Category Archives: 2006

The IT Crowd (2006)

From Amazon Prime:

“Roy and Moss toil in the squalid basement of a huge company, fielding IT help desk calls. Roy has a lousy attitude coupled with an eye for the ladies, while Moss is dressed by his mother and has an aerosol can of water clipped to his belt with which to spray his ear when it gets hot. Into their life of ‘users’, pizza, science fiction and firewalls comes middle manager Jen, a spunky can-do career gal who doesn’t know one end of a laptop from the other. Can she introduce real life to men who email the fire brigade in an emergency, who invent a psycho for an internet dating site and display sympathetic PMS symptoms once a month? ‘The IT Crowd’. It’s more than a way of life, it’s a sitcom. ”

From Amazon Prime  you can stream 5 seasons of this British comedy series.  Seasons 1 thru 4 contain 6 episodes. Season 5 seems to consist of only 1 episode. Each episode lasts about 22 minutes.

UNFORTUNATELY Amazon makes you pay for the privilege of watching these episodes. Originally I watched them for free on Netflix.  Keep a lookout on other streaming sources for the chance to laugh a lot at these quirky characters.

Casino Royale (2006)

From IMDB:

After earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 24 minute old favorite.

No need to critique such a familiar and famous film.  Instead I just remind you that the film is currently (Nov 2022) available on Netflix.

Probably what is most memorable for me is the plot twist at the end. Just when you relax and think “Ah, happy ending” , then WHAMMO!

The Pink Panther (2006)

From Netflix:

Bumbling Inspector Clouseau must solve the murder of a world famous soccer coach and catch the thief who stole his priceless  diamond ring.

From Netflix  you can stream this 1 hour 32 minute comedy film.

Steve Martin’s remake of this 1963 classic film which starred Peter Sellars has some good laughs, especially the sight gags. Unfortunately from Netflix you can also stream the embarrassingly unfunny and vulgar “Pink Panther 2” which you should avoid at all costs.

Considering that this film was made in 2006 it seems striking that it includes cameo appearances by Clive Owen and Jason Statham. By 2006 Clive Owen had already made “Second Sight” and was making “Children of Men.”  By 2006 Jason Statham had already made “The Transporter” and “The Italian Job.” Why did they agree to cameo appearances?

This throwaway movie at least offers some belly laughs.

Lady Chatterley (2006)

From IMDB:

A French adaptation of the second (and much less well-known) version of D.H. Lawrence’s erotic tale.

From Kanopy:

Kino is now proud to present Lady Chatterley in a new, two-part, Extended European Edition featuring nearly an hour of additional material excluded from the film’s theatrical cut that explores the emotional and sensual borderlands uniting sex, love, and loyalty with even more intelligence, passion, and power than before. Through extra footage never seen in the US, director Pascale Ferran’s “rapturous visual tone poem” (New York Times) becomes both a highly erotic immersion into Lady Chatterley and Parkin’s passion and an equally frank and unsentimentally provocative portrayal of a marriage hobbled by war and ultimately torn apart by hypocrisy.

From KANOPY you can stream 6 hours and 5 minutes of this French adaptation with English subtitles. Actually it is 3 versions of the same film where each runs for 2 hours.  Whatever difference there is between the first and the other two I could not find. Watching just the first 2 hours is more than sufficient.

When was the last time your watched a naked man and naked woman frolic in the rain? When was the last time you watched a naked man and woman in front of a blazing fireplace where he decorates every part of her body with wildflowers?  Clearly this version of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is the most explicit  and also the most photographically beautiful  version I  have ever seen

Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)

From IMDB:

Sex and love. Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it, and some pay for it, but we’re all involved in it. Set on one afternoon on Hampstead Heath, London, this movie investigates the minutiae of seven couples. What makes us tick?

From Amazon Prime:

This British comedy stars an incredible home-grown cast including Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ewan McGregor, (Trainspotting), Catherine Tate (Doctor Who), Mark Strong (1917), Hugh Bonneville (Notting Hill), Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually) and Adrian Lester (The Day After Tomorrow). On the lush green lawns of London’s Hampstead Heath, a variety of couples sort through their romantic dilemmas.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 32 minute British film.

There are comedic moments to be sure, but not all the discussions are funny.  Note the emphasis on “discussion” because this is a talking-heads film.  At first I thought “this is going to be boring.” But something about the script and the acting and the well-known actors kept my attention throughout.   Ewan McGregor and his film partner play a gay couple discussing whether to have a baby. Eileen Atkins and Benjamin Whitrow play a pair of elderly strangers who meet accidentally and make an amazing discovery. And so it goes.

Somehow this slow day in Hampstead Heath was a pleasant, easy watch.

Donald Strachey (2005)

From Amazon Prime you can stream the following 4 films whose main character is the gay detective Donald Strachey.

To rate each of these films as B+ is generous.  Think of them as an amusing and diverting series of acceptable trash.  Plots can be complicated.  Throughout the series you will see the same actors in the major roles.  Any mild suspense is short-lived.

Third Man Out (2005) 1 hr 39 min

A gay detective is hired to find who has been been threatening a notorious member of the gay community noted for outing people.

Shock to the System (2006) 1 hr 39 min

A gay detective tries to solve the murder of a college student.

On the Other Hand, Death (2008) 1 hr 26 min

A mysterious client of private eye Don Strachey pays him cash to tail a woman who turns out to be an undercover officer; an older lesbian couple are victims of threats and vandalism; an old flame of his lover Tim shows up to support the older couple; neighbors are angry at the couple for refusing to sell out to a developer; and, parents are angry at one of the couple, Dorothy, for being a good guidance counselor to gay teens. Her partner, Edith, wants to move away; Dorothy is adamant about staying. When someone dies in a fire in their barn, the stakes get higher. Don, who does not believe in coincidence, gives the police enough information to stay on their good side as he pursues the truth.

Ice Blues (2008) 1 hr 38 min

Tim Callahan, aide to New York Senator Lauren Platt, is disappointed that all of the $3 million funding has been pulled from his latest pet project, a safe zone for children and youth. His personal partner, private investigator Donald Strachey, believes Tim’s passion for the project stems from the fact of his own sister’s troubled youth, she who has been missing since age seventeen. Tim believes his prayers have been answered when a man, identifying himself as a lawyer, tells him that he represents someone who wants to make a $3 million anonymous donation to the project. Those prayers turn into a nightmare when that lawyer is later found murdered, the dead body in Donald’s car. The murdered man is Jake Lenigan, a third generation lawyer in a powerful family law firm. Jake’s father was murdered twelve years earlier, the perceived suspect in that case being his wife Joan, who has since disappeared. Tim and Donald’s situation becomes even more nightmarish when Tim anonymously receives that $3 million in untraceable Euro bonds. The murderer will do whatever is necessary to get that money back from Tim and Donald, the latter who is working with the police to find Lenigan’s purpose in wanting to donate the money to Tim’s cause, find if Jake’s father’s murder has anything to do with this case, discover the owner of the money and thus the probable murderer, and most importantly protect himself and his boyfriend from being possible murder victims.

 

 

 

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

From Netflix:

Fed up with his manipulative girlfriend, Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman), New Yorker Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) gives her the heave-ho and moves on with his life, leaving the heartbroken Jenny — aka G-girl — to do everything within her superpowers to humiliate Matt. Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson and Eddie Izzard co-star in director Ivan Reitman’s slapstick fantasy comedy about a bitter superwoman scorned.

In a moment of TV Wasteland desperation, Kathy and I happened upon this comedy on one of our many HBO channels. Kathy sniffed in disdain and then joined me in laughing at some of the great sight gags. To be sure, this is a B-film which can be silly, vulgar, corny, and still funny enough to be worth the watch.

Much of the humor centers around sex (shocking, right?). Sex with a powerful super hero woman anyone ? Sex while flying in the sky anyone ? What’s not to like ?

Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute of “The Office”) are featured in the cast.

Have some off-color fun!

Carved In Bone (2006) [Book Review]

From Wikipedia:

Jon Jefferson (born 13 November 1955) is a contemporary American author and television documentary maker. Jefferson has written eight novels in the Body Farm series under the pen name Jefferson Bass, in consultation with renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass, as well as two non-fiction books about Dr. Bass’s life and forensic cases.

Dr. Bill Brockton, the leading character and forensic anthropologist, is called from his office at the University of Tennessee where he teaches by a sheriff who has found a mummy-like body stored in a cave.

My neighbor Linda Oates gave me a list of books she enjoyed. Linda is a nurse which, according to her, helps explain why she found this somewhat technical crime novel intriguing. You can skip all the medical details and still enjoy the story which offers all sorts of variety:

  • Bill Brockton has retreated within himself grieving over the death of his wife two years ago.
  • Cooke County deep in mountainous Tennessee is the scene of the crime.
  • In this untamed region we get to visit cock fights, dodge bullets, and be threatened by helicopters.
  • Lots of action keeps the story moving.
  • Much of the back and forth banter is funny.
  • At one point Brockton and his friend Art must escape from a cave which has been purposely collapsed at both ends.

Rate this book a non-demanding light entertainment.

2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (2006)

From NetFlix:

Enjoy the best live-action and animated shorts from the 2006 Academy Awards, including the animated winner “The Danish Poet,” which follows the title character on an adventure into romance and inspiration. In addition to live-action winner “West Bank Story” — a Middle Eastern parody of West Side Story — this eclectic collection also includes nominees “Binta and the Great Idea,” “One Too Many,” “Helmer & Son,” “The Saviour” and “Maestro.”

This collection is a mixed bag. You can easily skip the shorts that you don’t want to see. I recommend the following:

  • West Bank Story
  • Maestro
  • The Passenger
  • Guide Dog
  • One Rat Short
  • Surviving the Rush

“West Bank Story”, “Guide Dog”, and “Surviving the Rush” are really funny.

Included are:

  • “West Bank Story” parody of “West Side Story” sung in English with some really funny sight gags. In fact, it is really a brilliant comedy made at the University of Southern California.
  • “The Saviour” tense encounter with traveling missionaries in white shirts and ties. (Australian)
  • “Binta and the Great Idea” filmed in Africa and spoken in French with subtitles.
  • “Éramos pocos” Spanish with subtitles. Mother abandons her husband and son who then bring their grandmother from a rest home back to their home.
  • “The Danish Poet” Animated cartoon made by Danes. Romantic tale involving Denmark and Norway.
  • “Maestro” This very clever robotic animation appears in other collections of short film. Quite unique.
  • “The Wraith of Cobble Hill” Play dough animation about life in a black ghetto.
  • “The Passenger” Robotic animation. Humorous horror tale about young man’s adventures while reading a book entitled “The Passenger”. No dialog.
  • “A Gentlemen’s Duel” Animation. Two men duel for the affections of a damsel. English dialog. Somewhat vulgar.
  • “Guide Dog” Animated. Very funny story of a dog who has terrible luck trying to be a guide dog.
  • “One Rat Short” Extremely clever photo animation about a rat and a bag of Cheez-its. No dialog.
  • “Surviving the Rush” Really funny live short about a movie theater manager trying to survive a really bad day. Vulgar and religiously irreverent.

Doc Martin (2004)

From NetFlix:

Crippled by a sudden and inconvenient fear of blood, flashy surgeon Dr. Martin Ellingham abandons his bustling London practice and sets up shop as a country doctor in this medically minded British sitcom.

Are you looking for a warm, friendly, non-violent, comic, personal British sitcom? Look no further. Beginning in 2004 and extending over 5 years of wonderful episodes, you can relax and enjoy “Doc Martin”.

Doc Martin (played by Martin Clunes) is a very unusual character. For starters he is a family doctor who is sickened by the sight of blood (he looks away when he draws a blood sample). Most importantly he is completely hopeless in any social situation. My guess is that he is supposed to suffer from Asperger’s syndrome. Nowadays we would say that he “doesn’t have a clue”.

He has set up practice in a charming, small, British village on the sea. He is a brilliant diagnostician and much of each episode has him helping people in his impossibly brusque manner. In fact, part of the comedy in the series is his reaction (or non-reaction) to everyone, including his patients.

Do not misunderstand: the stories are not pablum. Some of the situations are harrowing. For example, we see his icy mother just once when she visits and explains that she never loved him because he “got in the way”. Along the way we see villagers afflicted with OCD, vertigo, psychosis, etc. Nonetheless the “cringe” factor is very low compared to today’s British TV plots.

All 5 seasons are available on DVD. NetFlix offers DVD or streaming for all the episodes.

In the area of family sitcoms I would rate this series a DO NOT MISS!