Category Archives: Bullying

2018, Abduction, Basically Sad, Bullying, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, French, French Culture, Friendship, Gay theme, High school students, Homophobia, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Promiscuity, Unusual ending, Violent, Young Adult

I Am Jonas (2018)

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From IMDB:

Two moments of Jonas’s life intertwine, each reflecting the other: in 1995, when he was a secretive teenager, and 18 years later, as an attractive and impulsive thirty-something looking for balance in his life.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 22 minute French film with English subtitles.

Also from IMDB:

Boys (Jonas) is a mystery told in two separate timelines. In the first, it’s 1997 and Jonas is entering 9th grade. A new boy in school immediately catches his eye. Perhaps it’s the bad-boy scar on his cheek or his devil-may-care attitude, but Jonas is smitten. The two boys quickly become friends and before long are skipping class to kiss in an empty gymnasium. In the film’s other timeline, it’s 2015 and the excitement of a teenager in love has been replaced with the sorrow of a man who can’t escape the past. The adult version of Jonas (Félix Maritaud, outstanding in this year’s sexually graphic Sauvage and last year’s ImageOut favorite BPM) is a broken man. His boyfriend has thrown him out for cheating on him a few too many times, and he’s been arrested for getting into a fight at Boys, a local gay bar. There’s something about the bar that seems to set him off. He meanders through life still carrying that same old Game Boy, trying to fill a hole that can’t be filled. So what happened …

Curious as to why Netflix is strongly promoting this film, I decided to give it a try.  Turns out the film is a well-made story about two gay boys Jonas and his impulsive friend Nathan. There is no sex in the film except for a kiss or two.  While centered in Jonas’ adult life, the story proceeds by flashbacks.

Different, satisfying while inconclusive ending, and not at all a waste of time.

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.

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Action Film, Action Hero, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Bullying, Child abuse, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Disturbing Image, Dystopia, Explicit sex, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Gloomy, Gory, Grim, Human Cloning, Invincible Hero, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Romance, Sadism, Sci-Fi, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, Valium appropriate

Altered Carbon (2018)

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From IMDB:

ALTERED CARBON is set in a future where consciousness is digitized and stored in cortical stacks implanted in the spine, allowing humans to survive physical death by having their memories and consciousness “re-sleeved” into new bodies. The story follows specially trained “Envoy” soldier Takeshi Kovacs, who is downloaded from an off-world prison and into a combat ready sleeve at the behest of Laurens Bancroft, a highly influential aristocrat. Bancroft was killed, and the last automatic backup of his stack was made hours before his death, leaving him with no memory of who killed him and why. While police ruled it a suicide, Bancroft is convinced he was murdered and wants Kovacs to find out the truth. 

From Netflix you can stream currently one season but soon two seasons of this science fiction series. Season 1 consists of 10 episodes, each of which last about an hour.

Would you like to live forever? Be careful what you wish for. In a dank earthly atmosphere reminiscent of “Blade Runner”, this series presents a really gloomy future in which a “person” is digitally encapsulated into a small disk that is somehow inserted into the spinal column. By now it is unimportant into which body that disk is inserted, so that each person is now wearing their current “sleeve”. Real death can only occur if the disk is destroyed.  Therefore, when you see a person, you don’t really know who that is. Your grandmother can look like a pot-bellied biker.

As you might guess from the last paragraph, the plot can get really complicated.  In fact I must confess that most of the time I am fairly confused about what is happening.  But I understand enough to continue watching this inhuman plot, somewhat to my shame.

Digital wizardry continually produces really bizarre scenes. Unfortunately the series is ultra violent and portrays a very decadent society that delights in cruelty. Ancient Rome anyone?

Of the many actors, two stand out:

  • Joel Kinnaman plays Takeshi Kovacs who is the action [anti-]hero  tof the story.  “But wait”, you say, “that’s an Asian name and Joel Kinnaman is Swedish.”  Ah yes, but that’s because the actor for much of the series is wearing his Swedish “sleeve.”  See what I mean?
  • James Purefoy , as is often the case, is the smooth arch villain Laurens Bancroft.  He does dangerously evil to perfection.

There is an awful lot of Kung Fu fighting which could get boring. Possibly the story drags on too long.  Sometimes the plot turns are too good to be true.  Torture scenes are horribly explicit.  So just begin to watch and judge for yourself whether the slog is worth the effort.

Possibly the only worthwhile effect this story had on me was that I more easily accept that it is fitting that our life has a beginning, middle, and END.

2018, Amazon Prime, Basically Sad, Bullying, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Conspiracy, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Father-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Psychological Drama, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Suspense, Violent, Wonderful acting

A Dark Place (2018)

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From IMDB:

When a young boy goes missing in a sleepy backwoods town, a local sanitation truck driver, Donald, plays detective, embarking on a precarious and obsessive investigation.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 29 minute feature film.

Hats off to the incredibly talented and adaptable Irish actor Andrew Scott.  You can watch him in Fleabag and Handsome Devil. In “Fleabag” (Amazon Prime) he plays a Catholic priest. In “Handsome Devil” he plays a somewhat closeted gay private school teacher. In “A Dark Place” he plays to perfection a personality-disabled obsessive compulsive garbage man.

If I had to make an amateur guess, I would says the character suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. His withdrawn and hesitant demeanor reflects the small town’s low opinion and dismissal of him.  But he is NOT stupid. In fact his determined obsessiveness coupled with his native intelligence drive him to expose an atrocious  crime which was covered over by corrupt forces in the town.  What I marvel most about this film is Scott’s ability to channel a lonely disliked oddball to such an extent that I ended up commiserating with and rooting for the character.  Facial expressions and physical movement are part of Scott’s acting toolbox.

Speaking of facial expressions, don’t miss the last grimace of the sheriff.

Corrupt bullies versus a disadvantaged good guy is a scenario that always holds my attention.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2016, Acceptable for teenagers, Boarding school, Bullying, Drama, Fist Fight, Friendship, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, High school students, Homophobia, Irish, Netflix Streaming, Rugby, School Teacher, Teenagers, Unloved Child

Handsome Devil (2016)

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From IMDB:

Ned and Conor are forced to share a bedroom at their boarding school. The loner and the star athlete at this rugby-mad school form an unlikely friendship until it’s tested by the authorities.

From Netflix you can stream this  1 hour 35 minute feature Irish film.

As far as gay themed stories go,  this film is a really well-done film that avoids both clichés and sex scenes.  In fact, sexual activity is not in any way a part of the plot.  Ned is a non-athletic, gay, loners who is forced by his uncaring parents to attend a rugby-mad school.  He is forced to share his bedroom with a closeted, gay star athlete who has switched to this school because of past troubles.

All the administrators, teachers, coaches, and students care only for winning a coming important rugby match.  However, along comes a new teacher Mr. Sherry who is himself gay and somewhat closeted but with a strong, defiant personality. Mr. Sherry is played by Andrew Scott who played the priest in the series Fleabag.

Of course, you might argue, overcoming homophobia is a cliché. In this respect the film wears its heart on its sleeve.  Enjoy it anyway.

2010, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, British, Bullying, Corny at times, Drama, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Miners, Mother-daughter relations, Racism, Romance, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Smallpox, Suspense, Unmarried mother, Wales

The Indian Doctor (2010)

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From Acorn TV:

This uplifting and charming period drama from the BBC follows an Indian doctor (Sanjeev Bhaskar, Mumbai Calling) who moves to a small Welsh village in the early 1960s. As he and his upper class wife (Ayesha Dharker, Indian Summers) adjust to life in the mining town, they start to change the community–and the community changes them.

From Acorn TV you can stream three seasons of this series which is in the same genre as “Doc Martin”.  Each season has 5 episodes and each episode lasts about 43 minutes.

Eventually Dr. Prem Sharma and his wife Kamini Sharma with difficulty  fit into the small Welsh mining community.

Season 1 centers on Dr. Sharma fighting to get chest X-rays for the miners in order to detect black lung disease.

Season 2 is about a church minister whose belief that prayer can cure smallpox endangers the community.

Season 3 has Dr. Sharma working to defeat a hoax that will impoverish the town inhabitants.

If you have ever watched the wonderful British series “Unforgotten” then you will recognize Sanjeev Bhaskar (who plays Dr. Sharma) as DS ‘Sunny’ Khan who is the sidekick to DCI Cassie Stuart (played by Nicola Walker).

If you need a family-friendly series then you cannot go wrong with these 15 episodes.

 

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.

 

1996, Abduction, Adopted child, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime, Assisted Suicide, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, Bullying, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Forensic pathologist, Gay Bashing, Homophobia, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Prison, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Sister-sister relations, Stepchild, Suicide, Suspense, Teenagers, Theft

Silent Witness (1996)

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From Amazon Prime:

Forensic pathologist Dr. Sam Ryan has an all-embracing, passionate notion of justice that can lead to trouble in her personal and professional lives, but to Sam, each dead body deserves the truth.

Believe it or not, this detective series which takes place in Cambridge, England has twenty-two (22) seasons.  In fact from Amazon Prime you can stream seasons 1 through 21. Season 1 offers 4 complete stories, each about 1.5 hours. In seasons from number 2 onward  each of the 4 stories consists of two shorter episodes (about 45 minutes) instead of one long episode.

Normally I don’t review until I have finished all the seasons but 21 seasons could take a long time to get through.  Unfortunately every story we have seen so far has been so good that we are tempted to binge watch. When wife Kathy wants to continue watching “NOW!”, that is a sign we have latched onto something worthwhile. “Law and Order” was another example of years of watchable entertainment.

Amanda Burton, born and raised in Northern Ireland, plays the stunning and determined forensic pathologist Dr. Sam Ryan (yes, HER name is Sam). Many other actors survive from season to season but Burton is the shining star.

Running through the seasons are her relations with her sister and working colleagues and her love affairs. As is often the case in detective stories (she is not a member of the police department) there is the usual conflict of her personal life with her professional life. An added complication is that she gets emotionally involved not only with her cases but also with various colleagues with whom she has serious differences of opinion regarding her cases.

FIRST AMENDED REVIEW: Sam last appears in Season 8 episodes 1 and 2 entitled “A Time To Heal”. She leaves the job eventually a young woman takes her place.  From then on the series goes somewhat downhill: first the plots start to look like any old American gangster story, and secondly the episode descriptions found on the Amazon web site and the descriptions that you download with the episodes are misplaced. We stopped watching at that point.

SECOND AMENDED REVIEW: My advice is now to continue with Season 8. When a story seems boring or mediocre, just skip to the next story. Remember each story consists of 2 episodes. It won’t be long before the stories become better. As of this amendment I am on Season 11 and it is dynamite.

THIRD AMENDED REVIEW: In Season 8 Episode 5 we first meet Dr. Nikki Alexander as a young woman just starting her career as a forensic pathologist.  From then on through all of Season 22 she remains in the series whereas almost all the other actors are replaced.  For the 15 seasons you actually see the actress Emilia Fox age as do the other actors. This character is wonderful to the very end of the series.

Sometimes grim but always engaging drama! DO NOT MISS!

2005, Acorn TV, British, British school girls, Bullying, DO NOT MISS, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Serial Killer, Suspense, Teenagers, Wrongful Arrest

Like Father Like Son (2005)

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From IMDB:

Life for Dee Stanton is improving at every turn. Her legal career is blossoming and her boyfriend Dominic unexpectedly proposes to her. Things were very different 11 years ago when her husband Paul was jailed for the brutal murders of four girls and Dee was hounded from her home. Dee has kept all this a secret from her 15-year-old son Jamie. Now he has discovered the truth about his father and demands to see him.

From Acorn TV:

Dee Stanton (Jemma Redgrave, Holby City) seems to have a perfect life, with a blossoming career and a handsome fiance (Robson Green, Grantchester). But Dee’s tragic past comes back to haunt her when her son learns his father is a convicted serial killer. After a girl’s murder, Dee fears history is repeating itself. This gripping psychological thriller also stars Tara Fitzgerald (Game of Thrones).

From Acorn TV you can stream the 2 episodes of this British TV drama. Each episode is about 68 minutes long.

When you have such British actors as Jemma Redgrave (who plays Dee Stanton), Robson Green (who plays Dominic) and Phil Davis (who plays the imprisoned father serial killer), you know you are in for a treat.  Although the plot is somewhat like a soap opera, the tension and threat of a wrongful arrest are so strong that it is a blessing that there are only two episodes. Moreover, I would be surprised if you get to the near end and have correctly identified the killer.

For plot surprises and good acting let’s call this a DO NOT MISS!

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.