‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ ’25 and the importance of exploring themes
Movie commentary: I’m kind of obsessed with what they did last summer. Here’s a closer look at how the new film pays lip service to themes without digging into them.
Mystery
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ ’25 struggles to set its hook
Movie review: Though not without its good points, the fourth film in the saga raises an empty net in its final-act execution.
‘Imaginary Strangers’ (2024) excitingly internalizes the mystery-thriller
Book club book report: Minka Kent convincingly brings us into the mind of a nonviolent sociopath who pursues clues that her children are in danger.
McGee takes on the Drug War in ‘Dreadful Lemon Sky’ (1974)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Under the pen of John D. MacDonald, even a case the media loses interest in becomes a page-turner.
Jane gets nosy in ‘Agatha Christie’s Marple’ Season 2 (2006)
Sleuthing Sunday (TV review): I know some people see her as an interfering old biddy, but even so, it’s ridiculous that she intrudes in two non-Marple stories.
‘The Quick Red Fox’ (1964) is not a lazy dog of a novel
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): In his fourth Travis McGee novel, John D. MacDonald explores the various debaucheries of fame and money.
Argento brings his B-game to ‘The Card Player’ (2003)
Frightening Friday (Movie review): This underachieving giallo at least taps into trends of the time, including poker and early internet-based crime.
Westlake’s ‘Jimmy the Kid’ (1974) and the ‘fiction vs. reality’ conundrum
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): The prolific crime-fiction author knows how to have absurdist (yet realistic) fun by undercutting clichés at every turn.
‘Sleepless’ (2001) more like a pleasant horror dream than a nightmare
Frightening Friday (Movie review): If you’re into giallo, Argento’s first film of the new century is a nice trip down memory lane.
Marriage, murder awkwardly mix in ‘Busman’s Honeymoon’ (1937)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Sayers wraps her Harriet Vane quadrilogy with a decent mystery and a plodding start to the Vane-Wimsey marriage.