Movie Review: **** Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

 Daniel Craig again stars as detective Benoit Blanc.  He shows up at a murder scene at a Catholic Church.  He is brought in at the request of the chief of police, Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis).  The priest, Monsignor Wicks (Josh Brolin) has been murdered, and the new assistant priest, Father Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is set up to take the fall.  But there are many suspects.  Wicks had made enemies of most the parish; or driven them off.  This includes Martha Delacroix (Glen Close) who has been with the church since being a child, DR. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) the local doctor.  Vera Draven (Kerry Washington) a local lawyer.  Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack) who turns out to be the Monsignor's illegitimate son.  The Monsignor was murdered in a closet off of the chapel where he was drinking some alcohol before delivering his sermon.  He collapses and is found with a "devil's blade" in his back.  The father was the first to him, and the doctor the second.  After they leave, the father returns and removes the Monsignor's flask.  This was a vital clue.  He removes it to prevent embarrassment for the head priest now that he is dead.  The twist in the plot is when the Monsignor resurrects and the priest chases after him, to wake up with the gardner murdered, by him.  Duplenticy is about to confess, when Blanc steps in the divulge the truth of what happened.  Too much to tell here, and not wanting to divulge the murdered, this movie is a good mystery thriller with a couple of twists.  

Marvel Movie Review: ***^ Fantastic Four (2005)

 This presets the classic story of how five astronauts go to space to study DNA.  They are hit with a solar flash, four of them while outside the vehicle, and their DNA is altered, Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, brother Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis).  The movie deals with their coming to terms with their changes.  The Thing struggles the most, as his fiancé breaks off the relationship due to his changed appearance (he looks like a rock.). Richards, the lead scientist vows to find a way to reverse the machine, creating a controlled solar storm.  Mean while te fifth member of the company, Victor von Doom/Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) begins to develop his own powers, unbeknownst to the others.  His body is turning to metal and can generate electricity.  While the Fantastic Four use their powers for good, Doom uses his powers to murder others, and wants to take the powers of the oter four so he will be the only one with powers.  He cures the thing for a time, using his generated electricity to have the power needed.  This leads to a battle between Dr. Doom and the Four.

The Thing finally meets a woman who accepts him as he is, Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington).  He seems to be more accepting of himself as a result.