Mystery List, Expanded and Revised and Now Updated

11 responses to “Mystery List, Expanded and Revised and Now Updated”

1. OK, my nominations (for the remaining slots):

   September: Classic Mysteries (6)
   Witness for the Prosecution
   The Fugitive
   Either DOA or Murder on the Orient Express (I think Witness for the Prosecution is better as far as Christie stories, but Orient Express is famous for a reason. DOA is worth examining for the premise alone, and it’s a great example of solving a mystery with a time limit).

   October/November: Noir Mysteries (7)
   The Big Sleep (Bogart/Bacall) – have to have Chandler when doing noir. I love Out of the Past, and it’s archetypal noir, but looking at your goal here, I don’t think it fits (more about doomed love and betrayal than solving a mystery). I haven’t seen Body Heat, but from what I understand, it’s more about the plotting and committing of a crime than solving it. If not The Big Sleep: I think Vertigo would work for what you want. Haven’t seen Chinatown or Devil in a Blue Dress, but they also look like they would work.

   December/January: Romantic Mysteries (7)
   Dead Again
   Moonlighting (with some reservation, I’ve seen great episodes and bad ones)
   To Catch a Thief
   Compromising Positions (haven’t seen it but it looks interesting)
   Foul Play (love it, but pretty sure the romance isn’t actually that strong)

   February: Comedy Mysteries (4)
   Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
   Fletch (fairly sure Chevy Chase will again suck a lot of the enjoyment out of it, at least for me, but I remember it well enough to say the plot is a strong mystery, so I think it’s worth it to risk his obnoxiousness)

   March: Supernatural Mysteries (4)
   Sleepy Hollow
   Supernatural
   The Uninvited (1944) if possible

   April: Non-Traditional Mysteries (5)
   And Then There Were None (only familiar w/ 1945 version)
   Haven’t seen any of the others, but I’d like to see Lone Star and The Usual Suspects

2. I remember The Prestige was a pretty interesting movie. SOOOO happy to see Hot Fuzz in bold! Also, please please do Memento, because it’s such a clever, terrifying movie and I would love to hear your breakdown of it.

3. Ok here is what I vote for:

   Classic mysteries: I would go for D.O.A. as Katie said the premise is really good. I would like to see the orginal (as I have never seen it) rather than the Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan one. I would also vote for Gosford Park great film and goes with the goal of finding out how mystery works (at least for me).

   Noir: Chinatown. The noir is sewn in that film and when I first saw it I had no idea about the connections in it.

   Comedy: The Big Lebowski I love the way it is off centre.

   And the non traditional: The Usual Suspects, the structure is well plotted and great twists and turns. I would also vote for Wild Things (has a lot that is a bit annoying, but overall the thing that I most learned from watching it is surprising the viewer and would suit your goal).

   I have never seen Rushamon so would love to see it for this.

4. The list has been updated with streaming and rental availability. That took out some really good stories, so bleah, but we have to make sure that everybody can get the movie.

5. In classics I would go for The Client. Then I’m overwhelmed by the choices.

   One question that comes to mind – for the TV ones will you do a specific episode, or a season arc?

   One suggestion – create a poll for the categories and we can vote.

   I’m so looking forward to this series.

6. Okay – This is going to be a great series – I love mystery’s!

   Classic Mystery:
   Rear Window – even though I know what’s going to happen I still get tied up in knots – I want to know how they got that kind of tension.

   And I’m going to say Gosford Park for my next pick, with Presumed Innocent for a very, very close third.

   Romantic Mystery
   To Catch a Thief

   Comic
   Fletch
   (I’m so excited to see Hot Fuzz and Clue in bold – woo hoo!)
   High Anxiety – I’ve never seen this but it sounds good

   Non-traditional
   And Then There Were None – I’ve seen the ’45 and ’65 versions and have read the book – this story scares the crap out of me – I’m kind of a baby that way
   Columbo – I’ve seen a lot of these and they can be slow but I still like them
   Fargo – I remember thinking it was good but it was a long time ago

7. I meant mysteries – duh

8. Vote after the cuts:

   Classic: Still Witness for the Prosecution and DOA (1950)

   Romantic: Only 3 choices left, and I’m good with all of them, especially Dead Again.

   Comedy: Fletch, Psych and A Shot in the Dark (don’t think I’ve seen this all the way through, and Clouseau irritates me no end but but Peter Sellers is great, and those movies are obviously successful examples of comic mysteries)

   Supernatural: Ghost (although really I’d go for anything that isn’t What Lies Beneath; I remember hating that movie)

   Non-Traditional: Still And Then There Were None and The Usual Suspects.

9. DON’T NOMINATE ANY MORE MOVIES. Because the list is too long already. Unless they’re Supernatural Mysteries because we just sprang that one on you.

   So, what about “The Others”? It’s supernatural and a mystery… just sayin’. ;P

10. Since Sherlock is in ALL CAPS I think I can just stop and hit ‘submit’ LOL

    but I’ll help with the voting anyway:

    Classics:
    Gosford Park
    Twelve Angry Men

    Non-Traditional:
    And Then There Were None
    Rashomen
    The Usual Suspects
    Fargo

    The others I don’t know enough about to vote intelligently. I think these would give a good solid look at mysteries and offer a good look at structure. It is sad to leave beloved movies behind. Even sadder to leave eye candy behind:)

11. For a supernatural mystery plot, you might consider Stir of Echoes, an underrated film starring Kevin Bacon as a man who starts seeing a girl’s ghost, The Dead Zone (the movie and/or the series) based on a Stephen King book (the series had more mystery than the film, which was more suspense), Kolchak the Night Stalker (oldie, but goodie) and The Gift, where Cate Blanchett stars as a psychic who’s asked to help find a girl who has disappeared.