‘Poirot’ Season 11 (2008-09) runs into adaptation challenges
Sleuthing Sunday (TV review): Despite some bizarre scripting choices, the series’ production values have never been higher.
Mystery
‘Poirot’ Season 11 (2008-09) runs into adaptation challenges
‘Poirot’ Season 10 (2005-06) a mix of smart and ill-advised alterations
Sleuthing Sunday (TV review): Rewriting of Christie’s words helps one story and hurts another in this season when Ariadne Oliver makes her debut.
‘Poirot’ works out math of love triangles in Season 9 (2003-04)
Sleuthing Sunday (TV review): The “dark years” – not necessarily in a bad way – start with four tragic episodes about unrequited love.
This time, De Palma’s Hitchcock ‘Obsession’ (1976) doesn’t pay off
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Sometimes a screenplay’s interesting ideas don’t coalesce into a compelling film. Such is the case in this “Vertigo” riff.
John’s top 10 TV shows of 2024
2024 television: Network shows held on to some viewers thanks to diversity of main characters and premises, but streaming and premium channels continued to dominate.
‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’ Seasons 7-8 (2000-02) are a joyful – if darker – return
Sleuthing Sunday (TV review): The show returns from a four-year hiatus with a last go-around of the ensemble format and one of the series’ best episodes.
You’ll go ‘Cuckoo’ trying to connect with this movie
Movie review: This is not phoned-in horror trash; it’s trying to be something cuckoo-bananas different. But it failed to make this viewer care.
‘Heretic’ a revelation of theological-discussion horror
Movie review: Three masterful performances and a razor-sharp screenplay from the “Boogeyman” guys (!) make this one of the year’s best horror films.
Beyond a reasonable doubt, ‘Juror #2’ isn’t half bad
Movie review: Although Eastwood’s film, perhaps accidentally, makes us want to throw the justice system in the garbage, a stellar Nicholas Hoult drives the suspense.
‘Valley of Fear’ (1915) does the multi-genre riff even better
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Doyle improves on “Study in Scarlet’s” blend of mystery and flashback in his final Sherlock Holmes novel.