JESSE STONE: DEATH IN PARADISE (2006)

Another day, another murder in the town of Paradise.  This time it's the icky remains of a teenage girl that washed ashore.  Selleck and his people find some clues, but something just ain't right, so...it's up to Selleck to figure it out!  While uncovering information about the mysterious corpse there's a side story about a battered wife and her abusive husband, some poor parenting, Selleck going into therapy, a local gangster up to no good and new woman in Selleck's life.

Overall, DEATH IN PARADISE is a good film, but I really wish that the writing was stronger, the plot was darker and the script dug deeper into the characters.  Also, I'm really getting tired of Selleck's ex-wife calling him all the time.  Go away!  Still, it's worth a watch for fans of murder mysteries.

Part 1 - Stone Cold (2005)
Part 2 - Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
Part 4 - Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
Part 5 - Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Part 6 - Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
Part 7 - Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
Part 8 - Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Part 9 - Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)

JESSE STONE: NIGHT PASSAGE (2006)

This was kinda cool...Part 2 is actually a prequel to Part 1 and tells of Selleck's introduction to Paradise.  It also means that that one character I liked from Part 1 (and was unwisely killed off) is back!  Anyway, so following his divorce, Selleck get fired from his job as a cop in California (for being drunk on duty) and then hired by the small town of Paradise, MA to be their police chief.  Not because he's good, but because he's a drunk and therefore theoretically easy to control since the top city dude is a crook.

That's the main story, but there's a few interesting minor stories also to keep you entertained.  NIGHT PASSAGE is nothing deep, but I enjoyed delving deeper into the citizens of Paradise.  Sadly though there's still the drawback of it being a TV movie. The budget is too low, some of the visual effects look absolutely horrible, the dialogue is even cheesier than the first film(!!!) and the commercial break pauses are super distracting. 

Worth a watch for sure.  I'm really enjoying this dorky series so far.

Part 1 - Stone Cold (2005)
Part 3 - Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
Part 4 - Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
Part 5 - Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Part 6 - Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
Part 7 - Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
Part 8 - Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Part 9 - Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)

STONE COLD (2005)

As the film opens a dead body is found near the ocean.  The victim has been shot twice in the chest and Jesse has a bad feeling about it.  At the same time, a teenage girl is gang raped, but refuses to press charges against the perpetrators.  Then another dead body turns up...and another.  It's up to Stone to get to the bottom of all this bullshit.  Oh yeah, he also he just got a new dog.

The pace of STONE COLD is pretty slow, but a slow pace actually benefits the effect of the film on the viewer.  It gives you time to think and try to understand what's going on beneath the surface.  Small town, simple lives, a police chief haunted by past demons, an ex-wife, a high-powered female lawyer who wants to jump his bones and an intelligent, but unhinged killer on the loose.  Great stuff.

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed STONE COLD, but even then it was flawed in that it was television movie.  It wasn't as polished as a larger budgeted studio film would be, the objectionable content was toned way down, sometimes cheesy dialogue and end credits were just terrible.  That said, I still really like the film and I'm looking forward to watching the other movies in the series.  Recommended.

Part 2 - Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
Part 3 - Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
Part 4 - Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
Part 5 - Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Part 6 - Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
Part 7 - Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
Part 8 - Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Part 9 - Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)

PREMIUM RUSH (2012)

Bike messenger Joseph Gordon-Levitt doesn't believe in brakes (kinda like Sid Haig from PIT STOP) or newfangled bicycle technology like gears or lightweight frames.  He's like the Amish of bicycle technology.  Instead, he just pedals his ass off and uses backwards pedal movement to avoid cars.  One day Joseph is called to deliver an envelope to Chinatown, but before he can get even two feet a crooked cop comes along and starts hassling him.  Joe takes off and the cop chases him all over town.  That's pretty much the whole story.

Not surprisingly, PREMIUM RUSH isn't great cinema or anything deep.  It's just mindless entertainment with a bunch of flashy images, chase scenes, video game/music video styling and hip references that'll mean nothing in a few years, but...it is entertaining and that's all that matters.  Did I like it?  Yes.  Will I ever watch it again?  No.

Good for a one time watch.