Category Archives: Teenagers

2016, Abduction, Acceptable Science, Cancer theme, Computer geeks, Creepy, Father-daughter relations, Grim, Mother-daughter relations, Nudity, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Sociopath, Suspense, Teenagers, Thought provoking, Uncategorized, Violent

I.T. (2016)

Leave a comment

From IMDB:

Mike Regan has everything he could ever want, a beautiful family and a top of the line smart house. The company he owns is on the verge of changing flight leasing forever. That is, until the relationship with his I.T. advisor turns nasty, to the point where his teenage daughter is being stalked and his family is under attack through every technological facet of their lives.

On our British Airways flight to London I was able to watch both this film as well as “Jason Bourne” which is reviewed elsewhere. As I mentioned in that other review, both films deal with the current War on Privacy. Whereas in “Jason Bourne” the CIA wants “Apple Corporation” to let the CIA have access to everyone’s data, in “I.T.” Mike Regan  (played convincingly by Pierce Brosnan , age 64) foolishly allows his new IT employee Patrick (played eerily by Jason Barry,  a young looking age 46) to convert Mike’s home into a “smart house” which allows Patrick to see all and tell all that occurs there. That was a big mistake!

In “I.T.” the suspense seemed more intense than in “Jason Bourne”, probably because the former  scenario is today unfortunately very plausible. Would you feel comfortable living in a smart house? Is Big Brother watching you?

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)

Leave a comment

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.

 

2016, Abduction, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Ambiguous Conclusion, Bullying, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Kidnapping, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Orphans in Foster Care, Philosophic Discussions, Plot Twist, Possible a put-on, Psychic Phenomena, Religious Theme, School Shooting, School Teacher, Sci-Fi, Sex Scenes, Sociopath, Sometimes seems silly, Strange Ending, Supernatural, Suspense, Teenagers, Unusual

The OA (2016)

1 Comment

From IMDB:

Having gone missing seven years ago, the previously blind Prairie returns home, now in her 20s with her sight restored. While many believe she is a miracle, others worry that she could be dangerous.

Have you ever started on a box of chocolates and found you could not stop eating them? In other words you “binged”. Similarly once I started streaming this 8-episode series from Netflix, I was hooked. No sooner did one episode end, but I started the next episode. This went on for days until I had watched all eight episodes.

Characterizing this story is difficult. Partly it suggests science fiction although the style is closer to a fantasy which borders on the supernatural. Such flights of fancy are certainly not to everyone’s tastes. At times I asked myself why I was watching this goofy show. But the originality, the constant suspense, and the interplay of personalities was just too intense. In other words, the story for me was so compelling that after every “happening”  I had to see what came next.

Notable for me was how so many scenes seemed just plain ordinary if not dull or slow moving.  BUT — behind the seeming banality there was real tension because you just knew that something out of the ordinary was just about to happen.

Most of the actors portray high school students, which might also be another turnoff. But this is NOT a teen flic.  Admittedly there were some nakedness and sex scenes which suggests a bit of pandering to the audience.

Both the young, middle age, and older actors turn in excellent performances. You will recognize many faces from other shows. Prairie Johnson’s father is played by Scott Wilson who was  Hershel Green in “The Walking Dead”.

Jason Isaacs, who plays Hap, has a long resumé including the Inquisitor in “Star Wars Rebels”.  His portrayal of an obsessed scientist who can feel no empathy for his experiment subjects is chilling. Watch as his character morphs.

Brad Pitt was one of the producers.

However, you are warned that the ending is problematic. My first reaction was “What! Give me a break! This can’t be happening!” But stop and console yourself with the realization that Prairie was blind as a child, only to return after seven years absence able to see. That could not be faked! I would be eager to hear your opinions about the ending, including howls of outrage.

If anything, this sometimes wacky story is not boring.

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Basically Sad, Complicated, Detective, Drama, Drugs, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, French, French Culture, French Detective Series, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Nudity, Plot Twist, Police Culture, Prison, Sex Scenes, Teenagers, Tragedy, Various Romances, Violent, Well developed plot

The Disappearance (2015)

Leave a comment

From Acorn TV:

When a teenage girl does not return home from a festival, her parents contact the police.

Acorn TV (still $4.99 per month) offers this one-season 8-episode French TV series with English subtitles.

More than just a “who-done-it”, the plot is interested not only in finding the killer or killers, but in how the deaths affect the families and people involved.

Because the cast of characters is large and possibly confusing, you may wish to use the cheat sheet offered in Wikepedia. Unfortunately the Wikipedia article does not explain the plot, so you will have to pay attention (and maybe take notes). Do not let this challenge deter you from watching this excellent and involving series.

Just a brief glimpse at the very beginning of plot is as follows:

Seventeen year old Lea Morel disappears.  She has a father Julien,  mother Florence, brother Thomas, little sister Zoe. Julien and his brother Jean are close to one another. Together they run a restaurant where their children also work. Jean’s wife is dead and he has a somewhat secret mistress. Jean has a teenage daughter Chris (hence Lea’s first cousin), Florence has a company and works with Lea’s god-mother Sophie. Commandant Betrand Molina runs the police investigation. There are other important characters.

As the plot develops you will see Julien obsessing over solving the murder and constantly interfering with Molina’s investigation. Both Julien and Florence are frozen in grief but must protect and continue to parent little Zoe. Little by little the grief and anguish begins to divide Julien and Florence.

You will need to watch all eight episodes carefully because the surprises keep coming. Yes, it is a soap opera, but a really good soap opera.

DO NOT MISS!

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Coming-of-age, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Feel Good Not For Children, Flirting, Love Story, New Zealand, Nudity, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Surfing, Teenagers, Uncategorized

800 Words (2015)

Leave a comment

From Acorn TV:

Still reeling from his wife’s recent death, widower George Turner impulsively decides to start afresh. Turner packs up his two teenage children and moves from the hustle and bustle of Sydney to the New Zealand coastal town of Weld, where he spent his summer vacations as a child. The Aussie invaders quickly become the center of attention in this small town populated by weird and wonderful locals.

Acorn TV (still $499 a month) offers this feel-good 1 season 6 episode TV series from New Zealand. Subtitles available.

Doc Martin’s small Cornwall town of Portwenn is not a far cry from the small New Zealand town of Weld. One difference is that George Turner is a normal man (although a grieving widower) with two normal children: daughter Shay and son Arlo.

As far as soap operas go, this one is NOT steamy, although sex has a pervasive influence on the entire plot. Shay has her first sexual romance. All the many beautiful women in the series have their eyes on the eligible George.

Every good soap opera needs a villain or villains and the Weld clan will do nicely in that respect.

But this is a feel-good series and the tension is held to a comfortable minimum. Nothing stays wrong for very long. Frankly it is a relief to have easy solutions to problems pop up regularly.

Watching this series is more relaxing than watching either “A Place To Call Home” or even, heaven help us,  presidential debates.

2016, Abduction, Acceptable Trash, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Cancer theme, Frenetic, Grisly, Horror, Made For TV, Middle school students, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Occasional gore, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Teenagers, TV Series, Violent

Stranger Things (2016)

Leave a comment

From IMDB:

When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends must confront terrifying forces in order to get him back.

Holy Middle School Nerds!

If my neighbors had not recommended the eight episodes of Season One of this sci-fi creeper, I would not have entered the “Upside Down World”. Unfortunately, once inside this semi-adult fantasy it is obsessively difficult to escape. So instead I binged-watched all the horror, high school romance, middle school bullying, and hysterics this TV series (streamable from Netflix) had to offer. To tell you the truth, it was a lot of fun and possibly a waste of time.

Winona Ryder we all know.  David Harbour has many roles to his name, including David Patrick from “State of Affairs” and Elliot Hirsch from “The Newsroom”.  Most of the cast were very young and did quite well. Indeed it seems to me that the middle school gang of four nerds got their literally hysterical parts just right.

If the plot grabs you, you will never escape. Supposedly there is a Season Two.

2008, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Fascists, German, German History, Instructive, Psychological Drama, School Teacher, Suspense, Teenagers, Thought provoking

The Wave (2008)

Leave a comment

From IMDB:

A high school teacher’s experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.

From Netflix I could get the DVD for this German film whose German title is “Die Welle”. There are English subtitles available.

Jürgen Vogel, who plays the teacher Rainer Wenger, is well-known in Germany. Rainer must lead a classroom of students through a project called “Autocracy”.  He begins innocently to have the students experiment with disciplined unity: they decide to all wear white shirts to school instead of sloppy casual clothing; they adopt a hand signal that mimics a wave in the ocean; they create a logo for the group which they then stencil all over the town, to the point of vandalism; they militate against anyone who is not in the group. Finally the project snowballs out of control with some disastrous results.

In our current sad era of Donald Trumpet, the film teaches a worthwhile lesson in the rise of Fascism.

2007, Abduction, Acorn TV, Adultery, Alcoholism, Corruption, Crime, Cynical, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drug Dealers, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Irish Detective Series, Mildly Violent, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Rape, Revenge, Self-Deception, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Small Town Atmosphere, Suspense, Teenagers

Single-Handed (2007)

Leave a comment

From Acorn TV:

Transferred from Dublin to his hometown on Ireland’s windswept coast, Sergeant Jack Driscoll faces challenges he never expected.

Acorn TV offers Set 1 (with 3 episodes, each an hour and a half) and Set 2 (with 6 episodes, each about 50 minutes). IMDB, on the other hand, breaks down the exact same collection into 4 seasons.

For the most part, we humans seem to have a lot of traits in common the world over. But if you are influenced by this series, you will come away with a vivid impression that the Irish are a somewhat dishonest, clandestine group of people that maintain silence over nasty past events. In other words Jack Driscoll must fight an uphill battle to get to the truth in every case.

Jack Driscoll himself is no saint. Even he must be on guard not to adopt some of the rough tactics of his forebears. Somehow during the episodes he manages to sleep with a lot of women. Considering what pieces of work he has for parents, it is a wonder he turned out to be an honest cop.

For me a sneaky, plotting villain motivates me to keep watching and hoping that the evildoer eventually loses.

When my wife Kathy approves of something we watched, then you know we are on to something worthwhile.

DO NOT MISS!

2015, Abduction, Acceptable Trash, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Erotic Thriller, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Nothing special, Nudity, Psychological Thriller, Sex Scenes, Stalker, Suspense, Teenagers, Violent

The Boy Next Door (2015)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Adjusting to life without her husband, a recently separated mom is pleased when a teenage boy moves into the neighborhood and befriends her son. But before long, she becomes intimately involved with the teen — and comes to regret it.

Looking for an exciting B-movie? Looking for some sexy scenes? Looking for some exciting violence? Want to learn how to stalk someone effectively? Go no farther! Do I have a film for you!

Jennifer Lopez is the beautiful mom currently separated from her philandering but loving and remorseful husband. Ryan Guzman is the creepy, handsome nephew of the elderly next door neighbor. Ryan stalks Jennifer in very inventive and increasingly threatening ways, all of which lead to a blazing and violent conclusion. Meanwhile just keep wincing at all the stalker’s tricks.

At the time of film shooting Jennifer Lopez was 46 years old and Ryan Guzman was 28. Accepting Ryan as a high school student is a bit of a stretch. Jennifer’s parents were born in Puerto Rico and Ryan is Mexican-American.

While nothing special, this film can at least enliven the task of folding laundry.

2010, 2012, Acceptable Trash, Australian, Black humor, Born Again Christians, Comedy, Corruption, Crude Talk, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Farce, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Flirting, Frenetic, Gambling, Lawyers, Lot's of Fun, Marital Infidelity, Murder Investigation, Murder Trial, Netflix Streaming, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Revenge, Senior citizens, Sex Scenes, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Suspense, Teenagers, Transvestite theme, Violent, Vulgar, Witty dialog

Rake (2010)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

While Cleaver Greene is a brilliant and driven attorney, he’s also an ex-druggie, a current gambling addict and loathed by many of his colleagues.

Four years after I first reviewed this nutty series it is now 2020 and there are 5 seasons of this outrageous and sometimes really funny series.  Just remember: it is really vulgar.

Each season has 8 episodes lasting about an hour. Probably the best service I an provide is to copy a description of each season.

Season 1 –

Richard Roxburgh is Cleaver Greene, a brilliant barrister battling self-destructive tendencies in this hit Australian comedy-drama. As a lawyer, Cleaver prefers to defend those who are utterly hopeless and probably guilty; his clients include murderers, bigamists, and even cannibals. Despite his roguish ways, Cleaver’s wit and charm have won him many cases and loyal friends over the years.

Season 2 –

An alcoholic and former cocaine addict, Cleaver runs up huge gambling debts and makes enemies of gangsters and politicians alike. Despite his roguish ways, Cleaver’s wit and charm have won him many cases and loyal friends over the years.

Season 3 –

As the third season of this acclaimed Aussie drama opens, Cleaver Greene’s life is once again heading south. Clients are rejecting him and he struggles to find anything resembling a case. He takes on a mid-range drink driving charge that he tries to make into a cause célèbre.

Season 4 –

Smart but self-destructive lawyer Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh, Moulin Rouge!, Van Helsing) faces new challenges in the fourth season of the hit Australian comedy-drama. Last seen dangling from a runaway hot air balloon, Cleaver inadvertently crosses paths with a wanted criminal.

Season 5 –

The final season of this “ever-sparkling comedic drama” (The Guardian) sees Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh, Moulin Rouge!) in the Australian Senate, having won on a pledge to do nothing. But even his low expectations fall short of the absurd reality, as he faces a political nemesis.

—————— FIRST REVIEW IN 2016 —————————–

How can two seasons (8 episodes per season) of a Australian comedy series with negative social value be so entertaining? Answer number one: it helps if the viewer is somewhat immature with a really jaded sense of humor. Answer number two: despite the completely salacious series of situations, the plot lines are complicatedly clever. Answer number three: it is just plain fun to watch Cleaver Green go from screw-up to screw-up, sleeping with just about every woman he comes across.

Will all Cleaver’s misadventures eventually catch up with him by episode 16? Stay tuned if you like exaggerated British satire.