DVD Review– Murder on the Orient Express   (NOTE: This review will contain major spoilers for the 2017 movie Murder on the Orient Express.)  “I have lived long enough to know what I like. What I dislike, I cannot abide.”  The above quote is from Michael Green’s screenplay for the 2017 film adaptation of Murder […]

DVD Review– Going in Style and Golden Years   The movies Going in Style and Golden Years both center on a nearly identical premise. What happens when a group of cash-strapped senior citizens, reeling from the unexpected and unjust loss of their pension income, decide to rob a bank? Both films appear to have gone […]

DVD Review– The Night Of   The Night Of is an HBO miniseries based upon the British series Criminal Justice. While the basic plot and many pertinent storyline details remain the same, the Americanized version comes into its own as a commentary on the U.S. justice system. The Night Of succeeds in Americanizing the source […]

DVD Review– Manhattan Night   Manhattan Night is based on the novel Manhattan Nocturne by Colin Harrison. I’m not sure why the second word in the title was changed. When the movie was first in development, Nocturne was being used, but shortly before the film was released, it was switched to Night. If the powers […]

DVD Review– Big Little Lies   Based on the book by Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies is a mystery with a twist. The viewer is informed that there has been a violent death at a school Trivia Night fundraiser, but the identities of both the killer and the victim are kept hidden until the final […]

DVD Review– Agatha Christie’s The Witness for the Prosecution   Most of the previous adaptations of Agatha Christie’s classic courtroom drama, such as Billy Wilder’s classic Oscar-nominated movie, have been based on Christie’s stage play. The recent BBC telemovie, in comparison, is based strictly upon Christie’s original short story. The basic story remains the same: […]

DVD Review– The Bridge (bron ||| broen): Season 3 and The Tunnel: Sabotage (Season 2)   Since it first aired in 2011, The Bridge has become an international phenomenon. Originally (bron ||| broen), a Danish/Swedish co-production, it opened with an intriguing premise: a dead body is found directly in the center of a bridge connecting […]

DVD Review– The Hippopotamus   The Hippopotamus is a not a traditional mystery. There is no murder or theft. The narrative centers on Ted Wallace, a hard-drinking poet (Roger Allam) whose career has stalled. When his inappropriate behavior leads to his dismissal from his drama criticism job, his goddaughter hires him to investigate a series […]