The Hollow may not be one of Christie’s most ingenious and inventive mysteries, but it stands out as one of her more unusual crime novels, where the crime itself is a distant second to the character study.
This biopic about the life and career of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer who was tragically killed at the age of 23, feels too reverential for its own good. But it has a lot of heart and energy, and a wonderful star-making performance by Jennifer Lopez.
This uplifting movie about an aspiring country singer has all the requisite tropes – scrappy origins, raw talent, inner demons and hard-won redemption – but manages to soar thanks to some different story beats and an electrifying performance from Jessie Buckley.
This is usually the time of the year when I trawl through the Best Albums lists for the previous year; as it turns out some of my big favourites made pretty damn great records.
I’m not sure why I seem to be onboard the horror movie train right now, but I’m enjoying the ride! This 1982 sci-fi horror classic from director John Carpenter takes the old “scariest thing is what you don’t see” wisdom and rubs its face in blood and guts.
As a massive Agatha Christie fan I was always going to watch this acclaimed BBC adaptation of her best and bleakest novel, and now I finally got around to it. I was pleased to see that while it threw in some extra gore, sex, social issues and swearing for the modern audiences, it remained satisfyingly loyal to the spirit of the book.
Miss Marple goes on a holiday in the sunny Caribbean and finds herself mildly discontented that nothing ever happens in the tropical paradise… until she suspects a murder.
After Don’t Look Now, I was clearly in the mood for more 1970s horror movies with twist endings starring Donald Sutherland. Though this one is more of a straightforward sci-fi, with a lot more alien goo and Leonard Nimoy.
A haunting adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novella, Don’t Look Now only turns into true chilling horror during its shocking conclusion, but that’s not to diminish the film’s ability to get under your skin (and make Venice, of all places, feel truly creepy).
