Category Archives: Adultery

2018, Abandoned child, Abduction, Abortion, Adultery, Algerian-French relations, Binge worthy, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny at times, Corruption, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Frame someone for a crime, French, French Culture, French Detective Series, Illegitimate Child, Jealousy, Journalist, Lesbian Theme, Made For TV, Male Chauvinism, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Occasionaly violent, Orphanage, Paris in the 1960s, Police Corruption, Police Politics, Political Intrigue, Romance, Suspense, Torture, TV Culture, Unhappy Marriage, Womanizing, Women's Equality

Speakerine (2018)

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From MHz Choice:

In 1960s Paris, TV announcer Christine Beauval crashes the glass ceiling and brings criminals to justice in a drama that’s part ‘Mad Men,’ part Agatha Christie.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 6 episodes of this French TV dramatic series.  Each episode lasts roughly 50 minutes.

Looking for a binge-worthy TV series with all the right elements: corruption, male chauvinism, OAS terrorists associated with the Algerian drive for independence, powerful Frenchmen taking sexual advantage of women ?   Look no further because this French TV soap opera has it all. Consider the cast of characters:

  • Christine Beauval must prevail against French male chauvinism in her fight to be accepted as a woman TV personality.
  • Pierre Beauval, her husband and boss, is a TV careerist executive opposing her all the way, as in “the women belong in the home and kitchen.”
  • Colette Beauval, her daughter, is being taken advantage of by Eric Jauffret, another bureaucratic wannabe.
  • Jean-Claude Beauval, her son, who becomes involved with the OAS terrorist group who tried to assassinate General Charles de  Gaulle.
  • Isabelle Auclair, a young woman using her charms to induce men to help her replace Christine.
  • And many. many corrupt politicians and executives loosely connected through sometimes fatal sex parties. (Are you interested now?)

Among these French actors, the only one I recognized was Grégory Fitoussi who plays Eric Jauffret.   He played a lead in Spiral, another French TV series.  If you haven’t already seen Spiral, run do not walk to Netflix.  You can find my review  in this web site.

Granted that “Speakerine” is an unabashed soap opera which at the very end is a bit over the top, but

DO NOT MISS!

 

1998, Abandoned child, Abortion, Acceptable for teenagers, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Cold Cases, Conspiracy, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, False Imprisonment, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, Harmful Medicine, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Murder Trial, Mystery Film, Old-Fashioned, Quiet, Romance, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Unjust crime conviction, Vintage Film

Evidence of Blood (1998)

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From Amazon Prime:

An award winning author of stories of real crimes returns to his hometown where he becomes involved in a 40 year old case of a murdered teenager.
From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 49 minute complete film.
In 22 years film making has changed a great deal.  You know you are watching older film techniques when the tool available to distinguish between the film’s present and past is a change in the hue of the picture.  Another clue is that David Strathairn (who plays the author Jackson Kinley) was a young 49 years of age (and is now 78 years old).  Mary McDonnell  (who plays Dora Overton)  played Ruby Goldfarb  in Fargo.
Because his friend Ray dies, Kinley goes back to his home town, driven by a capital punishment case that never felt correct.  Little by little his dogged persistence finally discovers the truth. Along the way he brushes up against an elaborate town wide cover-up and riles up alot of the townsfolk.  Also he falls in love with Dora.
Note that Jackson does his work “by hand” so to speak. He doesn’t have modern tools such as DNA forensics. Dora doesn’t even have a telephone.  All stored data is on paper.  Was 1998 really that long ago?
Watching a vintage film in which Jackson slowly assembles the puzzle pieces  is not a waste of time.   And there is no violence.
2009, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Anti-Semitism, Art Treasures, Attempted Suicide, British, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Nazis, Nudity, Womanizing

Joe’s Palace (2009)

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From Amazon Prime:

An empty London mansion casts a spell over an innocent young boy in this thought-provoking psychological drama.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute complete film. Incidentally, I found this film because Amazon suggests films that match films you have already watched, such as  “Dark River” which I discussed in my last review.

For most of this film I felt like a spectator in a “happening” of no particular importance.  Make no mistake, I found the details and characters fascinating. But always the question presented itself: But where is this all going?  Be prepared for a stunning and infuriating conclusion, as in “WOW!”

Venerable and famous British actor Michael Gambon plays perfectly a wealthy, brooding, lonely Elliot Graham. He hires young Joe Dix (played by Danny Lee Wynter) to be the doorman at one of Elliot’s perfectly maintained but uninhabited London residences. To my mind, the character Joe Dix is central to the story and steals the show. He presents a taciturn, uneducated, but principled young man whose mother found him this position. He speaks with a clipped lower class accent.

As a side character Rupert Penry-Jones plays the married womanizer Richard Reece having one of his many affairs with the also married Charlotte played by the beautiful Kelly Reilly.  As a side benefit to their subplot you can watch two “beautiful people” having quite a bit of sex.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2015, 2016, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Ambiguous Conclusion, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Cancer theme, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Cold Cases, Contract Killing, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Depression, DNA, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Incest, Male Prostitutes, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Pedophilia, Personal Betrayal, Police cover-up, Police Politics, Prostitutes, Racism, Rape, Revenge, Romance, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations

Unforgotten (2015)

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From Netflix you can stream the first two seasons of this excellent British cold-case series.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the first season the plot starts with:

A skeleton found in the cellar of a building prompts investigation from DCI Stuart and her colleague into the murder of a young man that could potentially span back thousands of years.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the second season the plot starts with:

Cassie and Sunny join together to investigate when a body is found in a suitcase when the river Lea gets dredged.

Although there are 5 seasons, I don’t know where to find the last three seasons.

In each season the plot runs as follows: First and foremost the challenge is to identify the victim. That process leads to a list of names associated with the victim. Each such name carries its own story. Eventually all the personal stories become entangled as the detectives struggle to make sense of the crime.

British crime series strike me as one big repertory group. You see the same actors over and over in different roles. If you want a list of those actors that keep reappearing, “Unforgotten” provides that list. Couple the list with the “Unforgotten” discussion in IMDB just in case you know you have seen that actor before but you just can’t remember who it is.

Both seasons are binge-worthy. DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Antique Cars, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Clever Plot, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Illegitimate Child, Jealousy, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Revenge, Romance, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations, Soap Opera, Stepchild, Unmarried mother

Ordeal by Innocence (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

When wealthy philanthropist, Rachel Argyll, is murdered at her family estate, her adopted son Jack is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his guilt and eighteen months later, the identity of the murder is thrown in doubt. Now it is up to the rest of the family to decipher a killer amongst them.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 3 episodes of this complete story. Each episode lasts about one hour.

Only at times did the drama seemed to drag a bit. But the plot and the characters are so well developed that we could not resist bingeing.  Have fun trying to spot the killer in this unhappy family in which the 5 children (all adopted) have all been mistreated by Rachel, their witch of a mother.

Several of the British actors may be familiar to you. Rachel, the murdered victim, is played by Anna Chancellor. Her husband Leo is played by  Bill Nighy.  Philip Durrant, the bitter son-in-law is played by Matthew Goode.

Included in the plot are one of the best pieces of revenge I have seen in a film.

For what it is worth, in the United States only Virginia prohibits the marriage of step-siblings.

If you are a fan of mystery soap operas, DO NOT MISS!

 

 

2017, Adultery, Crude Talk, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Nobel Prize, Wonderful acting

The Wife (2017)

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From IMDB:

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Glenn Close’s role as “the wife” has been mentioned in relation to an academy award. Her performance actually gave me gooseflesh. Watching the facial expressions in her beautiful face for an hour and forty minutes was sheer pleasure.

Jonathan Pryce had the dubious success of offering an excellent performance as “the husband”. You have to see the film to understand what I mean. But I will not spoil the plot for you. Jonathan Pryce was familiar to me as, of all things, High Sparrow from “Game of Thrones”.

My heart went out to Max Irons as the suffering “son”.

DO NOT MISS!

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.

2013, Abduction, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, British, Detective, Explicit sex, Family Conflict, French, French Detective Series, Grim, Grisly, Journalist, Marital Infidelity, Murder, Nudity, Police Culture, Psychopath, Suspense, Violent

The Tunnel (2013)

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From IMDB:

The Tunnel is set against the backdrop of Europe in crisis. When a prominent French politician is found dead on the border between the U.K. and France, detectives Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane, “Game of Thrones”) and Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poésy, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II”) are sent to investigate on behalf of their respective countries. The case takes a surreal turn when a shocking discovery is made at the crime scene, forcing the French and British police into an uneasy partnership. As the serial killer uses ever more elaborate and ingenious methods to highlight the moral bankruptcy of modern society, Karl and Elise are drawn deeper into his increasingly personal agenda.

From Amazon Prime you can download the 10 episodes, each episode lasting about 45 minutes.  Both French and English are spoken.

Be prepared for a somewhat grim story in which the psychopathic “Truth Terrorist” enacts a series of wrenching murders. For example, the story starts when the French and British detectives meet inside the channel tunnel at the exact half point which is the dividing line between Britain and France. Lying on that midpoint are two body halves (each from a different person) joined to look like one person. This should give you an idea of how grisly the plot becomes.

If you can put that gore behind you, you might enjoy the personal crux of the story: Elise, the French half of the team, suffers from an extreme case of Asperger’s Syndrome. She just does not understand human emotions, or as we might put it, she is just plain clueless. However both she and the British detective Karl are equally obsessively dedicated and very smart detectives.  Between them the interaction is entertaining.

And yes, there is quite a bit of sex, meaningless and otherwise.

If you can stand the harsh crimes, the suspenseful story is a good watch.

2017, Abduction, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Bail Bondsmen, Bloody scenes, Card sharks, Complicated, Complicated Scams, Contract Killing, Extramarital Affair, Gambling, Identity Theft, Police Culture, Prison, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, Violent

Sneaky Pete (2017)

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SEASON ONE

From Amazon Prime:

A con man (Giovanni Ribisi) on the run from a vicious gangster (Bryan Cranston) takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete, “reuniting” with Pete’s estranged family, a colorful, dysfunctional group that threatens to drag him into a world just as dangerous as the one he’s trying to escape – and, just maybe, give him a taste of the loving family he’s never had.

There are now two seasons you can stream from Amazon Prime. Season One consists of 10 episodes, each roughly an hour long.

Giovanni Ribisi (who plays Pete) has always been one of my favorite chameleon actors. But the bonus is that his “grandmother” Audrey is none other than Margo Martindale whose resumé is enormous but whom I first remember as the cold blooded killer Mags Bennett from “Justified.” You will probably also recognize Pete’s “grandfather” Otto as the actor Peter Gerety who played Judge Timothy Stane in “The Good Wife.”

Clever crime can be extremely technical. In our case the crimes center around fraudulent scams and card shark gambling. Not only can the scams be complicated, but the cheating techniques in card playing are challenging to understand. However, those details do not really matter because the fun is just watching the participants getting caught in their intrigues.  If you think some of our current politicians are “good” at lying, wait till you hear Pete in one tense situation after another instantly concoct some of the most creative lies I have ever heard.

At times the show can be violent. For example, until Pete returns stolen money to a crook, Pete’s captive brother will regularly lose a toe (ouch!).  But after the card shark brother loses just one toe, the captors convince him to deal cards for them in order to discover how one of the client players is cheating.

If there is a main theme, it is that Pete not only convinces the family that he really is the long lost grandson, but Pete becomes genuinely attached to the family.

Peter never stays out of trouble for long and seems to drag everyone else along with him. But it is just fun to watch.

 

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Adultery, Amazon Prime, Antique Cars, Australian, B-movie, Bad Acting, Based on a Book, Bullying, Comedy, Corny, Cross Dressing, Eccentric cast of characters, Haute Couture, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Mediocre, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Outrageous Behavior, Quirky, Revenge, Sad small town, School Teacher, Senior citizens, Slapstick, Small Town, Sports, Unmarried mother, Unusual

The Dressmaker (2015)

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From IMDB:

A glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 2 hour film.

Revenge is the keyword in this Australian comedy-drama. Wikepedia offers you more than you probably want to know about this film. Equally important is the ever present theme of haute couture.   It stars Kate Winslet as a femme fatale in the titular role of the dressmaker, Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, who returns to a small Australian town to take care of her ailing, mentally unstable mother, played by Judy Davis.  Along the way we encounter a love affair, false accusations of murder, and (did we forget to mention ?) revenge.

Sometimes the acting is over the top if not downright corny. But the visual fun of the film is the outrageous cast of  characters: the policeman is a cross-dresser, Judy Davis is a positive wreck, several women are timid and unattractive until Tilly takes charge. Three quarters through the story we think we see a happy ending … but then suddenly — (you will just have to watch the film!)

Even though I would give the film a B+,  I enjoyed every minute. Visually the oddities and clothing transformations are fun to watch and the story for all its faults is engrossing.