Category Archives: Disguises

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Art Treasures, Bloody scenes, Boring occasionally, Complicated, Conspiracy, Disguises, Ethical struggles, Everybody lies, Fraud, Impersonation, Love Triangle, Murder, Murder by poison, Netflix Streaming, Off-color moments, Personal Betrayal, Plagiarism, Plot Twist, Satisfying Ending, Suspense, Unbelievably smart detective, Uncategorized

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

From Netflix:

World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel
back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his
eclectic crew of friends.

From Netflix you can stream the second installment of the “Knives Out” series. “Glass Onion” runs for 2 hours and 19 minutes.

Should Daniel Craig have stuck to playing James Bond (despite the fact that Bond dies in the last of that series) ?  As the movie starts I thought “Oh, no! Has-beens on parade!”  After awhile the story picks up, so you have to persist. Even Edward Norton’s long-winded boring speeches make a bit of sense.

Be on the lookout for cameo appearances by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Grant.

After two hours the story literally comes to a smashing end. Give the production a B+.

2014, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Aliens from outer space, Barely Acceptable Trash, Bizarre, Crude Talk, Disguises, Fun waste of time, Kanopy streaming, Often downright silly, Sight Gags, Vulgar

Australiens (2014)

From KANOPY:

At the age of 10, Australian-born Andi Gibson had what she describes as a close encounter with a flying saucer. 17 years later, an airborne extra-terrestrial armada launches a nation-wide assault on Andi’s home country. Bloody hell, this is gonna be a long night.

From KANOPY you can stream this awful comedy that lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes

Now and then I find a film that is so BAD that it is comically GOOD. Probably this farce was made by teenagers or Martians. Most of the actors seem to be teenagers. Sprinkled in are some equally inept adults.

After reading newspaper accounts of events in this currently very troubled planet,  such tongue-in-cheek comic relief just at bedtime might induce a more peaceful sleep.

2015, Autism, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Disguises, Divorced Mother, DO NOT MISS, Failed Marriage, Family Conflict, Family Secrets, Father-daughter relations, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, Lesbian Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Muddled biblical references, Murder, Occasionaly violent, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Personality or religious cult, Physical fighting, Police Investigation, Profiler, Religious fanatic, Romance, Suspense, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective

Modus (2015)

From IMDB;

During a snowy Christmas season in Sweden, psychologist and profiler Inger Johanne Vik and her autistic daughter both get drawn into the investigation of a number of disturbing deaths.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can stream  the 8 episodes of this Swedish mystery series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Just because the villain intends to kill multiple victims does not, as I understand the term, make the villain a serial killer. Rather in this well-done series his motive has a homicidal rationality.  But I will leave it up to you to guess for yourself that motive before the profiler Inger Vik realizes what is happening.

Many well-presented characters interact.  Throw a romance into the pot and the result is successful suspense.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

2021, Abduction, Abuse of Elders, Attempted Murder, Clever Plot, Conspiracy, Corrupt Care Givers, Disguises, DO NOT MISS, Drugging as a weapon, Greed, Identity Theft, Infuriating, Lesbian Theme, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Plot Twist, Revenge, Russian Gangster, Suspense, Torture, Unscrupulous drive to power, Valium appropriate, Violent

I Care a Lot (2021)

From Netflix:

A court-appointed legal guardian defrauds her older clients and traps them under her care. But her latest mark comes with some unexpected baggage.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 58 minute complete film.

Easily one of the most clever, disturbing and infuriating films I have watched recently. In order to maintain your mental composure:

  • Do NOT watch this film before bedtime.
  • Do NOT watch this film on a full stomach,
  • Keep some medicinal relaxant nearby in case of emergency.
  • Remember, this is not the reality of Putin murdering innocent Ukrainians,  but rather a possible but unlikely fictional scenario.

Peter Dinklage, as far as I know, avoids appearing in mediocre or just plain bad films. Once again he fits his role, this time as a Russian gangster, well.

Rosamund Pike, as the evil Marla Grayson, inspires such visceral hate that you cannot help but admire her talent.

Dianne Wiest, as Jennifer Peterson, nails the role of a helpless victim to a tee. In early “Law and Order” episodes, she was Interim D.A. Nora Lewin.

Could this really happen?  Better review your last will and testament and your power of attorney. DO NOT MISS (if you can stand the emotions).

 

 

2012, Amateur lawbreakers, Amazon Prime, Art forgery, Art Gallery, Art theft, British, Career Criminal, Clever Plot, Comic Moments, Disguises, Eccentric cast of characters, Happy ending, Hopeless Love, Romance, Scottish, Suspense

Doors Open (2012)

From Amazon Prime:

Mike McKenzie is a self made millionaire with time on his hands and a love of art. He has built an admirable collection for himself at auction, advised by his friend, Professor Gissing. Made bitter by his
impending layoff, Gissing persuades Mike to help him commit the perfect crime – to steal valuable paintings from the collection of one of the country’s leading banks right from under its nose.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 40 minute complete film.

Douglas Henshall, who plays Mike McKenzie, is perhaps better known to us as DI Jimmy Perez from the Shetland series (which you should not miss).  In this film made in 2012 Henshall was a young looking 47 years old. In the 2022 Shetland episodes, 10 years later, Henshall looks much older.

Taking place in Edinburg, Scotland,  this film treats us to pleasant sounding Scottish accents. Stephen Fry, who plays Professor Gissing, is one of those Brits whose face is immediately familiar even if we cannot somehow place him in any particular film.  His resumé is enormous (Doctor Who anyone?)

Kenneth Collard, who plays Allan Cruickshank, is the perfect bumbling pessimist.

Combine a large variety of criminals of one sort or another with lots of clever and funny plot twists to produce a very enjoyable and often tense hour and 40 minutes.

Who says crime doesn’t pay?