All posts by Tony Hughes

2016, Abduction, Coarse manners, Divorce, Eccentric Detective, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, German, German Detectives, Jewelry theft, Mental Illness, MHz Choice, Missing Person, Murder, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Police Culture, Religious fanatic, Religious Theme, Revenge, Serial Killer, Stalker, Suspense, Teenagers

Wolfsland (2016)

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From MHz Choice:

Criminalist Viola Delbrück and Detective Burkhard “Butch” Schulz are mismatched investigators in this atmospheric German crime drama set in the mountains of Upper Lusatia.

From MHz Choice you can stream one season consisting of 6 episodes. Each episode lasts about 1.5 hours and is a complete story. German with subtitles.

Running through the 6 episodes are several themes, the most important being the fact that Viola’s former husband is stalking her and determined to win her back.  Viola is an intelligent and sincere detective who tries to follow the rules.  Detective “Butch” on the other hand is a real pain-in-the neck who is most often rude but underneath  the coarse surface is, in his own way, a caring person.

Well done set of engrossing stories.

2009, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, British Mystery Series, Courtroom scenes, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Forensics, Police Investigation, Suspense

Law and Order UK (2009)

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From IMDB:

UK version of the long-running U.S. TV drama that tells the stories of two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of this police and courtroom series.  Seasons 1, 2, and 3 offer 13 episodes each. Season 4 offers 6 episodes. Season 5 offers 8 episodes.  Every episode is about 48 minutes.

For years Kathy and I have enjoyed the US version of “Law and Order” but we both agree that somehow for us the UK version is better.  Each episode is positively wrenching. Someone, innocent or guilty, will suffer greatly.  What probably adds to the plot urgency is the fact that the villains are often so arrogantly evil that we cannot wait for them to get their comeuppance.

Six characters dominate the stories: two detectives, their boss and three jurists.  Portraits of these six men and women are anything but cut and dried.  Each has a personal life that often figures in a plot.

What is a bit disturbing is how easily the series replaces characters (and as a result, actors)  Don’t fall in love with any one personality which might soon be eliminated one way or another.

There are so many plots that it is not practical trying to add enough categories in the header of this review.

Do you have time to watch 53 episodes? Better hurry and get started.

DO NOT MISS!

2014, Acceptable Trash, Accidental Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease, Amazon Prime, Arson, Art Marketing, Autism, Binge worthy, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Cancer theme, Cooking and food, Corny at times, Corrupt Prison Guards, Courtroom scenes, Depression, Detective, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Fishing, Flashbacks, Flirting, Friendship, Gay theme, Happy Family Gatherings, Husband leaves wife, Illegitimate Child, Incompetent or unfit mother, Lawyers, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Murder Trial, Narcissist, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Prison, Psychiatrists, Romance, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Soap Opera, Suicide, Surfing, Unhappy Marriage, Unmarried mother, Weird California Cultures, Wife leaves husband, Womanizing

The Affair (2014)

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From IMDB:

A struggling novelist and a young waitress strike up an extramarital relationship that promises to forever change the course of their lives.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this steamy romance and crime series. Each episode is just under 1 hour.

UPDATE:  Now from Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of the soap opera that never ends. Season 2 has 12 episodes. Season 5 has 11 episodes. Seasons 1,3, and 4 have 10 episodes. Each episode is still about one hour.  That gives us a total of 53 hours of soap opera escape.

Nothing is perfect. Some portions are downright corny.  There is a strange interruption in plot when Noah seems to be having a series of psychotic episodes.  Did the writers forget to finish that part of the story?   Sometimes present events plus flashbacks from the past might seem somewhat confusing.

Toward the end I watched slowly because I did not want the story to end.  If a LOOOONG soap opera with a fair number of sometimes explicit sex scenes is your thing, DO NOT MISS!

Original review:

Noah Solloway is played by Dominic West,  the British actor with a long acting resumé. At the time of filming he was 45 years old.

Alison Bailey is played by Ruth Wilson, the British actress whose own resumé is just as long even though she was only 32 years old at the time of filming.  Her role as the sociopath “Alice Morgan” in the TV series “Luther” was chillingly unforgettable.

Alison’s marriage is failing while she and her husband morn the death of their young son.  Noah is having trouble writing his second novel and is trying desperately to be faithful to his wife even though he is immediately attracted to Alison.

Along the way there is a death that is being investigated  by Detective Jeffries.

As soap operas go, this one is not too bad.

2021, Acceptable for teenagers, Archaeologists, Art Treasures, Based on a Book, Based on true facts, Bicycles, British, Buried Treasure, Career Competition, Character Driven, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Failing Marriage, Fatal heart problems, Gay theme, Love Story, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Romance, Sex Scenes, Unhappy Marriage, WWII

The Dig (2021)

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From IMDB:

An archaeologist  embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.

From Netflix:

On the eve of World War II, a British widow hires a self-taught archaeologist to dig up mysterious formations on her land, leading to a staggering find.

From Netflix you can stream this wonderful 1 hour 52 minute complete film.

Ralph Fiennes (who during the filming was 59 years old) plays Basil Brown the excavator and self-taught archaeologist. Carey Mulligan (who was 36)  plays the wealthy, widowed landowner Edith Pretty.

Actually the film is a homage to Basil Brown who was a humble man with no formal education whose industrious intelligence led him through self-study to become an intuitively clever amateur archaeologist.  In fact a major point of the story is that during his lifetime he was given no credit for having discovered a 6th century Anglo Saxon burial site complete with ship and precious jewelry. Instead the glory was claimed by the “experts” who tried to wrest the project from Basil. But Edith Pretty, who is dying from faulty heart valves damaged by childhood rheumatic fever,  comes to the rescue and champions Basil and his right to complete the project which, after all, is on HER land.  All the artifacts are now in the British Museum where the explanatory signage give full credit to Basil Brown.

Remember this film is NOT a documentary. But rather a drama involving many threads featuring:  Edith’s son and who will care for him when she dies, Edith’s cousin,  a young woman excavator whose uncaring husband turns out to be gay,  Basil’s wife, and others.  World War II also plays a prominent part in the plot.

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Abandoned child, Action Hero, Adopted child, Art theft, Art Treasures, Clever Plot, Contract Killing, Corrupt policemen, Corruption, Detective, Disguise expert, Escape Artist, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Frame someone for a crime, French, Mildly Violent, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Physical fighting, Police Corruption, Police Investigation, Police Politics, Problematic Ending, Revenge, Suspense

Lupin (2021)

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From IMDB:

Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.

From Netflix:

Years after a tragic injustice, Assane seeks to settle a score — and a debt — by stealing a diamond necklace, but the heist takes an unexpected turn.

From Netflix you can stream 5 episodes of this revenge drama. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.  French with English audio and subtitles.

Assane is given as a young child a book recounting the adventures of the daring escape artist Arsene Lupin.  In plotting the revenge for his father’s unjust prison death, Assane becomes a master of disguise and clever ruses.

WARNING:  Five great episodes do not finish the story.  Netflix calls the 5 episodes “Part 1” probably because the story just abruptly discontinues.

Good entertainment as far as it goes!?!

2020, Anti-women Victorian attitudes, British Mystery Series, Corrupt policemen, Detective, False Imprisonment, Father-daughter relations, Flirting, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Gay theme, Greed, Happy ending, Male Chauvinism, Mildly Violent, Murder, Murder Investigation, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Police Politics, Romance, Suspense, Unjust crime conviction, Upstairs - Downstairs, Women's Equality

Miss Scarlet and the Duke (2020)

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From IMDB:

Eliza Scarlet joins forces with a Scotland Yard Inspector to solve crime in 19th century London.

PBS Masterpiece is showing each episode one week at a time. From PBS Passport all 6 episodes can already be streamed. Each episode is about 1.5 hours.

Eliza Scarlet is the daughter of deceased detective Henry. She needs to earn a living and wants to be a detective herself.  She meets resistance to this goal from Scotland Yard Detective William ‘The Duke’ Wellington who was also a friend to Henry.  In each episode she fights to be included in the current investigation and also in each episode she gains a bit more respect from the anti-feminist William. Of course, a romance is in the making. Overriding the 6 episodes is the question: How did Eliza’s father Henry really die?

Involving period piece.  Worth the watch.

2020, Accidental Death, Addiction, Adopted child, Alcoholism, America of the 1960s, Based on a Book, Chess, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sexual discussion, Failing Marriage, Fashion, Friendship, Husband leaves wife, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Orphanage, Paris in the 1960s, Redemption, Sexual promiscuity, Unhappy Marriage

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

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From IMDB:

Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.

Nine year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, she’s competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting. Based on the book by Walter Tevis.

From Netflix you can stream the 7 episodes of this  remarkable drama. Episodes vary in length from 46 minutes to 67 minutes.

You need not understand anything about chess to appreciate the tension of a chess match and to enjoy this story.  Although there are an awful lot of chess matches and much discussion about the game,  Beth and her personal life remain the center of attention. Watching the obsessive inhabitants of the world of chess can be a revelation. Granted that a person can obsess over just about anything, nonetheless the hold that chess has on some players is remarkable. Indeed that hold is the core of Beth’s ultimate problem: exactly what is her life about?

Anya Taylor-Joy,  the British/Argentine actress who plays Beth, is as perfect for the role as she is beautiful.  When she says “I like clothes”, consider that an understatement.   Where did she get the money for all those clothes?

DO NOT MISS!

 

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Alzheimer's disease, Amazon Prime, Basically Sad, British, Could Be Hard To Watch, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Flashbacks, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Mystery Film, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Investigation, Possibly depressing, Wonderful acting

Elizabeth Is Missing (2019)

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From PBS.org:

Returning to television for the first time in nearly three decades, two-time Academy Award®–winner Glenda Jackson stars as a woman desperately trying to solve two mysteries as she declines ever deeper into dementia, in Elizabeth Is Missing, an adaptation of Emma Healey’s acclaimed novel.

From PBS Passport currently you can stream this 1 hour 27 minute film.  Amazon Prime requires that you pay to stream.

Again from PBS.org:

Jackson astounded critics during the UK broadcast of Elizabeth Is Missing in late 2019. “Glenda Jackson shines in this heartrending whodunnit” (The Guardian); “Jackson gave one of the performances of her lifetime” (The Daily Telegraph); “Jackson is remarkable” (The Independent); “a devastatingly real performance” (The Times); “brilliant” (Radio Times).

Glenda Jackson in 2019, when the show first aired, was 83 years old.  She is remembered for her role as Alex Greville in  Sunday Bloody Sunday which was made in 1971 when she was a mere 35 years of age.

Watching   her as Maud Horsham struggle against the onset of Alzheimer’s can be profoundly upsetting.  Some of our friends could not sleep after watching the drama.  “Will this happen to me?”  is a scary question.  Just as real as her studied and accurate performance are the reactions of those who care for her:  her daughter and her grand-daughter.

If you want to see superb acting, DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Addiction, Adultery, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, French, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Imperfect, Improbable details, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prison, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Sex Offender, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Predator, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unjust crime conviction, Violent

The Break (2018)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of Season 2 of this French (English subtitles) crime soap-opera.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

SECOND REVIEW: Please note that there is already a review for Season 1 which is dated 2016.  To appreciate Season 2 you should first watch Season 1.  My review for Season 1 raves positively and might now be taken with a grain of salt.  It is still true that I was so taken with the plot, characters, and mystery that I once again binged on the series. However, this time let me be a bit more critical.

For adjectives describing this strange-fest consider: exaggerated, corny, repetitive, histrionic,  improbable, riddled with inconsistencies,  and ending in a questionable conclusion.  How’s that for damning with praise?

So what is so watch-worthy?  For one thing the cast consists of some of the more peculiar non-Hollywood characters I have ever seen.  All names hereafter are the character names because it is unlikely that any of the French and Dutch actors will be familiar.  Dany Bastin is the center of attention as the accused.  He is a skinny young man whose entire body is marked by a severe case of psoriasis.  When was the last time you saw an actor with truly repellent skin? He, his brother Christian, his brother’s wife Zoe, and his mother all seem to be underfed, sub-intelligent, unattractive, poverty-stricken  members of some lower order of humans.  Astrid du Tilleul is the wealthy, nasty, dissolute, drug addict murder victim. Her jealous sister Astrid and Astrid’s husband are the oddest looking pair of scheming and murderous morons to hit the screen.  Even dumber are some of the police officers.  At least one officer, Marjorie, is, however,  honest despite her physical unattractiveness.  Not so honest is her partner.

On and on and on goes the series. Yet somehow I was eagerly drawn to each episode (like a moth to a burning candle?)  If my description has not yet turned you away from this mess,  just have fun watching the exaggerated set of unlikely events.  You won’t know “who done it” until the very end.

2018, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Alcoholism, Binge worthy, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Dark, DO NOT MISS, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Greed, Grim, High school students, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Norwegian Detective, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Police Politics, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychopath, School Teacher, Small Town, Sociopath, Suicide, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Violent

Kieler Street (2018)

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From MHz Choice:

Kieler Street is a fresh and uniquely characterful drama-thriller that deconstructs what it really means to be a “normal” person. Criminal or not, most of us are capable of doing extreme things in our pursuit of a peaceful existence – but just how far are we willing to go? In this acclaimed Norwegian drama, former criminal Jonas has started a new life in Slusvik, Scandinavia’s most peaceful little town. He has it all: a happy family, a great job and the quiet life he always wanted. But when Geir, Jonas’ AA sponsor, cracks his cover, the facade starts falling apart and Jonas realizes he’s not the only one in Slusvik with a secret. And they’re all prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the illusion they have created…

From MHz Choice you can stream the 10 episodes of this Norwegian crime drama. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Be prepared for a very disquieting story.  Should we root for Jonas who, although he supposedly is repentant and wants to reform and have a peaceful life,  is essentially a violent personality?  In addition he is easily led toward his worst impulses by a spectacularly evil psychopath William, who is also leading a second life in Slusvik. It seems that a mysterious company can be paid to give its criminal clients a second life in Slusvik. So you never know which inhabitants of the town are “second lifers.”

Driving the story towards its surprising climax is the question “Will any of these villains get caught?”  Moreover, “Will the wily and smart outside detective Marius learn the truth despite the jealous competition of the amateur and naive  local police officers?”

Would you send me your reaction to the final conclusion?

Enjoy the suspense. DO NOT MISS!