eighteen things tagged “mystery”

Aapla Manus
(2018)
Inveterate mystery movie addict so decided to watch this immediately after seeing the word in the description. Nana Patekar’s a phenomenal actor. How bad could it be? Pretty bad. Not issuing a spoiler warning will save you time. The writers might as well have ended this limping and interminable w…

The Residence
(2025)
The wife and I inhaled this in a day. Pizza, fizzy water, PJs, this show. It is really freaking funny in that snippy, rapidfire Armando Iannuci Veep sort of way. Agatha Christie-type whodunnit. The genius detective, played supremely well by Uzo Aduba, is an avid bird-watcher and issues deductions…

Etude in Black
(Season 2, 1972)
I’m re-watching Columbo after around ten years and this is my maiden episode. Read that Rolling Stone recently rated it the 52nd Greatest TV Episode of all time. There are no other Columbo episodes on that list and I’m not sure that I’d pick this one. The sleuthing is underwhelming compared to, say…
A Command-Line Murder Mystery!
By Noah Veltman who appears to have impeccable gums.
Came recommended by HU. I had to borrow them from PG1. A limited, 7-part comic book series based on one of my favorite movies. Told from the perspective of John Doe and provides his backstory which is about as sad and disturbing as you can imagine it would be. About as gory as the movie itself. Mos…

Aranyak
(2021–)
Watched with LD. Decent attempt at Desi Noir in picturesque Himachal Pradesh1. Raveena Tandon is intense, vulnerable, and puts in good work as Kasturi Dogra. Great stuff by Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Zakir Hussain, and Meghna Malik. If Jeff Goldblum had a younger brother from an Indian mother, he wo…

Candyman
(2021)
Saw with BE and NN. Eh. Clear messages about creatives’ struggles and temptations, and the importance of continuing to tell past and present stories of horrific pain and suffering. I suppose I just lazily wanted to watch a well-made scary movie without actively engaging with it, without searching…

I See You
(2019)
Academy Award-winning Helen Hunt is a pharma-stunned alien who doesn’t enjoy any screentime in a disjointed plot that prioritizes misdirection over coherence. Great cinematography. I loved the background score by William Arcane.…

Lupin
(2021)
Couldn’t finish it. Like if Luther were written by and for 12-year olds. Makes sense, for SM me told that the books were very popular with French teenagers.…
The Midsomar Murders
All 14 years of the show in a comic by Danby Draws:…

Article 15
(2019)
A wafer-thin afterthought of a plot undergirds an important and harrowing commentary on the history, pervasiveness, and evil of the caste system in India. Excellent cinematography and performances by Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra as Jatav, and Sushil Pandey as Nihal Singh.…

The Wailing
(2016)
Saw with LD. Long, slow, visceral, beautiful, gory. Kept me guessing. Excellent stuff. There’s a pervasive hush and sense of stillness that lingers over the region of Gokseong, and scenes of brazen, crazed madness are often preceded by shots of tranquil mountain vistas whose lush, thickly forest…

Predestination
(2014)
Based on “–All You Zombies–” by Robert A. Heinlein. Sarah Snook is phenomenal. But “John Doe” is an extended, uncredited cameo by Leonardo Di Caprio and I won’t be convinced otherwise.…

The Invisible Guest
(2016)
Like if Rashomon and The Usual Suspects had a child. The ending got me.…

The Invitation
(2015)
Watched with Catherine. Dark, tense, predictable. Uashamed to admit that I thought Logan Marshall-Green was Tom Hardy for the duration of the movie (even after watching “Upgrade” … must’ve been the hair.) Excellent stuff by Lindsey Burdge.…