SnoopyStyle

Marriage proposals are spreading in the hospital. Doctor James Kildare (Lew Ayres) proposes to nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day). Mary's brother Douglas (Robert Young) comes for a visit. He is looking for a patron for his charity from one of Kildare's former patient. Kildare has concerns for his health. Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) remains the irascible mentor.

This is another Kildare episode. The war would eventually disrupt the series, but not yet. This is still a series with some juice and the characters remain. The medical aspect is a bit suspect in this one. I'm no doctor and I'm certainly no expert with medical care at this time. That part seems like the weakest link although nurse Lamont's reaction is a close second. She is very melodramatic. I slowly grew frustrated with her. Well, she is part of the crisis.

Alana Higman (Hunter King) is a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan. Her parents met as kids with their families sitting next to each other at the games. The family even runs a Chiefs shop in their hometown. They are up for the Fan of the Year contest. Director of fan engagement Derrick (Tyler Hynes) is doing the assessment. There is a magic hat.

The most compelling relationship in this movie is the one between Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs. The corporate world calls this synergy. I expected more actual Kansas City Chiefs. I was expecting a few high profile players to run into our couple. The players should want that too. As for the couple, I have always liked Hunter King's comedic timing and Tyler Hynes seems perfectly fine although they could try for Niall Cunningham. There are surprisingly a lot of familiar faces in the other roles. I guess everybody needs a paycheck. This is fine Hallmark and maybe more synergy to come.

A famous music star is murdered in LA. The body is mutilated and a phone number is written in blood on her arm. It is the home number of retired Seattle Homicide Detective Vincent Swan (Dennis Hopper). A few years earlier, Swan caught a serial killer with a similar MO. He insists that the new killer is a copycat. LAPD detective Walter Motter (Joe Penny) leads the new investigation and assigns underling Francis Aldobrandi (Stephanie Zimbalist) to babysit Swan. The Prophet's Game is a childhood creation of a demented mind which has been turned on a group of college students.

This has a few interesting actors led by Hopper. He deserves better than this B-thriller. It reveals the game too late and not enough. I am still a little confused about the rules of the game. The game should be front and center in the first act and before the first kill. Then people start doing dumb stuff. It's all rather infuriating and dumb. Hopper has no hope here.

Tom and Jerry live in the tiny town of Goodberry. Jerry's owner Mrs. LePage is struggling. She is depending on her new toy against successful rival toy store owner Dr. Doublevay who is Tom's owner. Jerry's nephew Tuffy wants to be a magician despite Jerry's disapproval. Tuffy makes a wish and the magical nearby mountain grants that wish by making his snow-mouse come alive.

It is WB animation. I'm a fan of the old cartoons, but have rarely seen the newer ones. The style is functional for TV or cheap DVD sales. Tom and Jerry don't speak, but nephew Tuffy does. Boy, does he speak and it is annoying. I don't know much about him and don't want him. At least, I don't want him to speak. The first ten minutes are great when Tuffy isn't around.

Rufus Jones (Sammy Davis Jr.) is told by his mother (Ethel Waters) that anyone can be President. In a dream sequence, Rufus is indeed elected President.

Sammy Davis Jr. Is probably seven years old and earns his first acting credit. It is a musical. The fantasy nature of the film does speak to how far away this idea must have appeared to the audience at the time and I'm not talking about his age. To be clear, this is almost an entirely black film and the vast majority of the political figures are black men. I don't know what to make of the premise. It is lovely that they had a dream, but sad that the dream seems so outlandish.

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin are gathered around while Eric Idle is on video presumably filming from his home in the States. It's the 30th Anniversary of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) which is their last movie since Graham Chapman died in 1989. This is split into segments each with a new topic.

This is the guys shooting the breeze and remembering old times. Mostly, they are talking about modern sensitivities. Michael brings up the idea that Silly Walks would be offensive to the disabled today and they are off. I don't necessarily agree with them all the time. They do sound like old men complaining, but they have a comedic bite to their comments. They are also tackling big issues like religion. Considering the movie title, a discussion is inevitable.

On a technical level, I would like the guys to walk around and just hang out. Eric does walk around his home at the beginning. It needs a few of that to break up the static visual of sitting around a semi-circle. When Terry Jones gets up from his seat, it was totally distracting and weird and interesting. I wouldn't mind them comment on it.

Mobster Joe "Mac" MacBeth (Paul Douglas) kills the second in command for his boss "Duke" Duca. He marries Lily (Ruth Roman) who is anything but an angel. She keeps pushing him and pushing him to rise up in the organization. He is given a mansion and a new job. Fortune teller Rosie gives him his fortune.

This is inspired by William Shakespeare's MacBeth. I spent most of the movie trying to remember my high school Shakespeare. I remember the trees marching on his castle as part of the prophecy. Maybe the movie could do more with the prophecies. There are some delicious moments. I love our first scene with Lily. I would like her role to be younger. That would make the juxtaposition of her supposed innocent age and her ruthlessness more interesting. I love the food loving mobster. It's too bad that he gets killed so quickly. Maybe a switcheroo would be in order. All in all, I like the idea of a MacBeth gangster although it could be more Shakespearian in some ways.

Popeye is passing by the bull fighting arena. He sees bull fighting as unkindness to animals. All that changes when Olive Oyl goes into the arena. Popeye rushes to follow her. He is mistaken for the toreador and gets thrown into the arena. Only he doesn't want to hurt the bull. Right off the bat, he snaps his swords in half.

This is a Popeye for the Peta crowd although there is some bull punching. Nevertheless, the inevitable conclusion should be very pleasing to that crowd. I do like this for Popeye. It also works well as a cartoon. The animal loving do come and go over the years for Popeye.

It is the gala opening. James C. Wilson presents "Hot Sands" by Lawrence Harding. Nobody is getting seated when the curtain goes up. The ticket booth lady is not that helpful and a bickering couple is scrambling for last minute tickets.

This is a WB short. It is not that compelling. I only like the opening street scenes which are probably stock footages. Once the 'acting' starts, it is a muddle of non-funny characters trying to be funny. These characters are more annoying than comedic. The sound is scratchy which only makes the comedy that much harder. This is not good even as a showcase for the new sound.

In the old west, cowboys are bedding down for the night. A cow and her calf are going to sleep. The calf gets distracted and drawn away by a rabbit. The calf is soon lost and being hunted by a wolf. The rabbit and other small animals come to the rescue.

It is an MGM cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. It is an old style animation with the cow and calf. The rabbit is the most weird and interesting. I can see a Bugs Bunny wannabe in that drawing and writing. Instead of the calf, the cartoon should center more on the rabbit. It is not the easiest writing, but it holds the most potential. This is playing it safe.

Robert Klein is the host for this reunion in Aspen. It is the guys sitting on stage and talking. There are plenty of greatest hit clips from the show and movies. John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin are brought in. They kick out Eddie Izzard and bring in the ashes of Graham Chapman.

Normally, I downgrade a clip show, but there is no way I would do that for Monty Python. The clips are simply superior. The boys have some good stories. For newcomers, this is a solid introduction although I don't know any newcomers. For old-timers, this is a nice time with friends.

Virginia 'Ginny' Otis (Neve Campbell) is an unhappy teenager. Her father got a new job and moved the American family to the English countryside. He rented the vast estate of Canterville Hall. Everybody knows that it's haunted. Ginny and her two younger brothers can see the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville (Patrick Stewart), but their scientist father cannot accept it. He believes that Ginny is manufacturing it to drive the family back home.

This is Captain Picard and Sidney Prescott doing a TV adaptation of an Oscar Wilde short story for ABC. Maybe people have a problem with that. Neve Campbell is on the verge of her IT girl pinnacle. Patrick Stewart is well entrenched. This is pretty good for a TV movie.

In remote Scotland, sheep dog Lassie is afraid of water and loses two lambs to drowning. Her owner is angry. She gets sold to unwitting Dr. William MacLure (Edmund Gwenn) who tries to train her to swim.

This is obviously going to end with Lassie swimming to save someone, preferably someone young and helpless. This ending is a version of that, but not the version I want. Even though the ending isn't what I want, it still packs an emotional punch. The rest of the movie is a bit meandering. It is up and down. Edmund Gwenn is Santa of course. Again, I want a kid with Lassie. It just works better.

It's 1921 Providence. Frank Bunker Gilbreth (Clifton Webb) and Mrs. Lillian Gilbreth (Myrna Loy) have ten children. He's an efficiency expert for industry. They move to New Jersey.

This is based on a real family. Initially, I was going to say that Myrna Loy is way too hot to have so many kids. The movie undersold her character in a different way. The real Lillian was educated and a female pioneer in her field. This movie is selling a bill of goods and a comedy. I didn't really laugh and there is one awkward moment with the changing times. The kids don't get enough story space and there are so many of them. This is an old fashion family comedy.

Farmer's daughter Jane Budden (Myrna Loy) arrives in Brooklyn to live with her cousin. She declares her goal to marry rich. Upon learning this, her new neighbor Hiram Maxim (Don Ameche) comes over to declare his poverty. She is not amused but also is. He is a struggling inventor with no success to speak of.

I love the meet-cute. I don't know if it's officially a meet-cute since they met earlier. A frustrated Myrna Loy is awfully cute. By the time the flowers are flying, I am actually laughing. It is a slow plateauing process. The fire is pretty fun. The rival is a bit of a dud. The family has a few humorous episodes. The kid is a fine brat, but he's not one of the greats. This may be better split into two movies.

Wolf has an idea for a Halloween heist. He recruits the gang to steal from Reginald E. Scary's haunted mansion. The group is leery of Wolf's motives as he usually executes a Halloween prank on them.

I probably like The Bad Guys a little more than the general public. I find them endearing despite their villainy. That's the trick of this franchise. They need to be Bad Guys but ultimately not really. It's following somewhat the Despicable Me formula, but it seems to be staying with Bad for now. I don't think that this franchise will ever get to the top tier level. It may be stuck doing TV for awhile.

Out of the blue, invincible creatures rise from the ground to hunt down all humanity. For some reason, they stop at the 8000ft elevation mark. Survivors find sanctuary on mountain tops. It's three years later. Scientist Nina (Morena Baccarin), survivalist Katie (Maddie Hasson), and Will (Anthony Mackie) decide to leave safety and head to Boulder. Will's son needs supplies for his medical condition.

It's a stripped-down post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. The premise seems a little awkward, but there are obvious explanations which the movie gets to eventually. I would like the characters to work out the solutions a lot sooner. They should be smarter than me. This does have three solid actors doing a fine job. It's not quite an indie, but it is on the lower budget region. Maybe they will continue. We'll see.

MGM is fluffing Edison. There may be several reasons for that. I'm not going to speculate, but this is a fanboy short for the man. This is only nine minutes long. It manages to put his name beside Washington and Lincoln, and weave him into all of American history. Part of that must be patriotism during a time of danger. Like the man himself, this is selling the name. Once the list gets started, it is relentless. There is no talk of downside. Without him, the world would apparently be in the dark ages and America would be empty wilderness. The truth is a little more complicated. This is not doing complicated.

This movie opens as a modern-day movie production filming from above the artificial stage lights. The story begins in 1609 Padua. Galileo Galilei (Topol) is a math teacher demonstrating the new Copernican System. Eventually, he comes into conflict with Cardinal Inquisitor (Edward Fox).

This is like a play or at least a staged film. There are those three singing boys introducing each section. After all, it is based on a play. The story unfolds episodically in nature. Some of this may be educational. The general story is familiar to me. This British film is filled with solid actors, but the tension isn't very high.

Arcturus is a civilian spaceship on its maiden voyage to Jupiter. There are some 3000 passengers aboard. There is a mysterious distress signal and most are abandoning ship. Crew member Simmons (Joe Penny) gathers various people as he searches for a way to a lifepod.

I remember Joe Penny from 80's TV and a few of the actors seem familiar. The production designs look 70's or very early 80's. There is no action other than shaking the camera in the third act. This is no Titanic. The miniature work is fine. The story is something about computer, but it's sorta non-sense. It can't really get above its low production value.

After another loss, Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) recounts a lifetime of losses and she finds herself all alone. It's been 15 years and Adam Elliot has finally made another full length release. These are obviously labors of love. He's an artisan in a world where business often overshadows the show. It is outsider art with outsider characters. My only concern is the last act reunion. At first, I thought he's imaginary. It's too convenient. Maybe he should be knocking on her door instead. That would work just as well. It's still a very emotional moment. This movie makes me want to revisit Mary and Max.

Event planner Kayley Cooper (Kathryn Davis) is desperate to get to New York for work. Her plane gets grounded. Fellow traveler Brett Matthews (Olivier Renaud) offers to help. The snowstorm catches up to them and they are stranded in his hometown where he is still a celebrated hero. He offers to help a local event with Kayley's help.

The title is an obvious reference to the classic comedy Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The main issue with that is this movie is far away from that classic comedy. First, this is not a road movie. Second, this is nowhere near the comedy. At best, it is a passable romance and that's highly debatable. I don't like their meet-cute. It's better for her to be a workaholic single. That would be a cleaner connection. Their coming together is awkward and slow. This Hallmark wannabe doesn't have the whole formula.

Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker) are high school freshmen best friends. They are desperate to be popular. Jennifer DiNuccio (Tracy Nelson) and Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri) are the hot couple. With LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells), they are the popular crowd. Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gertz) is the type A student leader. Instead of any of them, Patty and Lauren make friends with weird outsiders, Johnny Slash (Merritt Butrick) and Marshall Blechtman (John Femia).

The pilot suggests something closer to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It turns more towards a broad 80's teen show with some big issues sprinkled in. The laugh track gets used more. The characters become more broad. I still really like this group. The best moment is the hot janitor not recognizing Lauren. That is a pure universal teenager moment. There is some great music starting with The Waitresses. Bill Murray tries to gin up one episode late in the season. He's probably a friend of creator Anne Beatts. The last minute effort didn't work and the show was canceled after one season.

It's 1968 Cambridge. Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie) gets hired by biologist Bob Edwards (James Norton) for his IVF experiments. They recruit innovative obstretic surgeon Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy). Together, they would face hurdles from all sides and a long meandering ten years journey to create the first test tube baby.

This is a long winding road. At times, the movie feels meandering and I'm not sure if they picked the right point of view. I thought maybe one of the patients should be the lead. Of course, the first patients wouldn't be there at the end and the first birth mother isn't there with the first group. So, it has to be Jean Purdy. I would add one additional scene, the plaque without Jean Purdy's name. That needs to be the first shot in the movie.

In the near future, toxin in the air is killing the world. People need to wear respirator masks to survive. Big pharma Aethera has created AIRemedy which is the only known antidote against the toxin, but there may be a limited supply which must be taken constantly. Ella McPhee is the face of AIRemedy advertising. She is depressed over her mother and the world in general despite having a secure supply of the drug. At a party, she takes an overdose of a new drug without knowing the consequences.

This is a South African sci-fi. It is obviously referencing the recent pandemic. Some movies hit that note too hard making it fall flat. This is one of those and it's weird that the toxin has no name. The story is a bit messy. At one point, the movie turns into The Fly including the ear, but then it turns into something else. It wants to be bigger, but it doesn't get there.