Killer Heat

tags: murder mystery

⭐⭐

From IMDB

Follows twin brothers who find themselves in a dangerous love triangle on an isolated Greek island. The investigation is given to "The Jealousy Man," a wounded detective.

I knew this movie would be mediocre but it is based on a Jo Nesbø short story The Jealousy Man, and I just have to watch it. 

It is set in an island in Greece which is beautiful BTW. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden. I've never seen anything with Shailene Woodley. She's alright but not a very good actress IMHO. 

I didn't like the narration by the hired PI, played by Levitt. I find it overused, pretentious, and tried too hard to sound noir. Gordon-Levitt is no Bogart, sorry. I also knew right away who the murderer is and why. It is so obvious. If viewers are surprised by the "twist", then they don't know murder mystery at all. Newbies to the genre, maybe. 

I also didn't like that some innocent people were killed but the 2 main characters did not even talk about it as though they are pieces of trash. The director and writer should have shown that the 2 main characters grieved for them because it was their mistake. Amateurs.

Not recommended.

The Perfect Couple

 

tags: murder mystery, Netflix series, parody-ish

⭐⭐⭐

Amelia Sacks is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket. Her disapproving future mother-in-law, famous novelist Greer Garrison Winbury, has spared no expense in planning what promises to be the premiere wedding of the season — until a body turns up on the beach.

As secrets come to light, the stage is set for a real-life investigation that feels plucked from the pages of one of Greer’s novels. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect.

Starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber.

Nicole Kidman never appealed to me but the description seemed interesting. I binge-watched it and enjoyed it a little. It is better than Knives Out IMHO because I viewed it as a parody of Hollywood produced Agatha Christie style whodunnit. I like the comedic parts with the characters of Isabelle Adjani, the butler, and the housemaid.

The series is a red herring galore: all the members of the family, the female French friend, and male Indian friend were all paraded as suspects, most of them snitching on each other, except the real murderer. 

The series is a dark comedy IMHO although almost everyone got on my nerves specially Amelia, the hypocrite holier than thou fiancée of the couple's second son.

Way Of The Cross

tags: Amazon streaming, Filipino movie, murder mystery

goose egg 0

A faithless Filipino-American FBI agent comes to the Philippines to bury his estranged father but gets tangled in a case where a serial killer murders people according to the Stations of the Cross.

The movie is terrible. The acting, the script, the story are not convincing. The NBI and the American FBI agents all look stupid and almost like waiting for their cue from the director.

Everybody speaks English. Huh! Where in the Philippines does everyone speak pure English including very small children? Taglish maybe but not English. Everyone got on my nerves calling the parish priest "padre". I was scratching my head because nowhere is padre used in the Philippines, regardless of their preferred language - Tagalog, English, Chavacano, Spanish, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Hokkien, Bicolano, Waray, etc. One guy slipped and called the priest Father. heheh. Force of habit, I guess, that he forgot to follow the stupid script. 

The actress playing the vengeful character is over the top and the reason for her revenge is unbelievably stupid. Avoid this terrible movie made specifically for anti-Catholic Church haters.

Mystery Of The Blue Train

tags: Hercule Poirot, murder mystery, romance 🙄

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

From Goodreads

Robbery and brutal murder aboard a luxury transport ensnares the ever-attentive Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, from Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie. When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again—for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing. The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, Derek. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie reenactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board.

This is the only book of Christie's where I guessed right away the murderer but it didn't affect my enjoyment reading and it still deserves a 4 stars out of 5 IMHO.

The only thing I noticed and didn't like is her excessive use of adverbs in the early chapters but they disappeared as the book progressed. There is a bit of romance at the end which is not necessary. Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels so it's okay if romance suddenly sneaks in her mystery novels.

Recommended for die hard Agatha Christie readers.