Discuss: Dinner Most Foul
Filed under: Mystery & Suspense, Fandom
Ever since I watched Neil Simon's Murder by Death over the weekend, and subsequently wrote about it, my head has been full of murder mysteries. More specifically, those set at the dinner table.
There's just something about a large feast, a collection of quirky characters, and the need to solve a mystery that works wonderfully again and again. It's no wonder there's a whole business dedicated to murder mysteries over dinner. Do those gourmet flavors like Sharks' Fin Soup inspire mental clarity? Or is it just the fact that sitting at a large table makes it harder to flee when hard truth hits? I've no idea, but again and again, the suspects sit and the truth ultimately comes out -- usually with the help of a clever detective like Nick Charles, Hercule Poirot, or a handful of colorful suspects pointing the finger at themselves.
Murder by Death, Ten Little Indians (and its many adaptations), Clue, The Thin Man, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Gosford Park ... you name it! There's food at every turn. They sit; they eat; they detect. But which is the best? Is there any way to really put one above the rest? There are so many great instances that it seems like the most impossible task to choose just one. Myself, I can't pick -- each has its magic, whether it be slurping soup, serving nonexistant soup, or a clever revelation of the killer Charles-style.
But what about you? Which dinner mystery do you think is the most
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-24-2009 @ 8:44AM
Duane said...
I have to say Clue & Ten Little Indians. I have seen both of these movies several times & enjoy watching them again & again. Clue was great &, if you played the game (& who hasn't?), then you can understand the subtle clues (no pun intended) that references the game. I'm a big Agatha Christie fan & this was actually the first book of her's I read. The movie slighty strayed from the book (but what movie/book doesn't; thinking Along Came a Spider-read the book you'll understand what I mean), but the movie was still good. Couldn't figure out Gosford Park & still not sure who the killer was. And I didn't see the rest of the ones you mentioned. I can't think of the any others.
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6-24-2009 @ 4:05PM
ro said...
Gosford Park is one of my favorite movies though not because of the misterious murder (that actually works as a subplot), but for the depiction of the characters and their social interaction... The murder is a concecuence of the impunity and hipocrecy of the upper class... the murderers are the illegitimate child of the owner of Gosford Park, and the mother that abandoned him as an infant...
Love Agatha Christies` And then there were none...and I saw Clue when I was younger and enjoyed it so much! Got to see it again!
Great post! Brings back many memories...
6-23-2009 @ 9:48PM
Kurt said...
I heart Clue sooooooo much. Monkeys brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine are not likely to be found in Washington, D.C.
(is that what we ate?)
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6-23-2009 @ 11:27PM
jonathan said...
hahaha dude!!!!!!!!!! best movie ever.
6-23-2009 @ 9:48PM
paul said...
Most foul? Hannibal and his brain pan buffet. The "scene" in Hannibal is like slowing down to get a good look at the soggy human remains draped from a collision.
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6-23-2009 @ 9:53PM
Linda said...
How about The Last Supper?
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6-23-2009 @ 10:16PM
Jessica Dillon said...
Hard to pick between Clue and Murder by Death, but you're missing Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe! I barely remember it - I saw it as a child - but it's a murder mystery set entirely around food.
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6-23-2009 @ 10:22PM
vegimorph said...
i'll go with clue since i haven't seen Agatha Christie's and then there were none yet
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6-24-2009 @ 4:45PM
finishdish said...
Thanks for the post. Wifey and I watch "Clue" and/or "Murder by Death" at least once a week. Good stuff, an I'm always searching for similar titles. Wikipedia was helpful with this list...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comedy_horror_films
... which includes MxD and Clue both. From that list, check out "Ghostbreakers" with Bob Hope. A very fun film based on "The Cat and the Canary". All-in-all I think it's been remade about 4 times.
"And then there were none" is in our list of favorites also, and I was so proud of my geeky wife when she educated me during a recent viewing of "Identity"... it's a remake of "Ten Little Indians"! It was obvious once she said it, and I can't believe I never put that together. Great flick BTW.
Be sure to also check out "The Dirty Detective" which is the "Sequel" to MxD. Oh, there are also a few deleted scenes on Youtube. Good stuff. Any other suggestions in this genre?
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6-24-2009 @ 6:53PM
finishdish said...
erp... correction... "The Cheap Detective"
6-24-2009 @ 7:03PM
Monika said...
And thank you for the suggestions. I kinda wish a monsoon was coming this weekend so I could hole up watching funny mysteries!