Mystery and Suspense Films, New This Week on DVD (110118)

Checking through our list of films currently scheduled for release this week on DVD and/or Blu-ray disc, shown below are those that fall into the mystery, suspense, and thriller categories.

 Available on DVD
 Available on Blu-ray Disc
 Available on Video on Demand (via Amazon.com)

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Takers (2010) 

After pulling off a spectacular series of brilliantly planned bank robberies, a notorious team of professional criminals attempts one last heist, a once-in-a-lifetime job with a $25 million payoff. And all that stands in their way is a cop hell-bent on doing whatever it takes to solve the case and bring the takers down.

This high-stakes action thriller stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Michael Ealy and Tip “T.I.” Harris with Chris Brown and Hayden Christensen. (PG-13, 1:47)

Purchase Options: DVD | Blu-ray | VOD

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Buried (2010) 

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is not ready to die. But when he wakes up six feet underground with no idea of who put him there or why, life for the truck driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, his contact with the outside world and ability to piece together clues that could help him discover his location are maddeningly limited. Poor reception, a rapidly draining battery, and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against time; fighting panic, despair and delirium, Paul has only ninety minutes to be rescued before his worst nightmare comes true. (R, 1:35)

Purchase Options: DVD | Blu-ray | VOD

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Stone (2010) 

The lives of a seasoned corrections official and a scheming inmate become dangerously intertwined when Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro), a parole officer days away from retirement, is asked to review the case of Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Edward Norton), in prison for arson. Now eligible for early release, Stone needs to convince Jack he has reformed, but his attempts to influence the older man’s decision with his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) have profound and unexpected effects on them both. This tale of passion, betrayal and corruption skillfully weaves together the parallel journeys of two men grappling with dark impulses, as the line between lawman and lawbreaker becomes precariously thin. (R, 2:21)

Purchase Options: DVD | Blu-ray

Anthony Horowitz To Write New Sherlock Holmes Novel

Earlier today the BBC reported on the title of the new James Bond thriller by Jeffery Deaver.

In that same article, there is a mention that Anthony Horowitz will write a new, full-length Sherlock Holmes novel, the first time the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has given its approval for such a work.

"My aim is to produce a first rate mystery for a modern audience while remaining absolutely true to the spirit of the original," said Horowitz.

The untitled book is expected to be published in September 2011.

Horowitz is the creator of Foyle's War, one of the finest (in our opinion) television series ever to be produced, as well as a contributor to several other crime drama series, including Midsomer Murders and adaptations of Agatha Christie's Poirot novels and short stories.

Next James Bond Thriller Titled Carte Blanche

The BBC is reporting that the next James Bond thriller, written by crime novelist Jeffery Deaver, is titled Carte Blanche. The title and cover for what was previously called "Project X" were revealed today in Dubai, the setting for the book.

Carte Blanche is expected to be in bookstores on May 27th, 2011.

Telemystery: Justified and Waking the Dead, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive selections of detective, amateur sleuth, private investigator, and suspense television mystery series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available or coming soon to DVD or Blu-ray disc, is profiling two series being released this week.

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Timothy Olyphant stars as Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens in the FX Networks crime drama Justified.

A true-blue hero and something of a throwback, he's given to wearing a Stetson and cowboy boots, carrying his sidearm in a hip holster -- a weapon he only draws when he has to, and when he does, he shoots to kill, because, as he sees it, that’s the purpose of a gun.

The character of Raylan Givens was created by crime novelist Elmore Leonard, who featured the Marshal in several short stories.

The Justified: Season One DVD set of 3 discs contains the 13 episodes that aired from March through June 2010. Also available: Justified: Season One (Blu-ray disc).

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Trevor Eve stars as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd who, with his team of forensic experts, investigates serious crimes that remain unsolved in Waking the Dead.

Following the death of DS Mel Silver, the Cold Case Unit is still in shock. The already intense Boyd is clearly rocked by the loss of a valuable team member, and now has a case that questions his own abilities. So it is left to Dr. Grace Foley (Sue Johnston) and DI Spencer Jordan (Wil Johnson) to try to keep the team stable and integrate the new members of the unit.

The Waking the Dead: Season Five DVD set of 3 discs contains the 6 2-part episodes that originally aired on BBC from September through October 2005.

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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.

Mystery Godoku Puzzle for January 17, 2011

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is now available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

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This week's letters and mystery clue:

A C D E H L O R T

The third Lorraine Page mystery by Lynda La Plante has this title (9 letters).

We now have two weeks of our puzzles on one page in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Harry's Law Premieres Monday, January 17th on NBC

The mid-season for television's prime time crime has begun, and tomorrow, Monday January 17th, Harry's Law premieres on NBC at 10 PM (ET/PT). (Yes, it's at the same time as Castle on ABC and Hawaii Five-0 on CBS; your DVRs will be working overtime!)

Kathy Bates stars as Harriet "Harry" Korn, who doesn't believe things happen for a reason, but she discovers that they sometimes do. A curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer, Harry is abruptly fired from her blue chip law firm, forcing her to search for a fresh start. She finds it when her world unexpectedly collides, literally, with Malcolm Davies (Aml Ameen), a kind-hearted college student who desperately needs Harry's help with his pending court case, and he subsequently goes to work for her.

Harry soon finds her balance as well as new offices in an abandoned shoe store just as legal hotshot Adam Branch (Nate Corddry) accidentally hits her while driving. Inspired by Harry's no-nonsense understanding of the law, Adam decides to take leave of his shiny corporate firm to go and work with her. Harry, Adam and Malcolm -- unlikely but kindred spirits -- along with the help of Harry's shoe-savant assistant, Jenna (Brittany Snow), are now ready for whatever walks in through the doors of their unique establishment: Harriet's Law and Fine Shoes.

Watch a sneak peek at the series below:

Bitter Legacy by H. Terrell Griffin (Mystery Book Review)

Bitter Legacy by H. Terrell Griffin. A Matt Royal Mystery. Oceanview Publishing Hardcover, December 2010.

It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement as retired attorney Matt Royal and his high-powered friends employ a "take no prisoners" approach to dealing with the bad guys, and the historical element to the story is quite interesting. But the link between these two strong points seems tentative, the overall mystery plot rather muddled.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Bitter Legacy by H. Terrell Griffin.

Purchase Options:  |  |  | 

Read the first chapter(s) of Bitter Legacy below:

More Details Emerge for Interactive Crime Novel L.A. Noire

Rockstar Games has a Spring 2011 release date for L.A. Noire, its game-changing (if you will) approach to solving crimes on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But surprisingly little is actually known about the gameplay itself ... though that's quickly changing.

L.A. Noire is an interactive crime novel featuring LAPD homicide detective Cole Phelps (voiced by Aaron Staton) and set in the late 1940s. A blend of action, detection and complex storytelling are part of this open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders. Set in a perfectly recreated Los Angeles before freeways, with a post-war backdrop of corruption, drugs and jazz, L.A. Noire attempts to blend cinema and gaming.

The LA Times Hero Complex blog from earlier this week has a brief article about the game, though focuses more on the amazing technology used to create it. And Playstation Magazine will feature the game on its February 2011 issue (see a preview of the cover here), which hits newsstands this Tuesday.

But probably the most revealing details come from the developer itself, in a Q&A with IGN readers.

For example, when asked if a player can send the wrong guy to jail: "There is an overarching plot that governs the story of the game, but how you get there is up to you. There are definitely situations in the game where you can arrest the wrong suspect. It's a player choice and adds an interesting challenge, especially if the evidence is compelling for both suspects."

And how open is the game world? "The world is completely open for you to travel through at all times ... the city is a backdrop for the incredibly accurate real-world locations and crime scenes that Cole Phelps explores on his way to solving each case. The game has been crafted to seamlessly blend classic cops-and-robbers style action with dynamic interrogations and searching for suspects in a way that one doesn't distract from the other."

Watch a trailer for the game, and a behind-the-scenes look at the technology, below:

Boiling Point by Karen Dionne (Book Review)

Boiling Point by Karen Dionne. Non-series. Jove Mass Market Paperback, December 2010.

There's adventure aplenty in this eco-thriller, yet the book succeeds in large part due to its principal characters and their sincere efforts to thwart a foe who is as equally as passionate in a quest to do something about global warming. Readers need not take a stand, one way or the other, to enjoy this novel of suspense.

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Boiling Point by Karen Dionne.

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Read the first chapters of Boiling Point below.

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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

New Behind-the-Scenes Featurette for The Eagle

Last November, the first trailer for The Eagle, adapted from the young adult historical thriller The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, was released.

Now, Yahoo Movies! has posted a "Behind the Scenes" featurette for the film ... which we have to say looks great. You can watch it below.

The Eagle stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell as two men — Marcus Aquila and Esca, master and slave — who embark on a quest to solve the mystery of what happened to the Ninth Roman Legion when, under the command of Marcus Aquila's father, it marched north into the wilds of Britain beyond Agricola’s Wall and disappeared without a trace.

But the highlands of Caledonia are a vast and savage wilderness, and Marcus must rely on his slave to navigate the region. When they encounter ex-Roman soldier Guern, Marcus realizes that the mystery of his father's disappearance may well be linked to the secret of his own slave's identity and loyalty — a secret all the more pressing when the two come face-to-face with the warriors of the fearsome Seal Prince.

The Eagle will be in theaters February 11th, 2011.

The Strand Magazine to Publish Previously Unknown Short Story by Dashiell Hammett

The Associated Press is reporting that the Strand Magazine will publish a previously unknown short story by Dashiell Hammett in its Winter/Spring issue.

"So I Shot Him" is a 19-page crime thriller written in the clipped style Hammett made famous in The Maltese Falcon and other works. Strand Magazine managing editor Andrew F. Gulli found the undated story, and 14 others by Hammett, while looking through archives at the University of Texas in Austin.

Hammett died 50 years ago at age 66.

Robert Wagner to Play Charles Townsend in ABC's Remake of Charlie's Angels

Here's the first bit of good news we've heard with respect to ABC's order for a pilot for a remake of Charlie's Angels: according to Inside TV, Robert Wagner has agreed to take on the role of Charles Townsend, previously played by the late John Forsythe.

When asked if he'll continue to use a speakerphone to communicate with the angels, he said, "I would imagine it will probably be quite different because the technology is quite different. I would imagine it would be on cell phones wherever these gals are." Though Wagner hasn't seen any scripts yet, he adds, "I could be tweeting them, I could be doing a lot of things with them, you know."

With Wagner on board, maybe this remake won't be as bad as we fear!

Ron Howard Talks about the Multi-Platform Adaptation of The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

Ron Howard, who is attached to the multi-platform adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series, recently spoke briefly on the project during an interview with Howard Stern.

We've previously that the overall plan is to produce a theatrical film followed by a television series, with Howard committed to directing both. A graphic novel/comic book series is planned to provide continuity. Now Slashfilm has more details from Howard's interview.

"[A] movie idea is there," said Howard. "And if I have my way, and if everything goes according to plan — which is of course a big if — we'll be doing movies, we'll be doing television, and all of that isn't just [to make money] but all of that is to be as comprehensive as possible. The idea of doing part of it on the big screen and part of it on television is to try to include absolutely as much of the books, and even the graphic novels, as possible."

Howard added that the television element would likely be a 6-hour mini-series, to be aired on NBC or one of NBC's cable properties.

"The Dark Tower" is a series of seven novels by Stephen King. The first, The Gunslinger, was first published as a limited edition release in 1982; a revised and expanded edition by King was published in 2003. The gunslinger is Roland of Gilead, who is on a quest for a man in black, one step in the path to the Dark Tower.

Read the first chapter(s) from The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger below:

Michael Riesman's Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper to be Adapted for Film

Deadline|New York is reporting that Walden Media has optioned the film rights to Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper, the 2008 young adult fantasy adventure by Michael Reisman. Adam F. Goldberg will write the screenplay.

In the book, sixth-grader Simon Bloom can't believe his luck when he finds a book that enables him to control the laws of physics. By simply reciting the formulas it contains, he can cancel gravity to fly around his bedroom, or decrease friction so he can slide down the street as if he were on Rollerblades. When two thugs with evil intentions come after Simon, he must use the formulas to save himself -- and the book -- from falling into their hands.

Read the first chapter(s) from Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper below:

IFC Acquires US Rights to Film Adaptation of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

In a press release today, IFC Films announced it has acquired the US rights to the film adaptation of the classic Graham Greene thriller Brighton Rock.

At the heart of the story is Pinkie (played by Sam Riley), a razor-wielding disadvantaged teenager with a religious death wish, and his relationship with Rose (Andrea Riseborough), an innocent young waitress, who stumbles on evidence linking Pinkie and his gang to a revenge killing. After the murder, Pinkie seduces Rose, first in an effort to find out how much she knows and later to ensure she will not talk to the police. A love story between a murderer and a witness, can Pinkie trust Rose or should he kill her before she talks to the police? Can Rose trust Pinkie, or is she next in line?

The film, which also stars Helen Mirren and John Hurt, opens in the UK on February 4th, 2011. Watch a trailer for the film below: