All posts by Tony Hughes

2013, Acceptable Trash, B-movie, Car Chase, CIA, Conspiracy, Crude Talk, Mayhem, Nothing special, Suspense, Violent

A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)

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From IMDB:

John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces.

What can I say? You will see the usual car chase mayhem. Possibly the father and son theme adds a little (very little) something.

Jai Courtney, who plays the son Jack, played Varro in “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”.

There are at least two plot twists as a reward for actually sitting through this B film.

2013, Conspiracy, Crime, Depression, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Lesbian Theme, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Plot Twist, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense

Side Effects (2013)

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From Netflix:

Emily copes with her depression by taking antidepressant medication. But when her dire state apparently spirals out of control due to her husband’s prison release, she turns to a new medication that alters her life forever.

At first you may think this is a film about Big Pharma and its possibly controversial drug trials. Just stay tuned!

The fact that Channing Tatum is in this film is a red herring. He is practically a walk-on cameo. Instead, this show belongs to Jude Law who seems like a victim until he shows a resilience and cleverness not to be matched.

You could call this a “revenge” film and indeed the revenge is incredibly satisfying, especially since Catherine Zeta-Jones plays such a villainess and clever nemesis.

Hats off to Rooney Mara as Emily Taylor. In case you don’t recognize her, Rooney Mara was Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

In the category of suspense, intrigue, and conspiracy this film is a DO NOT MISS!

2013, Abduction, Bullying, Cancer theme, Child Molestation, Clever Plot, Crime, Crude Talk, Dark, DNA, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, FilmReview, Gritty, Love Story, Made For TV, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Rape, Revenge, Sad small town, Suspense, Trailer Life, TV Series, Violent, Vulgar, Wonderful acting

Top of the Lake (2013)

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From Netflix:

When pregnant, 12-year-old Tui tries to kill herself in a freezing New Zealand lake, Detective Robin Griffin has plenty of questions for the girl. But when Tui suddenly disappears, Griffin finds herself knee-deep in small-town secrets.

Just about everything happens in this gritty, tough TV series taking place in a remote location in New Zealand. To name just of the few features:

  • An amoral, cruel hillbilly family that kills, rapes, manufactures illegal drugs, etc.
  • A cult-like compound for women who have had bad experiences and are sometimes completely naked.
  • Child molestation
  • Gang rape
  • A mother dying of cancer
  • Self-flagellation
  • Dishonest police officers
  • A very capable woman detective (played by Elizabeth Moss) trying to get on with her life while dealing with her troubled past
  • Quite a few nude sex scenes
  • A not quite civilized society
  • Several murders

Yes, this is one crazy TV series. Elizabeth Moss, who played Peggy in “Mad Men”, does a terrific job. But all the actors do wonderful jobs.

You might not want to eat a full meal before watching. Nonetheless, for me at least, in the category of gritty this series is a DO NOT MISS!

2008, AIDS, B-movie, Barely Acceptable Trash, Corny, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Gritty, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Murder Investigation, Not Recommended, Nudity, Prison, Religious Theme, Ridiculous plot, Sadism, Suicide, Suspense, Terrible acting, Unrealistic, Violent

The Fall (2008)

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From Netflix:

When his loser brother is accused of killing a priest, Frank (Scott Kinworthy), a hotshot lawyer with lofty political aspirations, steps in to defend him. But as Frank digs up the truth, he uncovers damning revelations from the past that could ruin his future. Written and directed by John Krueger, this suspenseful drama follows the conflicted attorney’s difficult choice between saving his sibling or himself.

If you are ever teaching a course in film writing or acting and you need an example of really bad writing or acting then have I got a HORRIBLE film you can use to great effect!

Only the (somewhat farfetched) plot kept me watching. Not that it would have cost me anything to stop watching this film streamed from Netflix. At times I sat watching in open mouthed wonder that anyone could act in such an amateurish and exaggerated manner. Think high school actors (although I have seen better acting in high school plays).

If the acting seems bad, wait till you learn the plot. Although I will spare you the gory details, this film manages to dredge up plot lines involving a hotel for gay encounters, a priest who commits a theatrical suicide, adultery, a psychotic gay prisoner, attempted murder using the AIDS disease, sadistic prison guards, a completely amoral and ambitious wife of a lawyer, and the list goes on.

Do not claim that I did not warn you! On the other hand, aren’t you really curious to see just how bad this film really is?

2012, Crime, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Gritty, Love Story, Murder Investigation, Nothing special, Nudity, Police Story, Suspense, Violent

Deadfall (2012)

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Netflix:

On the run after a casino heist, siblings Addison and Liza split up. When Liza gets a ride from a prison parolee heading to his parents’ home for Thanksgiving, unexpected events lead the two families toward a collision in this suspenseful thriller.

You might expect good things from a film in which Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek, Olivia Wilde, and Treat Williams appear. In fact the film offered a good plot, good acting and well-done suspense. Note that the film is violent and gritty.

Essentially the story brings together a brother and sister who recently robbed a casino, a young man Jay recently released from jail but estranged from his father who together with his wife expects his son for Thanksgiving, and a young woman police officer whose police captain father does not respect her choice of career even though she is very competent. Eventually they all converge at the Thanksgiving dinner table with lots of guns in sight.

Liza and Jay’s falling in love is unrealistic. Jay could possibly be a better actor. Nevertheless …

Really not bad at all.

Based on a Book, British Mystery Series, Murder Investigation, P.D. James

P.D. James

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Instead of a review of just one film, below you will find a list of TV presentations of stories adapted from novels by P. D. James. All are available from Netflix. All of them are well worth watching. Just remember that P.D. James has a raw edge.

The following can be streamed and are on disc. Streaming offers captions whereas there are no captions on disc.

Original Sin
Shroud for a Nightingale
Cover Her Face
A Taste for Death
The Black Tower
Death of an Expert Witness
Unnatural Causes
Devices and Desires

The following are on disc only and have no captions:

Unsuitable Job For A Woman
A Mind to Murder
Death In Holy Orders

2012, Crude Talk, Depression, Drama, Gay theme, Hebrew, Jewish Culture, Medical Theme, Military, Nudity, Quiet, Unrealistic

Yossi (2012)

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From Netflix:

While driving through a remote part of Israel, a closeted gay doctor crosses paths with a group of soldiers who inspire him to live life in the open. Ohad Knoller reprises the title role in this sequel to Yossi & Jagger.

Before seeing this film, you should watch the first of the 2-film series entitled Yossi & Jagger. Briefly we recall the plot of this first film: Jossi and Jagger are two (male) Israeli soldiers and lovers at their war front. Jagger is killed in action. For me this film was a chance to experience some of the life of the men and women in the Israeli army.

In this second film and 10 years later Jossi is a cardiologist. He is overweight, closeted, still in mourning, and leads a dismal, inactive, non-life. In one sense, what kept the movie interesting for me was Jossi’s refusal to react to any stimulus or friendly offer of some activity. Supposedly the “happy” ending is his finding someone to love. HOWEVER (and other critics disliked the same things) his new love, Tom, is a much younger, fitter soldier who forces Jossi to react to his overtures. Tom says he is attracted to Jossi’s intelligence. They have a one-night stand after which Jossi proposes that they spend their life together. None of this is realistic and seemed to me almost silly.

In summary I was moved by Jossi’s suffering (probably clinical depression) and waited hopefully for some solution. If only that solution had made some sense.

Instead, why not watch a wonderful film by the same director called Walk On Water ?

2013, Car Chase, Crime, Crude Talk, Frenetic, Gangs, Mediocre, Mixed Martial Arts, Nothing special, Revenge, Violent

Parker (2013)

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From Netflix:

Parker is a thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it, and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But when his crew double-crosses him, Parker teams up with an unlikely partner to even the score.

If you like Jason Statham then you will like this film since it is pretty much like all his other films: much violent action, unconvincing romantic touches, and an amoral philosophy.

This last note bothered me: the film for the most part condones and makes attractive stealing and killing. “Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it, and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it.” What nonsense! It is OK to kill crooks because they are nasty people. It is OK to steal jewelry from other crooks have already stolen the jewelry – but wait: did not that jewelry originally belong to someone? At least Jennifer Lopez gets to live happily ever after with the proceeds from selling those stolen gems.

Is there something wrong with Nick Nolte’s throat ?

If you are not a solid Jason Statham fan, don’t bother with this film.

2012, Based on a Book, Fantasy, Gay theme, Human spirit, Nuclear energy, Optimistic, Sci-Fi, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Suspense, Violent

Cloud Atlas (2012)

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From Netflix:

In this star-studded drama, six seemingly disparate stories take viewers from a South Pacific Island in the 19th century to 1970s America to a dystopian future, exploring the complicated links that humans share through the generations.

In Mitchell’s novel each of the various episodes, all of which are related one to another, continue uninterrupted up to a cliff-hanging point of the episode near its end. At the end of the novel each of the episodes concludes.

In the film, on the other hand, those episodes are shuffled like a deck of cards. You constantly and abruptly flit from episode to episode.

Story alone will get you through the 172 minutes, even if not all the actors (some quite well known, but mum’s the word) excel at their craft.

For me the most unsettling thread was the account of Corpocracy. Could that really happen? In the book names of objects are replaced by their brand names. For example, the word “Lipton” is used instead of the archaic “tea”. Also I found the costumes for that portion eerily appropriate.

Believe it or not, I preferred the film. Enjoy!

1994, British Mystery Series, Child Molestation, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Gay theme, Gritty, Made For TV, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Rugby, Small Town, Violent, Wales

A Mind to Kill (1994)

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From Netflix:

Homicide detective Noel Bain (Philip Madoc) specializes in solving crimes the old-fashioned way: with keen intuition and deductive reasoning rather than high-tech gadgets and forensics. A prickly widower obsessed with his work, Bain always nabs the bad guys. His workaholic tendencies infuriate his teenage daughter, Hannah (Ffion Wilkins), but he strives to protect her from the relentless brutality he witnesses every day in his beloved Wales.

Available from Netflix only on disc (no streaming) with subtitles, this gritty detective series occurring in Wales is well-written and well-acted.

Add this to your list of gritty British detective TV series and enjoy. In this gritty category I would rate this series DO NOT MISS!