tags: Amazon Prime movie, gun toting Rabbi, thriller
⭐⭐⭐⭐out of 5
from Amazon Prime Video
A small-town rabbi becomes an unlikely detective and gunfighter after his community is violently attacked in this sharp, high-stakes thriller packed with action, wit, and heart
The title got me to check it out on Amazon Prime Video. I thought it will be a comedy but it is not and I loved it. A murder mystery with cliched usual suspects but I enjoyed it very much. Rabbi Moyshe is an unlikely gunslinging detective wannabe but he had no choice in order to protect not just his family but also the innocent patsy.
I like the part where rabbi Mo, a few days before the murder, approached the young man falsely accused by police. The boy was taunting the group of Jewish people outside the strip mall. Rabbi Mo offered some brownies and asked him to talk to the group. The boy listened to the old man about being a holocaust survivor and he eventually got a brownie and ate it, didn't argue with them at all. Rabbi Mo believed his innocence because he "ate the brownie". It's very meaningful, IMHO. The movie is not about anti Jews but about money and corruption. Cliche, I know.
Having gun protection during congregations not just for Jewish people but all religions specially Christian gatherings, is absolutely necessary. Hanukkah and Christmas are specially targeted by satanic moslems wherever in the world they are. So, this line is important not just in a movie but also in real life: "May God and your Glock protect you."
When a raging flood traps a researcher and her young son, a call to a crucial mission puts their escape — and the future of humanity — on the line.
I loved the movie. Visuals, acting, dialog, and CGI are very good. One of my favorite Korean actresses, Kim Da-mi stars as the "mother".
It is part disaster, sci fi and mystery, I was confused at first but I stayed on watching the seemingly endless time loop similar to Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow.
When researcher An-na died, her memories and emotions were used to create an AI version of a mother who genuinely cares for her child, recreating it over and over again until they are ready to be sent to Earth and repopulate it after devastation from the flood disaster.
Viewers who love a disaster movie will be disappointed because the story is about AI and how it might become useful in the future. The movie is not for everybody but will be appreciated more by true science fiction fans.
What begins as a ploy to claim an inheritance ends with the impostor's life hanging in the balance. In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerisms, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the impostor's plan and his life. Culminating in a final terrible moment when all is revealed, Brat Farrar is a precarious adventure that grips the reader early and firmly and then holds on until the explosive conclusion.
This is the worst mystery novel written by Josephine Tey and the worst I have read this year. She made an impostor, criminal, and thief an honorable character and made a 13 year boy murder his twin brother right after their parents were killed. Just because he didn't like his brother. No other explanation and not believable at all. This was an awful read.
Tey had a habit of telling instead of showing. Throughout the short novel, now 21 year old adult Simon, never showed that he is an evil Cain. It was all in the mind of the impostor who was always sure it was Simon, at age 13 who killed his brother, without explaining why he thought so. Just a hunch. What?? Simon confessed to him when got drunk and justified the impostor's suspicion.
The author never showed any sympathy for the fictional family who lost the parents at the same time, just told what happened., as though in real life she abhored the landed gentry. Anyway, the parents left 13 year old twin brothers Patrick and Simon, 11 year old Eleanor, and 1 year old twin babies, Ruth and Jane. I was so annoyed when out of the blue, the impostor Patrick thought that 9 year old Ruth probably has never been spanked. She hadn't done nor showed anything to make an adult spank her. She was a well behaved and spoken young girl. That's lazy crazy writing. Tey was not a talented writer or she was absolutely bonkers when she wrote this book.
tags: Jo Nesbø, short stories, mystery, The Jealousy Man
⭐⭐⭐
From Amazon
A detective with a nose for jealousy is on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin. [adapted into a movie, Killer Heat.]
A bereaved father must decide whether vengeance has a place in the new world order after a pandemic brings about the collapse of society.
A garbage man fresh off a bender tries to piece together what happened the night before.
A hired assassin matches wits against his greatest adversary in a dangerous game for survival.
An instantly electric connection between passengers on a flight to London may spell romance, or something more sinister.
From Goodreads
Five stories set in the near future.
Welcome to Rat Island and a post-pandemic America, where the upper-class elite is waiting atop a skyscraper to be evacuated while the masses fight for survival down in the streets.
In Shredder, a scientist researching eternal life has finally found a memory shredder that will help him forget everything, before it’s too late.
Cicadas tells the story of two best friends on their way to the bull races in Pamplona when they fall in love with the same girl.
The Antidote follows an estranged son with an agenda as he goes to visit his father at a snake farm in Africa.
Lastly, in the epic and vicious Black Knight, we meet a psychologist who also happens to be an assassin contracted by big business.
All the stories have a common theme: jealousy. Some are very good but some are mediocre at best. The movie adaptation of The Jealousy Man has just 2 similarities to the story - the murder and the location. Everything else is skewed. The role played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a 60 years old Greek, still active police detective. He is not a lousy poser that the producer made him in the movie. Movie adaptations from books are always annoying.
Collecting original music from Japanese and Korean dramas started with Japanese Hana Yori Dango and Korea's version, Boys Over Flowers. I downloaded songs from several dramas until I got tired of it. Most are from 2012 series. I recently downloaded a couple from 2 newer Korean dramas. Netflix also added several of my favorite romance dramedy series, some from 2009, and I rewatched You're Beautiful. Park Shin Hye was just 19 years old and not very good but I still love her and the series, and the songs. This is another gender bending theme, with Shin Hye's character playing her twin brother invading the boys' house. So much fun and crying in this drama. LOL
The latest from Korea, Dynamite Kiss, is currently airing on Netflix, Wednesday and Thursday, on the US Top Ten every Thursday.
Korea, 2009, You're Beautiful with Jang Keun Suk and Park Shin Hye, newly added on Netflix. The song is performed by the blonde one, Lee Hong-Ki with his band F.T. Island. All 3 boys are musicians.
Japan, 2005, Hana Yori Dango, 2 seasons, theme song by Arashi, member Jun Matsumoto plays the male lead,Tsukasa Domyoji. This is way better than Korea's Boys Over Flowers. The video was made in 2007 and has nothing to do with the drama.
Korea, 2024 - 2025, Iron Family, 50 episodes
Japan, 2012, Rich Man, Poor Woman with Oguri Shun
Korea, 2012, To The Beautiful You, Korean version of Hana Kimi. It has more drama and romance and cuter leads, Minho and Kang Haneul. Sulli, the actress who pretended to be a boy sadly passed away in 2019.
Korea, 2009, Boys Over Flowers, Korean version of Hana Yori Dango. It made Lee Min-ho an international star. Still on Netflix.
Japan, 2012, Sprout, with really young actors
;
Korea, 2012, Love Rain, with Jang Keun Suk and Im Yoona, coming to Netflix soon.
tags: Jean-Luc Godard, movie about a movie (breathless), Netflix, Nouvelle Vague
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐out of five
A playful, poignant love letter to cinema, Nouvelle Vague reimagines the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless in an exuberant exploration of the youthful rebellion and creative chaos that shaped the French New Wave. Directed by Richard Linklater, starring Zoey Deutch, Guillaume Marbeck, and Aubry Dullin.
Zoey Deutch who played Jean Seberg's role as Patricia is the daughter of Lea Thompson.
Last Samurai Standing is a 2025 Japanese Netflix original live-action television series adapted from a Japanese manga series of the same name, which is also based on the novel of the same name written by Shogo Imamura and illustrated by Katsumi Tatsuzawa. Starring Junichi Okada, Yumia Fujisaki and Kaya Kiyohara, and set in the late 19th century during the Meiji period, the series takes place at the Tenryūji monastery in Kyoto.
292 fighters came together at Tenryū-ji Temple in Kyoto after sunset, drawn by the chance to win a grand prize of ¥100,000. The challenge was clear: take each other's wooden tags and make it all the way to Tokyo. The winner would get the prize. One of the warriors, Shujiro Saga, joined the dangerous contest with a personal mission: to help his sick wife and child.
All 6 episodes are streaming on Netflix. It's action packed period series - a mash up of Battle Royale, Alice In Borderland, and of course Squid Game.
Game host/master Enju is played by Ninomiya Kazunari whom I recently watched in Ties Of Shooting Stars. He was also the voice of the animated Kurosensei.
Hana Kimi is my favorite Japanese dorama, a live version of the anime. This was filmed in 2007 and has never been equaled. I think it is funnier and better than Hana Yori Dango. There are Korean (To The Beautiful You, which I also like and still have the OST in my iPod) and Taiwanese (never saw and liked Chinese language dramedies) versions. It has a gender bending theme a la Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and As You Like it but with the Japanese style silliness. I watched this series in 2010 and watching it again on Netflix. I still love it specially Nakatsu.
Nakatsu thought he was gay because he felt a spark and is attracted to the girl pretending to be a boy. I believe he set the trend in second lead syndrome in dramaland. I love the first couple, though, and the first series I've seen with Oguri Shun. He is also in Hana Yori Dango and numerous movies. He has a new dorama currently streaming on Netflix, Romantics Anonymous. I have seen probably half of all his TV series and movies. One of my favorites is live action movie, Lupin the Third.
The lead female enrolled in an all boys high school where intelligence and wealth are not necessary. The boys just have to be ikemen and apparently weird. Word got out that there is a girl in the school and the boys set up tests to determine who is female among the students. The tests were weird but hilarious.
The film, set in a then-near-future world of 1997, concerns a crime-ridden United States, which has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into the country's sole maximum security prison. Air Force One is hijacked by anti-government insurgents who deliberately crash it into the walled-off borough. Former Special Forces and current federal prisoner Snake Plissken (Russell) is given just 24 hours to go in and rescue the President of the United States, after which, if successful, he will be pardoned.
Wealthy and average New Yorkers are now trying to flee the city. Just like in this movie. Well, you voted for the communist, so don't try to escape to RED states, you morons!
Sparks fly when an agnostic podcast host and a rabbi connect at a party, navigating the complexities of modern love. Their families, however, may prove to be the biggest obstacle. Will their differing worldviews and meddling relatives derail their budding romance?
I tried watching this series on Netflix. I really did try but I just can't continue watching after the first episode which was already a torture. Dialog, acting, situations are too forced and cliched. Contrived. Contrived Contrived. The last time I watched a Hollywood produced sitcom and drama was probably 15 years ago and this series reminds me why I stopped.
The tale of a man who is incapacitated by visions of the future and the cacophony of overheard thoughts, and yet who can’t help trying to subvert his vividly glimpsed destiny, it is easy to read The Lifted Veil as being autobiographically revealing—of Eliot’s sensitivity to public opinion and her awareness that her days concealed behind a pseudonym were doomed to a tragic unveiling (as indeed came to pass soon after this novella’s publication). But it is easier still to read the story as the exciting and genuine precursor of a moody new form, as well as an absorbing early masterpiece of suspense.
George Eliot managed to insert several genres in this 100 page novella: gothic, horror, attempted murder, mystery, science fiction. Utterly brilliant. The novella reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's bizarre stories.
The novelette opens with a dying man, the first person narrator Latimer, on his death bed predicting his household servants will not come to him as he died, explaining where they will be instead.. I thought he was having a pity party, He then proceeded to tell his story as the son from his father's second marriage. He has an older brother from the first wife. Latimer felt his father neglected and compared him with the brother who was 8 years older, wiser, and more manly than his androgynous and weak looks. He was only 16 after all.
He was sent to Vienna to study and became friends with a nerdy type (who later became a famous doctor). His happiness was cut short due to an illness and he was bedridden. He then developed a precognitive ability, he became a clairvoyant, seeing things, people, and places that are about to materialize. That's when he became fascinated with his brother's fiancee whom he thought was manipulative and cunning beneath her blonde beauty.
A woman's body lay limp on the beach. And while the waves lapped gently at her scarlet-tipped toes, twisted in her hair was an article which screamed murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case would become a nightmare of too many clues and too many motives. For the woman was the famous screen actress, Christine Clay. And the world was full of people who wanted her dead.
I revisited my Josephine Tey Kindle collection of novels for lack of books to read. I was pleasantly surprised I liked this one published in 1939, the second novel featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. I didn't like him in the novel The Daughter Of Time. I will read the rest of the novels in the collection soon.
IMHO, Josephine Tey wrote a great mystery story and I liked her humor also, but I am still not convinced that her Alan Grant hero is a likeable character. I find him slow and lacks oomph. But it's just me.
All 20 remaining alive Jewish hostages were freed by the terrorists. The world thanks President Trump and the USA for their release and hoping for lasting peace in the region.
Note:
Not one Democrat Party leader nor global leader helped release the hostages and negotiate peace with Hamas. Only President Trump, Netanyahu, Ambassador Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and President Trump's administration worked for this to happen. Macron, Starmer, Obama, Biden, Pelosi, and the rest of the Democrat Party politicians and voters have nothing to do with the current peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. These people have no shame claiming they helped.
tags: Brazilian movie, drama, human and his stray dog, Netflix
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From Netflix
A chef and a caramel-colored mutt become best friends after a life-changing encounter. On an emotional journey, they will laugh and cry together, and also teach us valuable lessons. Starring Rafael Vitti and the canine star Amendoim,
I love the easy on the ears Portuguese language and this movie and the dog "actor", Amendoim. Both Rafael Vitti and Amendoim did great acting.
The mutt was left by the side of the road inside a cardboard box. He ran and ran until he got to the town eventually getting adopted by Pedro who started getting headaches and diagnosed with a cancerous lump in his brain.
Martin Stillwater has a vivid imagination. It charms his loving wife, delights his two little daughters, and gives him all the inspiration he needs to write his highly successful mystery novels. But maybe Martin's imagination is a bit too vivid...
One rainy afternoon, a terrifying incident makes him question his grip on reality. A stranger breaks into his house, accusing Martin of stealing his wife, his children-and his life. Claiming to be the real Martin Stillwater, the intruder threatens to take what is rightfully his. The police think he's a figment of Martin's imagination. But Martin and his family have no choice but to believe the stranger's threat. And run for their lives. But wherever they go-wherever they hide-he finds them.
Dean Koontz wrote this 500 page book in 1993. I listened to the 20 hour audiobook. It's not very different from his current novels with the usual sci-fi, murder, government conspiracies, and woke leftists. I liked the non stop action, Martin protecting his young family from his evil clone.
When Bobby Jones goes to retrieve his wayward golf ball at the bottom of a cliff he little expects that he will find a dying man there. With his last breath the man asks ‚ "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Intrigued by this question Bobby and his vivacious friend Frankie Derwent set out to solve the mystery - putting their own lives in great danger along the way.
Agatha Christie was so clever and why I like her mystery novels. This novel doesn't have Poirot nor the usual Agatha Christie regular sleuths. This is similar to Tommy and Tuppence,. Bobby and Frankie are a pair of young male and female friends who tried to solve the complicated murder mystery. It has a great cast of characters with so many red herrings. Lady Frankie Derwent is smarter and more daring than her somewhat timid friend (boyfriend to be) Bobby.
It's that time of the year again - The Great British Bake Off airing on Netflix every Friday. This season has interesting baketestants. One very beautiful girl, Jasmine, who is totally bald and Iain who's sporting a mullet. I like them both.
I will try baking Paul's glazed donuts recipe. I've never made them using self-rising (with baking powder) flour in addition to yeast. Hmm..
Iain joking his girlfriend looks like Noel. LOL Now where can I get Noel's shirt?
I still watch a lot of Korean and Japanese dramas. The first few months of 2025 didn't have interesting new dramas but recently, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ have really promising shows streaming almost one after another that I have to schedule watching. These are the ones I watch as soon as they come out and the other shows can wait when I have the spare time.
Netflix
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty
12 episodes
tags: comedy, fantasy, gourmet cooking, historical/sageuk, romance, time slip
Yeon Ji-Young is a French chef with a cheerful and determined personality. One day, she wins a French cooking competition, but she somehow finds herself transported to the Joseon era.
My Youth
tags: melodrama, romance.
Amazon Prime
Confidence Queen
tags: action, comedy, conmen
Yun Yi-Rang is a con woman with a genius level IQ of 165. She has a unique way of thinking and cool charisma. She leads the con group Confidence Man.
Based on the Japanese series The Confidence Man JP currently streaming on Netflix
Disney+ and HULU
Tempest
tags: action, drama, politics
Seo Mun-Ju (Gianna Jun) is a diplomat and a former ambassador to the United States. She has built great trust in the international community through her insightful judgment and actions. She learns that there were political maneuvering behind an assassination case involving South and North Korea. Meanwhile, Paik San-Ho (Gang Dong-Won) is an elite mercenary. He is a mysterious figure whose nationality and past are both shrouded in secrecy. Seo Mun-Ju and Paik San-Ho together pursue the truth behind the major incident.
I started watching this intense drama just a few days ago and I was shocked at the assassination of the female lead's husband which reminds me of Charlie Kirk. It was eerie and jarring and I debated with myself if I will continue watching. The negative comments from people in the Middle East compelled me watch. They were complaining of too much Catholic church scenes. South Korea is a Christian as well as Buddhist country. They can stay away from the drama if they don't like seeing churches, lots and lots of crucifixes, the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and people praying in churches.
The writer and producers probably are noticing that their country is slowly being influenced to become a communist country and they made this drama to show the new president who is blatantly communist socialist that he and his Chinese buddy can't stop them making moving TV series with prominent Christian images and rituals. Good for Korea.
The series is short with only 9 episodes. I like it so far although it looks like the USA is the bad guy wanting to start a war with North Korea. [Our current President is all about ending the never ending wars so they missed the narrative there.] It is a work of fiction so I'll take it even if they are wrong. The action and explosive scenes look like an extended movie. Great production and worth sitting down for an hour and a few minutes per episode. Currently, there are 5 episodes shown and the rest will be streamed in the next 2 weeks.
Charlie Kirk, the young conservative founder of Turning Point USA, an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses, was assassinated by ghouls. It's not hard to guess who these ghouls are. Souless Democrats, their voters, and media are ghouls always advocating for violence against conservatives and MAGA. They already tried to assassinate President Trump 3 times and still continue to advocate for violence towards conservatives, calling us NAzi, Hitler, and they want to punch us in the face (Gavin Newsom and the Hollywood demons).
CNNs reaction segment tonight about the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska tonight was to express sympathy for the suspect and harshly criticized social media pundits.
Van Jones decided to weigh in, criticizing @charliekirk11 due to alleged racial hate mongering.
She ran from war in Ukraine. She came here for safety.
And America FAILED her.
23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was butchered on a Charlotte light rail, her throat cut open by a violent repeat offender who had been arrested 14 times and was STILL free.
Democrat run main stream media never reported this horrific story that happened in August 22, 2025. They were silent as the grave and avoided publishing anything about it. It only became known when conservative media on X published the video of the actual murder. The democrat scum mayor published an equally horrible statement. All democrats are scum. And where are all the Ukkies loving lefties and democrats. They are all mum but had the time to eat cake for someone's birthday.
Proof is in the cake. Pure evil.
The Charlotte City Council took a cake break to celebrate a birthday, delaying their discussion about the brutal train stabbing, according to @JoeBrunoWSOC9.
Local leaders decided this was the time to consume some carbs and sugar for Councilmember Dimple Ajmera.
President Trump will look into and address the murder today. The democrats and their stenographers AKA main stream media have no reason to avoid reporting it now.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump is planning to look into the kiIIing of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte
"Horrible... I'll know all about it by tomorrow morning."
After the Charlotte Mayor refused to condemn the attacker, the city may need federal intervention. pic.twitter.com/3vefQcnpXK
tags: japanese dorama, murder mystery, Keigo Higashino, Netflix
🌟🌟🌟🌟
From Asianwiki
At the age of 11, Koichi Ariake discovers his parents brutally murdered in their home. Furthermore, Koichi must tell his two younger siblings the awful truth about their parents disappearance.
14 years later the three siblings still feel as much rage against their parents murderer as the day it happened. Then one day they locate the murderer...
From IMDB
"When we grow up - We'll kill him together". Koichi, Taisuke, and Shizuna are three siblings whose parents had been brutally murdered when they were just in elementary school, and they vowed to avenge their death. Fourteen years later, their vengeful plan unravels countless new facts. A shocking revelation leads to an overwhelmingly emotional ending. What will become of the siblings who have lived their lives solely in reliance of their bond alone?
The Japanese dorama 10 episode series is based on a serialized book written by Keigo Higashino and was filmed in 2008. I had to watch because the main lead, Koichi, is played by Kazunari Ninomiya of the Japanese boy band Arashi. He was just 25 years old and looked like a little boy. [His bandmate Jun Matsumoto has currently 2 doramas streaming on Netflix which will be my next Japanese watch.]
The series is murder mystery and drama but loaded with the silliest comedy, some are so random and strange I just had to laugh. The sister was one day scammed out of her money. Koichi got the idea and started scamming people. He wrote the "script" and the sister and younger brother perform the scam. It was doing well and earned them some cash until they discovered the new victim is the son of the man they suspected had killed their parents.
When hometown horrors come back to haunt, friendship is salvation in a novel about childhood fears and buried secrets by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.
As kids, outcasts Rebecca, Bobby, Spencer, and Ernie were inseparable friends in the idyllic town of Maple Grove. Three left to pursue lofty dreams―and achieved them. Only Ernie never left. When he falls into a coma, his three amigos feel an urgent need to return home. Don’t they remember people lapsing into comas back then? And those people always awoke…didn’t they?
After two decades, not a lot has changed in Maple Grove, especially Ernie’s obnoxious, scary mother. But Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer begin to remember a hulking, murderous figure and weirdness piled on mystery that they were made to forget. As Ernie sinks deeper into darkness, something strange awaits any friend who tries to save him.
For Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer, time is running out to remember the terrors of the past in a perfect town where nothing is what it seems. For Maple Grove, it’s a chance to have the “four amigos,” as they once called themselves, back in its grasp.
It took me a few weeks to rate this book by Dean Koontz. I couldn't decide if it is worth 4 or 5 star or if it is really bad as some of the reviewers on Goodreads think. It is another good versus evil themed mystery but it is very different from previous books by Koontz. I felt it was written for young adults because on the first few chapters he breaks the fourth wall to talk to the reader to explain and define some words or terms which are not that uncommon. Example: in a fugue. People know what it means for sure. Some readers got distracted by the constant explaining. I didn't mind it because sometimes it is funny.
Dean Koontz once again ridiculed everything and everyone which is hilarious in my opinion. There are many many humorous LOL things going on with the three friends specially when they rescued Ernie from the hospital to prevent the mortician from getting to him. It was like Weekend At Bernie's
The book reads like a fable or parable and I think those who rated it a 1 star got offended at the very end of the story, when Koontz compared the evil blob to communists trying to destroy the idyllic town. The blob was defeated by the good blob which was older and bigger than it is. The moral of the fable is, keep the good growing to prevent the evil from becoming powerful.
I never knew nor heard of the actress Sydney Sweeney because I turned off regular TV and most Hollywood produced movies and series for almost 20 years already. Her advertisement for American Eagle jeans triggered many people and calling the ad as Nazi propaganda. It is a play on the words genes and jeans.
I had to see for myself what the "controversy" is about and didn't find any "white supremacy" message and decided the people triggered are just envious of this actress. If I were younger I'd buy that pair of jeans she's selling. 👖
Thankfully there are still sane people who don't agree with the triggered group.
Dunkin" Donuts also released a "triggering" ad with a young white blue-eyed actor. Let the fools cry on TikTok. I have ignored this actor's series on Amazon, The Summer I Turned Pretty, but now I'm adding it to my list. 😉
I have been wishing for beautiful people to come back on TV and movies and at last my wish has been partially fulfilled even if it is just advertisement. It's a step in the right direction because I am tired of watching fat ugly tattooed with questionable gender people on my TV screen. Beauty is back!
View at your own risk. May require eye bleach. LOL
A National Parks Service agent investigates a brutal death at Yosemite National Park.
Pros
> good not great cinematography because it was mostly filmed in Canada, not Yosemite
> there are only 6 less than an hour episodes
Cons
> lousy script and story
> really bad acting; the raspy voice of both Eric Bana and Sam Neill is hard on the ears
> all the characters are annoying specially the male and female leads
> clichés galore: alcoholic main character, troubled ex-wife, abusive ex partner of female lead (female lead character and her story is totally unnecessary; remove the character and the narrative will move along without her), uncooperative co workers, drugs (there's always drugs snuck in every Hollywood production)
> as predictable as the sun rising from the east, I guessed early on who is the despicable one.
> items introduced that don't help with the investigations and simply abandoned without explanation, example - the gold leaf tattoo on the dead girl.
- turned into almost slapstick comedy when the lead male ran out of bullets but was saved by the belle. 🙄
Blood Ties is the second of 2 thriller book series by Jo Nesbø, The first is The Kingdom which I rated 5 stars out of 5
From Goodreads
By all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they’re doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa and hotel, while Roy runs a nearby gas station and harbors grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park complete with a roller coaster. But when news breaks about a new highway to be built nearby, bypassing Os and leaving the town cut-off and isolated, it’s clear that something has to be done . . . even if the methods are bound to be dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work.
Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a slate of unsolved murders from years past—including that of his own father. And just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. It’s like Roy says about his roller “Once it’s rolling, it’s too late to get off.”
I enjoyed the book although I was not too keen on the on and off romance going on with Roy and his woman, or rather young girl, because he is much much older than she is.
The sequel is twistier than the first book and with more vile people who deserve their violent end. It is still a great read from Jo Nesbø who can write a really bloody novel with plenty of humor.
Highly recommended for fans of Nordic noir and Jo Nesbø.
Tags: Amazon streaming, period drama, soap opera, Ukraine
24 episodes
Katerina Verbitskaya was raised as a noble lady with her godmother Anna Chervinskaya but for the whole world she was only the property of Peter Chervinsky. She falls in love with the nobleman Alexey Kosach who knows nothing about her origin. On the way to freedom and love, the serf maid will have to overcome a lot of trials.
I was watching this period drama from Ukraine then Amazon started inserting ads which is not fine to me. I stopped watching and removed my whole watch list and didn't tune in to Amazon streaming for over a year. I noticed that the ads were removed from some of their shows so I resumed watching this series.
The series is poorly written.. All the young actors, men and women, sound like they are reading their lines. The actress playing the lead, Katya is not even that pretty for 2 men to fight over. The other girl who plays her friend, Natalia is so awkward. She acts like she's in a High School play, very amateurish. I was only able to tolerate 3 episodes. I proceeded to read the synopses from episode 4 all the way to episode 23 then I watched the last episode 24. I like period dramas from Russia and Ukraine but this one is terrible and boring. The love polygon (chain) is done to death and with very little entertainment IMHO.
When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey aren’t selling out stadiums, they’re using their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from ever-present supernatural danger. Together, they must face their biggest threat — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.
From Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), comes a fiercely fun and action-packed KPop odyssey featuring brand-new, original songs. Also featuring a new, original song performed by Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Chaeyoung of TWICE.
What??? Animated movie with KPop bands. The songs are kinda catchy. Not bad for KPop fans.
The series is ridiculous but funny. A pair of affluent girl and boy solve murders with help from the girl's butler. *The butler actually solves the mysteries*. Both detectives are over the top just like a typical anime.
In Japanese and a few other languages. Also dubbed in English and other languages.
The Tommy and Tuppence Classic Collection by Agatha Christie brings together some of her best work featuring the beloved sleuthing couple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. This collection includes the novel The Secret Adversary, where the dynamic duo first launches into the world of espionage and private detection. Here, they stumble upon a case involving political intrigue and a missing young woman named Jane Finn, setting the stage for their future exploits. Christie crafts a thrilling introduction to the world of Tommy and Tuppence, showcasing their blend of wit, courage, and teamwork.
Following The Secret Adversary, the collection offers Partners in Crime, a series of engaging short stories where Tommy and Tuppence take over the "Blunt's International Detective Agency." As part of their detective roleplay, they adopt the personas of famous fictional detectives while solving various cases. This adds a humorous element to the narrative, as the duo navigates each mystery with charm and humor. Key stories include The Case of the Missing Lady, Blindman's Buff, The Man in the Mist, The Crackler, and The Sunningdale Mystery. Each tale challenges them with new situations-from missing persons to mysterious deaths, and even elaborate swindles.
Christie's unique blend of suspense, humor, and the subtle interplay between Tommy and Tuppence's personalities keeps readers enthralled. Illustrated scenes add an extra layer of engagement, bringing to life the amusing, suspenseful, and sometimes romantic moments in the duo's detective career. Through Christie's storytelling, readers are immersed in the contrasting energies of Tommy's logical mind and Tuppence's quick wit and spontaneity.
For fans of light-hearted mysteries with a mix of adventure, romance, and classic Christie twists, this collection serves as a compelling journey into the detective escapades of Tommy and Tuppence. The Tommy and Tuppence Classic Collection captures Christie's mastery in creating engaging mysteries while portraying the charm of one of her most memorable sleuthing pairs.
Novel
The Secret Adversary
Short stories
A Fairy in the Flat A Pot of Tea The Affair of the Pink Pearl The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger Finessing the King The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper The Case of the Missing Lady Blindman’s Buff The Man in the Mist The Crackler The Sunningdale Mystery The House of Lurking Death The Unbreakable Alibi The Clergyman's Daughter The Red House The Ambassador's Boots The Man Who Was No. 16
The novel is very short at less than 300 pages and the short stories are really short. I like the novel and stories and also the 2015 TV series. There's an older TV show in black and white but I have yet to find where to watch them.
In his most exhilarating novel yet, Britain’s greatest storyteller transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, as an accidental spy is drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession.
Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War.
When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.
As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story.
The short novel got me interested again in espionage fiction. 32 year old Gabriel Dax, the accidental spy, is sometimes annoyingly naive, has loose lips, and randy. I forgive him because he suffered a trauma when he was 6 years old and he can't recall exactly what happened that day.
His older brother occasionally uses him as a courier and he unknowingly delivers spy stuff wherever he was asked to go. He never suspects his brother maybe because he is a bit dim. He becomes a "spy" and a useful idiot when the enigmatic Faith Green asked him to fetch a piece of artwork from a famous Spanish artist in Cadiz, Spain. He couldn't say no to the woman as though he is hypnotized. It's just him being randy. Once in a while he has flashes of brilliance when necessary.
The book has lots of humor, not the satirical John le Carré kind, just some light funny stuff. It has equal amount of suspense but not much mind-numbing action which is why I like it. William Boyd is a great storyteller.
An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house...What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull's Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It's all part of a carefully laid plan - for murder...
Agatha Christie's Superintendent Battle solves a complicated murder where almost all the characters are suspects. 3 out of my 4 guesses were incorrect. I was tricked!
Superintendent Battle is on the first part of the novel to handle his daughter's case at school and does not appear again until about 62% into the book but his presence is always striking even when he remembered Poirot and his daughter in his examination of the murder scene and evidence. Great mystery from Agatha Christie where the current and ex wives of a famous tennis player spend a tense week in the same house. Unexpected romance happened at the end of the short book. Very entertaining.
Tags: murder mystery, Netflix, Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club
Coming to Netflix on August 28, 2025
Four irrepressible retirees spend their time solving cold case murders for fun, but their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. Based on Richard Osman’s bestselling novel, The Thursday Murder Club.
Her post on X has a letter to all children across the United States
Dear Future Summer Readers,
Adventure, imagination, and discovery await - right between the pages of a book! We are excited to invite all children (K-8) to participate in the Second Lady's 2025 Summer Reading Challenge! Joining is easy: Just read 12 books of your choice between June l and September 5 and track your progress on the attached Reading Log. Each book you read brings you a step closer to completing the challenge.
Once you've read 12 books, ask your parents/guardians to let us know, and we'll send you a personalized certificate and a small prize! With your completed form submission, we'll enter your name into a drawing for the chance to visit the Nation's Capital with a chaperone. Terms and conditions apply. More information can be found at wh.gov/read.
We hope you will join us in participating this summer. Let the reading adventures begin!
tags: Danish, drama, murder mystery, Netflix series
⭐⭐
Cecilie grows suspicious when her neighbor's young Filipino au pair, Ruby, disappears from an affluent Copenhagen neighborhood. Driven to uncover the truth, Cecilie launches her own investigation, only to find more than she bargained for.
This drama murder mystery story is not unique and has been done many many times before. The acting and direction is mediocre if not almost terrible. The main character, the rich Cecilie runs ALL THE TIME. Once or twice is fine but the scenes where she is running is just a filler for telling a short tragic story. I guessed who the culprit/s is/are when they first appeared in the very first episode. It is that obvious. Of course, there is no justice for the dead Filipino woman. So what is the point of the show? SMH😾
tags: grandmas, Italian, Netflix movie, family restaurant, Vince Vaughn
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
From IMDB
After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as the chefs.
The nonnas are played by Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire, and Susan Sarandon. all 70+ years old. Cast is mostly Italian actors or are part Italian.
Highly recommended. I love it and will watch it again. The movie made me want to cook a batch of Sunday Gravy which I cooked just once, 15 years ago. .
A young man comes of age and crosses continents in search of an identity—and a cause—at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War in a thrilling, timely, and emotional historical saga.
New York City, 1929. Young Theo Sterling’s world begins to unravel as the Great Depression exerts its icy grip. He finds it hard to relate to his father. His father, a Jewish self-made businessman, refuses to give up on the American dream, and his mother, a refugee from religious persecution in Mexico, holds fast to her Catholic faith. When disaster strikes the family, Theo must learn who he is. A charismatic school friend and a firebrand girl inspire him to believe he can fight Fascism and change the world, but each rebellion comes at a higher price, forcing Theo to question these ideologies too.
From New York’s Lower East Side to an English boarding school to an Andalusian village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Theo’s harrowing journey from boy to man is set against a backdrop of societies torn apart from within, teetering on the edge of a terrible war to which Theo is compulsively drawn like a moth to a flame.
This novel is one of the choices on Amazon First Reads for June 2025. I downloaded it as soon as I saw the author: Simon Tolkien. I have read just one book by this author which I enjoyed.
All the members of Theo's family, mother, father, and specially Theo are repulsive. The father is Jewish and the mother is a Catholic from Mexico. Theo as a child is very disrespectful to his parents. He is full of hate for his parents and it is not explained why. He just is. His parents are not likable but they do not deserve Theo's contempt for them. It doesn't make sense because the story is set first in 1929 and I don't believe children were like Theo at the time. The author wrote unfavorably the Catholic religion and its practices, capitalism, Republican (Herbert Hoover), and even Jews and seemed to sympathize with communism. Theo is a magnet to communist characters even as a 13 year old boy (huh?!!), first in New York, then England, then in Spain. What? Why is every communist leaning person whether adult, child, or teenager drawn to him? It's not credible. It is too contrived.
This is Book 1 of 2 books and I won't be reading the second. Not recommended.
Lady Lucinda Esmond’s swine of a father was forever fleecing young bucks in London’s gaming halls—until he met Cpt. Mark Chamfrey, who, having been once cheated, would not be made a fool of again and promptly kidnapped ten-year-old Lucinda for ransom . . .
But when Chamfrey thought better of it and returned the girl, Esmond nonetheless exacted his own price: Chamfrey could redeem himself and save his skin by agreeing to marry his little victim nine years hence, just time enough for Chamfrey to inherit a title and fortune. Lucinda’s father could not have foreseen what a beauty Lucinda would become as those years passed—nor that Chamfrey, a newly made marquess, would actually come to welcome his so-called punishment . . .
Originally published under the name Marion Chesney, this twist-filled tale of Regency romance is by the New York Times–bestselling author of the Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series.
I thought this M. C. Beaton novelette would be strictly romantic comedy set during the Regency era but somehow quickly turned into a series of murders.
