88/2399. Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery (2024)
The "canine" in the title of this Hallmark mystery is a red herring. Yes, there is a dog, but it has no chemistry with the actress playing "Jazz," and it only serves a narrative purpose of finding the murder victim... in the ventilation system of a school. Even a human nose would have detected that. Despite the fact that Jazz is supposed to be a dog trainer and the dog her foster animal, the dog is rarely seen again, not even when Jazz is worried about her own safety after being attacked by the supposed murderer. Ugh. Not recommended (even though I solved it almost immediately, or maybe because I solved it almost immediately).

89/2400. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
I enjoy Anya Taylor-Joy so much, she almost made me appreciate Fury Road. But not quite. The entire post-apocalyptic dystopia scenario is just too grotesque for me to enjoy any of the many, many murders that take place there. Also, unlike Fury Road, this one feels too artificial, too computer-generated, like a sadistic cartoon. Ick. And what's up with Chris Hemsworth's fake nose? It's obviously still Hemsworth, so I spent all the time he was on screen wondering why they were trying to disguise his nose and not his six-pack abs. Bad decisions everywhere.

90/2401. Nelly Knows Mysteries: A Fatal Engagement (2024)
Finally, a charming Hallmark mystery movie in 2024. Yes, it plays out mostly like a police procedural with one quirky book-loving mystery fan and one by-the-book detective, and the perpetrator's identity is as obvious as ever thanks to the twists the script and editing take to obscure their own tracks. (Hint: it's always the one the movie goes out of its way to excuse.) However, the actors do seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves, and that goes a long way, especially when there's a murder afoot.

91/2402. Breathless (1960)
Sure, I watch a lot of made-for-television Hallmark mysteries, but I'm cultured. I can watch New Wave French cinema, too! I always use Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass as my example of how once-strikingly influential art seems mundane to modern eyes because of the many imitators that followed, and that analogy applies here. So many significant elements of this film would make their way into the work of Scorsese and Tarantino and others that Jean-Luc Godard's much-ballyhooed Breathless can often feel... well, boring is the wrong word, but maybe unnecessary. I certainly don't understand why Godard made many of his choices, but I cannot deny that they certainly leave a lasting impression.

More to come.

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To be continued...

 

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