My Netflix Recommendations: Mystery and Crime

As a single teacher living in the arctic who really enjoys good movie and even better TV but doesn't get any channels at all there is one thing that has been a boon to me on exceptionally late weekend nights: Netflix.

Ooooooo Netflix. There is so, so, so much to choose from. But I have this problem where I watch the old and familiar instead of something new on about 80% of occasions. I also don't generally find things I don't like, I know my tastes pretty well and rarely end up with a stinker.  My ratings for ages are skewing pretty conservatively - just for your information. But certain kids can take things better than others, preview and make your own judgement call.

For this first one let's examine the seedy underworld of crime... usually with death.

Bones - A bit more gruesome than I expected going into, the bodies are often... gooey. Still it is great fun and I love the ensemble of characters with all their backstories. I binge watched this one through season 6 or 7 and haven't caught up since. There are currently 9 seasons available. I really like Booth but the poor man needs to get himself to an apologetics class. (High school and up)

Murder, She Wrote - A classic. This is mystery show in the olden vein. No DNA, no fancy labs, just old-fashioned work and deduction. When my family watched these for the first tim we would often try to be the first to guess who did it. I usually failed. But Angela Lansbury makes this a show not to be missed. (Upper Elementary)

CSI:NY - Two installments from this franchise can be found on Netflix. Both are good but this one is my favorite. The current crime show formula was popularized by the first installment in this franchise. But there are also several overarching stories related to the side characters that make it also a drama. (High School)

Hoodwinked - So, so, so corny. I love it. It takes a familiar story and rewrites it as a mystery that we get to see from everyone's point of view, and they are quite amusing in the ways that they overlap. My favorite character by far is the wolf. He isn't a bad dude, he's just a journalist. Just don't bother yourself with the sequel. (Elementary)

Leverage - Not technically mystery. Sort of crime dramady... Here's the thing, the crew in this show are basically modern day Robin Hoods. They know what they do is illegal, but they are out trying to make retribution for people that can't do it for themselves. Moral quandaries abound, but I love this show. I'm not sure what it is about human nature but most people love a good bandit. (High school)

Psych - I love, love, love this show. Even at it's worst I love it, because I've seen it at it's best. It is one of the funniest shows I've seen in a long time ever. I've watched the musical movie for the show an embarrassing number of times. Shawn and Gus are basically the perfect foils to each other. The humor actually is a lot more clever than anyone in the show gives it credit for. My favorite part? It uses some of the modern crime show formula (DNA and sparkly labs) but it really is a throwback to old-school PI shows. (High school)

Clue - The grand-daddy of campy mystery. Okay maybe not. But certainly the best movie ever based off of a board game. Seriously, it is based of that game in your closet, the one with characters named after the colors of the pawns. But it works. It works so, so well. Plus you can pick your favorite ending (some of which make more sense than others). (Middle School)

Charade - This one is technically billed as a thriller. But that seems a minor thing when there are bad guys trying to kill you. If you love the classics this is the choice for you. I mean the leading roles are filled by Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, I'm not sure it can get any classier. Netflix has a pretty decent transfer of this film. Fun fact: this movie entered public domain instantly upon release because nobody bothered to put a copyright symbol in the credits... oops. (Upper Elementary)

The Great Mouse Detective - And one for the kids. Sure the mystery is never actually that mysterious, but this is an excellent introduction to the genre in my opinion. There are some scary parts, but I think that this movie holds up fairly well for all ages and is definitely one of Disney's most underrated movies. (Elementary... heh-heh)

There are so many more! But this list was already longer than I intended. I might need to do a separate list of British mysteries on Netflix because they are practically a genre unto themselves.

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