Police Academy 3: Back in Training

"Mahoney must think he's as dumb as we are."

Commandant Lassard (Gaynes) asks his favorite candidates to return to the police academy as instructors.  The academy is competing against Commandant Mauser's (Metrano) academy to determine which academy will remain open.  Lassard brings back Sergeant Carey Mahoney (Guttenberg), Sergeant Moses Hightower (Smith), Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry (Graf), Sergeant Larvell Jones (Winslow), Sergeant Laverne Hooks (Ramsey), and Sergeant Douglas Fackler (Mahler) to assist Lieutenant Debbie Callahan (Easterbrook) with training the new recruits.

The new recruits include former delinquent Cadet Zed (Goldthwait), nerdy Cadet Sweetchuck (Kazurinsky), Tackleberry's brother-in-law Cadet Kirkland (Paris), Japanese-exchange Cadet Nogata (Tochi), and Fackler's wife Cadet Violet Fackler (Debralee Scott).

Mauser and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Proctor (Kinsey), hire Sergeant Copeland (Thomson) and Sergeant Blanks (von Hoffman) to be their spies and sabotage Lassard.  Can Mahoney and team stay one step ahead of Mauser and save the academy?


The third of 7 films in Police Academy franchise: Police Academy in 1984, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment in 1985, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol in 1987, Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach in 1988, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege in 1989, and Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow in 1994.  There were also 2 television shows (one live action and one animated).

The Good:
The beloved characters from prior films, including Carl Sweetchuck and Zed from the 2nd film, are back and up to their usual behavior.  I enjoyed Sweetchuck and Zed more in this film, and I was happy to see Leslie Easterbrook's Lieutenant Callahan return.

The Bad:
Art Metrano's Commandant Mauser is a decent foil to our heroes, but I still miss G.W. Bailey.  This film has the most named characters, there are about 21 returning characters, and it short-changes the stories of some of the characters.

Other Comments:
-This was Metrano's final film in the series.  Bailey returned for the rest of the series, aided by Lance Kinsey's Proctor.
-The villain at the end of the film, was also a villain in the original Police Academy movie.
-The movie ending jet ski chase is a nice mix of an extended action scene, broad comedy, and impressive stunt work.

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) 1986 minutes
Director: Jerry Paris
Starring: Steve Guttenberg as Sergeant Carey Mahoney
Bubba Smith as Sergeant Moses Hightower
David Graf as Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry
Michael Winslow as Sergeant Larvell Jones
Marion Ramsey as Sergeant Laverne Hooks
Leslie Easterbrook as Lieutenant Debbie Callahan
Bruce Mahler as Sergeant Douglas Fackler
George Gaynes as Commandant Eric Lassard
Art Metrano as Commandant Mauser
Lance Kinsey as Lieutenant Proctor
Scott Thomson as Sergeant Chad Copeland
Brant von Hoffman as Sergeant Kyle Blanks
Bobcat Goldthwait as Cadet Zed
Tim Kazurinsky as Cadet Sweetchuck
Brian Tochi as Cadet Tomoko Nogata
Andrew Paris as Cadet Bud Kirkland

Knives Out

"This is a twisted web, and we are not finished untangling it, not yet."

Novelist Harlan Thrombey (Plummer) is dead.  Detective Lieutenant Elliot (Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Segan) believe he committed suicide, but the arrival of famed detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) puts their results into question.  Blanc, Elliot, and Wagner interrogate Thrombey's family and staff to see if their stories still hold up.

The night of his death, Thrombey celebrated his 85th birthday, surrounded by his family and staff.  His daughter, Linda Drysdale (Curtis) is a self-made entrepeneur, who is married to Richard (Johnson).  His son Walt Thrombey (Shannon), runs his father's publishing empire, and is married to Donna (Lindhome).  Self-help guru Joni Thrombey (Collette) is the widow of his other son.  His grandchildren are Linda's son playboy Ransom (Evans), Joni's daughter college student Meg (Langford), and Walt's snobby son Jacob (Martell).  The family have conflicting versions of their evening and their relationship to Harlan.  They are more concerned with what they stand to inherit from the estate.  The only person that is truly distressed by Harlan's passing is his nurse Marta Cabrera (de Armas).

Can Blanc discover the truth about Thrombey's death?


The film was written and directed by Rian Johnson.  He set out to make a murder mystery film in the vein of Agatha Christie.

The Good:
The story keeps you guessing from the beginning to the end.  The characters are interesting and the answer is not obvious from the beginning.  The house is like it's own character.

The Bad:
I don't know that there were any downsides to the film.

Other Comments:
-I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and look forward to watching it again.  It seems like a movie that gets better each time you watch it (there are new things to notice each time).
-The film was well received and it sounds like Johnson and Daniel Craig are interested in bringing the character of Benoit Blanc back for a sequel.  Netflix produced a sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in 2022 and will be producing a third film.

Knives Out (2019) 130 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material.
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc
Chris Evans as Hugh Ransom Drysdale
Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera
Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale
Michael Shannon as Walt Thrombey
Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale
Toni Collette as Joni Thrombey
Lakeith Stanfield as Detective Lieutenant Elliot
Katherine Langford as Meg Thrombey
Jaeden Martell as Jacob Thrombey
Frank Oz as Alan Stevens
Riki Lindhome as Donna Thrombey
Edi Patterson as Fran
K Callan as Great Nana Thrombey
Noah Segan as Trooper Wagner
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey

Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill

"However, it's a mistake to accept something that's true merely because it's obvious."

Incarcerated thief (Cyril Delevanti) makes three music boxes, which are sold at an auction.  Each box is purchased by a different person: a collector, a woman, and a little girl.  The collector, "Stinky" Emery (Breon) invites his good friend Dr. Watson (Bruce) and Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) to see his collection.  Holmes is intrigued by the box.

Later that evening, Stinky is visited by Hilda Courtney (Morison), who is also interested in the music box.  Stinky is murdered and a music box is stolen from his collection.  Holmes and Watson take the  case and believe there is more to the music box.  They start looking for the other two boxes to find the deeper mystery.  But they are not the only ones looking for the boxes.  Hilda and her cronies, Colonel Cavanagh (Worlock) and Hamid (Cording), are also seeking the music boxes.  Can Holmes and Watson find the boxes and learn their secret first?


This was the final Sherlock Holmes film made with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the lead roles (they made 14 Holmes films in total).

The Good:
While actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were growing tired with playing these characters, none of that wear shows in the film.  They are still iconic and fascinating characters.  The story keeps moving and the villain is strong.  Patricia Morison's Hilda Courtney knows the reputation and methods of the heroes and meets them at every turn.

The Bad:
The side characters are not memorable.  In fact, I don't remember much about the side characters.  There was good potential, but too many people without personalities.

Other Comments:
-While she is referenced early in the film, I wish they had used Holmes nemesis Irene Adler as the female lead.  The character of Hilda Courtney is very similar to Adler, and is a worthy adversary for Holmes, but I wish they had just used Adler.
-The scene with Watson trying to distract the little girl is painful.
-As a whole, it is an ok movie and an ok mystery, but earlier films have been stronger.

Dressed to Kill (1946) 76 minutes
Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson
Patricia Morison as Hilda Courtney
Edmund Breon as "Stinky" Emery
Frederick Worlock as Colonel Cavanaugh
Carl Harbord as Inspector Hopkins
Patricia Cameron as Evelyn Clifford
Holmes Herbert as Ebenezer Crabtree
Harry Cording as Hamid