Tag Archives: Mystery

A Haunting in Venice (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Poirot attends a séance

Kenneth Branagh’s new film “A Haunting in Venice” is another mystery tale associated with Hercules Poirot, a Belgian detective character in many of the works of Agatha Christie. His two previous Poirot films, “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and … Continue reading

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Missing (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Gone Father

It is rather difficult to describe the plot of “Missing”, a dark and disturbing Japanese mystery thriller film which pulls some surprises for us as unexpectedly shifting from one narrative point to another. I will be discreet here as much … Continue reading

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Eyes Wide Shut (1999) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A comedy of foreplay

Stanley Kubrick’s last film “Eyes Wide Shut” is one naughty comedy of foreplay. Along the story, its plain ordinary hero is tempted by a series of tantalizing possibilities of sexual pleasure and transgression popping up here and there around him, … Continue reading

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Confess, Fletch (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Fletch returns…

Gregory Mcdonald’s “Fletch” was one of numerous pulpy stuffs I gladly devoured during my wild and crazy childhood years in the 1990s. It is too bad that any of McDonald’s following sequel novels was not translated in South Korea, but … Continue reading

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Scream VI (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Ghostface is back… in Manhattan

I am rather amused by how the Scream franchise has hopped from one subject after another during last 26 years. At first, “Scream” (1996) simply made a fun of many of its genre clichés and conventions, and then the franchise … Continue reading

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Trans (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little but ambitious high school SF mystery drama

There were several times when I wondered whether I really understood everything in South Korean independent film “Trans”, a deliberately baffling high school SF mystery drama about an intriguing possibility of technological transcendence beyond singularity. I must confess that I … Continue reading

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Marui Video (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): An investigation involved with one cursed video tape

South Korean film “Marui Video” is another found footage horror flick mixed with your average occult materials, but it turns out to be more effective than I expected. Although it takes some time for building up its narrative momentum, it … Continue reading

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Missing (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Another desperate online searching

“Missing”, a standalone sequel to “Searching” (2018), is a solid thriller flick mainly revolving around another desperate online searching. Although it is not exactly fresh as mostly sticking to the storytelling format of the previous film, the movie steadily engages … Continue reading

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See How They Run (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): See how they spoof Agatha Christie mystery

“See How They Run”, which is currently available on Disney+ in South Korea, is an amusing spoof on Agatha Christie mystery novels. Although it does not surpass its main source of inspiration, the movie is fairly entertaining mainly thanks to … Continue reading

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Phantom (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Catch the Spy

South Korean film “Phantom” surprised me more than expected. At first, the movie presents itself as a taut mystery mainly unfolded within a limited background, but then it suddenly shifts itself onto a very different genre mode later in the … Continue reading

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