- John Hansen
- September 23, 2024
Fall TV preview 2024: 10 shows I wouldn’t mind watching
Is Fall TV still a thing in this era when new stuff starts and ends at all points on the calendar, seemingly at random? It
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- John Hansen
- September 22, 2024
The moor the merrier in ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1902)
In his second-most-famous Sherlock Holmes novel, “A Study in Scarlet” (1887), Arthur Conan Doyle branches into a Western for a while. And in his most
- John Hansen
- September 19, 2024
Smart small-cast mystery makes ‘Laura’ (1944) a classic noir
One of my favorite hidden gems among Agatha Christie’s catalog is “Cards on the Table” (1936), because she establishes that only four people are in
- John Hansen
- September 18, 2024
‘Murder!’ (1930) is an overly talky early Hitchcock talkie
“Murder!” (1930) is an early example of Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite theme of the wrongly accused person (in this rare case, a woman rather than a
- John Hansen
- September 15, 2024
Legendary gumshoe takes first steps in ‘A Study in Scarlet’ (1887)
“A Study in Scarlet” (1887), Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel and a formative entry in the burgeoning mystery genre, remains entertaining 137 years
- John Hansen
- September 14, 2024
‘Evil’ wraps 50-episode run as one of TV’s sneaky-best shows
The days of being saddened by the end of a TV series, and of wondering if a series finale will stick the landing, are largely
- Tom Simmons
- September 13, 2024
In ‘Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man’ (1951), vaudeville pair confronts the unseen
“Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951) is first and foremost a boxing movie. Admittedly, it’s also slapstick. It’s a detective show. And –
- John Hansen
- September 12, 2024
Bone-dry comedy ‘Buffalo ’66’ (1998) an all-time weird romance
Christina Ricci made her transition from kid to adult fare in stark fashion. A year after doing “That Darn Cat,” she starred in “The Opposite
- John Hansen
- September 11, 2024
Symphonic score makes ‘Easy Virtue’ (1928) easy to watch
“Easy Virtue” (1928), the sixth among Alfred Hitchcock’s preserved silent films, today plays like a symphony orchestra performance accompanied by moving images. As with most
- John Hansen
- September 8, 2024
Three-pronged plot of ‘The Dain Curse’ (1929) is worth the effort
Dashiell Hammett’s five novels suggest that his writing career went in reverse. He did two experimental novels first – the almost stream-of-consciousness plotting of “Red