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Category Archives: Washington DC
No Way Out (1987) is now on Blu-ray!
No Way Out, adapted from Kenneth Fearing’s classic suspense novel, The Big Clock (which I previously reviewed here), is a terrific thriller starring a young Kevin Costner and quirky and beautiful Sean Young as young lovers who get caught in a … Continue reading
The romance of Brian De Palma
The following revisit of a favourite film and director is offered for the Brian De Palma Blogathon being hosted by Ratnakar Sadasyula at his site, Seetimaar – Diary of a Movie Lover from 11 to 21 September to celebrate the great filmmaker’s birthday … Continue reading
Jason Bourne – cinema review
Regular Fedora visitors will know that I love spy movies and am a sucker for stories about amnesia, so the Bourne saga – about a spy who forgets who he is and searches for answers from his old employers at the … Continue reading
Posted in Espionage, Greece, Las Vegas, London, Reykjavik, Rome, Spy movies, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, Washington DC
84 Comments
Hitchock in the 60s and 70s – time to vote
Hitchcock’s life and career changed forever with the release of Psycho in 1960. Made on a tight budget, its enormous success made him a very wealthy man and saw him change studios to Universal for the rest of his career. … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Amnesia, Boston, Cold War, Cuba, Daphne Du Maurier, Ed McBain, Espionage, Film Poll, France, Germany, London, New York, Norway, Paris, Psycho, Robert Bloch, San Francisco, Spy movies, Sweden, Washington DC
63 Comments
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Holmes and Watson leave the semi-Victorian comforts of Baker Street far behind and head off to 1940s America in search of a microfilm hidden inside a matchbook and which ends up doing the rounds of Washington’s high and low society … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, Washington DC
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
42 Comments
THE LAST POLICEMAN by Ben H. Winters
The apocalypse is a surprisingly frequent occurrence in fiction (and indeed can be seen to constitute its own subgenre), but admittedly not one often combined with the mystery genre. This was the major selling point of this Edgar-winning novel, the … Continue reading
Posted in Science Fiction, Washington DC
40 Comments
The Passion of Brian De Palma
Well, there is a slight change to our usual schedule today as it’s my birthday, which means I am officially in my mid forties … good grief! So I could commemorate this august moment just by joining a gym (of … Continue reading
THE BLUE MOVIE MURDERS (1972) by ‘Ellery Queen’
First things first – though originally published under the ‘Ellery Queen’ byline, this novel was actually written by Edward D. Hoch. It proved to be the last of a series of paperback originals that used the pseudonym but in which the … Continue reading
Posted in Edward D. Hoch, Ellery Queen, Washington DC
46 Comments
Top 12 Mystery Movie Remakes
As the movie summer starts to wind down, the sheer number of sequels, remakes and ‘reboots’ certainly can make for a dispiriting summing up. But it is worth remembering that, at least in our genre, there are a great many great … Continue reading
Posted in 'Best of' lists, 'In praise of ...', Chicago, Ernest Hemingway, Film Noir, James M. Cain, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mexico, Miami, Michael Curtiz, New York, Noir on Tuesday, Parker, Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, Raymond Chandler, Richard Stark, San Francisco, Texas, Top 10, Washington DC
52 Comments
RIP Gore Vidal (1925-2012)
The American novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and all-round man of letters Eugene Louis ‘Gore’ Vidal has died at the age of 86. He spent much of his life living in self-imposed exile in Italy though returned to the USA in … Continue reading
Posted in Gore Vidal, RIP, Scene of the crime, Washington DC
Tagged books, city and the pillar, detective novels, myra breckinridge
11 Comments
No Way Out (1987)
This movie was hit in its day but 25 years after its initial release I’m still not convinced it has received the critical respect it deserves. A smart Cold War thriller – with 80s heartthrobs Kevin Costner and Sean Young … Continue reading