Veronica Mars of Neptune - the mash-up of teen angst and Film Noir was pitch perfect when Kristen Bell (whom I adore) took the lead.
Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. Mysteries don’t get much cozier than the ones of Cabot Cove. Angela Lansbury gave her warmth and smarts.
Brenda Johnson in The Closer. The brilliant but troubled deputy chief who always gets the confession. Eight seasons in, she’s less eccentric but not by much.
Daphne and Velma of Scooby-Doo – the fashionable Daphne and the clever Velma solve wacky mysteries with Fred, Shaggy and Scooby. People have their favorite but the two women make a good pair.
Beckett in Castle – Her character has certainly grown from the gruff detective to the warmer but still level-headed partner. Stana Katic makes her a delight to watch.
Honorable Mentions –
Tuppence of Tommy & Tuppence. A kind U.K. version of Nick and Nora Charles.
Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones. I don’t watch this show much but the show’s fans love her.
L. Anita Van Buren of Law & Order. I’m very fond of this actress and she always lends her charm to any role she takes.
This list of detectives could be argued with. In fact, I encourage it because I’d like to be introduced to more like these fine sleuths.
Movies–
Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs. Smart, tough, and determined to find out the truth even if she attracts the attention of the psychotic Hannibal Lector.
Marge Gunderson from Fargo. You can’t much more girl power than the notably pregnant and clear-minded Marge.
Nora Charles of the Thin Man series. I adore Myrna Loy to pieces. As Mrs. Charles, she’s half of the best eccentric and happily married detective couple ever.
Books–
Nancy Drew – she of the titian hair in the endlessly and rightly revised book series. I remember loving the illustrations on the covers of Mystery of the Lilac Inn and Ringmaster’s Secret especially. I think she’s actually at her best in the computer game series made by Her Interactive. Cheerful, fearless, and relentless, Nancy is a force to be reckoned with.
Jane Marple of the quintessential cozy mysteries by Agatha Christie. Miss Marple is a magical crone who unerringly knows who is guilty and how to prevent more harm being done. My favorite Marple actress was Joan Hickerson.
Precious Ramotswe of the Ladies’ Detective Agency. Love the books by Alexander McCall Smith and loved the TV version with Jill Scott as the lead and the delightful supporting performance by Anika Noni Rose (also in Princess and the Frog and Dreamgirls).
Mrs. Emily Pollyfax is about the senior spy written by Dorothy Gilman. The author became cynical as the series went along but the early books are charming. (thanks Rose Kat for the correction)
Neil Hamel of New Mexico by Judith Van Gieso. A hard boiled detective wandering the mean streets of New Mexico. I lived near Albuquerque when I discovered this series and liked Neil and her much younger boyfriend quite a bit.
Honorable Mentions –
Thursday Next of the Eyre Affair. I liked Jasper Fforde’s literary-centric world but it was too rarefied for me. I am open to another attempt if anyone would make a case for it.
Stephanie Plum of the numbered mysteries (One for the Money, etc) written by Janet Evanovich. Irreverent bounty hunter solves mysteries.
Kinsey Millhone of the Alphabetic Murders by Sue Grafton. I never read past the first book of her lengthy series. However, I know people who love it.
Elizabeth McPherson. I love Sharyn McCrumb a lot but I think I prefer her non genre books better.
1. Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
2. Krazy Kat, George Herriman
3. Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
4. Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
5. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
6. Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
7. The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
8. Pogo, Walt Kelly
9. MAD #1-28, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
10.The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
My Halloween playlist is meant for atmosphere, not dancing.
I call it Children of the Night. See? You had to finish the quotation didn’t you?
I didn’t put in Thriller or Monster Mash, although I like those songs. I did put in Steven Wonder’s Superstitious ’cause it’s too good not to. Here’s hoping you’ll find at least one new song to add to your own playlist.
Welcome to My Nightmare – Alice Cooper.
Cooper offers a charming invitation and kind of a nice way to ease into the seasonal mood. Earworm: “A nocturnal vacation/unnecessary sedation”
All You Zombies – The Hooters
Not about Halloween but it’s a catchy anti-zombie anthem. Earworm: “holy Moses on the mountain/high above the golden calf”
Wolf Moon – Type O Negative
Creepy song with spooky lyrics. Earworm: “unholy water/sanguine addiction”
Bloodletting – Concrete Blonde
It just sounds so jaded. Earworm: ” you were a vampire/and baby I’m walking dead”
Whispers in the Dark – Skillet
Not about Halloween but I like it and the lyrics sound a little creepy if you are perverse about it. Mostly I like the NOOOOO! part. Earworm: “my love is a burning/consuming fire”
Blood, Milk and Sky – White Zombies
Excellent disturbing song. Earworm: [I can't figure out what they're saying.]
This is Halloween – Marilyn Manson
Even you’re a purist, you’ve got to like this version a bit. It’s so jolly. Earworm: [whole thing]
Vampire with a Healthy Appetite – Steve Hackett
I’m puzzled by this song. Does serial killing make him sleepy? Anyway, the gravely refrain is fine holiday fun. Earworm: “You stay awake half the night”
Shivers Down My Spine – King Khan and the Shrines
Goofy - Earworm: “She bites me square on the back waaaaooh!/I said hey baby what the hell”
I Put a Spell on You – Jay Hawkins
I got the 2 minute version where he does this growling, snorting thing at the end. It cracks me up. Earworm: “And I don’t care/If you don’t want me/I’m yours/right now”
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
A classic. Earworm: “Very superstitious/wash your face and hands”
Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard – Tom Waits
Gleefully obscure. Earworm: “and i busted up a chifforobe/way out by the cocomo”
Bad Moon Rising – Credence Clearwater Revival
Real life horror never sounded so great. Earworm: “Hope you got your things together/hope you are prepared to die”
Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo
Featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Chuck. Good stuff. Earworm: “Walkin’ with a dead man/Waitin’ for an invitation to arrive”
Witchy Woman – The Eagles
Pretty song and quite misogynistic. Earworm: “let me tell you brother/she’s been sleeping in the Devil’s bed”
Rain on the Scarecrow – John Mellencamp
Not Halloweeny but I imagine a rustic horror story with the scarecrow’s rain-tears and the bloody plow. Earworm: “well there’s 97 crosses planted in the courthouse yard/97 families who lost 97 farms”
O Death – Ralph Stanley
This is really too eerie for a party but at this point, you should be having too much fun to notice. Earworm: “Time and mercy is out of your reach”
I once saw a t-shirt that read: Theatre is life. Cinema is art. Television is furniture. I can’t speak for theater, since I rarely indulge. But for the last 5 years at least, cinema has been forgotten takeout and television has been freshly baked bread.
More and more, I find that I give mainstream feature films 15 minutes (and that’s far too kind) before I turn them off.
I have returned to older films from 1930 to 1970 for enjoyable movies. Most of them are competent and some are downright delightful.
I am also turning to non-English language films. At least, if they disappoint me, it’ll be in a different way.
But my big treat has been fiction TV shows. Some of my favorites: My Name is Earl (at least the first and third seasons); Veronica Mars (season one); House M.D. (season one); The Closer (all pretty good); Castle (season two way better than season one); Chuck (mostly because of Zachary Levi/Adam Baldwin/Sarah Lancaster); and PUSHING DAISIES (this was good.)
I have never been much of a short film watcher but the intranets have been curing me. Oneshort at a time. If you know of any others, please, please let me know.
So, here I am 8 years later. Reading back through the list is like reading a diary. It brings back a lot of memories. I wanted to have something philosophical to say about how watching films changes a person or something but I don’t have that kind of wisdom. I do know that my life has been richer for them.
The difficult days continued. However, I got a part-time job. There also was an upsetting family crisis, which is mostly resolved now.
I began the science fiction project, and thoroughly enjoyed the early movies. But my watching companions had so much going on that they couldn’t continue it with me (see crisis), and I lost interest after the 1970s scifi movies. I did manage to get through my list after hacking out most of it.
I tried later to do a Jane Austen project but I could barely begin. I think the chronological viewing projects are over for me.
OK, here’s a guilty pleasure. My sister K used to watch Charmed, and one time I commented, “Why are you watching that junk?” She stopped watching it shortly afterwards. Me, full of loving kindness.
The joke was on me because a couple of years later, I started watching it. And she wouldn’t watch it with me. I watched 4 seasons.
I got discouraged with it because my favorite characters were Cole (Julian McMahon) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and they were paired with my least favorite characters, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Leo (Brian Krause) respectively. I would have watched it to the end if Combs had been paired with McMahon instead.
Charmed has a lot to be embarrassed about and many other sites will point these flaws out to you. But I liked it. I think I liked so much because the fantasy of living in a beautiful house with my sisters appealed to me on a level I couldn’t resist. Plus, they were magic sisters.
Watched a lot of good movies and series during this time. When I start losing my memory, I’m gonna watch them all over again for the first time.
I went back to school during these years and I was employed part time. I was lucky to get in 2 movies a month.
Then I finished school and was unemployed for far too long. Because I didn’t have much money, I couldn’t afford the internet but I didn’t give up Netflix because I had to have something nice coming in the mail.
It was during this time that I noticed that anime series starting disappearing, and this was followed by live action movies. They almost always stay grayed out.
Then Netflix threatened to remove multiple queues. I was very upset by this and protested several different ways. It really is the third most useful feature, aside from #1 no late fees; and #2 mail them back. The company thought better of it.
I was dismayed by the ending of the second season of Veronica Mars – it seemed contrived. I liked the whole of the season though. But still, I couldn’t watch the third season until just recently. First season was excellent though.
Began my mystery movie project which was thoroughly satisfying. Mysteries are usually solid and I hadn’t seen a lot of the classics.
The biographical movie project, on the other hand, was very weak. Not many good biopics – at least that I found during the project.
Love*Com (2006) Subgenre: Teen romance Who’s In It? Teppei Koike as Atsushi Otani and Ema Fujisawa as Risa Koizumi What’s It About? A very tall girl Risa and a very short boy Otani can’t possibly become friends or start dating or fall in love. What’s It Based On? A shoujo manga by Aya Nakahara which is worth finding too. How Romantic Is It? The romance bet […]
Earworm: “She bites me square on the back waaaaooh!/I said hey baby what the hell”
