The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Halloween Movies Extravaganza!

It’s that time of year again! If you’re anything like me, it’s the time when you start to seek out the old Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff movies>>> to get you in the Halloween mood! And look what I found!!! I am so excited about some of these old movies!

Every year I end up watching the same horror movies from the (+/-) 1940s, and I have yet to tire of them. I know it would be easier to buy or tape the movies, but with this search and seek mode, I get a wider variety of the old scary movies.

Here is a list of the movies that both TCM and AMC are showing this year. I have only included the old movies… not the more recent movies that I cannot sit through… much too realistic/scary for me! (I did notice that AMC is showing a lot of the more modern movies… but they simply aren’t “cozy enough” for me!)

I am going to go right now to set up a few of these movies on my Replay machine (like a TIVO)… Hopefully you will be able to find a movie or two that you want to watch!

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) “48 Hours of Horror”
Friday, October 30: 
Mad Love     6:15 a
The Beast with Five Fingers   7:30 a
I Walked With a Zombie   9:00 a
Curse of the Demon  10:15 a
The Gorgon   12:00 p
Mr. Sardonicus    1:30 p
The Tomb of Ligeia   3:15 p
The Tingler    5:00 p
House of Usher    6:30 p
Dead of Night    8:00 p
Torture Garden   10:00 p
Twice-Told Tales  11:45 p
Kwaidan     2:00 a
Spirits of the Dead   4:45 a
Saturday, October 31:
Tell-Tale Heart    7:00 a
Cat People    7:30 a
Freaks     9:00 a
The Devil Doll    10:15 a
Mark of the Vampire   11:45 a
The Devil Bat    1:00 p
White Zombie    2:15 p
The Body Snatcher   3:30 p
Bedlam     5:00 p
The Ghoul    6:30 p
The Haunted Palace   8:00 p  
Die, Monster, Die!   9:30 p
The Shuttered Room  11:00 p
The Dunwich Horror  12:45 a
Blood Feast    2:30 a

AMC (American Movie Classics)
Saturday, October 25:  
The Curse of Frankenstein  6:15 a 
Son of Frankenstein 8:15 a  
House of Frankenstein 10:30 a  
Sunday, October 26:  
Jack the Ripper 5:00 a
Monday, October 27:
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte 4:00 a
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Invisible Man 6:00 a
Bride of Frankenstein 7:45 a
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman 9:30 a
Wednesday, October 29: 
The Mummy’s Hand 6:00 a 
Thursday, October 30:
The Mummy 6:00 a
Friday, October 31:
The Fly 2:30 a
House of Dracula 4:30 a
House of Frankenstein 6:00 a
Horror of Dracula 7:30 a

Favorite Television Shows…

I have a few favorite shows on television which I missed when they first aired. I don’t know how I missed them, other than for the mere fact that they weren’t on any of the three major networks and, because I record everything I watch>>> so that I can skip through the advertisements.

I accidentally taped The Closer one night… and after the first fifteen minutes, I was hooked! Unfortunately, I caught it during a time when the network (TNT) was playing the shows as sort of filler, since they were all repeats, so I was unable to get the shows in their correct order. Which, of course meant that I either had to rent the shows (from the beginning of the series) or buy them.

I like this show so much, that I have given our DVDs to our daughter (22 years old) and she likes them as much as I do. I wonder if it’s because the lead detective is a strong-willed, opinionated woman who has the courage to appear without makeup (anyways that’s what it looks like to us) when the shows call for it, OR if it’s because all of the characters are well-developed, three-dimensional “people,” OR if it’s because the writing is phenomenal, OR because, it’s simply one of the best shows on television!

Anyway, if you have a favorite show that you would like to share with some of us cozy mystery readers>>> please feel free to write about it in a comment, or write me a letter via the website. If you all are anything like I am: tired of the writers’ strike, tired of tired shows, tired of the umpteenth season of the same shows, tired of the different shows that are actually the same show set in different cities>>> Then let’s share some ideas of really good shows!

John Adams Miniseries : Happy Fourth of July!

John Adams (DVD) I feel particularly patriotic this Fourth of July! We just finished the last episode of the HBO miniseries entitled John Adams…. and ¡¡¡WOW!!!

Let me first mention that we don’t subscribe to HBO… And, that we have tried some other HBO miniseries/episodic shows, and that some of them are just a tad out of my particular comfort zone. Yes… It’s true… I get a little uncomfortable with gratuitous sex and violence. Call me a “square” or “old-fashioned” but those are just the facts, ma’am.

A very good friend of mine told me about the miniseries… and since Cora is a cozy-mystery reader… I knew that she would not be recommending something that was going to be … let’s just say… adult-situation-graphic! (Don’t I sound like a prude!?!)

My husband had already read “John Adams,” David McCullough’s bestselling novel, and had really enjoyed it. And, since this miniseries is based on McCullough’s novel… which is presumably accurate, we knew that the miniseries would not take some of the “liberties” that a lot of other miniseries take… tweaking more “juicy tidbits” into the plots so that they are more readily appreciated by the masses. Of course, my husband did notice some changes that were made in the miniseries for dramatic purposes, although they didn’t detract from the overall spirit of accuracy.

The cast does a wonderful job portraying the characters who we all (in the USA) grew up learning and hearing about… Cast: Paul Giamatti (as John Adams) and Laura Linney (as his wife, Abigail) are superb in their parts. Tom Wilkinson (as Benjamin Franklin), Stephen Dillane (as Thomas Jefferson), David Morse (as George Wahington), Sarah Polley (as the Adams’ daughter), well… the list goes on! We found the acting, the sets, the director’s view ALL exceptionally good. (Of course, if you are looking for a sanitized version… where you don’t see and almost feel what it must have been like… where you don’t see how excruciating it was to be sick back in those times… when blood-letting seemed to be a very common practice… where there is a lack of buzzing flies, then this very realistic (and, again, to use an adjective I use to show the superlative), phenomenal miniseries is not for you…

HBO’s John Adams miniseries did not disappoint! It truly is worth watching… And, it gives a true meaning of why we, in the USA celebrate the Fourth of July… We have these very heroic men, such as John Adams, to thank for the liberty we now know and enjoy!

♦If you would like to see more TV & Movie  suggestions, click here.♦

Murder by the Book…

I just received the following e-mail (as a comment) from Patricia at Turner.com telling me about a show on Court TV which is returning.  When I read the e-mail, I wondered how I had missed watching season one (last season)… since it featured some of my favorite authors. Rather than posting the e-mail/comment as a comment, I am going to just go ahead and post most of it as a blog:

"Sandra Brown, David Baldacci and Joseph Wambaugh 
Among Acclaimed Authors Set for Court TV’s MURDER BY THE BOOK Hit, Real-Life Series Returns for Second Season Monday, Nov. 5 at 10 pm, (ET/PT)
Series Also Features Best-Selling Crime Authors Kathy Reichs, Lee Child, Harlan Coben , Linda Fairstein and Lisa Gardner

Sandra Brown (Play Dirty), David Baldacci (Stone Cold) and Joseph Wambaugh (Hollywood Station) are among the slate of acclaimed authors set to appear on MURDER BY THE BOOK, Court TV’s popular original series featuring best-selling authors who provide insight into true crime stories that have long captivated or had a personal impact on them. The series returns for a second season with 13 episodes beginning Monday, Nov. 5, at 10 pm (ET/PT).
Brown is set to be featured on MURDER BY THE BOOK Nov. 5 and will be followed by Baldacci on Nov. 12. Subsequent weeks will feature Wambaugh, Harlan Coben (The Woods), Lee Child (Bad Luck and Trouble), Lisa Gardner (Gone), Linda Fairstein (Bad Blood), Kathy Reichs (Break No Bones), Elizabeth George (What Came Before He Shot Her), and Nick Santora (Slip & Fall). Returning from last season are authors Lisa Scottoline (Daddy’s Girl), Faye Kellerman (Capital Crimes) and Jonathan Kellerman (Obsession)."

ETC, ETC, ETC

This is definitely a show that I will give a try!

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