Not necessarily leaving it to the last minute but sort of. (I really need to start planning these things ahead of time). So I was a bit stumped by this theme this week because honestly, I’m not very sure how many amateur sleuths movies I know. Probably more that I can think of but apparently not enough to conjure a proper list. Because of this today’s list will be about bad amateur sleuths movies. In other words I’m recommending you stay away from these amateur sleuths if possible. Needless to say all the main characters are amateur sleuthing.
3. NANCY DREW (2007)
If the movie trailers have voice over you know you’re in for a special ride. 2007’s Nancy Drew sure is special… I mean I hardly remember it but that’s already quite telling. The thing is I watched some 00’s movies multiple times no matter how awful they were but I never watched Nancy Drew more than once. That’s a true failure in my eyes, me who in the 00’s was consuming a lot of questionable movies. (For instance I have seen Wild Child like six times at least). Emma Roberts is Nancy Drew here but that’s about all I remember. Roberts is not necessarily bad, I enjoy some of her performances but this one is probably not in her top tier performance.
2. THE CHRISTMAS RING (2020)
Putting my 24 days of watching 24 bad Christmas movies to good use and using one of the picks today. Here we have a reporter as the main character and reporters are like amateur sleuths, right? I mean investigative journalism is quite the thing. Never would have imagined it applied to a ring and a romance plot but hey, anything is possible on the Hallmark channel. My mushy brain remembers very little of this movie except the fact that I didn’t like it.
1. VERONICA MARS (2014)
Last but not least the biggest disappointment ever, the Veronica Mars movie. Now the show is back, I think, I’m honestly not sure but the movie was where I parted with Veronica. After season 3 I felt like our journey was about to end on a bad note but I had hopes. The movie was the final straw though. I heard some decisions were made in the show revival that really would have led to destructive behaviour. So a downhill amateur sleuth journey basically. But the first two seasons of Veronica Mars the TV-show is great! The movie is just a drag and not a good time at all. A shame though because this character had so much potential.
THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
2
Lucky for me I’ve already stayed away from these! I never watched Veronica Mars when it was on TV, though I know it was well loved. It sucks the movie couldn’t follow through.
I feel like these revamps and closures and what nots never work out. Gilmore Girls for instance is the worst but I also know that they had to rush it so it’s a shame that they felt like it was better to do smth shitty than to do the fans justice and not give it like a fcked up ending.
I haven’t seen any of these but I’ve seen an episode or two of Veronica Mars, never enough to get hooked on the show though. Thanks for the warning they’re disappointing!
We have a roundabout match since I chose another earlier version of Nancy Drew that was a brief serial.
Nancy Drew: Detective (1938)-A brief Warner Brothers series (this was followed by: Nancy Drew…Reporter, Nancy Drew…Trouble Shooter and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase-all released in 1939) starring Oscar nominee Bonita Granville as the intrepid and curious young Nancy who sniffs trouble and cannot help investigating. That usually leads her into endless difficulties, but she always manages to solve the mystery in the end!
Hue and Cry (1947)- “The Blood and Thunder Boys” are a neighborhood group of kids in a partially bombed out section of post-WWII London. They suspect the boss of the village gang is directing his cohorts to their various criminal enterprises by manipulating stories in a popular kid’s paper “The Trump” (an actual kid comic of the time). Determined to stop the crooks they set out to solve the mystery of the leader’s identity and turn him over to the cops! Considered the first of the British Ealing comedies.
Who Killed Mary What’s ‘Er Name? (1971)-When a local prostitute is slain in a rough, rundown part of town, the police and neighbors react with little more than a shrug. Outraged, retired boxer Mickey Isador (Red Buttons), who knew the woman slightly, decides to try and find the killer. With the aid of his daughter, he pokes around the gritty dilapidated slum looking for answers, nearly getting himself offed in the process. Low-budget film captures the ramshackle decay that had infected many parts of New York City in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
Those Hallmark movies are horrible. I only watched one where they were in Vienna and got to see the Christmas market which was good to see but..blecchhh. I have not seen the other films and probably won’t.
I’m very glad I haven’t seen any of these.
I’ve only seen Nancy Drew, just the once a long time ago. I don’t remember it being bad. I think I thought it was cute and I had like the retro look it was going for.