Category Archives: Acceptable Trash

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Acceptable Trash, Action Film, Action Hero, Bank Robbery, Bullying, Drug Dealers, Mistreatment of under class, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Sci-Fi

Code 8 (2019)

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From IMDB:

A super-powered construction worker falls in with a group of criminals in order to raise the funds to help his ill mother.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 38 minute piece of sci-fi acceptable trash.

Again from IMDB:

In a world where people with “special” abilities are living in poverty, Conner Reed (Robbie Amell) is a powerful young man who is struggling to pay for his ailing mother’s medical treatment. To earn money, he joins a lucrative criminal world led by Garrett (Stephen Amell), who works for a drug lord (Greg Bryk).

Not as horrible as it could have been, there is enough imaginative material here to warrant wasting 1 hour and 38 minutes.

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, British Comedy, Comedy, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Exaggeration Comedy, Lot's of Fun, Mayhem, Netflix Streaming, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Sight Gags, Slapstick, Sometimes seems silly, Vulgar

Cuckoo (2012)

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From IMDB:

Cuckoo is every parent’s worst nightmare – a slacker full of outlandish, New Age ideas.

From Netflix you can stream 5 seasons of this outlandish British TV series. Each season consists of 6 or 7 episodes, each episode lasting about a half hour.

Talk about fun trash! Remember that British humor is a bit more bawdy, over the top, and uses slapstick more than American humor. At times the humor may seem a bit puerile.

In each season some newcomer invades the home of Ken and Lorna Thompson and their two children Dylan and Rachel. In season 1 the invader is Rachel’s surprise new hippie husband Cuckoo (yes, that is his name). In seasons 2,3 and 4 Cuckoo’s naive son Dale replaces Cuckoo. In season 5 Ken’s long lost sister Ivy Mittelfart takes over.

Probably the best comedian in the cast is Kenneth Collard who plays the very eccentric Steve.  Steve is the wacko who claims to be Ken’s best friend and who in fact drives Ken nuts.

Ivy is played (embarrassingly) by Andie MacDowell.  Not once do I claim that the acting is especially good.  But what trashy fun!

I LOVE TRASH!

2013, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Amazon Prime, B-movie, Bad Acting, Crime, Murder, Police cover-up, Rape, Revenge, Romance, Sex Scenes, Terrible acting

Time of Death (2013)

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From IMDB:

Following the death of CEO Robert Loring at precisely 10:44 pm, the FBI sends in Jordan Price, one of their best and brightest to solve the case. As other key executives are murdered at exactly the same time, Jordan finds herself investigating the past in order to solve the case. She quickly discovers the ultimate cover up and is under the gun to solve the mystery before the next victim is killed.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this film which lasts about 2 hours.

If it were not for the (eventually predictable) plot, this piece of acceptable trash would not be worth the price of admission. Kathleen Robertson as Jordan Price is a beautiful woman but not a beautiful actress.  Her sidekick is downright ordinary.

No point in wasting a lot of words in this review. You can find better.

2016, Acceptable Trash, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, British Comedy, Coarse manners, Comedy, Crude Talk, Eccentric cast of characters, Explicit sexual discussion, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Flirting, Love Story, Mostly About Sex, Outrageous Behavior, Personal Betrayal, Religious Theme, Romance, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Vulgar

Fleabag (2016)

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From Amazon Prime:

Fleabag is a hilarious and poignant window into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, grief-riddled woman, as she hurls herself at modern living in London. Award-winning playwright Phoebe Waller-Bridge writes and stars as Fleabag, an unfiltered woman trying to heal, while rejecting anyone who tries to help her and keeping up her bravado all along.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 2 seasons of this comedy series. Each season consists of 6 episodes. Each episode lasts about a half hour.

Indeed this is a genuine laugh-out-loud series. At the same time it is easily one of the most vulgar shows I have ever seen. Sex is ostensibly the only theme of the entire series. However, you have to watch both seasons to get to the real hidden sad emotions of the lead female character who is labeled simply as Fleabag. Along the way the plot breaks some taboos such as her attempt to seduce a Roman Catholic priest (played by the talented and adaptable  actor Andrew Scott ).

Without the facial expressions of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) this show would be nothing. Throughout the series she speaks in theatrical asides to us, the audience. One clever final gimmick is that when she is talking to the priest and does an aside to us, the priest keeps asking her “where did you just go?” You might think her constant facial tricks get tiresome, but somehow for me they always worked.

If you are not offended, this story is contagiously hilarious.

2019, Acceptable Trash, Acorn TV, Amusing banter, Australian, Bicycles, Bloody scenes, Detective, Drug Dealers, Eccentric Detective, Explicit sexual discussion, Flirting, Interest in cats, Mediocre, Merely acceptable, Murder, Murder Investigation

My Life Is Murder (2019)

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From Acorn TV:

Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Parks and Recreation) stars in this contemporary Australian detective drama as retired cop Alexa Crowe. With her old boss (Bernard Curry, Once Upon a Time) regularly asking for her insight on cold cases and a young police data-analyst (Ebony Vagulans) eager to be mentored–whether Alexa wants to or not–Alexa can’t seem to stop solving crime.

From Acorn TV you can stream the three episodes of the only season. Each episode lasts about 42 minutes.

For a superficial, mediocre, but watchable set of 3 detective stories these three episodes might be a tad better than that TV stunner  called “Say Yes To The Dress”, but only just a bit better. Expect sexual comments, flirting, and some snappy retorts.

Meh!

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, Accidental Death, Amusing banter, Black humor, Clever Plot, Comedy, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Quirky, Uncategorized, Vulgar, Witty dialog

Dead to Me (2019)

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From IMDB:

A series about a powerful friendship that blossoms between a tightly wound widow (Applegate) and a free spirit with a shocking secret.

From Netflix you can stream 10 half hour episodes of this Netflix original TV series.

Before going any further, let me assure you this series is very profane acceptable trash.

Who on earth thinks of such crazy plots full of surprises? In this case the answer is Liz Feldman. Her story line often caught me unaware and forced some real belly laughs.

Jen Harding (played by Christina Applegate) is in mourning because her late husband Ted was killed in a hit and run auto accident. Judy Hale (played by Linda Cardellini) was driving the car accompanied by her boy friend Steve Wood (played by James Marsden).   Judy wanted to call the police but Steve convinced her to hide the damaged car and keep the incident secret. Judy then spends 10 episodes trying to make Jen’s life happy.  Along the way all kinds of often funny difficulties pop up.

Feldman’s plot ends with a question mark that could conceivably lead to a second season. Hopefully that second season would be just as much fun.

 

 

2019, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Bad high school, Career Competition, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Complicated, Corny at times, Dancing, Detective, DNA, Drama, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Fashion, Gay theme, Illegitimate Child, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Narcissistic Personality, Netflix Streaming, Psychopath, Sex Scenes, Sociopath, Suspense, Uncategorized, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent, Womanizing

What/If (2019)

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From IMDB:

An anthology series which tackles a different morality tale, and the ripple effect of a single decision that changes the trajectory of an entire life.

From Netflix you can stream 10 episodes of this soap opera. Each episode lasts between 40 and 60 minutes.

Anne Montgomery is the villain and most prominent feature of this acceptable trashy melodrama. She is played by Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones) who looks awfully good for her 50 years. Of course it does not hurt her appearance to wear not only tons of makeup but to wear in each new appearance an astounding designer creation. Best of all you can hear her lisp for all ten episodes.

Harlequin Books, the leaders in trashy bodice-rippers, will send you a story plot and will pay you to fill in the details. Suppose, in similar fashion you want to write a Netflix Original screenplay. What should be in the plot to be current in 2019?  Here are some suggestions (where we were motivated by this marvelous series):

  • In each couple, one of the partners must be hiding some terrible, guilty secret which prevents that person from being truly open with the other person.
  • One of the couples must be a gay couple. They should engage in least some filmed threesome sexual activity.
  • For each couple there must be a third party who has some destructive relation to one of the partners.
  • Some character must be a homicidal sociopath.
  • Financial dealings must complicated by the fact that you can never know whom to trust.

Probably I could extend the list, but those selling points should be enough to tempt you to watch almost 10 hours of acceptable trash. As a further inducement to wasting all that time, I am happy to reveal that by the end of episode ten, all problems have been resolved. Moreover, the plot leaves an opening for another thrilling set of trashy episodes.

Thanks to former colleague Kellie Trainer for suggesting this binge-worthy series. She and I have a motto:

WE LOVE TRASH!

2011, Acceptable Trash, Acorn TV, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Assisted Suicide, British, Bullying, Career Competition, Courtroom scenes, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Lawyers, Mediocre, Melodrama, Private Versus Professional Life, Revenge, Romance, Soap Opera, Suspense, Wrongful Arrest

The Case (2011)

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From Acorn TV:

In this suspenseful British legal drama, a husband is put on trial for his wife’s death-but was it murder, or an act of love? Tony Powell (Dean Andrews, Life on Mars) claims he helped his terminally ill wife (Caroline Langrishe, Judge John Deed) commit suicide, but when he appears to be hiding something, his lawyers fight for the truth behind the controversial case.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 5 episodes of this complete story. Each episode lasts about 43 minutes.

Basically this series is a slightly better than  mediocre soap opera. Dean Andrews  ( Robbie in “Last Tango in Halifax”) as Tony Powell spends most of the time looking mournfully guilty. His two lawyers, Julie and  Sol, cannot decide whether to have an affair.  Julie devotes a fair amount of time cat-fighting with the office witch,  Valerie. Meanwhile Valerie prowls desperately looking for love (or just sex). You get the idea, right?

As background noise while doing something worthwhile this soap opera will suffice.

 

2015, Abortion, Acceptable Trash, Adultery, B-movie, British, Crude Talk, Divorce, Drama, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Jealousy, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Middle school students, Mostly About Sex, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Revenge, School Teacher, Self-Deception, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Suicide, Teenagers

Doctor Foster (2015)

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From IMDB:

A woman suspects her husband of having an affair. After following several lines of inquiry far more unravels including a streak of violence below the surface

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this BBC soap opera. Each season consists of 5 episodes. At this point (July 2018) it is uncertain as to whether there will be a third season, even though the ending of season two cries for a continuation of the story.

Make no mistake, these 10 episodes comprise nothing better than a sex-and-revenge fueled soap opera. Nonetheless, yours truly binged frantically from episode to episode long after my wife lost interest in “pure tripe.”  But I have never been ashamed to admit that “I Love Trash!”

If you watch much British TV, then many of the actors will be familiar faces.  Most probably you may recognize Suranne Jones, who plays the lead role as Dr. Gemma Foster, as one of the team of women police detectives in “Scott & Bailey” (which I heartily recommend).

If for no other reason than to enjoy watching one of the best revenge dinners I have ever seen, put this potboiler on your list of guilty pleasures.

2017, Acceptable Trash, Amazon Prime, Bisexual theme, Comedy, Explicit sex, Farce, French, Gay theme, Masturbation, Mostly About Sex, Nothing special, Nudity, Romance, Sex Scenes, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Unmarried mother

I Love You 2 (2017)

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From Amazon Prime:

At the age of 35, Hector happens to meet his childhood love Louise, and falls in love with her all over again – but there’s a big problem. He’s gay, and has been in a loving relationship with Jeremie for several years. How long can Hector keep the secret of his double life, the cause of both suffering and joy? Selected for the 2018 Colcoa Festival (Los Angeles).

From Amazon Prime you can download this 3 episode series. Each episode last about 48 minutes.

Although this French production (with English subtitles) is just a mere bauble, it is enjoyable as a comedy of errors. Sexuality is very much explicit, whether gay or straight. There is frontal nudity.

Hector and Jermie and a lesbian friend (who wants a semen donation from one of the men in order to have a baby) live together. Hector at the same time falls back in love with Louise and Louise gets pregnant. Hector tries very hard to keep each lover secret from the other, but now he is faced with two new babies.

Nothing special, but silly and watchable.