- John Hansen
- February 14, 2025
‘My Bloody Valentine’ (2009) adds dimension to the franchise
“My Bloody Valentine” (2009) – as endemic to 2009 as the original is to 1981 — is a generic, gory slasher movie, but it embraces
‘My Bloody Valentine’ (2009) adds dimension to the franchise
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- John Hansen
- February 9, 2025
‘His Last Bow’ (1917) gathers Holmes’ penultimate adventures
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes output slowed as he built up entries for his second-to-last book, “His Last Bow” (1917), which gathers eight short stories
- John Hansen
- February 7, 2025
‘My Bloody Valentine’ (1981) joins lineup of holiday slashers
Christmas had “Black Christmas” (1974) and Halloween had “Halloween” (1978), so amid cinema’s first slasher boom it was inevitable that Valentine’s Day would get “My
- John Hansen
- February 3, 2025
‘So Long at the Fair’ (1950) a delightful riff on ‘Lady Vanishes’
“So Long at the Fair” (1950) takes a streamlined, but nonetheless enveloping, approach to a premise so good it’s almost a genre itself – one
- John Hansen
- January 26, 2025
‘Poirot’ Season 11 (2008-09) runs into adaptation challenges
“Agatha Christie’s Poirot” has never looked better than in Season 11 (2008-09, ITV, A&E), as we’re invited into the cluttered boarding house of “Mrs. McGinty’s
- John Hansen
- January 19, 2025
‘Poirot’ Season 10 (2005-06) a mix of smart and ill-advised alterations
“Agatha Christie’s Poirot” began its “dark half” by adapting four masterpieces in Season 9. Season 10 (2005-06, ITV and A&E), on the other hand, tackles
- John Hansen
- January 12, 2025
‘Poirot’ works out math of love triangles in Season 9 (2003-04)
“Poirot” Seasons 1-8 feature the cozy quartet of Poirot, Hastings, Japp and Miss Lemon and proven, skilled writers like Clive Exton and Anthony Horowitz. But
- John Hansen
- January 2, 2025
This time, De Palma’s Hitchcock ‘Obsession’ (1976) doesn’t pay off
Nowadays we’re familiar with the idea of a “legacy sequel”: a new (but not too new) story set against a beloved classic’s backdrop of visuals,
- John Hansen
- December 30, 2024
John’s top 10 TV shows of 2024
Prestige miniseries and streaming franchise “content” ruled the roost, but traditional network TV surprisingly hung on to life this year – even if the format
- John Hansen
- December 29, 2024
‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’ Seasons 7-8 (2000-02) are a joyful – if darker – return
In 2000, “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” Season 7 (ITV, A&E) hit the air after a four-year hiatus with a slight change in attitude. It tiptoes toward