Tag: old films

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Best of List Books Watchlist

Mid-Year Check In: Best of 2024 So Far

I am ready to write bad angsty poetry on my never-ending reading/ blogging slump! Still, somehow, pushing myself to do this mid-year 2024 blogpost on stuff I have liked till now.

Let’s all pledge to move out of Slump Valley! And just in case these recs reach you, hope you’ll like some of these.

1 / The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

    I have not been a great fan or follower of the Grishaverse, so was hesitant in picking this up. But what a marvelous story this turned out to be. We peer into the ages of 16th century when anti-semitism was rife. Luzia is desperately trying to escape her confined pitiful life with her displays of magical craft… but soon ends up getting embroiled in a larger political net. Everything in this book was so impressive – the Spanish Golden Age/ Renaissance feel, the worldbuilding, the writing, the prose, the characterizations. Aaaaand, it is a standalone. If you’ve liked Mistress of the Art of Death, you’ll love this one too.

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    Recommendations Watchlist

    Movie Review: The Inugami Family

    The Inugami Family (Japanese Movie)
    Year of Release: 1976
    Director: Kon Ichikawa
    Based on the Book: The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
    Recommended for fans of: Gothic, Foreign Period Dramas, Eerie Mysteries, A touch of Horror, Brilliant Plot, Golden Age of Detective Fiction

    Some time back, Words & Peace had recommended The Inugami Curse and I’d wanted to read the book ever since. I decided to take the shortcut when I accidentally discovered there was a subtitled movie adaptation too.

    It’s a superb plot. The patriarch of the Inugami family clan dies, leaving behind several competing successors and a really crazy will. I don’t think it’s giving away spoilers to say that the will goes along the lines of “If A dies, B gets the property. If B dies, C gets the property….” It’s like the dreadful old man was setting them all up to murder, starting with A! Along the way there are some red herrings – the challenge is to identify which ones are red herrings and which ones are not.

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    Art & Illustration Recommendations Watchlist

    Alice: Bizarre & Compelling Czech Film

    Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland gets a makeover in this old Czech film from 1988. And what a makeover it is!

    The movie starts off on an eerie note, when little Alice, troubled and lonely, begins to tell you about her dream. It’s told like a child’s story, even a nursery rhyme, but the movie is clearly intended for older audience.

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    Clue (1985 Movie): Witty Snarky Parody

    Are you looking for a screwball murder mystery comedy? The 1985 movie Clue is just the right answer.

    Clue

    Based on a board game of the same name, Clue tells the story of six guests who are invited to the castle of an unknown host. Well, it doesn’t go the way of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, but there are six murders before the dinner is through.

    The first half is all about getting to know the weird guests and their weird behavioral quirks. Carry on and you’ll be rewarded in the second half. Because when the laughs come, they will be dragged out of you suddenly, and repeatedly. The last whacky hour just whizzes by, as our crazy guests get curiouser and curiouser.

    The movie also doesn’t lose track of the whodunnit … And the award goes to the butler for revealing what “really” happened. In that final climax scene of the movie, our butler (Tim Curry) presents three scenarios, and I DARE YOU not to roar with laughter.

    I have seen comparisons of Clue with Murder by Death (starring Maggie Smith). But Clue, IMHO, is vastly more humorous and well-orchestrated.

    Rating: 8/10. Highly recommended.

    More “Funnies” here.
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    Hitchcock Movies: Shadow, Suspicion, Stranger, Lady & Sabotage

    I binge-watched several Hitchcock movies this week: Shadow of a Doubt, Suspicion, Strangers on a Train, The Lady Vanishes and Sabotage. Time well spent, and here’s a quick sum-up!

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