Category Archives: Invincible villain

2002, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Ageing Couple, America of the 1930s, Bank Robbery, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Career Criminal, Catholic Church Corruption, Catholic culture, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime Family, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drama, Ethical struggles, Father-son relations, Fatherless child, Gangs, Grim, Invincible villain, Irish Mob, Kanopy streaming, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Psychopath, Redemption, Revenge, Ruthless Killer, Suspense, Uncategorized, Wonderful acting

Road to Perdition (2022)

From IMDB:

A mob enforcer’s son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.

From Netflix (and Kanopy) you can stream this 1 hour 57 minute Irish mob classic film which  earned five Academy Awards  nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Paul Newman. Originally the story was a graphic novel.

Tom Hanks bemoans the seeming obscurity of the film. He is quoted as saying  “For one reason or another, no one references Road to Perdition, and that was an incredibly important movie for me to go through.”  In fact, it was just his comment that motivated me to watch the film.

Consider the outstanding actors involved:

  • Tom Hanks plays the enforcer and father Michael Sullivan. At the time of filming he was 46.
  • Tyler Hoechlin plays the endangered son Michael Sullivan Jr. At the time of filming he was 15.  Later he played superheroes.
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the mother Annie Sullivan.
  • Paul Newman plays the mob family head John Rooney. This was his  final live-action theatrical film acting role at which time he was 77. Newman died in 2008,
  • Daniel Craig plays the out-of-control son Connor Rooney. At the time of filming he was 34. Craig began filming at age 24.
  • Ciarán Hinds plays the witnessed murdered man Finn McGovern.
  • Stanley Tucci plays the Chicago mobster Frank Nitti.
  • Jude Law plays the psychopath Maguire who photographs his victims’ corpses. At time of filming he was 30. He began filming as a child actor of age 16.
  • Anthony LaPaglia was cast as Al Capone and filmed a single scene, which was omitted from the final cut  and can be found in the DVD’s deleted scenes.

Of course, it is a violent gangster film, but a tasteful one (if that is possible).  At the center of the film is the son Michael who is an essentially good kid that worships his father and whose salvation is at stake.

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Amputee, Angola, Attempted Murder, Based on true facts, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Bureaucracy, CIA, Cold War, Communists, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Corrupt Politicians, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cover-up, Cruelty, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, FADO songs, False Accusations, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Frame someone for a crime, Government cover-up, Historical Fiction, Hostage Taking, International thriler, Invincible villain, Jealousy, Lesbian Theme, Local color, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Male Chauvinism, Marital Infidelity, Military, Missing Person, Monstrous Father, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Mysterious Disappearance, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Pianist, Plot twists, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Political Intrigue, Portuguese, Portuguese History, Portuguese-Angola War, Promiscuity, Puzzling Ending, Radio Free Europe, Rape, Revenge, Russian Anti-USA Scheme, Russian Spy, Ruthless Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Surprise Ending, Suspense, Tennis, Thriller, Torture, Traitors, Trust Nobody, Unhappy Marriage, Unwanted Pregnancy, Violent, War, Wife Beating, Womanizing, Wrongful Arrest

Glória (2021)

From IMDB:

In the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, in the small village of Glória do Ribatejo, João Vidal will take on several high-risk espionage missions that could change the course of Portuguese and world history.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this Portuguese spy thriller.  Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. In Portuguese and English with subtitles.

RARET is short for portuguese RAdio de RETransmissão (Retransmission Radio).  Think of RARET as Radio Free Europe.  An article in the New York Times suggested this film to me. That article, which is worth reading, begins as follows:

————————————————————————-

Anyone who didn’t live through the Cold War might find the Portuguese Netflix spy thriller series “Glória” improbable.

Deep in the Portuguese countryside, in the tiny village of Glória, a complex radio transmission operation run by Portuguese and American engineers springs up in the 1950s, a branch of a Munich-based news organization called Radio Free Europe.

It broadcasts news and anti-communist messages in languages of various Soviet republics, but, in the show and in real life, that’s only part of its early mission: It’s also a C.I.A. front.

Until 1971, Radio Free Europe was a covert U.S. intelligence operation seeking to penetrate the Iron Curtain and foment anti-communist dissent in what was then Czechoslovakia, in Poland and elsewhere.

João (Portuguese for John) is a Russian spy seeking to undermine the activities of RARET.  Through 10 episodes we watch his masterful deceits while many around him get hurt as a result. To really appreciate the story you might brush up on some Portuguese history such as its imperialism (especially in Angola), the dictator Salazar, and PIDE (the Portuguese secret police).

Because the very ending comes as a complete and puzzling surprise, after finishing the series you can read an explanation.

Do not expect much happiness. But – DO NOT MISS!

2019, Acceptable Trash, Action sequences, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Controlling personality, Corny at times, Corrupt Pharmaceutical Firm, Ending demands sequel, Explicit sex, Extremely Violent, Fantasy, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Flashbacks, Greed vs Common Good, Invincible villain, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Mother-son relations, Narcissist, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Political references, Pornographic Scenes, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Some exaggerated violence, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Super Hero, Violent, Vulgar

The Boys (2019)

From Amazon Prime:

THE BOYS is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about “The Seven,” and their formidable Vought backing.

With the help of Amazon Prime you might be willing to waste your idle time streaming 3 seasons of this super romp.  Each season consists of 8 episodes. Each episode lasts about 1 hour.

Calling all “adolescents at heart.”  There is very little point in being serious about this endless 24-episode mindless fantasy,  although I am forced to admit that despite all the nonsense, the acting is at times (but only at times) in the ranges acceptable to good.  Moreover, if you are interested in pornographic nudity, you will not be disappointed in this often raunchy farce.