Crime By Night as seen on TCM 11/8/02 at 1:00pm eastern.
Crime By Night starred Jane Wyman as a private detective's assistant.
Crime By Night is a murder mystery. A man is falsly accused of murdering his ex-father-in-law. All evidence points to convicting the man. The real murderer is revealed by the end of the movie, but the identity can be quessed at the three quarter mark.
Crime By Night can be viewed by the entire family. There is not an over abundance of violence. Over all I would give this movie a 2 on a scale of 0 to 5. This movie has some nice twists to it. There are more suspects by the middle of the movie. Crime By Night had the making of a good murder mystery. The murder took place before the film began. A potential witness died before identifying the murderer. The true identity was revealed at the end. These are elements that make for a good murder mystery in my opinion. The problem that I had was that the identity can be determined by something that the private detective had on his person. The only thing that keeps a viewer guessing is the true motive. I would have given this movie a higher score if I had not guessed the murderer as early as I did.
Operation Bikini as seen on FLIXW 11/18/02 at 2:10pm eastern.
Operation Bikini starred Tab Hunter as a Marine Lieutentent.
Operation Bikini was produced by American International Pictures. Fans of American International Pictures could be misled by the title Operation Bikini. American International Pictures is famous for producing the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach movies. Operation Bikini sounds like a beach movie of the same type, but instead it is a war movie.
Operation Bikini is about a group of marines who must destroy an American submarine before the Japanesse can salvage the submarine. The Submarine is carrying a prototype radar system. This system could help the Japanesse develop radar. The American government does not want the system in the hands of the Japanesse.
Operation Bikini can be viewed by the entire family. This movie is not a typical war movie. There was only one major battle scene in the whole movie. Most war movies have an abundance of battle scenes. I would give this movie a 2¼ on a scale of 0 to 5. This movie had an unusual element to it. Part of the movie was shown in color. Frankie Avalon dreams are the scenes that are in color. These scenes only showcase Avalon's singing ability.
The Long Ships as seen on ACT-W 11/20/02 at 1:50pm eastern.
The Long Ships starred Richard Widmark as a Viking in search of a golden bell.
The Long Ships starts with a man telling a story about a golden bell. The man is captured by an Islamic King who wants the bell returned to Islam. The king claims that the bell was stolen from Islam by the Crusades. The man reveals himself to be a Viking, and escapes the king. The man returned to the Viking homeland. The man leads an expedition to find the bell, but winds up captured by the king. The king forces the Vikings to find the bell.
The Long Ships cannot be viewed by the entire family. This movie has some excessive violence. There are scenes where spears penetrate the human body. The kings wife is killed in this manner. I would give this movie a 2 on a scale of 0 to 5. There is one scene that had no bearing on the plot. There is a fight scene in the king's harem. The Viking's do escape their captors for a short time. The Vikings want to ravage the harem instead of escaping. I don't follow the thought process. I would have tried to escape than stay behind to have a good time with a woman. I would worry about being with a woman once I returned to my homeland.
The Yards as seen on MYS-E 1/12/03 at 8:00pm Eastern.
The Yards starred Mark Wahlberg as a parolee trying to get his life back together.
Mark Wahlberg played Leo who was just paroled from prison. Leo was used as a scapegoat to protect his friends from a car theft gang. Leo was the only one caught. Leo goes to see his aunt's second husband for a job. The uncle told Leo to get into a machinist program, but Leo needs a job right a way to help care for his sick mother.
Leo winds up working with his friend Willy. Willy works for the uncle as a supplier. Leo's new job has nothing to do with supplies. Willy has underhanded dealings with local politicians to procure contacts for the company. The company deals with some of the maintenance for the New York City Subway System. Willy also sabotages work from the company's competitors so that the competitors do not get future contracts. Leo winds up falsely accussed of murder while working for Willy. Leo realizes that he made a mistake with joining up with Willy.
The Yards cannot be viewed by the entire family. This movie is full of foul language. I enjoyed Wahlberg's potrayal of Leo. I feel this movie is a one character movie. I only cared about Leo. Leo's mother is not shown enough to care about her. I give this movie a 2¼ on a scale of 0 to 5. I may have agreed with the cable rating of 3 for this movie if I cared about some of the other characters. I may have given a higher rating if this movie had more scences of the subway. The cable description for this movies implied that the movie was based on the subway.
Police Academy 6: City Under Seige as seen on WAM 1/15/03 at 9:00pm Eastern.
Police Academy 6: City Under Seige starred Bubba Smith as a police lieutentant.
There isn't much to say about this movie. It is more or less a repeat of the first five. The former police academy cadets are called in to stop a crime wave.
Police Academy 6: City Under Seige can be viewed by the entire family with some parental supervision. There is some mild profanity. One would think by the sixth movie that the characters in this series would have developed. The characters are still the same. There are a couple of funny scences, but not enough hilarity to give this movie a decent rating. I give this movie a 1½ on a scale of 0 to 5. This series should have ended with number three if my memory is correct.
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