025]

I almost didn't watch this movie. There are only 10 reviews and many of those are glowing "10" reviews that don't say much, I suspect from the filmmakers and their friends, just to pump up the IMDb rating. However there are a couple of legitimate user reviews, plus external reviews, which say it is an entertaining and worthwhile movie.

And it is, very much so. Tori is a successful influencer, she started when she was 15 and was a big hit, especially with the teenage girls. Financially successful enough to hire a personal assistant and a producer for her videos. Now, ten years later and 25, her content is barely relevant. She has failed to change with the times. Her following is dwindling, as is her income.

This is a real issue in the real world, over the past few years I have watched people on my topics of interest (e.g. Whiskey reviews) start out as a hobby, realize there is money to be made, quit their day jobs, then feel the pressure to get more frequent content posted so they can get more clicks so they can generate more revenue. Many of them fail and give up.

So this movie is about the transition Tori must make, not only to keep herself relevant but also to grow as a person. And one way she does this is to expand her interest in song writing and singing.

No, this is not a "10" movie, if you compare it to other fine movies, but it is a good and entertaining movie with a relevance to today's world where so many people want to become "influencers" and make their living that way.

At home on DVD from my public library.

Nova: Baltimore Bridge Collapse (2025) Season 52, Episode 6

Baltimore Bridge Collapse of March 2024.

[27 February 2025]

It was just 11 months ago, it was the big news item for a while, the Baltimore Bridge Collapse. One thing that made it so fascinating was the video footage that showed exactly when the ship lost power, regained it, then lost it again before it destroyed the bridge.

This documentary, shown last night on PBS, is a comprehensive study of what happened, why it happened, and what needs to be done not only for the replacement bridge in Baltimore but also for the many aging bridges across the USA. Many experts share their insights, including some of the key people involved in the clean-up operation which took almost three months.

Very interesting program, it gets into many of the details of salvage and recovery and how there were able to get this very important and very busy harbor operational again.

On my local PBS station via antenna.

Bigfoot's Wild Weekend (2012)

So campy and bad that it is fun to watch.

[23 February 2025]

Filmed in California, even if you didn't know you see the California license plates on the vehicles. This is not a high-caliber movie. How bad is it? The quality reminds me of the VHS home movies I made in the 1980s with my small children and some of their friends.

In this story Bigfoot is real, there have been some local sightings, and a couple of reporters representing different publications are sent to investigate, and to write stories.

However there are some locals who dress in shaggy camouflage suits and they get mistaken for Bigfoot, creating confusion.

Then there are the van of nubile girls from a local reform school that arrive at the site for a weekend camping trip. They end up topless in the stream when Bigfoot shows up and steals articles of theirs.

The actors are uniformly amateurish, but that is OK because most of the characters are caricatures anyway. It would have been disingenuous to play them with accomplishes actors.

It is so bad it turns out to be entertaining. At home, streaming on Prime. If a rating of 5.5 (on a 1 to 10 scale) is average then this one probably should be a 3. I have actually seen worse.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023)

"Emotions", as sung by Brenda Lee.

[22 February 2025]

A French Canadian movie, with English subtitles, I watched it at home on Blu-ray from my public library. My wife started it with me but it is not her kind of movie and she hated foreign language movies with subtitles. There is a scene where Sasha is asked about her favorite song, she pulls a vinyl of Brenda Lee's and plays "Emotions."

Sara Montpetit is Sasha, she looks to be in her 20s but when asked, she says she is 68. She is the youngest member of a family of vampires. It is past time for her to deploy her fangs and get her nourishment from people, instead she uses a straw to suck blood from blood bags.

Félix-Antoine Bénard is Paul, an ordinary person bullied at school, and works at the bowling alley. Paul and Sasha meet when he is on the roof of the bowling alley, contemplating killing himself.

So this is really Sasha's story, as the title states she is looking for a "consenting, suicidal person" and it develops from there.

This is an entertaining movie, not to be taken too seriously. Most of the family interactions are funny.

All My Life (2020)

Based on a true story, new couple deal with his diagnosis.

[16 February 2025]

It is Saturday evening, my wife and I searched for a suitable movie to watch after our weekly steak and wine dinner and came across this one streaming on Prime.

It is based on real people and their true story just a few years prior. They are both single young adults when they meet quite by chance at a bar. They go on a date, they hit it off right away, to save money they later take the plunge to share a residence.

Then he gets a medical diagnosis that is severe, much of the story is their dealing with this as they plan a wedding. There is even a strong "go fund me" element.

I really enjoyed Jessica Rothe as the young lady, Jenn Carter. She is lovely and energetic and her portrayal seemed correct and authentic. As well was "Glee" veteran, Harry Shum Jr. As the young man, Solomon 'Sol' Chau.

It is hard to watch in places because of the diagnosis but overall it is an uplifting story about making the best of the time we each have, no matter how long or how short it might be.

It was also nice to see locations we are familiar with, in and around S. Louisiana and the New Orleans area.

Good movie.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025)

The old gang is back, all a bit older.

[15 February 2025]

Renée Zellweger was just past 30 for the first Bridget Jones movie, now she will turn 56 later this year, 2025. Today is Valentines Day and it seemed fitting that my wife and I decided to watch this movie, released just yesterday, streaming on Peacock.

It has a very slow start, we both looked at each other after about one-half hour and said, "Are you enjoying this?" We weren't and both hoped it would soon get good. All the characters were annoying and inappropriate, even the kids. In one scene the little girl is running around the house and banging on a pot for the longest. In social gatherings all the lady friends are intrusive and most of the interactions are silly. Fortunately, by tolerating all that it did pick up during its second half.

As this story starts Bridget's husband died in an unfortunate accident four years earlier, leaving her with a young son and an even younger daughter. She was still trying to cope and had not been back to her job as a TV show producer. All her friends wanted to know when she would find a man. One even started her a dating ap.

Later, as the story winds down, good things start to happen for Bridget and the kids. The son is worried that he might forget his dad and his science teacher helps by reassuring him that his dad is everywhere, his energy is, because energy can neither be created or destroyed, it just changes its form.

I would watch the second half again, but NOT the first half, neither interesting nor entertaining. Now I have to get the DVD from my public library and re-watch the original Bridget Jones movie. The closing credits contains a number of still shots from that original.

Expedition Killer Whale (2024 TV Special)

The pack ice Killer Whales of Antarctica.

[13 February 2025]

As the program begins we witness a few instances of were a group of Killer Whales (Orcas) cooperate to get a meal by washing a seal off a piece of floating ice. I am a scientist and I found this presentation totally captivating.

The study presented here is of a group of what they call "pack ice Killer Whales", they live and hunt in Antarctica. Pack ice are the medium sized pieces of ice that have broken off but remain packed close to each other. Lone seals commonly will climb onto one of suitable size and take a rest period.

The Orcas are social animals that cooperate to hunt and share their killings. In the area of the study remain about 100 of them and lately their number has been decreasing by about 5 per year. For energy and well-being they need about one seal per day per Orca so hunting is their primary task. They know where the seals hang out.

Their usual method is to roan the waters and look for seals. An adult Orca can, while stationary near an ice patch, raise itself vertically about 10 feet out of the water and can take a close look at the prey and the configuration of the ice. Then, apparently with a way to communicate with the other 6 or 8 Orcas, organize a well-planned maneuver to make waves to wash the seal into the water where they can kill and eat it. Sometimes first doing maneuvers under the ice to break it up a bit.

The program also includes use of equipment to listen to and record the communication sounds of the Orcas, plus a Marine Biologist looking for Orca poop so that DNA sequencing can shed light on the diet and health of the Orcas.

Really good Nature program.

Nova: Egypt's Tombs of Amun (2025) Season 52, Episode 4

Excavations of Egyptian tombs dating from the 25th Dynasty.

[13 February 2025]

This is an interesting program even though I am not particularly interested in ancient Egyptian. I learned a lot but I found myself wishing it included captions. Several of the Archeologists had such thick accents that it was often difficult to understand what they were saying in English.

For example, they often mentioned something that sounded like "God's wife of a moon." So I did a search, I found that it is actually "God's Wife of Amun", a figure who was the highest-ranking priestess of the Amun cult. The cult was centered in Thebes during the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth dynasties (circa 740-525 BC).

The program features recent excavations of a featureless triangle of sandy land bordered by highways. From aerial views it looks to me like maybe a few acres. As the dug they found artifacts that were consistent with burial tombs. They found a number of them, one had inscriptions that they concluded was a female's who was a "God's Wife", a person who could wield power comparable to a pharaoh.

Interesting program.

A Patch of Blue (1965)

"Just marry me, you don't have to ask me."

[10 February 2025]

I managed to catch this movie on the "Movies!" channel via TV antenna. The year 1965 was a memorable one, I was in my second year of college. I had never heard of this movie before today. Filmed in various locations in the Los Angeles area.

Elizabeth Hartman, almost 22 during filming, plays the part of 18-yr-old Selina D'Arcey. She is blind and frankly has a terrible home life. She doesn't know much and her uncaring mother seems to be fine with that. She is able to get a ride to the park, she has a usual spot among the roots of a tree. She also usually has a case of beads that she strings.

She meets Sidney Poitier, about 38 during filming, playing the part of Gordon Ralfe. He is a patient man who is motivated to help Selina. Through their interactions he shows her how to shop in a grocery store, how to use a phone booth to make a call, how to signal for a safe crossing in traffic, and things like that.

Shelley Winters, who was good in everything, plays the part of her uncaring mother Rose-Ann D'Arcey. Rose has no feeling that Selina can be anything more than a helpless blind person. Being racist she strongly objects to Gordon when she finds out about their friendship.

So that is the movie, the enlightenment of Selina and having her get onto a path for a better life. Gordon was the only one to care anything about her, she really wanted him to marry her but he, being wiser, realized that Selina needed much more exposure to the realities of life.

Good movie! In B&W.

Reality Bites: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2025 TV Movie)

One of the weaker "Hannah Swensen" movies.

[9 February 2025]

My wife and I have watched many of the Hannah Swensen mysteries and this one, to me, seems a bit weaker and more silly than the others. However, my wife commented to me, "They are all silly."

But the real question is, does it entertain? And it does, a bit, but mostly in very silly ways.

Alison Sweeney is, of course, Hannah Swensen and she acts a bit like a teenager. The reason, she has a keen interest in the handsome, single District Attorney and in his presence just can't hold it together. She keeps waiting for him to ask her out.

The mystery here is twofold, a man has been arrested for several home burglaries and he is about to go to trial. But another burglary happens and Hannah wonders if it is a copycat and, if so, why?

Second, a film crew is in and using Hannah's bakery as their set for a popular cooking show, the host is Connie Mack who, it turns out, can't really cook but was chosen for her screen presence. Then on day two of shooting they came in and find her young producer dead in the restaurant. Is this connected to the trial, or just random?

So, as usual, Hannah and her friends look for clues and devise a plan to try to catch the new burglar in the act.

Again, as a story and as a movie it isn't that good but it does have a bit of entertaining value. Especially if it is free, like we found it streaming on Peacock.

(Trivia - Connie Mack, born in 1862, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins, losses, ties, and games managed in Major League Baseball history. There once was a stadium in Philadelphia named after him.)

Conclave (2024)

Unusual conclave to select a new Pope.

[6 February 2025]

I grew up Catholic, I recall at least four or five conclaves to select a new Pope, beginning with Pope John XXIII in 1958 when I was 12. While I never paid a lot of attention to the selection of new Popes, I do know that it is not unusual for an unknown Cardinal to emerge as the new Pope when the usual favorites failed to get a two-thirds majority quickly. This movie plays on that concept.

The movie begins when the Pope is found deceased in this bed. The main character is Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence, he works at the Vatican and is assigned to manage the process of gathering Cardinals from all over the world for the Conclave to select the successor.

The movie was filmed in Italy with a suitable location filling in for the Vatican. The entire move (as far as I can recall) takes place entirely within the Vatican, we see the goings on inside the Conclave, plus we witness the unofficial, side meetings where certain Cardinals try to work out strategy and in particular to block a certain Cardinal who they think would be unsuitable. Politics within the Church.

Overall it is a good movie but uses one particular point of contention within the Church regarding roles and acceptability and ends with quite a surprise. Is it realistic? I don't know.

The key roles are played by other fine, experienced actors, including Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini, one of the favorites for election, as well as John Lithgow as Cardinal Tremblay, another of the favorites.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Peacock. Good movie for anyone who enjoys this type of mystery.

The King Tide (2023)

Isolated community with a supernatural element.

[6 February 2025]

A strong supernatural element, but not a religious element. An unusual movie about an unusual community off the coast of Newfoundland. My wife and I enjoyed it however it is not a movie I would like to watch again. Streaming on Prime.

There isn't much backstory but a modest sized group of families decided some time back that they would isolate themselves on a small island away from the mainland. They would have no contact with people on the mainland, none of them would travel to the mainland, no radio or TV. As one 10-yr-old asked, "Do they speak like we do on the mainland?"

(While the story is completely different I thought of the year 2000 movie "The Beach" where a group wanting to escape from society and the modern world formed their community on an isolated island and only had limited contact, mainly for supplies, with the mainland.)

This community has made themselves self-sufficient, there is a school, a medic, fishermen catch enough Cod to dry and salt it away for the winter. One passing comment, "Seems you are drinking the whiskey as fast as you make it", indicates they have some sort of crops that can be fermented and distilled.

Anyway, with that as background the movie starts with a man hearing the faint cry of a baby at water's edge. He and the others go and find an overturned boat, inside they find a newborn girl, they have no idea where it came from. But right away the rescuer sees his arm wound heal right away when he came into contact with the baby.

And that is the thrust of the story. The man and his wife adopt the baby and name her Isla. The story quickly cuts to about 10 years later, we see a quick scene where island people are lined up outside the home of Isla, for healings of various sorts, including face wounds from a fight or the hangover from too much whiskey.

In essence, they recognized the supernatural power of being in her presence and were treating it as a toy, Isla didn't mind, it was all she had ever known and perhaps assumed this sort of thing is common "on the mainland." People also noticed that her parents didn't seem to age since Isla arrived.

That is all set up pretty early in the movie and there wouldn't be much story-telling tension if everything remained in order. But it doesn't, some want to rebel and get off the island, some want Isla to be used in ways that may not be ethical, tension grows to the point where it becomes a crisis and things develop in a way no one could have foreseen.

It is a very interesting movie of an interesting concept, a fable of sorts.