If you can't guess from the title, 'The Night they took Miss Beautiful' is a hijack/ransom TV movie involving beauty pageant contestants. On the surface, that's all it is, but dig a little deeper and there's something more. Or is there?

By featuring a hijack, TNTTMB just sneaks into this list, but the bulk of this film is earthbound, alas. The top 5 finalists are on their way to the Bahamas in a very old seaplane, of all things, when…

I watched 'The Poseidon Adventure' [1972] the evening before I gave 'Airport '77' a spin, which turned out to be mixed blessings. I'd read a brief synopsis of the third in the 'Airport' films, and it seemed a good idea to remind myself of a similar underwater disaster movie. However, after watching the superior film first, 'Airport '77' seemed even more wishy-washy in comparison.

The premise of the film is the same, more or less, as any other of the…

Week 52: 'Godzilla, King of the Monsters' [2019]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes

The monsters are among us. Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) has invented a device known as the Orca to communicate with the Titans, but is kidnapped along with her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) and the device on its trial run. Her ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) is enlisted to help rescue them. But when the monsters start emerging from their slumbers, it becomes unclear whose side some people…

The US military dump formaldehyde into the Han river, later causing a large and ferocious mutation. This giant amphibious fish begins eating and storing away the local population, while the government investigate claims of a resulting virus infecting those who cross its path and otherwise survive. The film follows the trials of a dysfunctional family as they try to evade the government and rescue their youngest relation.

This film was a pleasant surprise, expertly mixing various genres in its circuitous…