The Haunting
I should say right off the bat that I did not see the original film, The Haunting of Hill House, and I am assured by several people that the original is better (how often is it not?). However, the...
View ArticleThe Sixth Sense
Have you ever eaten a really delicious, tailor-made to your taste meal, enough so you are satisfied but not so much that you feel gorged or a little nauseated? The Sixth Sense is such a meal. Bruce...
View ArticleSigns
I am pleased to report that the incredibly effective music in the preview is in the film, a rarity. Also some of the takes used in the preview aren’t as good as the ones in the film; saving the...
View ArticlePossession
A preamble about the source material of the film: This is such a fantastic book, I have been eagerly awaiting this film. Of my three companions, only one knew how much I had been sucked into the novel,...
View ArticleThe Number 23
Jim Carrey has made many brave choices, as do so many comedians who parlay their comic skills into acting, and The Number 23 is one of them. I am a noisy advocate of his dramatic work, and this first...
View ArticleZodiac
I missed this in the theatre and, sour-grapes-style, presumed it was some half-baked Seven retread. Sure, directed by David Fincher, but all those reliable names have let us down at one time or...
View ArticleThe Happening
M. Night Shyamalan’s greatest talent, I think, is taking a brilliant cinematographer’s camera and pointing at something which is comprehensible but just off kilter, and doing it just so, in a way that...
View ArticleKnowing
Wow. I mean just – wow. It’s staggering to contemplate that some producer group sat in a screening room and thought, “Wow, this is gonna be great!” Now, I know we weren’t walking into an Oscar...
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Your Friday Fix 5/29/09: Eden of the East
Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery . Saki Morimi is celebrating the end of her days in college; she decided to take a trip to New York with her friends. While in the USA she wanted to make sure she tossed...
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Your Friday Fix 7/17/09: Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Genres: Horror, Occult, Mystery . A pleasant breeze blows over the small private island, Rokkenjima, in the autumn of 1986. It’s the season for the annual meeting of the exceedingly wealthy Ushiromiya...
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Your Friday Fix 7/31/09: CANAAN
Genres: Action, Mystery . The streets of Shanghai are alive with the sights and sounds of a great festival. Minoru Minorikawa, a journalist, and Maria Osawa, a photographer, have flown in to cover...
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Your Friday Fix 9/04/09: Bakemonogatari
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Supernatural . Koyomi Araragi was running late for class at the Naoetsu Private High School. While running up the main stairwell he sees a young woman, Hitagi Senjogahara,...
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Your Friday Fix 12/11/09: Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini
Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural . NOTE: This series is a new story line in the Darker Than Black world involving some familiar characters and concepts. While you do not have to have seen...
View ArticleSherlock Holmes
You may have watched the preview for Sherlock Holmes and thought, “This looks like Long Raging Bull Goodnight: Die Harder.” I suppose we have Hollywood to blame for that. Over the years they took...
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Your Friday Fix 01/29/10: Aoi Bungaku
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Suspense . Aoi Bungaku varies from its anime brethren by nature of its source. Parts of this series are derived from various classical Japanese works; six in all. The first...
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Your Friday Fix 03/19/10: Ookami Kakushi
Genres: Horror, Occult, Mystery . A remote town called Jouga is home to a pervasive myth about ancient, humongous wolves that once roamed the area. These wolves are still spoken of in local religious...
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Your Friday Fix 04/23/10: Angel Beats!
Genres: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery . A young man wakes in an unfamiliar school. Suffering from amnesia, his only self-knowledge is that his surname is Otonashi. Nearby, a young girl aims a sniper...
View ArticleReview: A Red Sun Also Rises
I’ve heard it said that the problem with writing science-fiction mysteries is that you have aliens or devices that don’t conform to all the rules of our world, but there still has to be a strong...
View ArticleReview: Radiance
A tale may have exactly three beginnings: one for the audience, one for the artist, and one for the poor bastard who has to live in it. The plot of Catherynne Valente’s latest novel Radiance centers...
View ArticleReview: In a Dark, Dark Wood
I wanted to do a quick review of Ruth Ware’s mystery novel partly because they were handing out free copies at San Diego Comic-Con and I want to encourage that kind of thing (seriously, getting a...
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