Marlowe properly comes to screen in ‘Murder, My Sweet’ (1944)
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie review): The screenplay reassembles elements of “Farewell, My Lovely” in an intriguing way, and Dick Powell is a pleasing Marlowe.
Marlowe properly comes to screen in ‘Murder, My Sweet’ (1944)
Carpenter throws a few bones to fans in ‘Masters of Horror’ (2005-06), ‘Suburban Screams’ (2023)
Frightening Friday (TV review): John Carpenter has directed more TV episodes this century than movies. “Cigarette Burns” is definitely worth a look.
‘Great Muppet Caper’ (1981) is clever, cute, capricious
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Jim Henson makes his directorial debut in the second “Muppets” movie.
Collins steps up his tie-in game in ‘Dark Angel: Skin Game’ (2003)
‘Dark Angel’ flashback (Book review): The author hits on a remarkable number of issues of the real 2020s as Max embraces her leadership role.
Mitchum ably fills Marlowe’s gumshoes in ‘Farewell, My Lovely’ (1975), ‘Big Sleep’ (1978)
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie reviews): The first is a stylish, purist classic. The second makes odd choices and never has a chance of competing with Bogart’s version.
Hannah digs further into weird psychology in ‘Last Death of the Year’ (2025)
Book review: Her sixth Poirot novel – though still stepping toward whimsy — stays on the rails more than the fifth.
‘Ghosts of Mars’ (2001) will have Carpenter fans seeing red
Frightening Friday (Movie review): The director finds no signs of life among his lead actors in this sci-fi riff on “Assault on Precinct 13.”
‘Dark Star’ (1974) smartly but too slowly makes fun of ‘2001’
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): A bare expansion of a student film from Carpenter and O’Bannon, this SF satire previews the grimy futures to come.
‘The Producers’ (1967, 2005) maximizes its one joke, and then some
Mel Brooks Monday (Movie reviews): It’s too much for me, but the one joke (you can get rich from a flop) is funny, and the films are nice bookends to Brooks’ career.
‘Long Goodbye’ (1973) brings a skewed Marlowe into a scary L.A.
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie review): Don’t look to Altman’s adaptation for faithfulness toward the 1953 novel. But it’s a prime illustration of the flexibility of Chandler’s sleuth.