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
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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.