Category Archives: Psychiatrists

2014, Abduction, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Brazilian, Creepy, Crime, Dark, French, German, Gritty, Italian, Mayhem, Motorcycles, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Psychiatrists, Revenge, Spanish, Suspense, Traditional Chinese, Unusual, Violent

Stereo (2014)

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From Netflix:

Erik’s peaceful rural family life is shaken by the arrival of sinister figures who claim to know him and a mysterious “friend” who may not even exist.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 30 minute film from Germany.

Many films streamable from Netflix now offer an amazing array of language choices. Take this film as a example. For audio you can choose from Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian and Spanish. For subtitles you can choose None, English, French, German, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.

Why the film is called “Stereo” is something I do not understand. In any case this is a somewhat strange film. Erik wants a peaceful life with a single mother Julia and her daughter Linda. Julia’s father is a policeman and suspicious of Erik’s unexplained past. That past catches up with Erik in the form of a group of men looking to kill Erik out of revenge. Meanwhile Erik, and only Erik, constantly sees , hears, and can talk to a hooded man who eventually we learn is his dead brother Henry.  Erik tries several methods to get rid of Henry, all to no avail. In a violent climax, we learn about Erik’s  past.

Erik is played by Jurgen Vogel who was the teacher in the German film “The Wave“. Henry is played by Moritz Bleibtreu who played Gustav Klimt In “Woman in Gold”.

As far as classifying this film, call it a violent action film. For me the main attraction was solely the opportunity to hear and read simple, basic German. For you that is not a rave review by any means.

 

 

2016, Abduction, Abortion, Addiction, Amnesia, Arson, Belgian Detectives, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Complicated, Computer geeks, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crime, Dark, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, French, Grisly, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Small Town Atmosphere, Soap Opera, Soccer, Sociopath, Suspense, Teenagers, Violent, Vulgar

The Break (2016)

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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 this compelling detective story in French with subtitles. According to Wikepedia The Break (French: La Trêve, “The Truce”) is a French-language Belgian crime drama television series

Actually this series is a soap opera with many characters,  quite a bit of sex and violence, and many surprises. In fact I would estimate that each episode has at least 3 or so unexpected  plot revelations. Not until the very, very end will you discover “who done it”. If you truly guess the answer before episode 10, then let me know.

Inspector Peeters has left Brussels with his daughter after the death of his wife and has returned to his hometown Heiderfeld in the hopes of a fresh start. He goes to work for the local police force populated by 6 or so characters whose own stories and involvements with one another are an integral part of the plot. Peeters’  daughter makes a friend and in order to fit in socially makes mistakes. There are teen friends, a soccer team and its managers, a woman mayor scheming to buy the area’s farms to make way for a dam, and subplots galore. Most of all, running through the entire story is the fact that Peeters is eventually confined to a mental hospital and is in every episode being interviewed by a woman psychiatrist of the institution, who must evaluate Peeters’ mental health. Flashbacks are a principal tool in the story telling.

Oddly enough Yoann Peeters is played by a Belgian actor Yoann Blanc whose performance (as well as his somewhat strange face with his deep set brooding, unemotional eyes that seem to stare all the time) is remarkable.

Getting to the story’s conclusion was so compelling for me that once again I binged, which is definitely not a good habit. But once you start this thriller my guess is that you too will fall under its spell.

 

2013, Abduction, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Child abuse, Computer geeks, Crime thriller, Detective, Disturbing Image, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Forensics, French, French Detective Series, Grim, Mental Illness, Missing Person, Murder Investigation, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suicide, Suspense, Violent

Lanester (2013)

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From Amazon Prime:

In the west of Paris, three strange murders are committed. Each time, the victim is eviscerated before being arranged in a macabre display. While discovering one of these, police commander Eric Lanester loses his sight. With the help of Gabrielle, a young woman taxi driver, the cop nevertheless continues his investigation, which soon awakens demons he considered buried forever.

Originally, as far as I can tell, “Lanester” was just a French film that told only one story. But now from Amazon Prime you can download three episodes of Season 1. Each episode (with English subtitles) last about 1 hour 30 minutes. Moreover each episode is dated December 31, 2013. Running through all three episodes is a strongly unifying theme involving Police Commander Lanester and his mentally ill brother. All of which seems to suggest that the original film was re-packaged into three episodes.

In any case, the story is compelling enough to recommend. Just beware that there are depicted grisly murders.

2016, Big Pharma, British Mystery Series, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Detective, Divorce, Eccentric Detective, Extramarital Affair, Harmful Medicine, International thriler, Made For TV, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Police Culture, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Suicide, Suspense, Uncategorized

Paranoid (2016)

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From IMDB:

The murder of a female GP in a rural playground in front of numerous witnesses draws a group of detectives into an ever-darkening mystery that takes them across Europe, aided by mysterious notes sent by the “Ghost Detective”.

Netflix originated this so-far-one-season eight episode British detective series. Wife Kathy and I anxiously streamed each episode. However, if you read some of the 115 viewer reviews you will find tremendously varying opinions.

Basically a woman is murdered in plain daylight in a children’s playground and it takes 8 episodes to learn why and who. Along the way we meet a smarmy psychiatrist, a nervous wreck of a policeman, an uncontrollably outspoken policewoman, a Quaker woman, and lots of other characters with problems. If you liked “Happy Valley”, you may well enjoy this series.

Some reviewers hated the troubled characters, especially the policeman Bobby. But cringing at his  behavior just added to the attraction to the plot.

IMDB gives you the list of actors. Most notable are:

  • Indira Varma is the somewhat wacky policewoman. She played Ellaria Sand in “Game of Thrones”.
  • Michael Maloney is the psychiatrist. Because he so often plays suspicious characters, every time I see him I think “here comes the villain”.
  • Robert Glenister, the nervous cop,  appears just about everywhere in British TV series. He was Owen Preece in “Vera”.

For us this series was a pleasant and compelling discovery, although seemingly not to everyone’s taste.

2014, Acorn TV, Action Film, Alcoholism, Bloody scenes, Canadian Police, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Police Politics, Police Story, Private Versus Professional Life, Psychiatrists, School Shooting, Senior citizens, Sex Scenes, Small Town, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, TV Series, Violent, Vulgar, Wife Beating

19-2 (2014)

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Fronm Acorn TV;

Officer Nick Barron (Adrian Holmes, Arrow, Smallville) patrols the streets of Montreal with Station 19’s newest squad member, Ben Chartier (Jared Keeso, Falling Skies, Elysium). Back on the job after a shooting incident, guilt-ridden Nick immediately clashes with overzealous Ben. Absorbing and authentic, with an outstanding ensemble cast, this award-winning drama follows first responders beyond the crime scenes and into their own messy lives.

Acorn TV revamped its arrangement of this series so that now (2016) you can stream 10 Episodes of Series 1 and 10 Episodes of Series 2 and 10 Episodes of Series 3.

Acorn’s summary more or less says it all. Most police procedurals will be somewhat similar and “19-2” fits that description. Taken as a human drama, however, the plot details, characters, and acting are better than average.

Series 1 centers on Ben and Nick and Ben’s romance with Nick’s sister. Series 2 centers on finding a mole in the police department that is responsible for leaks that lead to the death of several officers.

WARNING: Series 2 Episode 1 is consumed by a lone teen gunman running amuck in a school shooting. This episode is long, harrowing and adds nothing to the other episodes in the series. Feel free to skip this episode without losing a beat.

Not a repeat of other police series, and not a waste of time. In fact, the more I watched, the more involved I became. Expect surprises.

2014, Amnesia, Bloody scenes, British, Clever Plot, Marital Infidelity, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Violent

Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

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From Netflix:

After surviving a brutal assault, Christine Lucas awakens each morning incapable of remembering anything about her past, including the previous day. Little by little, however, she begins to suspect that her husband played a role in her misfortune.

Remember the 2000 film “Momento” with Guy Pearce? “Before I Go To Sleep” reminds me of that film because it is basically a film about memory and amnesia. In addition the film is basically a mystery story that initially does not seem to be a mystery. Details are not that hard to follow (“Momento” was notoriously difficult, causing much discussion) if somewhat implausible. If Christine had to begin all over each day, I am not sure she would have the time through the accumulation of days to really accomplish what she did.

While not a great film, nonetheless Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong give good performances. Mark Strong played Stewart Menzies in “The Imitation Game”.

Not at all a waste of time.

2015, Abduction, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Crude Talk, Detective, Dysfunctional Lives, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Male Prostitutes, Orphans in Foster Care, Physical child abuse, Police Politics, Politicians, Prostitutes, Psychiatrists, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Suspense, Violent

Bosch (2015)

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Because I am an Amazon Prime member, I could stream for free Season 1 of “Bosch”. Bosch, as you are probably aware, is the detective character who appears in many novels written by Michael Connelly.

Season 1 consists of 10 episodes. As is often the case, throughout the series there are three running themes: The obsessive detective work which destroys Bosch’s family life; The search for a serial killer named Renard Waits; The constant political battles taking place in the police department. Of course Bosch sleeps with one of his female colleagues, which is a no-no according to the rules.

IMDB offers the cast rundown.

Titus Welliver (who played Glenn Childs in “The Good Wife” TV series) plays Bosch, and plays him VERY WELL.

Jason Gedrick (who played George Novikov in the “Dexter” TV series) plays the serial killer Renard Waits, and plays him VERY WELL.

Those two actors steal the show. But there are a zillion other supporting actors. Thanks to the IMDB site for helping me remember that Shawn Hatosy, who played the character Johnny Stokes, also played Terry McCandless in “Reckless” and Detective Sammy Bryant in “Southland”.

TV serials featuring serial killers and lonely detectives are a dime a dozen. But some, such as “Bosch” are done very well.

2013, Alcoholism, American Indian culture, Based on a Book, Based on true facts, Catholic culture, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sexual discussion, Love Story, Mental Illness, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Quiet, Slow, Talking Heads, True Story, Unusual, War

Jimmy P. (2013)

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From Netflix:

Returning home from World War II, Blackfoot Native American Jimmy Picard suffers from a host of psychosomatic symptoms. In this drama based on a true story, he bonds with psychoanalyst Georges Devereux as the two explore his psyche for causes.

From Wikipedia:

Jimmy P. stars Benicio del Toro as the titular character, Jimmy Picard, a Blackfoot Indian who has returned from war with debilitating symptoms. Mathieu Amalric, who has appeared in most of Arnaud Desplechin’s films, plays George Devereux, a French doctor of Hungarian Jewish background, who specializes in ethnology and psycho analysis. Jimmy P. was shot in Michigan and Montana, and is primarily based on a book by George Devereux , “Reality and dream: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian” (New York: International Univ. Press, 1951). The film is about some of the pioneering days of psychoanalysis.

Because this is basically a psychological talking-heads film, not everyone would find this story interesting. Except for some sad violence involving mentally ill patients, there is no action.

Assumedly Benicio del Toro’s first language might have been Spanish because he was born in Puerto Rico as the son of two Spanish lawyers. In this film he speaks in a slow, well articulated manner that presumably a Blackfoot Indian would use in speaking English. If you read del Toro’s full biography in IMDB, you might discover some films worth watching.

Mathieu Amalric is no great actor, but he delivers a believable performance.

For me seeing Gina McKee as Amalric’s “lover” was a nice surprise. Everytime I see her I remember her performance as Irene Forsyte in the British TV series “The Forsyte Saga”. Probably her portion of this film could have been entirely omitted without affecting the intent of the story.

Language fans will enjoy the discussion of Amerian Indian languages.

Not for everyone, but I was fascinated.

2013, Abduction, Book Review, Costa Rica, Crime thriller, Deep Sea Diving, Detective, Prostitutes, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Religious Theme, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Stalker, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Well developed plot

9 Killer Thrillers (2013) [Book Review]

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From Amazon I downloaded this collection of 9 Complete Thriller Novels onto my kindle for only 99 cents. At the beginning of the book there is a section “Blurbs” which gives a short sense of each story. Here is a brief summary of the 9 books contained therein:

The Halo Effect by M.J. Rose
Detective Noah Jordain seeks the help of a psychiatrist Morgan Snow whose clients are prostitutes. Noah is confronted with a serial killer who targets prostitutes. In particular the story concentrates on one such client of Dr. Snow named Cleo Thane who disappears while the murders are happening. Using somewhat questionable methods, Morgan Snow investigates on her own the disappearance of Cleo Thane. Much of the story involves Morgan’s inner musings on her life and her clients. M.J. Rose has written many books.
Vigilante by Claude Bouchard
My first impression was “This is amateurish and too simple”. But the end of the seemingly ordinary story knocked me for a loop because only until almost the last word (literally) do we learn who the VIGILANTE really is. Never have I been so cleverly misled. You are hereby challenged to see if you can guess what is really happening in the story. Upon finishing I had to re-read parts to see where I had gone so wrong. Claude Bouchard has written many books, including a collection called the Vigilante Series.
The Devil’s Deep by Michael Wallace
Costa Rica figures heavily in this thriller. Someone is doing evil things to patients and staff at Riverwood Care Center. Some of those patients are profoundly retarded, some trapped inside a frozen body. Wes, brother of one of the retarded patients, and Rebecca, a caretaker, are the heroes in this tale involving deep sea diving, murder, and family conspiracy. At least one surprising revelation awaits the reader. Not great literature but a page-turner nonetheless. Michael Wallace has written many thrillers.
Traces of Kara by Melissa Foster
YOU MIGHT WANT TO SKIP THIS SOMEWHAT TEDIOUS STORY. Rather than being a who-done-it, this suspense novel centers on a psychotic killer who is searching for his long-lost sister Marissa so that he can kill himself and the sister at the same time in order “to be together forever”. Other characters, notably Kara Knight and her mother Mimi and Sergeant Mark Agnew, eventually relate to the killer’s mad scheme. But how they relate is what you have to discover.

The 19th Element by John L. Betcher
Tom Clancy would love this story which is chuck full of all kinds of technical data which I skipped over without doing any damage to my enjoyment of the story. Basically Beck (a former undercover agent, now financially independent but cleverly disguised as a lawyer) gets wind of a terrorist plot to nuke a large area in the USA. He has trouble getting anyone else to believe him. One pleasant feature of the story is the constant sarcastic banter between Beck and his friends.
Big Lake by Nick Russell
When an armored car hijacking leaves two men dead, Arizona Sheriff Jim Weber takes the crime personally, because one of the dead men is his brother-in-law. His hunt for the killers leads him into a world of sordid sex, deceit, and violence, with a suspect list that includes jilted women, a family of anti-government survivalists, and the beautiful wife of the richest man in town. Nick Russell can produce enough action to keep me turning pages. Part of the appeal of the story is the small-town feeling and all the eccentric characters therein. Sheriff Jim Weber comes across as a solid lawman with an eye for the ladies and a tendency to violence when he is really angry. His bromance with special FBI agent Larry Parks offers a lot of amusing repartee. When the killer was revealed, I was surprised that I had never suspected the guilty party.
Before Her Eyes – Rebecca Forster
In a remote mountain community, the execution of a grocer and the abduction of a word-renowned model leave the local sheriff searching for a connection, two killers, and a woman running for her life. While Dove Connelly sets his investigation in motion, Tessa Bradley escapes her captors only to find greater peril ahead. As her life passes before her eyes, Tessa struggles to stay alive, prays for rescue, and fights for her soul’s salvation. One almost disconcerting feature of the writing is that Tessa’s ruminations, which are scattered everywhere, just start suddenly so that at times I wondered if I had skipped a page.
Corpus Christi by Luke Romyn
blah blah
2012, Acceptable Science, Book Review, Cancer theme, Child abduction and murder, Detective, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Murder Investigation, Psychiatrists, Serial Killer

Kill Switch (2012) [Book Review]

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From Amazon:

Haunted by a disturbing childhood incident, Dr. Claire Waters is drawn to those “untreatable” patients who seem to have no conscience or fear. In a holding cell at Rikers Island, where the young forensic psychiatrist meets with a dangerous inmate whose boyish looks mask a sordid history of violence, her daring methods reveal a key to her own dark past. And when the case propels her into the mind of a homicidal maniac watching her every move, the only way to stop a killer from killing again is to go beyond the edge of reason…

Authors: Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene

Several threads make this mystery a page-turner:

  • Claire Waters’ own shattering childhood experience is interfering with her career and current case which is
  • treating and or catching a very sick serial killer
  • aided by a detective who is losing his eyesight.
  • One murder victim has a seemingly impossible cancer which needs an explanation.

Definitely worth a read!