June Leigh is a lot like the heroine of Wait Until Dark, except it is her own hang-ups and agoraphobia that keeps her trapped in her apartment. It is also unclear whether her tormentor is flesh-and-blood or a figment of her fevered mind. Nevertheless, there is indeed plenty of danger outside her door in the…
Bugsy Siegel and John Gotti were exceptions. Most gangsters do no want publicity, especially not the Sicilian Mafia. That definitely put photo-journalist (and former member of parliament) Letizia Battaglia in a dangerous position, since she spent the better part of her career documenting the Mafia’s violent crimes. Yet, she survived to help lead the tide-changing…
Det. Jack Radcliff has a heck of a wireless package. Somehow, he can place calls to his late niece several days before her violent death. With her help, Radcliff will try to solve and prevent her murder in Jacob Estes’s Blumhouse-produced Relive, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Radcliff always took a special…
There are advantages to working for a privately held company, but there is also a downside. The lack of regular shareholder disclosures allows management to conduct business with less transparency, if they so choose. That was certainly the case for Elizabeth Holmes’ notorious start-up, Theranos. Her powerful political connections helped create a perfect storm of…
Serial killers are supposed to be charming. That is how they lure in their victims. There was no better example than Ted Bundy, who was the living embodiment of sinister charm. He was so persuasive, he had his ex-girlfriend Liz Kloepfer at least half-convinced he was innocent of all the charges leveled against him. Their…
Washington DC is the murder capitol of the nation, but it still feels provincial to New Yorkers like Maggie and Henry. The old chums have come down from the City to visit their old high school classmates, but when real-life gets too awkward, they involve themselves in an unfolding abduction mystery in Michael Kerry Matthews…
At a time when extremism seems to be on the rise on both sides of the American political spectrum, it is worth noting the arch words of Tom Wolfe: “the dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.” The recent experience of Sweden arguably bears this…
Homages in the arts can be tricky undertakings. When a musical act, author, filmmaker, etc., produces a work that is largely derivative of a previous creative effort from the same medium, how should critics and the general public view their output? Should it be taken at face value, experienced and judged only as to whether…
It’s difficult now to imagine watching a crime film set to the jaunty live piano playing that accompanied most early 20th Century silent movies. Without soundtrack and score music, some of our most cherished crime thrillers would be different animals altogether. Imagine Pulp Fiction’s pawn-shop S&M dungeon scene without the dirty saxophone of “Comanche” by…
Westerns is a movie genre historically dominated by male characters. Think of these films and what image immediately comes to mind? John Wayne in a ten-gallon hat and some kind of cowboy neckwear? Clint Eastwood smoking a cigarillo while donning a poncho? Maybe Kevin Costner sporting the Marlboro Man look? It’s probably a dude, right?…
