The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Wallace & Gromit, Creature Comforts, Shaun the Sheep, & Chicken Run – Fun Family (Non-Mystery) Movies

I am so looking forward to seeing “Early Man” – a claymation movie which is being advertised all over. So, with that in mind, forgive me for going (again!) off the Cozy Mystery topic. I enjoy these movies so much that I have decided to tell you all about some of these movies that I definitely recommend for those of you who may enjoy the “inner child” type of movies.

OK, I admit it. I love the Wallace & Gromit movies. Yes, I know they’re made for children… but they’re also made for adults like me. They are all made with “claymation”. I believe this is achieved through modeling the clay figures & then filming, stopping to model figures again, stopping, etc. I don’t insist on knowing how they are made, I just know I like the results!

Nick Park is the man to thank for all of these delightful movies/television shows. Park is both the creator and animator of these projects:

Wallace & Gromit: If you don’t already know them, let me introduce you to them. Wallace is an “ideas man” and a gadgets-inventor as well as a cheese lover of major proportions. He invents wildly complicated contraptions to solve some very uncomplicated and easy tasks. Wallace’s companion is Gromit, his incredibly loyal, devoted, and very smart dog. If Gromit wasn’t around, it is unlikely that Wallace would be either! Gromit is continuously getting Wallace out of trouble.

Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures is a series of three half hour episodes. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 48 minute movie.

Chicken Run: Hmm… How can I describe this terrific, full-length movie? I guess, just saying “it’s fun” may not be enough… A quick synopsis: Mrs. Tweedy is the mean owner of a chicken farm. The egg-producing chickens decide Mrs. Tweedy is simply too mean – so they stage a prison (or rather a coop!) escape. (A warning for parents of little children – a claymation chicken is killed in the production of this film.)

 Creature Comforts: I love the British version of these shows. It’s a show that gives me a kick. (My husband, however, thinks the show was fun at the beginning, but that it got a little repetitive.) It’s all done in the style of a documentary, with animals giving their opinions. Apparently they interviewed people and then made the cutest claymation animal figures to go along with the sound-track. Even animals you wouldn’t think of as cute are transformed to delightfully colorful interviewees. (These are award-winning shows.) I should add however, that since we own the discs, I am able to watch a little at a time, and not feel like I have to watch all the mini-episodes at one time.

Nick Park also created Shaun, the Sheep, which is yet another very fun romp to watch! My husband and I are (slowly) making our way through this fun series.

For more movie and television show recommendations, visit the page on my site: TV and Movies.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel Mystery Movies – January & February 2018

Yes, yes, I know I have said I wouldn’t be doing these Hallmark M & M entries – because the channels website is so difficult (and secretive!) to navigate, but I spent some time on it today looking around and thought I would tell you about some upcoming mystery movies I noticed. (They actually have a new website format which I find even more difficult than their previous format!)

Getting back to the good Cozy Mystery news from the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel:

MORNING SHOW MYSTERY: MORTAL MISHAPS  Premiered
“Billie Blessings has gone from beloved chef, restaurant owner, and morning show segment host to #1 suspect in a murder case when one of the executives at the network dies from poisoning. When the head chef at Billie’s restaurant is arrested and held as a suspect, Billie takes matters into her own hands by digging deeper into a mystery that could incriminate people close to her while risking her own life in the process. Stars Holly Robinson Peete and Rick Fox.”
(Based on Hal Roker‘s Billy Blessing Mystery Series – which actually featured a male sleuth/chef, thus the change in the spelling of Billie/Billy…)

This series premiered on Sunday, January 21 >>> but I missed it. So, here are the next showings (in central time zone):

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 8:00 PM

Saturday, January 27, 2018 10:00 PM

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 8:00 PM

Friday, February 9, 2018 8:00 PM

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday, February 4, 2018 8:00 PM 

LAST SCENE ALIVE: AN AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERY  Premiere
“A Hollywood film crew descends on the town of Lawrenceton, GA to produce a film based on a book written by Aurora’s onetime boyfriend Robin Crusoe. However, when the lead actress, who is playing Aurora is killed, the real Aurora and the Murders Club must investigate a long list of suspects. Stars Candace Cameron Bure, Marilu Henner, Yannick Bisson.”
(Based on the Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris.)

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday, February 11, 2018 8:00 PM

DARROW & DARROW
“Claire Darrow, a lawyer, fights for what’s right, regardless of whether it makes her a dime. Naomi, Claire’s estranged mother and a lawyer as well, would rather make a profit. They clash on nearly everything, even on the best way to raise Claire’s daughter, Louise. Stars Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tom Cavanagh, Wendie Malick.”

The above descriptions were copied from the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries site.

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for February 2018

January’s coming to an end, so it’s time to discuss the upcoming TCM mystery movies for February! It’s a short month, of course… though unfortunately, it’s also going to be a bit thin on mystery movies.

February 2018 Turner Classic Movies Channel Mystery Movies (Central time zone):

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – February 1, 2018

11:00 AM
THE STRIP (1951)
A jazz drummer fights to clear his name when he’s accused of killing a racketeer.
Dir:  Leslie Kardos Cast:  Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, William Demarest.
BW- 86 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – February 3, 2018

6:30 AM
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
A man’s joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker.
BW- 101 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – February 5, 2018

2:15 AM
THE NAKED CITY (1948)
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Dir:  Jules Dassin Cast:  Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart.
BW- 96 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday  – February 6, 2018

2:45 PM
Z (1969)
A political assassination uncovers a hotbed of corruption.
Dir:  Costa-Gavras Cast:  Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin.
C- 127 mins

5:00 PM
BULLITT (1968)
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir:  Peter Yates Cast:  Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset.
C- 114 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – February 9, 2018

7:00 PM
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir:  Robert Aldrich Cast:  Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono.
BW- 134 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – February 11, 2018

6:00 AM
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir:  John Huston Cast:  Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen.
BW- 112 mins, CC

2:30 PM
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
A man’s investigation of a friend’s death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Dir:  Carol Reed Cast:  Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles.
BW- 104 mins, CC

4:30 PM
IN COLD BLOOD (1967)
Two vagrants try to outrun the police after committing a savage crime in this real-life shocker.
Dir:  Richard Brooks Cast:  Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe.
BW- 135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – February 16, 2018

12:30 PM
MYSTERY STREET (1950)
Criminal pathologists try to crack a case with nothing but the victim’s bones to go on.
Dir:  John Sturges Cast:  Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – February 19, 2018

4:00 AM
THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937)
The famed writer risks his reputation to defend a Jewish army officer accused of treason.
Dir:  William Dieterle Cast:  Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard.
BW- 116 mins, CC

8:00 AM
KEY LARGO (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir:  John Huston Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
BW- 100 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – February 20, 2018

11:15 PM
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)
Two Washington Post reporters investigate the Watergate break-in that ended Nixon’s presidency.
Dir:  Alan J. Pakula Cast:  Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards Jr..
C- 138 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – February 23, 2018

7:00 PM
SUSPICION (1941)
A wealthy wallflower suspects her penniless playboy husband of murder.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
BW- 99 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – February 24, 2018

1:15 AM
KLUTE (1971)
A small-town detective searches for a missing man linked to a high-priced prostitute.
Dir:  Alan J. Pakula Cast:  Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi.
C- 114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

1:15 PM
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero’s family.
Dir:  John Sturges Cast:  Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis.
C- 81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – February 25, 2018

7:00 AM
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir:  John Huston Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George.
BW- 100 mins, CC

11:00 AM
THE THIN MAN (1934)
A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
Dir:  W. S. Van Dyke Cast:  William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan.
BW- 91 mins, CC

12:45 PM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – February 27, 2018

6:30 AM
THE LETTER (1940)
A woman claims to have killed in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence.
Dir:  William Wyler Cast:  Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson.
BW- 95 mins, CC

2:00 PM
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)
A small-town lawyer gets the case of a lifetime when a military man avenges an attack on his wife.
Dir:  Otto Preminger Cast:  James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara.
BW- 161 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in January, be sure to leave a comment below!

In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the January 2018 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for January 2018 on Turner Classic Movies channel

And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:

Cozy Mystery List TV and  Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.

(All of the movie descriptions were taken off their respective websites.)

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for January 2018

Well, we’re headed toward a new year >>> and with it, a new year of mystery classics on TCM! So here’s January’s list of great looking mystery movies >>> plus some of my own personal favorites.

January 2018 Turner Classic Movies Channel Mystery Movies (Central time zone):

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 1, 2018

12:00 PM
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
An unscrupulous editor plots to keep his star reporter-and ex-wife-from re-marrying.
Dir:  Howard Hawks Cast:  Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy.
BW- 92 mins, CC
***Not a mystery, but the cast is as its best.

7:00 PM
CHARADE (1963)
A beautiful widow tries to find her husband’s lost fortune while eluding the killers who want it themselves.
Dir:  Stanley Donen Cast:  Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau.
C- 113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 2, 2018

3:30 AM
THE HAPPY THIEVES (1962)
A worldly art thief gets mixed up with murder.
Dir:  George Marshall Cast:  Rex Harrison, Rita Hayworth, Joseph Wiseman.
C- 89 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 5, 2018

8:45 AM
SECRETS OF THE FRENCH POLICE (1932)
Strange crimes committed by a hypnotized woman are solved by a French detective.
Dir:  Edward Sutherland Cast:  Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff, Frank Morgan.
BW- 58 mins

12:30 PM
NINE LIVES ARE NOT ENOUGH (1941)
A reporter tries to solve a series of boardinghouse murders.
Dir:  A. Edward Sutherland Cast:  Ronald Reagan, Joan Perry, James Gleason.
BW- 63 mins

5:45 PM
HAVING WONDERFUL CRIME (1945)
Three amateur detectives try to find a missing magician.
Dir:  Eddie Sutherland Cast:  Pat O’Brien, George Murphy, Carole Landis.
BW- 70 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 6, 2018

2:15 AM
THE WILD NORTH (1952)
A Mountie tracks an accused killer through the Canadian wilderness.
Dir:  Andrew Marton Cast:  Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse.
C- 97 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 7, 2018

7:00 PM
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir:  Nicholas Ray Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy.
BW- 93 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 8, 2018

8:30 AM
M (1951)
When the police hunt for a child killer cramps their style, the criminal underworld tries to track him down.
Dir:  Joseph Losey Cast:  David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Luther Adler.
BW- 88 mins

7:00 PM
IN COLD BLOOD (1967)
Two vagrants try to outrun the police after committing a savage crime in this real-life shocker.
Dir:  Richard Brooks Cast:  Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe.
BW- 135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:30 PM
10 RILLINGTON PLACE (1970)
A serial killer frames a mentally challenged man.
Dir:  Richard Fleischer Cast:  Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt.
C- 111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:30 PM
THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1969)
A lonely nurse and her gigolo lover murder a string of widows.
Dir:  Leonard Kastle Cast:  Shirley Stoler, Tony LoBianco, Mary Jane Higby.
BW- 108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 10, 2018

2:45 AM
THE FORMULA (1980)
A detective is in jeopardy after discovering a synthetic formula for gasoline.
Dir:  John G. Avildsen Cast:  George C Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller.
BW- 117 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 11, 2018

7:00 PM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 13, 2018

7:00 PM
BULLITT (1968)
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir:  Peter Yates Cast:  Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset.
C- 114 mins, CC

11:00 PM
MURDER, INC. (1960)
Dir:  Burt Balaban Cast:  Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan.
BW- 103 mins, CC,

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 14, 2018

9:00 AM
WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950)
A psychopath draws her doctor into her murderous schemes.
Dir:  John Farrow Cast:  Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains.
BW- 80 mins, CC

3:00 PM
KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (1949)
A crusading lawyer fights to save a juvenile delinquent charged with murder.
Dir:  Nicholas Ray Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, George Macready, Allene Roberts.
BW- 100 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 15, 2018

1:00 PM
SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960)
A 19th-century lawyer tries to clear a black man of rape and murder charges.
Dir:  John Ford Cast:  Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Billie Burke.
C- 111 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 16, 2018

9:30 PM
THE HEIRESS (1949)
A plain young woman’s money makes her prey to fortune hunters.
Dir:  William Wyler Cast:  Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson.
BW- 115 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 17, 2018

9:15 AM
DEATH ON THE DIAMOND (1934)
A rookie pitcher tries to stop someone from killing the St. Louis Cardinals.
Dir:  Edward Sedgwick Cast:  Robert Young, Madge Evans, Nat Pendleton.
BW- 71 mins, CC

9:15 PM
MIDNIGHT LACE (1960)
A young woman can’t get anyone to believe she’s being stalked.
Dir:  David Miller Cast:  Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin.
C- 108 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 19, 2018

3:00 PM
GAMBLING LADY (1934)
Two gamblers fall in love but one is already married to a possible murderer.
Dir:  Archie Mayo Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien.
BW- 66 mins, CC

5:45 PM
WOMAN WANTED (1935)
An innocent woman is chased by both gangsters and the police.
Dir:  George B. Seitz Cast:  Maureen O’Sullivan, Joel McCrea, Lewis Stone.
BW- 67 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 21, 2018

1:00 PM
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents’ murder.
Dir:  Gregory Ratoff Cast:  Douglas Fairbanks, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff.
BW- 111 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 22, 2018

6:30 AM
MILLIE (1931)
A prostitute turns to murder to protect her teenage daughters honor.
Dir:  John Francis Dillon Cast:  Helen Twelvetrees, Lilyan Tashman, Robert Ames.
BW- 85 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 25, 2018

10:45 AM
SON OF A GUNFIGHTER (1966)
A young man stalks his mother’s killers.
Dir:  Paul Landres Cast:  Russ Tamblyn, Kieron Moore, James Philbrook.
C- 92 mins, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 26, 2018

9:15 AM
THE PRIZE (1963)
An American Nobel Prize-winner mixes it up with spies when he travels to Stockholm to collect his award.
Dir:  Mark Robson Cast:  Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer.
C- 135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 27, 2018

9:15 PM
D.O.A. (1950)
The victim of a slow-acting poison tracks down his own killer.
Dir:  Rudolph Maté Cast:  Edmond O’Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler.
BW- 84 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 28, 2018

3:00 PM
A COVENANT WITH DEATH (1966)
A lawyer defends a convicted man who killed his hangman before being cleared of the earlier crime.
Dir:  Lamont Johnson Cast:  George Maharis, Laura Devon, Katy Jurado.
C- 97 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 29, 2018

11:30 AM
CRIME DOCTOR (1943)
A blow on the head forces a renowned psychologist to remember he was once a criminal.
Dir:  Michael Gordon Cast:  Warner Baxter, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel.
BW- 66 mins

2:15 PM
THE HIDDEN EYE (1945)
Blind detective Duncan Maclaine uses his other senses to piece together confusing clues behind a murder.
Dir:  Richard Whorf Cast:  Edward Arnold, Frances Rafferty, Ray Collins.
BW- 69 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 30, 2018

3:00 AM
IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir:  W. S. Van Dyke II Cast:  Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee.
BW- 86 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 31, 2018

12:45 AM
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason.
C- 136 mins, CC

5:30 AM
ANGEL FACE (1953)
An unscrupulous woman murders her loved ones for profit.
Dir:  Otto Preminger Cast:  Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman.
BW- 91 mins, CC

2:45 PM
MISTER BUDDWING (1966)
A man suffering from amnesia confronts a series of women in his search for his memory.
Dir:  Delbert Mann Cast:  James Garner, Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette.
BW- 99 mins, CC

11:15 PM
KLUTE (1971)
A small-town detective searches for a missing man linked to a high-priced prostitute.
Dir:  Alan J. Pakula Cast:  Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi.
C- 114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in December, be sure to leave a comment below!

In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the December 2017 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for December 2017 on Turner Classic Movies channel

And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:

Cozy Mystery List TV and  Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.

(All of the movie descriptions were taken off their respective websites.)

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