Monday, April 23, 2018

Mini- Reviews

Diamond Girl

Diamond Girl by Julie Mulhern is a short in the Country Club Murders mystery series. It's a quick mystery with Ellison's housekeeper Aggie in the starring role, as she has to solve jewelry thefts that her new boyfriend is suspected of. Aggie will of course be familiar to anyone who reads the Country Club Murders, but even if you haven't this is a great introduction to the series. You get a different perspective on Ellison, the protagonist of the series, and that alone makes this a fun read! It never occurred to me to look at Ellison through Aggie's eyes. 

It's nice to see Aggie get the spotlight as well. She lost her husband to cancer and hasn't fully recovered, so when she meets Mac it takes her a while to let go and learn to live again. The story is short but heartwarming, and just makes me that much more anxious for the next Country Club book. Oh, and I expect that Mac will be showing up in the books as well, and his catering is enough to make a reader hungry!  


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Orbiter 9 is a movie on Netflix about a woman named Mie who is on a solo mission to a new planet, but finds out her mission is not entirely as she thought it was. Her parents died to give her enough oxygen to survive the trip, and she meets a rendezvous point where an engineer can come aboard and make repairs. The engineer, Alex, is the first human she's seen in her life, and she falls for him (rather quickly), but he knows things about the mission she doesn't. When he tells her certain things it changes both of their lives in unforeseen ways. 

I liked this a lot. It was just an impulse watch but I highly recommend - it's a Spanish production so I watched in subtitles, but it's well done and kept me hooked. I had to know what would happen to Mie! Her and Alex were great and I felt for them as they had to navigate a minefield of obstacles. This is a great science fiction film!





The Chalet is a six part French series appearing on Netflix. I devoured this one in record time due to the awesome nature of the premise- a bunch of friends who grew up together and their significant others come together at a village in the French Alps for a wedding. Unfortunately there are dangerous secrets in the background and after all access to the village is cut off, murders happen. It's kind of slow to get going but once it does I couldn't stop watching. And it has what may be the creepiest title sequence ever? Judge for yourself. 

37 comments:

  1. Tell me the truth, Greg, you're trying to make me join Netflix, huh? :P Sounds like you had a blast, and I'm particularly intrigued by Orbiter 9!

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  2. My dad watches a lot of foreign films though he prefers Korean horror and violence! I don't really watch foreign films for the most part. I like the cover though.

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    1. I haven't seen any Korean films I don't think! But the Chalet sure was good!

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  3. I hadn't come across Orbiter 9 yet in my travels around Netflix. It sounds really good though so I'm going to have to find it and add it to my queue. The Chalet sounds pretty amazing too!

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    1. I stumbled on it, mainly from the cover, and since it's a movie it's a quick watch! And I totally recommend The Chalet!!

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  4. I'm guessing by the trailer that The Chalet is in subtitles as well? Did you ever watch Harper's Island? The premises for this reminds me a lot of that. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. It's on Hulu and CW Seed. ;)

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    1. Yes it's french so I had to subtitle it. And I have not seen Harper's Island, but if it's anything like Chalet I'll probably like it! I'll check it out, I'm re- subbing to Hulu since Handmaid's is comin back, so I'll be able to watch it!

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  5. OMG The Chalet looks so good! I need to check out Netflix more, there seems to be so many great new shows on lately😁

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  6. Orbiter 9 looks really interesting! I'm a sucker for anything sci-fic. Have you seen Lost in Space? I know it's a remake (ew) but I'm liking it thus far.
    On the one hand I would love to practice by French by watching The Chalet but on the other hand I despise anything even remotely scary...so I'm torn.

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    1. Orbiter 9 was great! And I started Lost in Space but I'm only on the first episode- I was kinda bored but if it gets better I'm all in!

      The Chalet is a bit of a nailbiter at times but it's not gory or anything like that. It's more of a mystery/ thriller?

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  7. I'm behind in the Country Club series, but it's nice to know that Aggie gets a chance to be center stage!

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    1. Yes, I was surprised to see Aggie take center stage :)

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  8. Thanks for the recommendation on Orbiter 9. We're gonna need some new ones to check out since we finished Lost in Space. Both of these sound good!

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    1. Did you like Lost in Space? I might give it another go. and Orbiter 9 yes check that one out!!!!

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  9. I will have to check out Orbiter 9. Chalet sounds really good as well. I enjoy movies and shows from other countries and have never minded subtitles. Lately my TV watching has been more for background though so not exactly conducive for those types of movies. :-(

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    1. I am watching more and more foreign stuff. Dark, Chalet, now Orbiter 9- all good.

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  10. Hmmmm, interesting! I am curious about Orbiter, I have not watched a lot of sci.fi lately

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  11. I love that book cover and Orbiter 9 looks interesting!

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. I like that cover too. I like the series anyway but the cover got me. :) Plus it was cheap being a novella.

      Orbiter 9 was fantastic!

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  12. That’s a lovely way to describe the Country Club Murders...I do love these books!

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  13. lol I'm french and I didn't know about this one but it doesn't attract me. It doesn't look well done...

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    1. No? I think it might be the first French show I've watched, other than The Returned.

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  14. The Chalet sounds super suspenseful! I don't really go for scary things, but I'll pass this along to my husband, lol.

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. Yeah, give it a shot! I highly recommend The Chalet.

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  15. Orbiter 9 sounds like an interesting movie. I haven't seen it pop up on my Netflix line-up before. I will have to dig around and put it on my list. :)

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  16. Lordie. I wish I have the time to watch Netflix nowadays. Jealous.

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  17. ooooh I'm so glad I caught this post! I LOVE foreign films and Orbiter 9 sounds super good as does the Chalet. The peeps in my house LOVE mysteries so I think I can get them to sign on too!

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  18. I really enjoy the country club murders reviews, and the covers too -- it's got such a vintage feel to it.

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  19. Some cool recommendations here! I'll have to add both the show and the movie to my Netflix queue.

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  20. I need to read the Julie Mulhern! I knew I wanted to read it but clearly it is a requirement. Le Chalet looks incredibly creepy. Definitely something I need to check out!

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  21. ::Adds Orbiter 9 to watchlist:: But I have questions. 1) What is with the name Mie everywhere suddenly? and 2) Was this sacrifice made by Hair Clip Dad? Because if so... here for it.

    I'm curious about The Chalet too. Just 6 episodes? I might be able to do that. Ugh, added it too. I don't even understand how you watch all this stuff. It's impressive, but also, you really need that intervention.

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  22. I'm not familiar with any of these. Thanks for the heads up. :D

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