Film Reviews

Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murder an older woman. When they get caught they start to think that Barbara has helped the police arresting them. As a revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer.

Robert Conrad and Ross Martin reprise their roles as Secret Service agents of the 1890s.

Surfer Jay Moriarity sets out to ride the Northern California break known as Mavericks.

The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.

The Master and Margarita is a Russian TV mini-series, based on the novel written by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov between 1928 and 1940.

The S. S. Claridon is scheduled for her five last voyages after thirty-eight years of service. After an explosion in the boiler room, Captain Robert Adams is reluctant to evacuate the steamship. While the crew fights to hold a bulkhead between the flooded boiler room and the engine room and avoid the sinking of the vessel, the passenger Cliff Henderson struggles against time trying to save his beloved wife Laurie Henderson, who is trapped under a steel beam in her cabin, with the support of the crew member Hank Lawson.

In a frank and personal documentary, author Sir Terry Pratchett considers how he might choose to end his life. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008, Terry wants to know whether he might be able to end his life before his disease takes over.

"8"—a new play by Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar)—demystifies the debate around marriage equality by chronicling the landmark trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. A one time show was done live on youtube with a superstar cast

Major Jock Sinclair has been in this Highland regiment since he joined as a boy piper. During the Second World War, as Second-in-Command, he was made acting Commanding Officer. Now the regiment has returned to Scotland, and a new commanding officer is to be appointed. Jock's own cleverness is pitted against his new CO, his daughter, his girlfriend, and the other officers in the Mess.

An aging codger named Geri plays a daylong game of chess in the park against himself. Somehow, he begins losing to his livelier opponent. But just when the game's nearly over, Geri manages to turn the tables.

In 1935, American audiences were treated to two simultaneously released versions of Les Miserables, one made in Hollywood, the other in France. Much the same thing happened in 1952. While 20th Century-Fox's Les Miserables, starring Michael Rennie as beleagured ex-convict Jean Valjean, was making the rounds, a second version, lensed in Italy, was also showing up in selected theatres. Running a fast 112 minutes (hardly enough time to do full justice to the novel), U.S. release of the Italian adaptation starred Gino Servi as Valjean, whose "new" life as a man of position and respect is forever threatened by dogged detective Javert. Valentine Cortese costars as Cosette, Valjean's adopted daughter. English-language prints of the the Italian Les Miserables credit the direction to "Robert Hampton"; in fact, direction was handled by prominent European filmmaker Riccardo Freda.

Father Conroy (Crosby) has a parish which serves the acting and performance community. When one of his parishoners gets too sick to work, his daughter Holly (Reynolds) finds a job working for a dance club of questionable character, which is run by Tony Vincent (Wagner). Vincent never made the big time, and Father Conroy tries to look after Holly. There are many musical numbers, and the conclusion is a televised benefit show hosted by Father Conroy, and Tony must choose between Holly and national fame.

Radio host Alan Bird witnesses how an icecream van is attacked and destroyed by angry competitors. This leads him into the struggle between two Italian families over the icecream market of Glasgow.

The Viking town of Berk, now enjoying its new alliance with the dragons, is preparing for its annual winter holiday of Snoggletog. However, that spirit is threatened when all the dragons, except Toothless who needs Hiccup to help him, suddenly fly away for some reason. While Astrid ineffectually tries to salvage the occasion, Hiccup decides to build Toothless a new prosthetic to allow him to fly independently, only to have the dragon take off as well. However, as the holiday approaches, Hiccup finds himself swept up to learn the dragons' secret the hard way and to find a solution to bring them home early.

The American architect Kracklite arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibiton for a French architect, Boullée, famous for his oval structures. Tirelessly dedicated to the project, Kracklite's marriage quickly dissolves along with his health.