TV Review: ****^ Wednesday Season One (2022)

 This TV series is like nothing you have ever seen from Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) putting piranha in the swimming pool getting herself kicked out of regular school, and ending up in the school where her parents attended, Nevermore Academy.  Wendy is a lovely show.  I really like the character Wednesday as well as her friend, Enid (Emma Meyers).  The first season Wednesday is trying to solve a murder, and using her limited psychic ability to do so.  Sometimes if she touches an object she sees a vision of what happened.  She has run ins with the town sheriff, the school principle, and about anyone else you can think of.  During the year Wednesday's father  (Luis Gomez) is arrested and accused of murder.  And Wednesday learns thinks about her parent's time at the school.  Her mother (Katherine Zeta-Jones) is worried about Wednesday using her psychic ability.  She too has this ability.  

There is a monster about, a "Hyde."  And Wednesday is caught between two suitors, Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and Xavier (Percy Hynes White).  However she also suspects Xavier of being the monster.  This all changes when she kisses Tyler and her psychic sense reveals hm to be the monster.

Wednesday needs the help of all her friends to solve the problems.  The Hyde has a master, Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci) who is a teacheer.  The principle Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie) is also complicit in that she is fooled by Thornhill.  Thornhill kills her in the finale.  The final goal of Thornhill is to bring back a deceased villain with incredible powers in an effort to destroy the school.  She does not like the outcasts (those with magical abilities).

I find this series very fun.  My only regret is there is too much time between seasons.  Other fun characters are Thing (a hand which is alive and Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen).  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: ***The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1928)

 This is an early Alfred Hitchcock Silent movie.  There is a serial killer on the loss in London.  He kills every Tuesday and leaves a card "The Avenger."  About this time a new lodger (Ivor Novello) asks for a room at a boarding house.  The whole area is uptight as it seems the murders keep getting closer and closer to the boarding house.  The landlady (Marie Ault) suspects the new lodger, and the police come to question him.  In the meantime a young lady (June Tripp) at the house is falling for him.  He is quite an improvement over another lodger who is always trying to hit on her, and even locked her up in handcuffs against her will.  The police come back with a search warrant, and find a map of all the murders in the lodger's room, as well as a picture of one of the victims.  The detective arrests him for murder.  He claims his innocence and the young lady believes him and helps him escape.  They meet up an he explains the victim was his sister and he has been trying to find the murderer.  The murders have lead him to the boarding house as the most recent was very close and the murderer seems to be migrating.  When the London peole discover him they believe he is the murderer and all chase him and in the end capture him.  However the detective is able to intervene and lets the people know he has learned the murderer has already ben captured.  

A bit hard to follow at times.  They were trying to use news type for a scene but the picture didn't work so I couldn't read it.  However the story is good, and shows how hard it is to judge others.  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: ***^ Easy Virtue (1928)

This is a silent movie and consequently hard to follow at times, but the theme is very intriguing.   A young woman, Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans) is divorced by her husband, and he proves in court she was unfaithful, however that status is in doubt.  There was an all male jury who decided the case.  This leaves a stain on her in England, so she fleas to France, where she meets a young man, John Whittaker (Robin Irvine) and marries, but doesn't speak of her past.  The supposed lover suicided.  

After the wedding she returns to England, and the young man's mother (Violet Farebrother) is very cold.   His father (Frank Elliott) is more accepting.  When news comes out of her past the mother drives a wedge between she and her husband.  It is just a matter of time that she is abandoned again.  The press, the courts and her husbands family have beaten her cruelly.  

John Grisham, Tom Cruise Movie: ***^ The Firm (1993)

 The Firm is a movie with lots of tension.  A young couple is starting their life after he, Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) finishes law school.  He accepts a position with a law firm in Memphis, and he and his wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn) move to the new law office, making much more than he would have from his other offers.  However it soon becomes evident that things are not right.  Two employees in Chicago are killed.  Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) is assigned to groom him.  There is tight security at the firm.  William Devasher (Wilford Brimley) is director of security.  Wayne Tarrance (Ed Harris) of the FBI want him to gather information on his bosses.  He cooperates to a point.  He gathers information on the billing, as they all over bill.  He goers to Chicago as the work for the mob and he gets them to agree to releasing information on the billing.  He provides this to the FBI and gives them this with which they can put the FBI in jail, while leaving the mob (the client) alone and not violating client/lawyer confidentiality.  This movie is very intense.  His wife helps him, but he also gets help from Tammy Hemphill (Holly Hunter) who was the secretary for a private I murdered by the mob because McDeere approached him for help.  

Very tense but this movie is ratd R and has too much swearing and use of the F word.  

At the Movies: *****Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

 A great time at the movies yesterday.  The new Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is excellent.  The story is very good as Spider-Man struggles with mor of the spider DNA taking over as a result of his being stressed.  He is working too hard cleaning up the city, and then he sees MJ (Zendaya) kiss his old nemesis at school.  Turns out he is her girlfriend.  He also sees his old best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).  As you remember in the last Spider-Man Doctor Strange has erased all memory of him from everyone.  On top of this there is a new nemesis, Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) who is a character from X-Men.  She has unique telepathic power, and the ability to control people telepathically and is trying to break into Department of Damage Control headed by Director Metzger (Tramell Tillman). The Punisher/Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) helps Spider-Man even though they have different styles.  Spider-Man also consults Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) with regards to suppressing his spider DNA.  The DNA enhances Spider-Man's abilities but also makes him more rageful.  This movie is very good.  There are flashbacks of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and they play an important part in the story.  Additionally Black Widow/Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) consults with Spider-Man and uses her Avenger resources to help.  There is a new character, Spidey's liaison with the police, Detective Jean Dewolff (Lisa Colón-Zayas). Fun interactions between she and her kids and Spider-Man.  

This is a terrific movie.  I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but there is a major twist and it doesn't go where you think it will.  Jean's powers are significant.  She even manipulates the Hulk and sets him loss on DODC.  Classic battle between Spider-Man and Hulk.  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: *** Number Seventeen (1932)

 Number seventeen refers to a house, to which a group of jewelry thieves are congregating to find the jewels and be on their way.  The catch is a detective also present.  There has also been a murder, but the body disappears.  Barton (John Stuart) is the detective in disguise.  However several people are bad men.  The worse is Henry Doyle (Barry Jones), who is the gang leader.  Sheldrake (Garry Marsh) is the most ruthless.  The crooks get away from the house and jump a train, Nora Brant (Anne Grey) in tow.  She would like to get away but was with the criminals in the beginning.  There is a train chase, Barton in a bus trying to catch up to the train.  The train catches, but where are the jewels.  Turns out the hobo in the house, Ben (Leon M. Lion) was able to get the jewels away from the thieves.  He presents them to the inspector at the end.  This movie has a chase, and a train crash, and murder on the train as the conductors are killed.  It shows early special effects. and it provides entertainment.  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: ***^ The Skin Game (1931)

 An industrialist, Mr. Hornblower (Edmund Gwenn) has moved to town, buying up real estate with the end goal of puttig in a pottery factory.  Mr. Hillcrist (C.V. France) represents old money and has sold some properties with the understanding that nothing will change.  However when Hornblower evicts a tenant Hillcrist confronts him, and they enter a skin game to see who will control the community.  It is obvious Hornblower is winning when he buys another property through a third party.  He will do whatever he needs to do to win, and change the community forever.  

However the Hillcrists have some hope when it comes to light that the daughter-in-law (Phyllis Konstam) of Mr, Hownblower has a checkered past Hillcrist's wife (Helen Haye) blackmails Hornblower into selling the property to Hillcrist, destroying his plans.  However, as will happen, the checkered past becomes common knowledge around the house, destroying a marriage, and the daughter-in-law attempts to take her life.  Hillcrist relents, and the industrial future takes over represented by the felling of a tree to make way for the factory.