Last year my sister needed some help with my nieces as it was spring break, her husband was out of town due to family illness, and she was working. I had promised my niece I would visit them in Georgia before they moved and found this to be the best time as my work had finally lifted their COVID19 ban on vacations.
While there that week we planned to go to a mall in Florida, but plans changed and we ended up visiting Columbus, GA. I had wanted to visit a tea place in Florida, but as we changed where we were going so did I. I quickly googled and discover a Cat Cafe. And you all know how I feel about cats.
Thats me
My sister didn’t want to go to the Cat Cafe as she felt it was too expensive, but after I told her I would pay for it we headed over there.
I’m not sure how long the business had been opened before we went and unfortunately I cannot find a lot of information as I just discovered (when I was going to link their website to my post), a few months after I visited, it permanently closed.
That’s not good.
As I already wrote the post before my Horrorfest ones, I decided to still post it. While I was there the Cat Café served a variety of coffee, some tea, and had 10 cats that would by cycled out by Pat’s Rescue Cats. It cost $10 an hour for an adult to visit with the cats and $7 an hour for kids under 12. One drink is included with the hourly rate.
When we arrived at the cafè I paid for our time and we chose our drinks. The only tea included with the hour was my choice of a tea bag; my sister ordered a Dolly’s Doughnut (cinnamon bun + vanilla coffee, my niece ordered a Whiskered Mocha (white chocolate), and my littlest niece had a hot chocolate. They told us they would let us know when our drinks were ready and we could go in to see the cats. Because of COVID-19 we had the whole room to ourselves as they could only let so many people in at a time.
The cats were cute and most of them very friendly, allowing you to cuddle and play.
They came into the room and gave us our drinks, giving me a to-go cup of hot water. I was just given the water and then had to leave the room to go to the front counter and make my tea. I thought that was an odd choice as they ask you at the counter what tea you want and you “order it”. It wouldn’t have bothered me if we all had to go and get our drinks, but I felt that if they are preparing the drinks and bringing them to you, then they should do it for all the drinks. And if they were just going to give me hot water, then why not do that before I went into the cat room, as I could have gotten my tea before going in.
After I got my tea and went back to the room, I asked everyone what they thought of their drinks. My tea wasn’t that good, very weak tea bag and no sugar or milk available. My sister and niece did not like their coffees as they both felt the coffee was bitter. My younger niece also didn’t care for her hot chocolate as she said it “tasted weird”. I decided to try it and found myself agreeing with her. It did have an odd aftertaste.
My biggest critique of this place would be to work on their drinks, although I suppose it doesn’t really matter as they are no longer open. The rest of the cafe was cute and fun. I loved the decor, cat items available for purchase, and of course the kitty cats themselves. I hope that they decide to reopen.
The Cat From Outer Space is one of my favorite movies. I used to watch it over and over again until the tape we had wore out as it was no longer playable.
I loved this Disney film (yep completed that yearly tradition), as besides it being amazing I liked that the cat was the hero instead of the villain. There are very few movies that do that as usually the dog is the good guy.
This film is hilarious and even though it was made in the ‘70s the special effects still look really good. I watched this with my 10 year old niece and she not only loved and was invested in the story, but she also really liked the special effects as she thought they were cool.
And the cat is beyond adorable! It was played by two Abyssinians that are siblings and they are both amazing actors. I know it sounds silly to say that, but those trainers did such a great job as they really look like they are engaged in the conversation and a part of the scene. It’s amazing!
Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 AKA Jake
So the film starts off with a ship from outer space landing, and the cutest alien in the world that can invade my life anytime he wants, Abyssinian cat Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7. His ship has had some issues so he had to make an emergency landing on our planet Earth. He looks like your average cat but can talk and has the power of telekinesis through the special collar he wears.
The military shows up and confiscates the ship, but they totally miss the cat. Unbeknownst to them, Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 follows them back to the base.
The next day the military calls together the top scientists from Energy Research Laboratory. They try to have a closed room conference, but it turns out that Mr. Stallwood (Roddy McDowell) is trying to infiltrate it. Yep, he’s a spy although not a very good one.
But one who is good at what they do is Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 who slips in unnoticed and listens to the deliberations.
The General shows the scientists a floating object the soldiers took from the ship. The scientists discuss it, but can’t come up with any reason to how it can levitate. One scientists, Dr. Liz Bartlett (Sandra Duncan), suggests bringing in new scientist Frank, (Ken Berry). Frank has a lot of theoretical ideas and some out there thoughts.
They call him in, but unfortunately he makes too many jokes and the General and the rest don’t take him seriously.
[Dr. Frank Wilson has been brought in to view the artifact removed from the flying saucer]
Frank: It’s beautiful.
General Stilton: Don’t you have any other observations?
Frank: Only that it looks like an artichoke, sir.
General Stilton: We know it looks like an artichoke, Wilson. What makes it tick?
Frank: Mayonnaise?
General Stilton: Negative.
Frank: No, no, I was only joking, sir.
Frank then tries to explain his real theory but the General is done and kicks him out of the room. However, Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 is very interested in what he has to say as it actually was tracking near the truth of how his ship works.
Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 follows Frank to his office. Frank notices the cat and decides to call him Jake, but then is interrupted by Dr. Bartlett who comes to give Frank a piece of her mind, but after the two talk articles they have published, Frank manages to get Dr. Liz Bartlett to agree to go on a date with him. Frank is overjoyed over this, but his celebration is interrupted by Jake who decides to tell Frank the truth in order to get his help. Frank is shocked:
Frank: [realizing the voice is coming from the cat] It… it’s you?
Jake: It’s not the mouse. Now sit down.
Frank: But your lips aren’t moving. You’re not speaking.
Jake: Through transference. Nothing exceptional where I come from. Now, sit.[Using telekinesis generated through his collar, Jake pulls a chair behind Frank forward and he collapses into it]
Jake: My name is Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7.
Frank: [struggling] Zunar…
Jake: Why don’t we stay with Jake, okay? Frank, last night, at 03 hours plus 13, I made an emergency landing in a spaceship from another galaxy. That so-called “artichoke”, it’s from my craft.
Frank: But… you’re a cat.
But being a scientist, Frank get over this shock pretty quick, especially as Jake promises to share some interplanetary secrets with him.
The two decide to break into the base so that Jake can find out what needs to be done to fix his ship but they are interrupted by Frank’s neighbor and fellow scientist, Dr. Link. Dr. Link is a sports enthusiast and a gambler and wants to watch the game on Frank’s TV as he and his wife got into an argument. Frank and Jake are in a hurry so Jake uses his collar to help Dr. Link’s team win. But just as they fix that problem, Dr. Liz stops by to go out with Frank.
The two lie that Jake is sick and head down to the base. Stallwood, the spy, also has the same idea of sneaking into the base and tries to get in as well, following the pair. When Frank and Jake get caught, Jake uses his collar to freeze the soldier and then they sneak into the ship.
Frank is amazed and wants to know everything, but Jake needs to take care of business. He gives Frank his spare collar and has him bring a device to the outside of the ship so he can run diagnostics. Frank is eager to try it out, and has a lot of fun levitating/flying, so much fun that Jake has to snap him back to the plan at hand.
When they run the diagnostics it turns out that something was destroyed and needs to be replaced. To do that he needs Org 12 which on our planet is gold, a lot of gold. $120,000 worth of gold. In today’s time that would be almost $500,000.
The solider Jake froze earlier is seen by another soldier who sounds the alarm and the whole base comes alive with people
Frank is fuh-reaking out about where to get that much money, rightly so, and Jake is nonplussed. As they try to figure out how to get the money, the answer to their problems walks in as Dr. Link wants to watch more games and gamble. Jake decides to let Dr. Link know what is really going on. At first Dr. Link doesn’t believe them, but Jake uses his collar to convince him.
This scene is funny as they make the beer he is drinking go back in the can, shoot him in the face, have towels wrap around him, and Jake makes him float (and yes I do think it is weird how this film promotes drinking and gambling.) But the thing that distracts me watching it now is the poster that Frank has on his wall. It looks just like Jane from Tarzan (1999).
But unbeknownst to them, Stallwood who witnessed all the shenanigans at the base the night before had followed them and is filming them to show his employer.
So our cool cat crew puts some bets out there, but are interrupted when Dr. Bartlett shows up with her cat for their rescheduled date. Yes, it seems like Frank has a bit of The Absentminded Professor (Flubber) in him. He didn’t listen to her and totally didn’t realize they rescheduled their plans.
Frank tries to get rid of Dr. Bartlett by saying Jake is sick, but as Dr. Bartlett is a responsible pet owner, she gets the veterinarian in the complex to stop by and help make Jake better.
The only problem is that this Vet is more into the football game instead of helping the cat and proceeds to knock Jake out. Jake managed to help then win this football game, but they are out of luck for the next game and will lose all their money.
That’s not good.
The only way to get their money back to send Jake home is to go down to the pool hall and try to get the bookie to let them make another bet. They hurry down, with sleeping Jake, and on the way explain everything to Dr. Bartlett who actually believes it really quickly.
Meanwhile the military, NASA, ERL, etc have been analyzing the ship and have discovered Frank’s fingerprints all over it, along with paw prints and cat hair. They have the computer analyze the ship and it declares that the cat is the pilot, but the General refuses to listen to that. They decide to head to Frank’s and wait outside to see who he is working with.
When the cat crew get to the pool hall they can’t get another game to bet on, but Frank decides to try for a pool game. To make back their money they have Dr. Bartlett face off against Sarasota Slim, pool hustler. Dr. Link and Dr. Bartlett are worried as Dr. Bartlett doesn’t know how to play, but decide to trust that Frank can use the collar.
I love that the crew brought Jake with them and no one is mad that there is a cat in the pool hall. Frank has Dr. Link hold Jake, and luckily there is a guy who likes onion and sauerkraut on his sandwich and has no boundaries as he stands right next to Dr. Link and Jake, his sandwich waking Jake up.
However, it isn’t fast enough and Frank hasn’t had enough practice that when he tries to help Dr. Bartlett out he makes the cue ball bounce around the room instead of knocking the balls around. They lose the game and their money.
But thanks to stinky sandwich guy, Jake wakes up and they are back on track. Frank tries to up the odds by betting on Dr. Bartlett to win blindfolded, with Sarasota Slim breaking and getting half the balls. The odds are 200 to 1, just what they need, and with Jake on their side they win.
They head back to the apartment where they are being watched by the military and Stallwood’s secret employer. The cat crew give Jake the gold who converts the giant brick into a tiny lego sized object.
Before they get a chance to leave the General marches in and is about to arrest them, when Jake freezes him. They are trying to decide what to do next when they get the idea to steal his clothes and have Frank pretend to be the General. The shirt they give the General is so not him, a touristy Hollywood shirt.
Frank and Jake head to the base, while Stallwood’s employer kidnaps Dr. Bartlett.
On base, Frank gets in and helps Jake repair his ship and move it. As they are about to say goodbye Dr. Link shows up and shares that Dr. Bartlett and her car Lucybelle were kidnapped and they want the collar in exchange. Jake likes Lucybelle the cat a lot and wants to help, but if he does he will never be able to return home again. Frank tells Jake to go home and he he and Dr. Link sadly watch Jake leave. Frank only had him for a little while but will greatly miss him.
As the ship disappears from the sky, Jake hops in the Jeep ready to help and stay on Earth. They head to the airport to try and save their lady loves.
Meanwhile, the General and his team have woken up and they head to the base, not too far behind Frank and Jake.
When Frank gets to the airport there are no planes available so Jake uses his collar to bring an old dilapidated plane that looks like it can barely run it or air.
On the plane, Stallwood realized that they have kidnapped Dr. Bartlett and that his employer plans on killing her. He doesn’t like it, and tries to stop him, but unfortunately he grabs the flare gun and shot the controller making it impossible to fly. Everyone bails out except Dr. Bartlett and Lucybelle as there are no more parachutes.
That’s not good.
Jake and Frank try to save them in an incredible display, but when Frank puts Lucybelle on the plane with Jake, Jake gets distracted and Frank has to get him to focus.
In the end they catch the spy, the president decides that Jake will not be harmed but seen as an ambassador, and Jake goes to court to become a citizen of the USA, and plans to spent the rest of his days with Frank, Dr. Bartlett, Lucybelle, and Dr. Link.
It’s a very cute film that I highly recommend for all cat lovers!
For more on The Cat From Outer Space, go to The Cat’s Meow
So every year I review an animated film, and here we are with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
I am such a huge Scooby-Doo fan and I remember being so excited when this came out, it was also interesting to see that it was going to have real monsters! I mean in the older films like Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolfor The Ghoul School, 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, etc. had monsters, but this was a world where monsters didn’t “exist” and now there was going to be some! My six year old self was super, super excited to watch this on TV and I was not disappointed.
Last year I reviewed Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers, a truly horrible film about werecat people. It doesn’t surprise me that an animated Scooby-Doo film has better Werecat people. Yes, this low budget animated film is the far superior one.
Plus no dead cats!
So this film picks up after years have passed and the gang has ended their crime solving days to do other pursuits.
Fred is a cameraman for Daphne’s show, which investigates paranormal things and uncovers the truth. I think it is cute that Fred loved Daphne enough to move from being the frontman of the group to taking the behind the scenes role. They are adorable and I don’t like that people keep trying to put Daphne and Velma together, it is Fred and Daphne all the way.
Velma had opened her own mystery book shop, which makes sense. Although you think with all the technology she figures out and the mysteries she solved she would go into movie making, technology creating, or even mystery writing. But maybe she likes running a shop instead. After all, having a bookstore does sound like fun.
Shaggy and Scooby work as airport security, especially customs as they like to take food away from the customers. I can see it.
It is Daphne’s birthday and she is wishing for a real mystery to solve instead of it always being a man in a mask. Fred wants to make her feel better and brings the mystery machine back from the grave and gets the gang back together for a cross country ghost trip. He’s so sweet!
But no “real” monsters or ghosts are found.
They are in New Orleans, bemoaning the fact that there are no real monsters when they are overheard and approached by a Lena Dupree. She is a cook on Moonscar Island and shares that there are mysterious occurrences on the island and it is believed to be haunted by the ghost of the pirate Morgan Moonscar. The gang decide to go along with them and meet Jacques the ferryman who reminds me a lot of the Captain in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Once on the island they meet Simone Lenoir, the owner of the chili pepper plantation, where the gang all stay.
There are some weird things going on at the plantation, like a chill in the air, which they replay to later see a ghost caught on camera. Then Shaggy sees a confederate ghost in his room. Velma thinks everything it fake while Shaggy is scared and Daphne hopes it is real. Velma also discovers that the plantation is created from pieces of the pirate ship, which is puzzling to her. Typically people would use woods from ships to create houses and homes, as any ready wood would be used. But this is odd as why would pirates agree to it? They would need their ship to continue their adventures? And who were the people who built it? How were they able to take that wood from the pirates.
Mystery, you say?
But even with all the strange and unusual things happening, I would be down to go to Moonscar Island, or should I say Meowsca Island as it is full of cats. Cats are everywhere and Simone and Lena’s favorite creatures. If I lived here this is how it would be, it would be like 101 Dalmatians but 101 cats. It would be like Aoshima Island.
Thats me
The only problem with all the cats is that even though Scooby has never had any serious doglike behavior before and has never chased cats in any previous episodes or films that I can remember, in this he cannot stop barking and chasing the cats. It gets so bad that he and Shaggy are banished to the mystery machine.
Later Shaggy and Scooby are chased by Zombies, all kinds of Zombies as in from all different time periods. As a kid when I first watched this I remember us commenting on the ghosts/zombies and how they are supposed to be from the past, then why are there modern people too? One guy is in a big Hawaiian shirt and camera, looking very much like a ‘90s tourist. When did he get turned and how come Lena and Simone didn’t mention anything about those confederate and modern zombies?
Hmm…
So Daphne is thrilled that these could be real, while Fred and Velma are still not convinced. Fred thinks Lena is so sweet and charming, and starts thinking that Beau-the very handsome broody gardener that made both girls give a second look at him-is the one behind it. Velma starts thinking it is him as well as she finds his behavior suspicious.
They have this scene when Velma is questioning him and you think he is going to hurt her, but it turns out that he saves her. Even so, Velma is still uncertain about him.
Hmmm…
Meanwhile that evening, Daphne and Fred capture a zombie and think that it is fake, but when they try to remove the head, they discover that it can’t come off. Now a lot of people will probably think it was rude of Fred to try after Daphne failed, but I have never been anywhere where something is locked or unable to be opened and other people, even though they see it is locked, they always has to give it a try. When the two realize that it is real, they also scream in terror, run, and of course drop the camera in quicksand hiding all proof of real zombies.
One thing Scooby-Doo always gets right in their films are the soundtrack. This one is great as usual as their terror time song is catchy and fun.
Scooby and Shaggy are running and they fall into a cave. There they find these little dolls made out of wax that look just like Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Beau. They do the most relatable thing anyone would do in their situation and play with them, but what they don’t realize is that the dolls are actually voodoo dolls. So everything they do, such as having one friend smack another in the face (again super relatable), cause their buds to actually do that. They end up stopping when they hear bats and run scared from the cave. As they are running around, the rest of the gang plus Beau head off to keep investigating.
They go into the house and and find a secret passageway to the cave. Lena comes running and tells them that Simone was dragged away by zombies, all want to help but Velma who keeps staring at the ground. They go follow Lena and come upon the voodoo dolls and a perfectly fine Simone, all of which Velma knew as she noticed there weren’t any dragged marks on the ground but footsteps.
Simone and Lena reveal that they are Sleepwalkers, no just kidding- but they are similar in that they are werecats. They came to the island with a group of others to worship their cat god and lead peaceful lives, but were attacked by pirates. Lena and Simone were the only ones to survive and they made an exchange to the moon goddess to rid change themselves and destroy the pirates, but didn’t realize that they will now always be werecats. They need to drain the life force of people every harvest moon to survive. They also turned Jacques the ferryman to help bring tourists on and use them to survive.
They made the voodoo dolls of them but not of Shaggy and Scooby as they believe Jacques could handle them. As they control the figurines and their real life counterparts, they are interrupted by a terrified Shaggy and Scooby running amuck and causing them problems.
Aahhh!!
After a classic Scooby Doo run around, they end up getting captured. The three werecats prepare to destroy the gang + Beau, but just as it looks as if all hope is lost, it turns out that they did too much messing around and the ritual time has passsed. The three werecats turn into dust and blow away in the wind.
In the end all is well on island and the gang wonder how will they tell the police what happened? Who would believe them?
But in a surprising twist, Beau reveals he is an undercover police officer, sent to the island to investigate the disappearances. He is at a loss of how to convince the rest of the police force of what happened, but Daphne sort of saves the day by asking him to be on her show. I mean it still sounds crazy, but the Mystery gang are established people so I guess it will all work out?
They all leave the island which is now free form evil and at rest, or at least until the sequel in 2019.
Zombies!
So I loved this film. It was so much fun and I remember that having “real” monsters was such a big deal. It still is just as good and I rewatched it with my niece who also loved it.
No Facebook cover for this film as I couldn’t find an image large enough that I liked.
My mom has always been a huge Hayley Mills fan and I grew up watching all her films. I love all of them, but my second favorite has always been The Moon-Spinners (That Darn Cat is first).
So my mother recorded it off TV years ago and I watched the film with her. Years passed and I wanted to watch it again but our tape had worn out and the end was missing. I tried hunting for it as I just had to know, what happened in the end.
Tell ME!!!!!
The copy I borrowed from the library was also no good as right when it came to the part I wanted to see, the white lines of boredom.
{Picture from Ringu)
Eventually I decided that I needed to just buy a copy, but had real trouble finding one-this was back when ebay was entering the everyday vernacular and amazon was just barely making name for itself). Then we also had Disney putting things in “the vault” so super hard to get the older movies. Years passed but whenever I would look for the film it was either sold out, “soon to be added”, too expensive, VHS, or USED. I finally found a copy this year and bought it for my mom for Mother’s Day this year.
Looking at this film now as an adult, I can clearly see why I was into it. This film is very similar to the style of Alfred Hitchcock. The thriller starts with an average ordinary person who gets caught up in this web of intrigue accidentally.
There are quite a few scenes and story points that are also reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock, all being things I love. I later looked up some trivia and read that that Walt Disney purposely wanted this to be like a Hitchcock movie and had the writers borrow some motifs, but still give it a Disney ending.
So without further ado…
Nikky Ferris (Hayley Mills) and her Aunt Frances are traveling through Greece collecting folk songs as she is a musicologist for the BBC. They rented a room at The Moon-Spinners Inn, but unfortunately for them the owner, Sophia’s (Irene Papas) brother is causing some issues. Stratos (Eli Wallach) has returned after 15 years living in England and has been in such a bad mood since his return. He doesn’t want anyone in the hotel (and unknown to his sister has been throwing away reservations). He causes a scene with her, but Sophia ends up renting the rooms to the two ladies after they arrive hot, bedraggled, and tired from their trip on the bus.
From The Iron Giant
There is only one other guest at the hotel, Mark Camford (Peter McEnery). When Nikky and Frances arrive, Nikky has not been having the best holiday. But as soon as she sees dashing Mark, she perks up.
The three eat together that night and enjoy Mark’s company, but while he is charming and cheerful, something seems off. He keeps looking and watching-something is between him and Stratos.
Hmm…?
So Nikki is really into Mark and tries to flirt with him and he is nice, but he’s totally drunk and kind of all over the place. I never noticed that as a kid, I always thought he was just having fun.
Huhhhhhhh
Nikky had spoken to Sophia’s son Alexis (Michael Davis) and heard about different beautiful places to swim. She talks about it and she and Mark make plans to go out in the morning together to swim and have a picnic. Nikky is excited.
After the ladies go to bed, Stratos goes out to the Bay of Dolphins with Mark following him. Ah ha! He either got sober real quick or he was just pretending to be-trying to throw Stravos off the scent. Mark is seen and a fight ensues with Mark being shot. He falls in the water.
Stratos returns the hotel and cleans out Mark’s room, him having “checked out”.
That’s not good.
The next day Nikki is happy and excited for her date and when she gets to the Bay, there is no Mark.
From The Wolf Man (1941)
She waits around for a bit and checks back at the hotel with Stratos telling her that Mark checked out. Nikki doesn’t feel like that’s right, I mean she only met and spoke to him last night but they seemed to have a connection. Or at least he seemed nice enough to tell her instead of standing her up. She starts looking/wandering and finds what looks like his shoe, but just one.
She goes to an old historic church and notices some blood and finds Mark wounded in the church. Wanting to help him, she leaves her sweater over him and takes off back to the hotel. She searches Mark’s room, but can’t find a single thing that belongs to him. Instead she steals her Aunt’s first aid kit and blanket, smuggling some brandy out of the hotel-just barely avoiding being spotted by her Aunt.
That scene is stressful as you know Mark is heavily in need of assistance and if he doesn’t get it he’ll die!
She manages to make it and goes to Mark giving him all the supplies. Mark won’t tell her why he was shot, who shot him, what this is all about etc. Instead he sends her home, trying as hard as he can to not involve her .
She leaves after much protest and returns to the Inn. There Frances complains about her missing items, Stratos hears them and immediately knows that his problem hasn’t been destroyed.
That’s not good.
Nicky tries to get sway as soon as she can so as to warn him, but ends up being captured by Stratos. Startoes sees the blood trail and follows it but doesn’t find mark. He takes Nikky with him.
Aunt Frances begins to grow worried when Nikky doesn’t return. Stratos leaves and goes “looking” for her. The next day Frances leaves for the police, located in the next village. Sophia begins to think that her brother did something, but when she questions her brother he threatens her son, Alexis. After that, Sophia stays quiet.
What a horrible man, I do like that we don’t see anything horrible happen (it is still a Disney film). But what is inferred is truly, truly horrible. I mean this is his nephew! And he is threatening to kill, maim, hurt, destroy his own nephew!
Alexis is out with his donkeys and finds Nikky in the windmill trapped.
He goes for help and finds Mark who tries his best to help with a wounded arm. This is like the best scene in the whole movie. I tried to find a clip, but unfortunately I couldn’t. So they climb on the windmill and use the sails to get in to help Nikky, and then to get out. This scene was so scary as if you fell when the sail was at the very top, ouch dead or injured.
This is always where my copy ended, after the windmill scene. I have to say this really is the most thrilling part of the film, so no wonder it hooked me good.
After that they try to go to the next town to reach the police, but Stratos friend comes after them. They have to stop as Mark needs rest, his injury is really giving him trouble. They wait in some temple ruins filled with cats, that’s how you know it is safe
And Mark finally tells her his story. So Mark was a London bank messenger and supposed to be taking these famous jewels to the Countess Fleet. He was distracted, as there was a girl involved, and after the robbery he wasn’t prosecuted as there wasn’t enough proof, but he did lose his job and has a dark cloud over him. He remembers Stratos and followed him Greece to try and get proof of his innocence. I love how when he tells the story Nikky clicks on to one thing.
Mark Camford: You believe me don’t you?
Nikky Ferris: About the girl?
Mark Camford: No, about ME.
The next day they are awaken by John Gamble, of the British counsel. He offers them to come to his place for food, baths, medical attention. As Mark is in serious need and he’s from their country-Nikky convinces Mark to go with him, and they leave the shot gun behind. They go to his extremely nice house and get all they were promised. The weird thing is that his wife Cynthia really likes Nikky and finds her a sweet girl but always is sad around her. Nikky wanders about the house and uses a telescope on the balcony to look at a yacht in the water, it is a famous one owned by the infamous Madame Habib and her world famous jewel collection.
Now I have seen almost every Alfred Hitchcock movie and episode of his TV show-so I know this man is evil. This is just like in The 39 Steps or Saboteur when they go to the rich influential man in power, only to see that he is in fact working for the other side and going to betray them.
Nikky goes to see Mark and he shares that the jewels are too famous to be sold on the open market so Stratos must have a certain buyer in mind. Nikky mentions Madam Habib and Mark is convinced it must be her, wanting to add another famed piece. Nikky thinks they should get help from the Gambles, but Mark doesn’t trust the Gambles. He They are…something is very, very off about them. Later Mark tries to leave and can’t even stand-drugged. Aunt Frances comes and Gamble arranged for them to go to the airport while Mark will be dropped off at the hospital, yeah right they are probably going to kill him.
Mark ends up escaping, as he needs to get those jewels and the proof, and it turns out Gramble and Stratos are working together.
There is a giant Carnival/festival happening, making stop and go traffic as they have to wait for people and such to past. After Mark takes off, Nikky follows but loses him. She instead steals a boat and heads out to the yacht. Jeez, this boy has really been a bad influence on her.
He’s a bad boy
All comes to a head on Madame Habib’s yacht as Nikky tells her the story, Stratos arrives to sell the jewels and fights with Nikky, Mark arrives to get his proof, Aunt Frances comes with the police, etc. Mark is cleared, Frances told the story, Stratos jailed, Nikky and Frances can enjoy the rest of their holiday and poor Madam Habib gets nothing.
Madame Habib: Well, since this seems to have turned into a family reunion, we might as well make the best of it. I will have dinner served on the rear deck. I’m so upset… I shall have mine in bed.
So this was a cute but thrilling movie and a lot of fun to watch. It also will be enjoyable for any Alfred Hitchcock fan out there.
Just kidding! Today we are reviewing a horror film that also is a Christmas movie.
And for this year we are doing something special: Sleuthing Sundays.
Each Sunday I’ll post a film with a super sleuth! Our fourth and final film is:
Yes, it time for our annual Tim Burton film. Last year I reviewed Batman, and decided to cover the sequel.
Some of you might not think this counts for a horror film, as it is a superhero film but I say it does.
I mean we have a psychotic deformed killer.
And a zombie cat woman:
So I grew up watching this film and I just love it. When I think of Batman, to me it is always Michael Keaton or Kevin Conroy. There is no other Batman (although I do recognize Adam West, I just never watched his show until I was older) This is an absolutely amazing film and Keaton is an amazing Batman and Michelle Pfeiffer is the best Catwoman.
Originally Tim Burton and Michael Keaton hadn’t signed for a sequel, but were convinced when the script met all of Burton’s demands and Keaton only agreed to do the second film after a serious increase in his salary. Thank goodness for that or who else would we have had?
For me this movie is the end of the original film series as after this we had Val Kilmer and George Clooney take over, neither of which was very good in my opinion.
It’s Christmastime and evil businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) has committed many, many crimes. His secretary, Selina Kyle, discovered this and was murdered by him. Luckily, she was revived by the stray cats she’s been feeding. I kind of like that they never really answer the how and why. Sometimes it is better to leave it open-ended then to explain it strangely like in Catwoman. It pays to be a catlover.
From Breakfast at Tiffany’s
After she is revived she runs about Gotham and she is a fantastic character as she wants Shreck to pay, but other than that she has no real plan and just goes about-sometimes nice and sometimes cruel, like a cat. I love the scene when she saves the lady who was attacked in an alleyway but then gives her an angry lecture-that’s cattitude right there, or at least it makes me think of how my cat can be nice and then strike out at you.
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot (Danny DeVito) was born deformed and tossed away by his parentns, found ad raised by circus people. He has discovered what Shreck has been doing and blackmails him. Shreck tries to use him, when the penguin comes up with a plan to make every parent and family pay.
The Penguin and Catwoman team up to take Batman down, when on the flipside Bruce Wayne and Selina have been growing closer and closer and falling in love. While Vicky was annoying, I really like them together. They have excellent chemistry and amazing timing.
Everything comes to a head at the Christmas Ball. Will Batman be able to stop the villains? Will Bruce lose another love?
I have to watch! {Picture from Ringu)
The filming is fantastic and the dialogue is amazing! Here are a few of my favorites: Alfred’s zingers
Alfred: Why are you now determined to prove that this Penguin is not what he seems? Must you be the only lonely man-beast in town?
After Selina has been revived and had her change of personality:
Selina Kyle: Honey, I’m home. Oh, I forgot. I’m not married.
Or when she sasses Batman:
[Catwoman is hit]
Catwoman: How could you? I’m a woman.
Batman: I’m sorry, I-I…[Catwoman hits him]
Catwoman: As I was saying, I’m a woman and can’t be taken for granted. Life’s a b****, now so am I.
And one of my favorite parts of the film:
Bruce Wayne: [working on the Batcomputer. Alfred sets down a bowl of soup in front of him. He picks up the spoon and takes a sip, only to spit it out] Cold!
Alfred: It’s vichyssoise.
Bruce Wayne: [stares, not knowing why it’s important]
Alfred: It’s *supposed* to be cold.
Bruce Wayne: [Eats it]
The costumes are great. The penguin is hideous and terrifying. Michelle Pfeiffer hated the costume as she was vacuumed sealed in it and had to take breaks as it constricted her so much she had trouble breathing. But it looks so cool. Deranged and cool.
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