Restore Point fro the Czech Republic has a lot of things going for it, and I ended up having lots of nit-picky questions that suggest to me that I really liked the film and wanted to understand all the things behind it, the logistics of the scenario. But most of all, I loved all the…
Tag: detective
Hill Street Blues (1986) – Slum Enchanted Evening, and Come and Get It
Slum Enchanted Evening, the penultimate episode of the sixth season of Hill Street Blues first aired 27 March, 1986 and was written by Walon Green and Robert Ward from a story by Jonathan Lemkin and Micheal Wagner. There’s a lot (A LOT) of melodrama but there’s also some nice character beats. Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti)…
TIFF ’23: Reptile
I love a good film noir, and Reptile, having its World Premiere at TIFF, definitely falls into that category. Being released by Netflix (which means if you can’t see it on the silver screen you;ll be able to see it on your big screen at home in October) the film is a tightly wound spring…
Dead Again (1991) – Kenneth Branagh
It’s been a couple of decades since I watched Branagh’s Hitchcockian romantic thriller, Dead Again. In fact, it had been so long that I completely forgot about the uncredited appearance by Robin Williams! But from its opening shots, and it’s driving and powerful score by Patrick Doyle, I was taken into the sweeping narrative. In…
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021) – Chris Palmer
Bat-fans, I have a new favourite animated Batman film. I loved The Long Halloween, Part One. Course I also loved the original graphic novel that it’s based on. Spreading the story over two parts, much like Warner Brothers Animation did with The Dark Knight Returns gives the characters, and the story room to breathe and…
The Equalizer (1987) – Blood & Wine: Part 1, and Part 2
The third season two-part opener of The Equalizer, which was filmed as part of the block at the end of season two, was broadcast on 23 September, 1987 as a feature-length episode. Written by Coleman Luck it featured a few familiar faces alongside Edward Woodward’s portrayal of Robert McCall, Keith Szarabajka shows up as Mickey,…
TIFF ’22: Glass Onion – A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig return in a second Knives Out film, and Craig, along with everyone else involved in the production seems to be having the time of their life. Craig’s detective, Benoit Blanc, finds himself caught up in a whole new mystery this time around, and while there is a tonal shift from…
Night Call: A Walking Shadows Novel (2020) – Brenden Carlson
Brenden Carlson’s Night Call, available from Dundurn Press is set in the past, an alternate 1933, and yet in describing it, I lean towards the phrase retro-future noir. We are introduced to the cynical hard-boiled detective, Elias Roche, who is haunted by an incident in his past and walks a fine line between the law…
Absentia (2011) – Mike Flanagan
So digging into Mike Flanagan’s work, I found his first horror feature film, which you can source on YouTube. Sure, it’s shot on a digital camera, and looks a little less sleek than some of his later works, but damn if a lot of recognizable elements aren’t there from the off; the use of family…
Murder on the Orient Express (1934) – Agatha Christie
This week I dug into one of Agatha Christie’s most iconic novels, Murder on the Orient Express which features that Belgian detective and his little grey cells, Hercule Poirot. Summoned back to London, Poirot must forgo a layover and board the Orient Express to make it to his next assignment. Unfortunately, the train car is…
The Mind Reels 