Category Archives: 2003

2003, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Film, Action sequences, Career Criminal, Chase film, Ethical struggles, Gold Thieves, Interest in automobiles, International thriler, Mayhem, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Professional Thieves, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

The Italian Job (2003)

From IMDB:

After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally.

From Netflix:

A clever thief masterminds a major heist amid the waterways of
Venice, Italy — but a betrayal by one of his own spells disaster.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 51 minute car chase thriller.

Car chases, helicopter chases, clever thieves, clever chess game of thieves against thief: Someone spent a lot of money producing such elaborate mayhem.

  • Charlie Croker (played by Mark Wahlberg) and
  • John Bridger (played by Donald Sutherland) and
  • Handsome Rob (played by Jason Statham) and
  • Steve (played by Edward Norton) successfully steal gold bars in Venice. But Steve betrays the bunch and shoots John Bridger to death.
  • John’s daughter Stella (played by Charlize Theron) is an honest security expert who learned to crack safes from her father John. In order to avenge the death of her father she agrees to help the betrayed bunch get back the gold.

What you see is what you get. But the action scenes are fun.

2003, Acorn TV, British, British school girls, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Jealousy, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Narcissistic Personality, Nothing special, School Teacher, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations, Stepchild, Suspense, Teenagers

Lloyd and Hill (2003)

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From  Acorn TV:

Inspired the beloved characters created by Jill McGown, former lovers and detectives, Chief Inspector Danny Lloyd (Philip Glenister, The Level, Outcast) and Inspector Judy Hill (Michelle Collins, Coronation Street) investigate the death of a 15-year-old schoolgirl found strangled and deserted in a public park.

DCI Lloyd and newly arrived DI Hill (who were lovers years before) investigate the murder of a schoolgirl. The girl was possibly having a sexual relationship with one of her teachers, one of whom is receiving anonymous love letters which puts his marriage at risk. This adds the man’s wife to the list of possible suspects.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 98 minutes of this full-length, one episode film.

Both quotes above from Acorn TV tell you enough about the plot which was clever enough that I twice guessed wrong about the identity of the killer.  Because of the way the two former detectives and lovers parted at the end, I suspect more episodes were planned.

Nothing special, but acceptable.

 

2003, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Based on a Book, British school girls, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Forensics, Jealousy, Murder, Murder Investigation, Nothing special, Personal Betrayal, School Teacher, Sex With Minors, Sex with underage girls, Sexual Tension, Sister-sister relations, Teenagers

Lloyd and Hill (2003)

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From Acorn TV:

Inspired the beloved characters created by Jill McGown, former lovers and detectives, Chief Inspector Danny Lloyd (Philip Glenister, The Level, Outcast) and Inspector Judy Hill (Michelle Collins, Coronation Street) investigate the death of a 15-year-old schoolgirl found strangled and deserted in a public park.

From Acorn TV (exclusively British empire productions) you can stream this 1.5 hour British film which is not part of a TV series.

Although nothing special, the hour and half spent watching this detective story is not a waste. To tell you the truth, I suspected the real murderer from the beginning. But there is enough drama, including the personal crisis of an obsessive runner and his betrayal by his close friend, to make the story worthwhile.

Beats being depressed by 2018 USA politics.

 

2003, Acorn TV, Adultery, British, Comedy, Failing Marriage, Farce, Murder Investigation, Slapstick

Alibi (2003)

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From IMDB:

“Alibi” is a thriller with a bit of romance and touches of black humour along the way. Greg is discovered with the dead body of his wife’s lover by Marcey, a public servant moonlighting as a waitress at a party thrown by Greg for he and his wife’s wedding anniversary. Marcey sets about ‘organising’ th e slightly neurotic Greg in his attempts to cover up the ‘accident’.

From Acorn TV (Offerings limited to entire British Empire) you can stream this funny series of just three episodes, each episode lasting one hour.

Michael Kitchen plays Greg.  You may recall him as Christopher Foyle in the TV series “Foyle’s War”.  Greg is a slightly befuddled entrepreneur caught up in an unsuspected affair.

Sophie Okonedo played Tatiana Rusesabagina in “Hotel Rwanda”. Here she plays a supremely inventive liar who attempts to help Greg out of his trap. Her facial expressions are remarkable.

Phyllis Logan played the head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes in “Downton Abbey”. Here she is Greg’s scheming wife.

British humor is often slapstick. Nonetheless, just relax and enjoy the fun.

 

 

2001, 2003, 2012, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Alcoholism, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Child custody, Computer geeks, Corruption, Crime thriller, Detective, Divorce, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Financial malfeasance, Jealousy, Journalist, Lesbian Theme, MHz Choice, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Private Versus Professional Life, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Terrorist Attack, Thriller, TV Series, Unmarried mother, Violent, Vulgar

Annika Bengtzon (2012)

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From MHz Choice:

Based on author Liza Marklund’s best-selling crime novels, Annika Bengtzon is a journalist and working mother of two struggling to raise her family. Fearless in her search for the truth, she won’t take no for an answer from anyone: not from prestigious academicians or drug dealers or from colleagues inside her own profession.

MHz Choice streams this Swedish TV crime series (with English subtitles) in two seasons. Season 1 includes 6 episodes all of which were made in 2012. Season 2 includes only 2 episodes made in 2001 and 2003.  First watch Season 1 in which Annika is played by the beautiful Malin Crépin.  Season 2 contains “Paradise” which is a prequel that tells how a young Annika fights to be a reporter, and “Deadline” which takes 2 hours and features Annika as a second-in-command at the newspaper. All the other 7 episodes last about 1.5 hours. In season 2 Annika is played by Helena Bergström who is extremely different in appearance from Malin Crépin. Visually, for example in the physical appearance of actors, season 1 is more of a crowd pleaser.

As is the case with many crime shows featuring a woman doing the sleuthing, the theme is how the woman must battle male prejudice while trying to balance her obsessive drive to do her job (here to deliver news stories)  with the demands of her family (here husband and two children). Quite a bit of really NOT boring film footage is devoted to jealous bickering in the newsroom.

Only one episode was somewhat boring. In every episode, however, the suspense is palpable, especially because  Annika’s life is usually in danger.

If you like an intense rush, try these two series.

2003, Acorn TV, Adultery, Amusing banter, Arson, British Mystery Series, Child abuse, Detective, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Spousal Abuse, Torture, Violent

Blue Murder (2003)

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From Acorn TV :

Janine Lewis (Caroline Quentin) is a single mother of four who also heads up a police team that probes Manchester’s most gruesome murders.

Yet another police procedural. This time the message is: “Never be a police detective if you have children.” After watching Janine Lewis juggle 24 hour on-call status and raising four children without a husband, you might just feel a bit weary. In the first episode while she is pregnant and has just been promoted to detective, she catches her husband in their bed with another woman: end of marriage.

Four seasons are streamable from Acorn TV. Season 1 has 6 episodes, season 2 has 4 episodes, season 3 has 3 episodes, and season 4 has 6 episodes. There was also an unavailable season 5.

Be aware that some of the crimes can be harrowing. Plots are well written and often involve an unforeseen twist. Some parts of the dialog offer a good laugh.

Will this poor woman detective ever get some time to herself?

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, Basically Sad, Child custody, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Father-son relations, Mental Illness, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, TV Series, War Veterans

The Guardian (2001)

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From Netflix:

Nick Fallin is a fallen corporate lawyer who’s working off a drug conviction with 1,500 hours of court-mandated community service, splitting his time between helping kids in trouble and patching up relations with his workaholic father.

Simon Baker for me will always be “The Mentalist” which started airing in 2008. Therefore it is striking to see how much younger he looks in this TV series which aired in 2001 when he was 32 years old. In this series playing Nick Fallin he does not emote much, to say the least.

Each episode has two themes. His position in his father’s law firm is an ongoing theme. Additionally in each episode he tackles the problems of some unfortunate child. More precisely, his community service job requires that in the usual case of several people (parents, grandparents, step-parents) fighting to get custody, he has to try and satisfy the child’s wishes. Every such episode has a sad side and most often NOT a happy ending. Usually some imperfect compromise has to be made at the expense of the child’s true happiness.

Nick’s father Burton Fallin is played by Dabney Coleman whom you may recognize as Commodore Louis Kaestner of the TV series “Boardwalk Empire”.

NetFlix offers this TV series via streaming: Season 1 has 22 episodes, Season 2 has 23 episodes and Season 3 has 22 episodes. Kathy and I find that the more episodes we watch, the more involved we get with Nick’s life. If nothing else this series offers non-violent, intelligent entertainment which at times can be compelling.

2003, Acceptable for children, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Acceptable Trash, Action Film, Adventure, B-movie, Based on true facts, Corny, Hundred Years' War, Military, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Violent

Timeline (2003)

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From Netflix:

In the near future, when a technology corporation has created a method for traveling into the past, a history professor gets trapped in 1357 France, prompting his students and son to travel back in time and face untold perils to rescue him.

In yet another B-movie 30-year-old Paul Walker and 34-year-old Gerard Butler get to travel back to France during the Hundred Years’ War. (Old films certainly show us how quickly we age.) Who knows how historically accurate the life of that era is portrayed? At any rate this is NOT a film to be taken seriously. Just in case you don’t remember intimately the details of the Hundred Years’ War, you can always read the Wikipedia account from which the following quote is taken:

The Hundred Years’ War, a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453, pitted the Kingdom of England against the Valois Capetians for control of the French throne. Each side drew many allies into the fighting.

The war had its roots in a dynastic disagreement dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, who became King of England in 1066 while retaining possession of the Duchy of Normandy in France. As the rulers of Normandy and other lands on the continent, the English kings owed feudal homage to the King of France. In 1337, Edward III of England refused to pay homage to Philip VI of France, leading the French King to claim confiscation of Edward’s lands in Aquitaine.

Edward responded by declaring himself to be the rightful King of France rather than Philip, a claim dating to 1328 when Edward’s uncle, Charles IV of France, died without a direct male heir. Edward was the closest male relative of the dead king, as son of Isabella of France who was a daughter of Philip IV of France and a sister of Charles IV. But instead, the dead king’s cousin, Philip VI, the son of Philip IV’s younger brother, Charles, Count of Valois, had become King of France in accordance with Salic law, which disqualified the succession of males descended through female lines. The question of legal succession to the French crown was central to the war over generations of English and French claimants.

As far as this B-film none of that matters. Just grab some popcorn and chill out with the on-screen corn.

2003, British Mystery Series, Clever Plot, Detective, DNA, Dysfunctional Lives, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Serial Killer

DNA (2003)

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From NetFlix:

After recovering from a mental breakdown, brilliant investigator Joe Donovan joins the Manchester Forensic Investigations Unit. But his past continues to haunt him as he solves crimes with a fervor that causes tension between him and his wife.

Tom Conti and Samantha Bond appear in a cleverly written British detective series available from NetFlix as 2 discs that represent the only year (2003) that the series played. These 5 episodes may also be streamed from NetFlix.

In this particular story the novelty is that the DNA expert Joe Donovan experiences night-time wanderings which he cannot recall the next day. These night-time travels are connected with murders and seem to involve Donovan himself.

Enjoyable British mystery series with its own original gimmick!

2003, Basically Sad, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Prison, Quiet, Redemption, Talking Heads, Unusual

The United States of Leland (2003)

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From NetFlix:

Teenager Leland Fitzgerald appears to have everything going for him, including a famous writer father. So, what drove him to kill? It’s up to a teacher who works with inmates to unearth the anger and fear lurking beneath Leland’s unruffled surface.

Sadness and a questioning sense of despair pervades this quiet gem of a film. Every character has done something regrettable or been hurt, betrayed, or murdered by someone close to them. “Are we all evil or is there real goodness in at least some people ?” is the repeated theme in the film. Most of the film is “talking heads” as opposed to any action. You never actually see violence.

Perhaps I am prejudiced but I think of Ryan Gosling as an actor’s actor. Look him up in IMDB to see his amazing resumé. During the filming Ryan, who plays Leland Fitzgerald, was 23 years old, but seemed somehow much younger. Despite his young age, that spark of originality that sets him apart was still apparent.

Don Cheadle plays Pearl Madison who evolves during the plot from a exploitive wannabe writer to a repentant, caring, wiser person.

Kevin Spacey plays the writer Albert T. Fitzgerald who is Leland’s emotionally absent father. He is perfect as a smug, sarcastic, egocentric bastard who completely ignores his son.

Despite the pervasive sadness and sense of loneliness, you can always appreciate a quiet gem.

DO NOT MISS!