Reversible Errors (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I enjoyed this film. It's probably Tom Selleck's best role and Shamar Moore did his character justice as well. Once I saw the ending I replayed the entire DVD to go back and catch things the second time. Knowing what motivated the prinicpal characters made it even more enjoyable the second time through. This was a great film and it shows that a thriller can be great without the sex and extreme violence.

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This was a 4 hour mini-series based on scott turows best-selling novel. The suspense revolves around a corporate lawyer whose world is turned upside down when he is assigned to draft the final appeal of a potentially innocent inmate nearing his execution date.Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent.Release Date: 08/30/2005Starring: Wililam H Macy Tom SelleckRun time: 173 minutesRating: Nr

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Tom Selleck Stone Cold (widescreen) (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)There have been 4 Jesse Stone novels by Robert Parker. And though Stone is 35 years old in the first one, and in his mid 40s by now, Selleck takes and makes the role his own. He's perfect in the role, and the whole production of this made for TV movie is top notch. there need to be more smart mystery type shows like this around.
When it aired, there were early reports that Selleck was interested in doing more with the character. Perhaps a series of TV movies, or even a TV series. It aired on CBS, and fans of Spenser For Hire (when is that whole series coming to DVD?)would love to see a regular weekly series. Personally, I don't know how well it would hold up weekly. There are only 4 books out to base this on, compared to the more than a dozen when Spenser aired. But with the right scripts it could become a great weekly show. And a hit. But CBS would probably aim for 21 episodes a season, which might strain the concept a little.
But either way, this movie was excellent. Fans of Parker,Selleck or just a good mystery should check it out.

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Tom Selleck is Jesse Stone, a former L.A. homicide detective who left behind the big city and an ex-wife to become the police chief of the quiet New England fishing town of Paradise, Massachusetts. Stone's old habits die hard as he continues to indulge in his two favorite things - scotch and women. When a series of murders take place, and a high school girl is raped, he's forced to face his own demons in order to solve the crimes.

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Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 4 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Series 4 of the controversial "Marple" series from Granada/ITV brings us a new Miss Marple, reconceived from the previous seasons, now played by Julia McKenzie. McKenzie's Marple is not as frilly as the classic Joan Hickson or as bohemian as Geraldine McEwan's portrayal. This is a more intellectual, no-nonsense Marple. She wears 3 suits, unadorned and straightforward. And I only saw her knit once. Miss Marple seems less a little old lady and more someone's all-knowing aunt or governess, always ready with whatever is needed and possessed of a strong sense of justice. These episodes avoid the stylization that some previous seasons embraced. Like the new Miss Marple, Series 4 is forthright and conventional in its scripts and production design.
"Marple" has had no qualms about departing from Agatha Christie's books: rewriting action, characters, even the motives and identity of the culprits, and appropriating other of Christie's novels for the spinster detective. Continuing in that tradition, "Murder is Easy" and "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?", both non-Marple books, have inspired episodes this season. Sometimes rewrites seem only to make the films more salacious, and, although there was never a premium on plausibility or coherence in Christie's novels, the rewrites have tended not to improve matters, often creating solutions that are quite ridiculous. Marple purists will not like that. But I have noticed that the character writing gains more depth the further it gets from its source.
Ultimately, it's difficult to say how Miss Marple should be adapted for a modern audience. Purists may prefer Joan Hickson's more faithful portrayal from the 1980s. Others, like myself, find Hickson's Marple dreadfully dull but lament this series' tendency to careen full throttle into burlesque. And, if the writers are going to rewrite Christie's stories, could they not improve upon the solutions instead of making them more ridiculous? Unlike Poirot, Marple does not have the distinct visual characteristics of the detective or the interwar milieu to latch onto. It has an elderly lady in gloves and a hat. In the past, this led the producers to toss sexuality into the mix at every turn and experiment with heavy stylization, usually with poor results ("The Moving Finger" being an exception).
Christie wrote her Marple novels and stories 1927-1971, but the creators of this television series wisely chose to set it in the 1950s, giving it a distinct look and grounding Miss Marple in a particular time. The filmmakers have seemingly tried every trick they could think of to make "Marple" interesting and relevant to a contemporary audience. Often those efforts have been laid on rather too thick. My own suggestion would be to capitalize on the post-War prosperity, conformity, and hypocrisy of the 1950s. That decade shares much in common with the 1990s and 2000s. Miss Marple is a woman who has seen the Jazz Age, two global depressions, and two world wars. She's not easily fooled by a bright, respectable façade. Create a subtext along those lines that would comment on our own time without being obviously anachronistic or straying far from the original plots.
After watching "Marple" struggle to find its focus for four seasons, those are my 2 cents on the subject. I really don't know how to rate the series. I give it 4 stars, because Julia McKenzie's Miss Marple is personable, sharp, and fun to watch. Some viewers find that she doesn't have enough character, serving more as a device than a detective. But wasn't Geraldine McEwan's Marple irritating and vaguely sinister? If it's not one thing, it's another. The series lacks a cogent vision. Oddly, the first episode this season is adorned with completely superfluous location subtitles. It's one of those things. These are the episodes in Series 4:
"A Pocket Full of Rye"'s killer takes inspiration from the nursery rhyme. Rex Fortescue, president of Consolidation Investments, dies at his office, apparently of poison. In the pocket of his suit, the police find a handful of rye. Inspector Neele (Matthew Macfadyen) interviews the family at their country home, Yewtree Lodge: the deceased's wayward wife Adele (Anna Madeley), eldest son Percyval (Ben Miles), who believed his father's mental health threatened the business, estranged son Lancelot (Rupert Graves), just back from Africa, neurotic daughter-in-law (Liz White), daughter Elaine (Hattie Morahan), who cannot contain her delight at Rex's passing, and Gladys (Rose Heiney), the simple chambermaid previously employed by Miss Marple. Gladys is having trouble getting on in the world.
"Murder Is Easy" is adapted from a non-Marple novel and heavily rewritten. Miss Marple meets Lavinia Pinkerton (Sylvia Syms) on a London-bound train. Pinkerton is headed for Scotland Yard to report two murders in her home village of Wychwood. "Murder is easy," she says, "so long as no one thinks it's murder." She promptly meets her death in Victoria Station. Miss Marple travels to Wychwood and makes the acquaintance of Luke Fitzwilliam (Benedict Cumberhatch), formerly a police detective in Malaya. Together Miss Marple and Fitzwilliam make the rounds of the town's close-knit population in their investigation, as more of the population meets its end. Perhaps it is the rewrite, but the characters seem more authentic, emotions real, and with more dimension than usual.
Miss Marple's glamorous old friend Ruth (Joan Collins) asks the detective to look in on her sister Carrie Louise after a fire struck her home in "They Do It With Mirrors". Carrie Louise is a committed philanthropist who runs a reform facility for criminals on her Stoneygates estate with her third husband Lewis Serrocold (Brian Cox) and daughters Gina (Emma Griffiths Malin) and Mildred (Sarah Smart) from her first marriage. With a staff that seems a bit daft, two stepsons with questionable intentions, a group of convicts on their doorstep, and an amateur theatrical in rehearsal, there is a lot of misdirection to be overcome when the antics turn to murder. In contrast with previous episodes, the police detective Inspector Curry (Alex Jennings) seems pretty sharp.
"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?", inspired by the non-Marple novel, has Miss Marple helping the young detectives along and keeping them out of trouble. Bobby Attfield (Sean Biggerstaff) finds a dying man on a cliff who says as he expires, "Why didn't' they ask Evans?" When Bobby is called testify at an inquest that doesn't exist, an adventurous friend, Miss Frankie Derwent (Georgia Moffett), proposes that they investigate the murder themselves. But Miss Marple, who is visiting Bobby's mother, has her eye on the young duo. When Frankie proves too gutsy for her own good, Miss Marple follows her to Castle Savage, home of a quarrelling and rather sinister family whom the dead man recently visited. The plot is exotic and implausible. It suffers further from a cast of annoying characters.

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Starring Julia McKenzie in four new thrilling mysteries
Donning the trademark tweeds as if they were made for her, the marvelous Julia McKenzie (Cranford, Notes on a Scandal) assumes the Marple mantle in four gripping new adaptations of Christie mysteries. With her ladylike manners and modest appearance, Dame Agatha\'s spinster sleuth blends into the background of fashionable society. However, her razor-sharp mind and no-nonsense view of human nature make her a formidable foe to evildoers, cracking the cases that even the professionals can\'t solve.
Picturesque English scenery, grand estates, witty scripts, and lavish post-WWII period detail provide the perfect frame for "frighteningly fun mysteries" (Entertainment Weekly). The stellar supporting cast includes Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Anna Chancellor, Jemma Redgrave, Helen Baxendale, Brian Cox, Prunella Scales, Warren Clarke, Natalie Dormer, Rafe Spall, Kenneth Cranham, Samantha Bond, and Joan Collins. "Totally, unexpectedly fun" --E! Online.
THE MYSTERIES

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Ghost Whisperer - The Complete First Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)OK, I will admit to watching this for the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt, having followed her career since Party of Five and several movies of varying quality. And when I first read that she would be returning to television in a series with this story I was, to put it mildly, not encouraged. But I have to admit this is quite a good show. Yes, the concept is similar to NBC's Medium but crossed with CBS' Touched by an Angel. So yes, it's a little corny at times. It's probably aimed at an older demographic being on CBS. But that doesn't detract from it being rather good, in that "tell me a spooky story" mode like the old Twilight Zone shows were at times.
Jennifer plays Melinda Gordon, recently married, now a small business owner in the town of Grandview (state unknown, but aren't all TV small towns like that?) who has held a particular ability since childhood, the ability to communicate with the dead. She "sees" them and is sought out by them to help them make their final journeys into the afterlife. Or "crossover" as it's been termed. But before they can, they all have unfinished business with their loved ones. Usually, it's the circumstances behind their deaths that lead them to Melinda. So "the dead" range from an M.I.A. soldier wishing to tell his now grown son the details of his disappearance, to a wrongly executed artist, to a 9 year old boy trying to tell his mother his death was not her fault. Naturally those she encounters are all skeptical, even hostile at times. But even she admits it's not easy having this ability, at times she wishes she didn't have it.
With each episode we learn a little more about her and her abilities with the undead. Like the fact her own mother has the same abilities but has tried to suppress them all her life and has had to deal with the guilt that entails. And all this leads up to the first season finale when she must deal with the victims of a plane crash and the multiple "crossings" that must occur, and the sudden twist to this story that served as the first season cliffhanger.
So far, there's no details on extra features, if any, here. But I would hope we'll get some episode commentaries, particularly from the show's creator as well as Ms. Jennifer. She was featured on the commentary track for her film "Heartbreakers" and proved to be a great storyteller on that film. I'm sure she'd be just as informative on this series.
As I said, this show is a guilty pleasure for me. Jennifer is beautiful to look at here; she can play strong, yet vulnerable characters. If you're looking for paranormal crime solvers, you're probably meant for Medium. But if you'd like a Friday night show to chill out with and end your week with, check out Ghost Whisperer.


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Ever since she was a young girl, Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has been able to see and talk to dead people--earth bound spirits who have yet to cross over to the other side and who seek her help in communicating and resolving unfinished business with the living.Melinda sometimes has a hard time accepting her "gift," especially now that she's a newlywed and looking forward to starting her new life with her husband, Jim Clancy (David Conrad), a paramedic.Her friend and business partner in the antique store, Andrea Moreno (Aisha Tyler), is fascinated by Melinda's talent.Although Melinda embraces her unique "abilities" as a blessing and sometimes a curse, she always helps her clients--alive or dead--find emotional closure.

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Jesse Stone: Death In Paradise (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Both sensitively acted and directed, "Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise" is another winner in the "Jesse Stone" series of television films. Star Tom Selleck and director Robert Harmon must really be committed to this series, as every aspect of these productions are top notch.
Of course, one can air a minor complaint here and there. For example, like the previous entry, "Jesse Stone: Night Passage", this one ends a little too neatly and abruptly (just like in "Passage", everything is explained and resolved during a closing shoot-out), but that's only a small negative in an overall very good adaptation. I'm certainly onboard for "Jesse Stone: Sea Change", the fourth movie in the series (I always wait for the DVD releases of these films because I hate all the television commercials).
By the way, as these reviews are supposed to be "helpful", here's the order that I recommend that these stories should be watched:
1) Jesse Stone: Night Passage... This was the second film to be produced, but chronologically (as it recounts Chief Stone's earliest days as Paradise's police chief) it takes place first. For example, a character who is killed in "Stone Cold" (the first film produced) is seen good as new here, because of this story's earlier time frame. Trust me, watch this one first.
2) Stone Cold... The first film produced, but if you watch it second, you'll enjoy the seamless transition from "Jesse Stone: Night Passage" into "Stone Cold". This also gives the aforementioned death in this movie more dramatic heft, because we've already seen Jesse spend a lot of time with the character in question in "Passage".
3) Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise... This one picks up directly after the events in "Stone Cold", even though it was produced right after the origin story that was "Jesse Stone: Night Passage".
4) Jesse Stone: Sea Change... Fourth film to be produced, fourth film you should watch. This one's easy enough, at least, right?
One final thought, if you enjoy these TV films, you should try the Robert B. Parker novels in which they're based. The films are very close to the novels, but the novels give you more details, a less compressed pace, and more vivid characterizations. But make no mistake, the movies are definitely worth seeking out, too.

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Selleck plays the role of Jesse Stone, a former Los Angeles homicide detective who left California and his ex-wife to become the police chief in a small New England town.Among his many character flaws are his struggles with a drinking problem and lingering feelings for his ex-wife.

Jesse Stone: Night Passage is a prequel to 2005’s Stone Cold.Co-starring Stephanie March (TV’s "Law & Order: SVU") and Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects), the telefilm depictsJesse Stone’s (Selleck) first days as Paradise, Massachusetts’ Chief of Police.He must immediately find the killer of his predecessor, plus investigate a domestic violence situation involving the city’s resident hothead (Baldwin), whose ties to a local bank manager expose a money-laundering scheme.

DVD Special Features for Jesse Stone: Night Passage Include: Digitally Mastered Audio and Video, Widescreen Presentations, Audio: English, French, Portuguese, Thai, Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Bonus Previews, Closed Captioned

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Monk - Season Two (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)A quirky comedy about a man with obsessive compulsive disorder and several phobias who is alternatively helped and hindered by his excrutiating attention to detail. In the first season, Monk loses his job as a police officer and works as a private investigator. His department continues to call him for help on the toughest cases. Here's another funny season.
1. Mr. Monk Goes Back to School: Monk becomes a substitute teacher to investigate the death of an English teacher.
2. Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico: Monk investigates a friend's sons death in Mexico.
3. Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame: While investigating the murders of a CEO and his wife, Monk befriends the Major League superstar who was having an affair with the wife.
4. Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus: Monk investigates the murder of a circus ringmaster.
5. Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man: The captain's hippie wife thinks the world's oldest man has been murdered.
6. Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater: Mr. Monk takes the place of a murdered actor on stage while investigating the murder.
7. Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect: When a woman is murdered, Monk suspects her brother who has been in a coma for four months.
8. Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy: A secretary hires Monk to discover who killed her boss.
10. Mr. Monk and the 12th Man: The Captain calls Monk for help in solving nine brutal murders.
11. Mr. Monk and the Paperboy: Monk's paperboy is murdered.
12. Mr. Monk and the Three Pies: Monk helps his estranged brother whom he has not seen in many years when he claims his neighbor murdered his wife.
13. Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star: Monk becomes convinced that a TV show's star has murdered his ex-wife.
14. Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny: An older law student asks Monk for help finding her missing grandmother. In exchange, she offers to help him get reinstated as a policeman. Michael Shalhoub, Tony's brother, plays on this episode.
15. Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife: The captain's wife is injured when her car has been stuck by a truck whose driver was killed by a sniper.
16. Mr. Monk Gets Married: To solve a murder, Sharona and Monk pose as a couple going for counseling at a clinic
17. Mr. Monk Goes to Jail: Dale the Whale calls Monk from jail with information about a murder.

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MONK:SEASON TWO - DVD Movie

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Midsomer Murders: Barnaby's Casebook (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Imagine Saint Mary Mead. Squared. Then add some extra blood and mayhem.
That about describes the setting of "Midsomer Murders," a morbidly witty British mystery series based on Caroline Graham's novels. And "Midsomer Murders: Barnaby's Casebook" brings together the the next round of seventeen cases in this cozy, dark little county, drawing from the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth seasons of the series. It's a great half'n'half combo of police procedural and cozy mystery.
Snotty society beauty Melissa Townsend is receiving some threatening letters, apparently because of the death of a tenant that stemmed from her neglect. Then she's found stabbed with a syringe filled with animal tranquilizers. Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) starts investigating the murder, especially the possible involvement of Melissa's best friend (and a bit more), a drunk driving case, and secret blackmail. And more murders, of course.
From there on, Barnaby and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), are forced to investigate all sorts of crimes -- a group of bell-ringers that are being bumped off, a prestigious boarding school with a deadly secret, a farmer's wife's apparent suicide, a vibrant but obnoxious widow's murder, a bizarrely complex murder tied to a mental hospital, a dead body found during an art class, an investor found dead in a river, and an old-as-dirt feud between two halves of a Midsomer town, which may hold the key to a series of deaths on the set of new movie "The House Of Satan."
Then Troy receives a promotion, and does one last case with Barnaby: a gentle recluse in the woods is implicated in the murder of his late tormentor. Enter DS Scott (John Hopkins), a rather cocky new guy who arrives just in time for a deadly class reunion, a Celtic solstice ritual that turns deadly, the death of a barman, a pagan ritual involving a dead curate, and a literary festival disrupted by some seedy goings-on... including murder. Then there's the Christmas special, "Ghosts of Christmas Past" -- Barnaby's holidays are interrupted by a string of deaths in the Villiers family, nine years after aspiring magician Ferdy Villers killed himself.
Honestly, I think Miss Marple would feel right at home in Midsomer County -- such a pretty, homey, sunshiney place, full of kindly spinsters, farmers and aristocrats of varying stripes, from skanky to down-to-earth. The whole thing is set in the various villages in this county, which is picturesque, lush, and full of farms, cute little English villages, opulent manorhouses, and little brick cottages.
So of course, there are gruesome murders, plotting and tawdry secrets hidden in every corner; several spill out in every episode, and only some of them have to do with the main murder (some are red herrings, and some are side crimes). Every now and then they have a dud episode (such as the horrendously preachy "Straw Woman"). But the writers keep a funny edge in the stories, such as Barnaby being confronted by an impending vacation ("Joyce, it looks as if these people are sitting on top of an elephant"), or and some clever dialogue ("Well, gettin' blown up's got to be a bit tragic").
And these cops are pretty believable detectives. John Nettles is absolutely wonderful as the kindly, middle-aged cop with a brain like stainless steel, whose nice sedate family is a relief from all the Midsomer weirdos. And Daniel Casey is solid as his younger, brasher assistant -- and his departure from the show is handled in a believable but touching manner. Hopkins isn't quite as likable as Scott, mainly because Scott is kind of a jerk at first, but he starts fitting in a bit better soon.
Most of the villagers are played by excellent actors as well, no matter how weird their characters are. Slightly loopy historians, crazy old ladies and nasty little schoolboys are only a few, with actors such as Lucy Punch, Hugh Bonneville, Angela Thorne, Amanda Root, and "Lost's" Henry Ian Cusick as a slimy rich boy. And Jane Wymark and Laura Howard round off the cast as Barnaby's very understanding wife and daughter.
"Midsomer Murders: Barnaby's Casebook" is a big, solidly-written chunk of British coziness, with murder and scandal in every episode, and some new transitions for the homicide division.

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As seen on A&E and The Biography ChannelWHAT EVIL LURKS BEYOND THE WELL-TRIMMED HEDGES OF MIDSOMER...The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. The smash hit series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, a dogged investigator and devoted family man, unflappable in the face of the macabre crimes and eccentric characters he encounters on the job.Inspired by the characters of novelist Caroline Graham, these 17 mysteries see the promotion of Barnaby s earnest assistant, Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey, The Wingless Bird), and the arrival of his brash replacement, Sergeant Dan Scott (John Hopkins, Love in a Cold Climate). Guest stars include Hugh Bonneville, Gemma Jones, Honor Blackman, John Standing, Freddie Jones, Susan Wooldridge, Phoebe Nicholls, Stella Gonet, and Henry Ian Cusick.THE MYSTERIES INCLUDE: Tainted Fruit, Ring Out Your Dead, Murder on St. Malley s Day, Market for Murder, A Worm in the Bud, A Talent for Life, Death and Dreams, Painted in Blood, A Tale of Two Hamlets, Birds of Prey, The Green Man, Bad Tidings, The Fisher King, Sins of Commission, The Maid in Splendour, The Straw Woman, Ghosts of Christmas Past, DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE John Nettles interview, essays by star John Nettles and co-creator Betty Willingale, Midsomer map, production notes, Caroline Graham biography, and cast filmographies.Plus two exclusive bonus discs: Map of Midsomer Murders, a behind-the-scenes documentary hosted by John Nettles, and Super Sleuths, a documentary about the show s first decade. Set contains 19 discs (including bonus programs); approx. 28 hours. Mysteries previously released on DVD as Sets Four, Six, Seven, and Eight, the original U.K. broadcast order.

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Agatha Christie's Marple Series 3 (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Now, I have to say right off, that, even though I appreciated Geraldine McEwen's portrayal much more, the scriptwriters had her saying the most hilariously inane things--unfortunately the viewer is tempted to laugh in all the wrong places, despite her excellent performance. No one on the production staff seemed the least bit concerned with historical or literary accuracy. It makes you sigh for what could have been.
Also ironic is the appearance of perhaps an anti-clergy slant, since Miss Marple was the daughter of an Anglican vicar. Earlier we saw at least one alcoholic rector, and now we have presented to us a), a society matron in the book Nemesis changed into a murderously obsessed nun for television; and b), a character changed from the kind, gentle Canon Pennyfather in the novel of At Bertram's Hotel to a crazed Nazi war criminal masquerading as an Anglican priest.
Nor is the QUIET, efficiently run establishment of understated elegance in the novel anywhere to be seen; it is a place of utter chaos invaded by an American jazz band (which Miss Marple seems to relish; she's almost snapping her finger to the beat--"Yeah man"). Yikes! By changing and inventing all the characters for the TV series while keeping some basic thread of the original plot, the viewer gets the worst of both worlds: Everything but the ending is now a surprise.
Which brings us to the most hilarious bit of all: In Bertram's Hotel, when Miss Marple asks Jane, the chambermaid, if she and the chief inspector are going to get married after discovering romance, the young woman says, "Oh no, we're just going to live together; that's how it's done these days" (remember, this is 1952); and even more roll-on-the-floor funny is Miss Marple's reply: "That's not what I would have done at your age, but I probably would now."
Oh yes. Little ladylike Miss Marple shacking up with the (not even very handsome) chief inspector. Good lord--where will the scriptwriters go from there? That's the REAL mystery.

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As seen on the PBS Mystery! series Though they might be fooled by her delicate exterior, criminals underestimate Agatha Christie's mild-mannered spinster sleuth at their peril! In the expert care of acclaimed actress Geraldine McEwan (Vanity Fair, The Magdalene Sisters), the beloved Miss Marple takes on new vibrance as a "worldly lady with a past, full of fun and mischief" (London Times). In her golden years, Miss Marple blends into the scenery of her elegant surroundings. All the better to observe the foibles of human nature that lead to evil -- and to surprise one and all when she solves crimes that baffle the professionals. Rich with period detail, these all-new adaptations feature stellar supporting casts, including Richard E. Grant, Amanda Burton, Eileen Atkins, Saffron Burrows, Greg Wise, Martine McCutcheon, Francesca Annis, Peter Davison, Jane Seymour, and Juliet Stevenson. "Spectacular" -- DVD Talk The Mysteries Nemesis Towards Zero At Bertram’s Hotel Ordeal by Innocence DVD SPECIAL FEATURES include photo galleries, Agatha Christie bio, and cast filmographies.

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Perfect Murder, Perfect Town (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)This made-for-TV film was a strong presentation of the book, adhering closely to details presented therein. Its only let-down is driven by the real-life fact that the case was not solved, and such indefinite endings always leave the viewer feeling somewhat flat.
The undisputed stars of the show were Marg Helgenberger and Ronny Cox as Patsy and John Ramsey. Marg enjoyed what appeared to be a fabulous time chewing the scenery, dancing and playing with her daughter, and exhibiting a full range of theatrical emotion -- while simultaneously, Ronny did an absolutely stupendous job of being dazed and confused, an indecisive executive and wounded father. They were perfect, and I hope they had a great deal of fun making that film. The movie is worth watching just to watch them.
I first saw this film before reading the book, then again after doing so. The film is a very capable adaptation, much more than many others you'll see. Read the book, then watch it again.
And yes, I have an opinion as to who killed JonBenet. If the character's portral in the film was consonant with that person's actual behavior during these events, then I am pretty darned certain who it was.

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Boulder, Colorado has long been known as a peaceful community. Yet, since the day six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was discovered brutally murdered in her prominent family's home, this once idyllic community has become a city at war with itself. Struggles rage between John and Patsy Ramsey, local law enforcement, the District Attorney as well as the national tabloid media fixated on issuing blame. Respected author, director and Emmy Award winning producer Lawrence Schiller (The Executioner's Song) spent over a year in Boulder meticulously researching and writing the best-selling book upon which this compelling miniseries is entirely based. This video edition features the longer director's cut not shown on television and features an all-star cast including Kris Kristofferson, Marg Helenberger, Ronny Cox, Ken Howard and Ann-Margret. Special Director's Cut - Over 18 Minutes of Additional Footage.

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The Sight (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)THE SIGHT is a made for Fox TV movie directed by visionary director Paul W. S. Anderson, who directed Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Event Horizon. Although it might be tempting to compare this movie to THE SIXTH SENSE, they're really quite different.
Andrew McCarthy, one of the Brat Pack, stars as an architect who is summoned to London to restore an old historic hotel. While there, he accidentally runs over an elderly woman who has left her hospital and wanders the streets. This lady (played with fervent tongue in cheek by Honor Blackman - the original Emma Peel and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger---informs McCarthy he is to take over her role as the "advocate for the dead." He is gifted with "the sight" you see, so now he is to be the champion for several murdered children who want him to find the serial killer responsible.
McCarthy gets good support from Kevin Tighe, Alexander Armstrong, Amanda Redman, Jessica Oyelowo, and Maurice Roeves. Even though the plotting is at times ludicrous, Anderson weaves some spooky and atmospheric visuals, and the pace is brisk and involving. You'll find yourself enjoying it in spite of yourself.

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Item Name: The Sight; Studio:Studio Works

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Criminal Justice (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a good deal grittier than the kind of British murder mystery that generally shows up on American public television. The author, Peter Moffat, a former barrister, wanted to give viewers a comprehensive look at the British criminal justice system and so covers police investigation, jail, magistrates court, prison, trial and the aftermath.
The writing is generally good, although there are some plausibility issues at times. A young man is accused of murdering a young woman he meets by chance, which he denies, with all of the evidence pointing to his guilt. The story of his arrest, remand in prison and trial are well done. The Bar Council in England was harshly critical of the portrayal of the legal profession and I would tend to agree with them. It's hard to believe that lawyers typically advise their clients to invent stuff to suit the defense that the lawyer wants to put on.
The story can be tough viewing at times. At various points, you wonder just how much physical and psychological trauma the scrawny 21 year old asthmatic protagonist can take. And the ending seemed a little rushed.
The acting is what makes this series really worth it. Pete Postelthwaite, Bill Paterson, Lindsay Duncan, and Nicholas Farrell are especially good. But Ben Whishaw, who plays Ben Coulter, the accused, is superlative. He won an international Emmy for this performance and recently made an acclaimed American Stage debut in the Off-Broadway production of "The Pride." His ability to show all of the strong and conflicting emotions his character has to deal with is effortless.

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WINNER / Best Actor Ben Whishaw / Royal Television Society AwardsWINNER / Best Drama Serial / BAFTA TV Awards

Is his life in the hands of justice... or criminals?

After a one-night stand with a beautiful young woman, Ben Coulter (Ben Whishaw The International, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) wakes up with a hangover... and blood on his hands. Lying beside him, fatally stabbed, is the naked body of the woman. So begins a nightmare that will change Ben's life forever, as damning evidence emerges to incriminate him in a murder that he has no recollection of committing.

Once in prison, awaiting the trial that will decide his fate, Ben must endure terrifying forms of justice from hardcore inmates and the question is: Can Ben survive life in jail long enough to last through a trial he has little hope of winning?

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Gone But Not Forgotten (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent murder mystery/thriller that will keep you interested from start to finish. The cast is uniformly good and the script very well-written. Everything about it is way above average for a TV-movie. At first it seems as though it will be a standard courtroom drama, but after the set-up it goes in an entirely different direction and keeps you guessing the whole time. Watching this movie is like curling up with a good book on a dark and stormy night. I recommend it highly.

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GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN - DVD Movie

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Harper's Island: The DVD Edition (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)We are so hooked on this show it isn't funny, which must be a tribute to the writing and the direction. The producers certainly know how to get you going, though it takes a few episodes before they can start reeling you in and playing you the way they want to.
At the very beginning there are too many characters--if you have ever seen Robert Altman's film A Wedding some of this will look familiar, but add into it a maritime setting, a fantastic yacht, and a culture of working class people trained to anticipate the needs of the wealthy, and you have a recipe for tension right there, and that's before you get the murders going. The families of Trish Wellington (Katie Cassidy) and Henry Dunn (Christopher Gorham, often looking oddly like lean, lanky, nutty Anthony Perkins) invite you to a destination wedding, one held at Harper's Island somewhere in the Puget Sound, where you will be staying at the incredibly glamorous Candlewick Inn, but there will be plenty of time for slumming and seeing how the other half live.
Chief among the main characters is our heroine, played by Elaine Cassidy, the Irish actress who made a splash in Atom Egoyan's Felicia's Journey ten years back. As Abby, the daughter of the local sheriff (Jim Beaver), Cassidy plays the tragic survivor of a mass murder that rocked the island seven years ago. Could the killer, John Wakefield, thought to have been shot down by Abby's dad, still be alive? Has he gone back to his ways of hanging his victims from the trees? For many episodes Fate and the unseen killer arrange it so that one by one, victims die but nobody really realizes it, thinking they have just gone back to Seattle and will return for the wedding ceremony. That got a little hard to swallow, but during this period we began to sort out who was who, who's sleeping with who, who resents the power of who, who seems irretrievably scarred by the earlier murders, and something of the sociology. Now we know the characters and it hurts when one of them dies.
The show's gory in spots, soapy in others. So violent is it that the individual episodes are named after comic book signifiers ("Ka-Boom," "Thwack," etc) and after a few weeks you learn to wait for the act of violence each one stands for. The "Sizzle" is particularly gruesome, though nothing yet matches the shocking death that takes place in the island's lovely old church. I still get headaches when I think about that one! Every cliché of this kind of slasher film is rehearsed here, but expertly and often with a twist. Even the one where a medium reads the heroine's Tarot cards and suddenly sees something in them too horrible to put into words and she runs out of the room mumbling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." -Like the beginning of Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7!


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A horror-inspired drama, this CBS series is about a group of friends and family who meet to celebrate a wedding on an island just outside Seattle, an island that is famous for a streak of unsolved murders seven years ago. Suspense ensues when they end up dead one by one; has the killer returned or is someone else to blame?

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The Two Mr. Kissels (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)This was a Lifetime TV movie produced in 2008, which is now available on DVD.
Such movies, which bypass the theatre, generally have no rating. If it had a film rating it would probably be PG-13.
This has everything: sex, drugs, wealth, deception, murder--and best of all, it is a true story. More accurately it's a dramatization of a true story-somewhat like "Reversal of Fortune", or other films which attempt to re-enact actual murder stories in film. There's nothing to make a story more interesting than knowing the basics are all real.
This is certainly better than the usual made-for-TV movie and better than a lot of films that appear in the cinema. The acting is good, the filming good, the dialog good, the pace and editing are good. It kept me interested the entire time. There are sexually suggestive scenes but no significant nudity, no graphic violence and no foul language of any significance. There is no subtitling available and no "special features." It runs just under 1.5 hours long.
It's the story of two brothers, raised in a rich family-both of whom end up murdered. In the case of one brother, the wife is convicted of murder. In the case of the other brother, the actual murderer was unknown at the time of the production: one person had been charged with conspiracy to murder but had not yet gone to trial. The film presents its own plausible theory as to this other brother's death (I don't want to give away the plot details). At the end of the film clarification and updates on the significant characters are given-right up to 2008. A fascinating but sad glimpse into the lives of two quite wealthy brothers and their families. If you haven't seen this on TV and you don't want to wait around until it happens to show again--get this DVD. You'll find this an interesting and well-produced story, with very good characterizations.

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Based on the shocking true story of multi-millionaire brothers who marry the women of their dreams then wind up dead, the Lifetime Original Movie The Two Mr. Kissels traces the trail of money, mansions and mayhem left behind by real estate mogul Andrew Kissel (John Stamos) and his investment banker brother, Rob (Anson Mount, 'Conviction'). On the surface, it seems that both Kissel brothers are enjoying idyllic lives. But after Rob moves his family to Hong Kong for a promotion, his wife Nancy (Robin Tunney, 'The Mentalist') grows resentful of his long work hours. She begins a torrid affair in retaliation, eventually igniting worldwide media frenzy when she drugs then bludgeons Rob to death. Years later, Andrew is caught embezzling millions of dollars to support his increasingly lavish lifestyle and drug addiction. With the courts breathing down his neck, former business partners turning on him, and his frustrated and embarrassed wife Hayley (Gretchen Egolf, 'Journeyman') filing for divorce, Andrew is found dead in the basement of his Greenwich, Connecticut mansion. The question remains: was Andrew murdered by one of his many enemies, or did he arrange it himself in order to escape his living nightmare?

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Single Handed: Set One (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Edge-of-the-seat suspense. Scenic Irish coast makes the eyes salivate. Fresh new star, fantastic series. Irish country crime is just as riveting as London's. I was astounded and surprised.
Filmed in the Tully Cross & Connemara, arguably the most beautiful part of Ireland, you can smell the peat burning as you view bogs, mountains, lochs, pubs, Guinness, Connemara ponies, & rainbows. But the crime in this deliciously visual district is far from pleasant. An emotional suspense with intrigue as high as the Cliffs of Moor. You'll love the filmed rural beauty and be shocked by the corruption.
3 episodes, each 92 min., YES they DO include SUBTITLES
1- Home
Sgt. Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell, a real Galway lad) is transferred back home from the Dublin Garda. He replaces his da. A carbon monoxide death investigation leads to suspicious findings. Further evidence leads to more sinister activity. There is a web of secrets & deceit that Jack discovers. A surprise end.
2- The Stolen Child
A small child is missing and 2 violent uncles may make their own law. Jack's Dad is subject to a tribunal for past "police work." There is yet many local secrets that hinder investigations. Jack's new 1-month sleep-in romance is Dr. Maggie (Caroline Catz-'Doc Martin'& `The Vice') Excellent work by Catz.
3- The Drowning Man
Jack is too late in pulling 17 year old O'Malley from the bay. As always, one investigation leads to something bigger. And, as always, another romantic involvement of Driscoll becomes an issue. That issue involves yet another. High-high suspense finale! So peaked, it becomes a thriller.
Ian McElhinney (Little Dorrit) plays Jack's dad, the former Garda Sergeant Gerry Driscoll. He is a local native, a good-old-boy type, who "turned a blind eye" in the past, and fought local crime "by any means necessary". Can Jack end that legacy which goes against his morals, but is so rooted in the community? David Herlihy plays Garda Finbarr Colvin, the cop assistant handed down by dad, and used to the older cop's ways.
Bonus material: I recommend you read through this prior to viewing the 3 episodes.
Text for all: prod. Notes; O.McDonnell (Jack) notes; Catz (Dr. Maggie) notes; & Produces Alan interview.
This series contains course raw language unsuitable for children (even if they may hear those words used at home).
Ah, lookit, blimy fine Garda suspense.
`Tis `nuf fer all, mind.
In English that means "Wonderful, buy it."
One of the best Irish cop drama mysteries ever made.


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A lone cop fights crime and corruption in rural Ireland
"Don\'t miss it." --The Observer (U.K.)"Absorbing . . . multilayered and intelligent" --The Irish Times
"Powerful, charismatic performances" --Evening Herald (Ireland)
Murder and intrigue on Ireland\'s remote coast
When Garda Sergeant Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell) returns home to the windswept west coast of Ireland, his father—and predecessor at his new post--warns: "Out here, it\'s a team of one." As chief law-enforcement officer in this insular community, Jack soon learns the hard truth in those words. Small-town life presents challenges he never faced in Dublin--among them, winning the respect of the villagers and escaping the shadow of his father (Ian McElhinney, Little Dorrit), whose methods relied more on pragmatism than principle.
In these three feature-length crime dramas, Jack investigates a beautiful immigrant\'s murder, a child\'s abduction, and a teenager\'s baffling drowning. Complex characters rife with moral ambiguity and internal conflict populate this gritty series set against a landscape of epic beauty and isolation.

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