Agatha Christie’s first collection of short stories, first published in 1924, sets forth a number of mysteries before her Belgian creation, Hercule Poirot, his little grey cells and his good friend Captain Hastings. While still capturing some of the humour of her novels, the short form of the stories doesn’t allow for a lot of…
Tag: murder
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie isn’t quite the romp of the previous entry, but like all her tales, is wonderfully engaging and entertaining as she weaves a tale of murder, secret marriages, servants, doctors, drugs, wayward sons, and hidden secrets and truths. And in the middle of it all, Hercule Poirot. This one is a bit…
The Secret of Chimneys (1925) – Agatha Christie
Christie’s fifth novel is a bit of a romp filled with double identities, a murder, political issues, an empty throne, a renowned criminal, a love story, a missing diamond, and a week away at a manor known as Chimneys. We are introduced to Anthony Cade when he is working as a travel guide in Africa,…
The X-Files (1996) – Quagmire, and Wetwired
Kim Newton takes on one of my favourite subjects in this week’s X-files, the episode features some additional work by Darin Morgan and brings lake monsters into the realm of our two FBI agents, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). The episode first debuted on 3 May, 1996, and featured the final appearance of…
Chuck (2011) – Versus the Frosted Tips, and Versus the Business Trip
Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) have some problems in Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips. This episode was written by Phil Klemmer and debuted on 11 November, 2011. The team learns that Morgan has betrayed them and gone to work for Verbanski (Carrie-Anne Moss), who in turn is eager to start something with Casey…
The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie entry to the book shelf is another delightful adventure thriller. Sure there’s a murder and suspects, but it’s definitely more akin to an adventure story, with a wonderful female heroine in the form of Anne Beddingfield. Anne finds herself caught up in an adventure that would give the cinema serials she…
The X-Files (1996) – Teso dos Bichos, and Hell Money
This entry in The X-Files is a bit of a tough one because we have two less than stellar episodes, back to back. First up is Teso dos Bichos (which has a slang meaning that caught some interest), and is one of stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s least favourite episodes. Written by John Shiban,…
The X-Files (1996) – Grotesque, and Piper Maru
Howard Gordon delivers a script for Grotesque, a monster of the week episode, that won the series an Emmy for cinematography, and gives us a moody piece that first aired on 2 February, 1996. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are requested by Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to help the head of the Behavioural Unit,…
The Murder on the Links (1923) – Agatha Christie
My third foray into Agatha Christie territory brings me another tale featuring Hercule Poirot, and this time as it unspooled, I found myself paying more attention to the things that were said, the clues that were laid out, and much like his friend, Captain Hastings, who tells the tale, I had a portion of it…
The X-Files (1996) – War of the Coprophages, and Syzygy
Darin Morgan delivers another fun episode for Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) with War of the Coprophages, which first aired on 5 January, 1996. Mulder, investigating UFO sightings in a place called Miller’s Grove (a play on the Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds which took place in Grover’s Mill, when…
Gog (1954) – Herbert L. Stock
DK Books’ Monsters in the Movies beings me another mechanical menace, as I am introduced to Gog, in this 1954 science fiction film, that despite it’s terrible pacing, story, and acting hints at tech that is currently in use today, like stealth planes, solar energy, and malware. We are introduced to Dr. David Sheppard (Richard…
The X-Files (1995) – 2Shy, and The Walk
Jeff Vlaming takes Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to Cleveland, Ohio to investigate a serial killer that seems to be preying on lonely hearts of a certain body type. Airing on 3 November, 1995, the series introduced us to Virgil Incanto as brought to life by Timothy Carhart. Incanto seems to be preying…
