The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Doc Martin Television Series: Very Cozy (and Quirky!)…

My daughter, husband, and I are huge fans of Doc Martin, a fabulously quirky and funny British television series. The series (not a mystery series) is set in the present day on a quaint, and beyond beautiful little coastal village. The only problem that we had in watching Doc Martin is that we had to wait between season one (2004), season two (2005/2006), three (2007), and four’s (2009) release dates! (And, we are now waiting for season five!!!)

Doc Martin (played faultlessly by Martin Clunes) is simply put… a  curmudgeon. I don’t want to give away too much, so I will just say that he is a brilliant surgeon who has given up his London practice to move to the aforementioned beautiful coastal village. He has done this to become the village general practitioner.

Doc Martin is not only eccentric/neurotic and impersonal – but he even hates dogs! (For those of you dog-lovers who are fans of Martin Clunes, you’ll be happy to know that he loves dogs so much, he hosted a series called Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs and he has authored the bestselling A Dog’s Life).

Caroline Catz costars as the absolutely delightful teacher/principal of the village elementary/primary school. Also, Stephanie Cole (from Waiting for God) plays Martin’s (yes, Martin is his first name >>> the villagers refuse to call him Dr. Ellingham!) often-times exacerbated aunt, his source of unconditional love during his youth. Also wonderful in their roles are: his receptionists (Elaine Denham & Pauline Lamb), the local police (Stewart Wright & John Marquez), the father and son plumbers (Ian McNeice & Joe Absolom), and the local pharmacist (Selina Cadell).

I highly recommend the Doc Martin series. The locale is gorgeous, the characters are three-dimensional, the plots are clever and absolutely never dull or slow-paced, and the acting is superb.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

How to Train Your Dragon: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless…

Last year, my daughter recommended a movie that I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to watch. This year I FINALLY watched it.

I just finished watching the 2010 DreamWorks Animation movie How to Train Your Dragon, and my daughter was right! This movie IS a joyous, colorful, and whimsical ride. (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois directed this beautiful, fun movie, and joined Will Davies in writing the screenplay. To them, I say thank you!) 

The movie is based on the children’s books by Cressida Cowell, an Oxford English Literature major. While I haven’t read any of the nine books in her How to Train Your Dragon book series, I can tell you this: If they had been available when my children were young, they would have been a staple in our home! They truly look like a whole lot of fun for children, and let’s face it, reading should be a whole lot of fun!

Getting back to the movie… The premise is a “coming of age” story, where becoming a Viking means slaying your first dragon. Unfortunately for our hero (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III), his dad (Stoick the Vast) happens to be the chief of the village, which in Viking terms mean his dad is TOUGH! 

Hiccup just doesn’t fit into the Viking mentality… He is sensitive and inquisitive, by no means TOUGH! When given the opportunity to complete the dragon-slaying task, Hiccup has a difficult time wrestling with the dilemma of letting his father down or not being true to his beliefs. 

As I don’t want to spoil the movie by saying too much, I won’t go into the movie’s details. What I will say is that I join my daughter in recommending this PG movie. There aren’t hidden “adult innuendos” (at least I didn’t pick up on any!) and the movie doesn’t need them to keep the adults entertained… It is that good! I will say that there are some “scarey” dragon scenes, which would be the reason the movie is PG and not G.

PS>>> I loved that Toothless (a Night Fury dragon) wasn’t a brightly colored, comical dragon. I also loved watching Toothless move>>> I wondered if the artists used a dog as their point of reference…

NBC’s New Lawyer: Kathy Bates: From Misery to Harry’s Law

Here’s hoping!!! And, I really am hoping!!!

I have already added Harry’s Law to my television queue… This is a case of sight unseen, but, being a huge Kathy Bates fan, I doubt I am going wrong on this one! From Misery, to Fried Green Tomatoes, Dolores Claiborne, Primary Colors, to… well, the list of Kathy Bates movies goes on and on, and on some more!

This coming Monday, Kathy Bates will be adding being the star of a television show to her repertoire, and I am so anxiously waiting to see what she does with her prime time show on NBC, that I have (quite literally) already  programmed our two modes of taping off of the television.

This Monday night, Kathy Bates (along with Brittany Snow, Nate Corddry, and Aml Ameen) will be starring in Harry’s Law, the newest “lawyer” show that I know about. But, there is a twist on this one: Harry isn’t a brilliant lawyer working in a gorgeous-looking building with even more gorgeous-looking attorneys. Harry (Harriet Korn) is a patent lawyer who, upon being fired from her job, sets up her own law practice on a shoestring… actually, in an old shoe store.

Harry’s Law has David E. Kelly at the helm (behind the scenes), which is quite promising. HOWEVER>>> There is one very UNpromising thing!!! NBC has deemed it their responsibility to put Harry’s Law up against an already-established, and very popular “cop show”>>> That’s right! Think about your already established Monday night television viewing… and, if you’re anything like me, there is only one show on Monday nights (now that The Closer is on hiatus!) Harry’s Law will be taking on Castle… (As if there aren’t other hour slots on Monday night NBC could have programmed this new show into!)

PS>>> Having watched the first two episodes of Harry’s Law, I have taken it off of our SageTV taping queue. I simply couldn’t not get over all of the “sermonizing” NOR the totally absurd lawyers’ arguments in front of both the judges and the juries. I realize that this is only a television show, but come on! As for a lawyer telling a jury that she only wants/needs one person to vote not guilty, so that her cocaine addict gets a chance to go to college… Is that even legal?!? And, if it isn’t, why don’t they have a consulting lawyer on the production set?!?

At least I won’t have a problem picking between Castle and Harry’s Law. As much as I enjoy Kathy Bates, this is a no-brainer!

The Closer (TNT's Terrific Police Procedural Show) Is Closer than You Think…

I forgot to mention this earlier… For those of you who are fans of TNT’s The Closer, the winter season’s shows start tonight! Set up your various types of taping devices, or plan to be seated in front of your television set. (And, if you’re not  a fan of The Closer, then I have to say, you are missing a really neat show!)

I have written about The Closer before (yep, that’s the link to my previous entry about this terrific show) so I won’t say too much about it today, OTHER than to remind all of you about tonight. [Of course, not being a person who can limit her talking… I will (again!) say that I absolutely LOVE this ensemble show!] 

So, don’t forget… tonight is the new winter season’s debut!

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