Mystery Arena - A Combination of Game Quiz and Whodunit Mystery that Might be too Weird in General

There were not that many options to watch on streaming services during the past few days as they were mostly ongoing series or movie that I was not that interested in. When I found this one on Prime Video which I was not exactly sure when it was released, I thought the premise sound intriguing. Anyway I actually tried to watch on Friday night but somehow was too sleepy and only continued & finished it last night. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 2036, twenty years after pandemic that ruined the lives of people and newborn babies, a quiz was held annually by its host Kabayama (Karasawa Toshiaki - 24 Japan TV series, 20th Century Boys films etc) where contestants were given murder mystery case to be solved live on TV giving the winner a huge money prize. The contestants of this year's quiz were disgraced researcher Edison (Nomaguchi Toru - AARO TV series, Faking Beethoven etc), orphan girl Ichiko (Ashida Mana - The Greatest Teacher TV series, Under the Stars etc), mystery novelist Ano (Asano Yuko -  Kura, The 8-Tomb Village etc) and three men with nicknames of Gambler (Suzuki Nobuyuki - Song of the Samurai TV series, Tokyo Revengers etc), Legend (Tamayama Tetsuji - Jigen Daisuke, Warau Matroshka TV series etc), and Unlucky Guy (Okuno So - Cosmetic Playlover TV series, The Setting Sun etc).

(Mini Series) Agatha Christie's Seven Dials - A Pretty Entertaining Adaptation of Lesser Known Agatha Christie's Characters

This series was already promoted by Netflix for quite some time and being major fan of Agatha Christie's novels, I would not want to miss another adaptation from her works. So when it was finally released yesterday, I immediately gave it a try and finished it last night. All right then, let's just get on with it.

Brief Story Line

In the year 1925, Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter - Enola Holmes 2, Ocean's 8 etc) and her daughter Lady Eileen aka Bundle (Mia McKenna-Bruce - Vampire Academy TV series, How to Have Sex etc) hosted a gathering at the request of Sir Oswald Coote (Mark Lewis Jones - Apostle, Gangs of London TV series etc) and Lady Maria Coote (Dorothy Atkinson - Pennyworth TV series, Saltburn etc). During this party, there were plenty of guests including George Lomax (Alex Macqueen - Downtown Abbey: A New Era, Holby City TV series etc) from the Foreign Ministry along with his subordinates Gerry Wade (Corey McIchreest - Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story etc), Ronny Devereux (Nabhaan Rizwan - Kaos TV series etc) and Bill Eversleigh (Hughie O'Donnell - Fight or Flight etc). There was also the wealthy Jimmy Thesiger (Edward Bluemel - Persuasion, Killing Eve TV series etc) and few others.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - Detective Benoit Blanc Did it Again!

Being a fan of whodunit and the lead character, obviously I wanted to watch this movie as early as possible. So when it was finally made available in Netflix on Friday, I immediately start watching it. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

Famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig - Casino Royale, Layer Cake etc) was called up by Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis - Luckiest Girl Alive, The Spy Who Dumped Me etc) the police chief of a small town where a murder happened in a Catholic Church. The Church itself was led by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin - The Running Man 2025 remake, Deadpool 2 etc) and Father Jud (Josh O'Connor - Challengers, The Crown TV series etc), the new Assistant Pastor. They were assisted by Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close - Back in Action, Fatal Attraction etc) who had been very devoted to the Church since childhood and also the groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Haden Church - Spider-man 3, Twisted Metal TV series etc).

The Thursday Murder Club - Whodunit Movie Based on Popular Novel

I have been quite looking forward to this movie ever since I found out about it in various websites. As fans of whodunit genre and looking at the well known cast, obviously this one made me feel excited. So once it was made available last Thursday (I think Netflix purposely released it on that day), I immediately watch it. All right then, let's dive into it.

Brief Story Line

In the Coopers Chase retirement home, former union leader Ron Ritchie (Pierce Brosnan - Fast Charlie, The Out-laws etc), retired psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif (Ben Kingsley - Shang- chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Killer's Game etc) and Elizabeth Best (Helen Mirren - Fast X, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms etc) formed a club to discuss and try solving cold cases. When retired nurse Joyce Meadowcroft (Celia Imrie - Nanny McPhee, Better Things TV series etc) became the latest member of their club, an actual murder of someone close occurred and they tried to solve it.

(TV SERIES) Death and Other Details Season 1 - Another Whodunit Series but With More Complexities

I have been meaning to watch this series ever since it came to my attention few weeks ago on Disney+. By my calculation, it should finish by mid of March, so I was kind of surprised when I checked three days ago that it was already completed in the first week. Apparently the final 2 episodes were released on the same day. Anyway I immediately started watching on Saturday and finished it yesterday. OK, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Imogene Scott (Violett Beane - Truth or Dare, God Friended Me TV series etc) had been living with the wealthy Collier family for 18 years and was best friend with their daughter Anna (Lauren Patten - Blue Blood TV series etc). The whole family that consisted of Lawrence Collier (David Marshall Grant - The Devil Wears Prada etc), his wife Katherine (Jayne Atkinson - House of Cards TV series etc), their son Tripp (Jack Cutmore-Scott - Deception TV series etc), Anna's wife Leila (Pardis Seremi) and including Anna and Imogene went on a cruise to the Mediterranean to celebrate Lawrence's retirement. Some of the notable guests were obnoxious US businessman Keith (Michael Gladis - Mad Men TV series etc), Governor Alexandra (Tamberla Perry - They Cloned Tyrone etc), Father Toby (Danny Johnson) and the Chun family from Shanghai who were planning to merge their business with Collier.  

A Haunting in Venice - A Well Done Adaptation of Agatha Christie's Novel with a Bit of "Supernatural" Element

Since my wife and I are fans of Agatha Christie's novels, we wanted to see this latest adaptation of her book. As it was released more than 2 weeks ago, it was a bit challenging to look for the studio showing the movie. We ended up seeing this one in the place not far from our home where to our surprise, there were still plenty of people in the cinema. OK, let's get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Set in 1947 in Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) had decided to retire from solving cases and had a personal bodyguard named Vitale (Riccardo Scamarcio - John Wick: Chapter 2, The Ruthless etc). But when Poirot's old friend the famous novelist Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey - Only Murders in the Building TV series, Sisters etc) convinced him to attend a séance, he could not resist it. So on Halloween night, the three of them went to the house of former opera singer Rowena (Kelly Reilly - 10x10, Flight etc) where it would be held. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery - An Entertaining Sequel to that Amazing Whodunit Mystery Movie

With so much hype surrounding this movie, obviously I was highly anticipating it especially since I liked the first movie a lot. So once it was released in Netflix yesterday, I immediately see it the first chance I got. Without further ado, here is more on the film.

Brief Story Line

During the pandemic, famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig - No Time to Die, The Golden Compass etc) was getting crazy due to lock down and lack of activity. Until he got invitation to a gathering held by billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton - Motherless Brooklyn, The Incredible Hulk etc) in his private island in Greece. Along with Benoit, there were also other invitees who were Miles' old friends such as governor Claire (Kathryn Hahn - Wandavision TV series, Hotel Transylvania: Transformation etc), scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr. - Murder on the Orient Express, Hamilton etc), supermodel Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson - Deepwater Horizon, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days etc) with her personal assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick - The Matrix Resurrections, Underwater etc) and  streamer Duke (Dave Bautista - Dune, Stuber etc) with his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline - Outer Banks TV series etc).

See How They Run - A Pretty Fun Comedy Mystery Movie Set in 1950s

Last night, I came across this movie that was just released on Disney+. As a sucker for whodunit plot, I was immediately interested in giving it a try, especially since it also looked like comedy. So I decided to watch this ahead of other series that I was going to watch last night. 

Brief Story Line

Set in the year 1953 London, the play titled The Mousetrap written by Agatha Christie had been quite a success. A party was held to celebrate where some people that included the play's producer Petula (Ruth Wilson - His Dark Materials TV series, A Streetcar Named Desire etc), the main stars Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson - Where the Crawdads Sing, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil etc) and his wife Sheila (Pearl Chanda - War of the Worlds TV series etc) attended. During this party, other people also came such as producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith - In the Earth etc) who wanted to adapt the play into a movie, along with the director Leo (Adrien Brody - Blonde, The Pianist etc), the screenwriter Mervyn (David Oyelowo - Chaos Walking, Selma etc) and Woolf's wife Edana (Sian Clifford - Fleabag TV series etc).

(2022) Death on the Nile - Another Well Adaptation of Agatha Christie's Novel

After missing out on seeing this movie during the 3rd wave of pandemic a couple of months ago, I was glad that it was released on Disney+ yesterday. Once again it proved to be a nice decision to be subscribing this streaming platform as we could get the chance to watch several movies not long after their theatrical run. This time I watched it by myself while my wife was finishing another one of her South Korean TV series. OK, why don't I get to it then?

Brief Story Line

In 1937, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit etc) was visiting Egypt where he met with his old friend Bouc (Tom Bateman - Cold Pursuit etc) and was introduced to his mother Euphemia (Annette Bening - Captain Marvel etc). He was then asked to join them in a hotel where a group of people were celebrating the marriage of a loving couple.

Knives Out - Intriguing, Interesting, Entertaining and Greatly Done Murder Mystery Movie

After two weeks of only showing at midnight during the weekend, finally this movie was released yesterday (a bit weird as it was done on Tuesday as opposed to its customary Wednesday release). As it happened, it was shown at the theater near our home at 6.20 PM, so without any hesitation my wife bought the tickets for us. Well we shall go on with this movie then.

Brief Story Line

When a rich novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer - All the Money in the World etc) was found dead in his room, an investigation was done by local police detective Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield - The Girl in the Spider's Web etc) and supported by Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan - Brick etc) together with a well known private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig - James Bond movies etc) as consultant. 

Murder on the Orient Express - A Good Adaptation of Agatha Christie's Iconic Detective Poirot

On the premier date of this movie which I had been aiming to see since I saw its theatrical poster few weeks ago, my wife and I decided to see it in Plaza Indonesia mall (PI). It was not our usual place to see a movie, but I was having a Cinema XXI voucher from my credit card which can be used only in few theaters (PI was one of them), plus my wife had a meeting in Grand Indonesia that was very near the mall. So without further ado, let us get on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 1934, where the very famous detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh - Henry V, Dunkirk etc) had to take the Orient Express train from Istanbul to London for an urgent case. Due to the last minute requirement, the Orient Express director named Bouc (Tom Bateman) had to put Poirot in a normal carriage together with other passengers instead of the usual first class carriage. He met with various people in the train such as the American woman who was previously married more than once named Mrs. Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer - What Lies Beneath, The Fabulous Baker Boys and many more) and seemed to be looking for her future husband. In this carriage, Poirot and the rest of the passengers were served by Pierre Michel (Marwan Kenzari).