Rather than a “locked room” mystery wherein the victim is found dead in a room where no one could have gotten in or out, Christie traps everyone together on a snowbound train. The victim, the suspects, and the detective are all stuck in the “locked room.” The new movie version, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh is problematic but it was much better than the trailers led me to believe.
Though I haven’t focused on it lately, I also write about films (often classics). I earned a master’s degree in cinema studies, really just for fun. Recently I was accepted into a stable of writers at Film Inquiry and they agreed to let me write a “Beginner’s Guide to Film Noir.” It was great fun…
I have a very talented friend who has written, drawn, created and animated a wonderful short film called “Thundercluck.” It’s the story of a chicken who becomes an unlikely hero. It is funny and heartwarming and lovely. After a successful run on the film festival circuit, he has released it online. Please watch, and enjoy.…
This April marks the 175th anniversary of the publication of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders of the Rue Morgue. It was the first of the three stories to feature C. Auguste Dupin, the first literary detective. Later writers, including Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, would cite Poe and Dupin as their inspiration. Fitting, as it is…
These are both fantastic and silly. British Pathé and pulled together 3 newsreels about haunted houses in England that aired in the 1950s and 60s. They also curate a fantastic YouTube channel and all this month they are featuring “The Things That Scare Us.” Be sure to check out some of the 90,000 clips they…