Category Archives: Corny at times

Cougar Town (2010)

From Amazon Prime Video:

Courtney Cox stars as Jules, a recently divorced single mother exploring the truths about dating and aging. While most women in their twenties go through life experiencing the challenges and pitfalls of meeting men, Jules took on the responsibilities of marriage Now in her forties, she embarks on a journey to self-discovery surrounded by divorcees and singletons eager re-live a time gone by.

From Amazon you can stream this 6 season  comic soap opera. Seasons and number of episodes are: 1 has 24, 2 has 22, 3 has 15, 4 has 15, 5 has 13, 6 has 13 making a total of 102 trashy and funny episodes. Each of the 102 episodes lasts about 22 minutes.

“Acceptable trash” is probably the most accurate characterization of this binge festival.  Making it the last video I watched in the day just put me in a good mood. Humor style remains constant but there is enough clever repartee to keep the fun going.  Almost all the characters are around for the entire collection except for Bobby Cobb who leaves  at the beginning of season 6.  Eight constant characters are the main actors:

  • Courteney Cox plays Jules Cobb, the lead female character.
  • Christa Miller plays Ellie Torres, the cynical people-hater.
  • Busy Philipps plays Laurie Keller, the slut-proud dumb blond.
  • Dan Byrd plays Travis Cobb, son of Jules and Bobby.
  • Josh Hopkins plays Grayson Ellis,  Jules’ new neighbor boy friend.
  • Ian Gomez plays Andy Torres, Ellie’s husband.
  • Brian Van Holt plays Bobby Cobb, Jules’ divorced husband.
  • Bob Clendenin plays Tom, the misfit surgeon neighbor.

Courteney Cox might be familiar to you as Monica from “Friends.”

When I had seen all 102 short , funny,  trashy, and sometimes corny episodes I felt bereft.  Enjoy the nonsense!

 

The Affair (2014)

From IMDB:

A struggling novelist and a young waitress strike up an extramarital relationship that promises to forever change the course of their lives.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this steamy romance and crime series. Each episode is just under 1 hour.

UPDATE:  Now from Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of the soap opera that never ends. Season 2 has 12 episodes. Season 5 has 11 episodes. Seasons 1,3, and 4 have 10 episodes. Each episode is still about one hour.  That gives us a total of 53 hours of soap opera escape.

Nothing is perfect. Some portions are downright corny.  There is a strange interruption in plot when Noah seems to be having a series of psychotic episodes.  Did the writers forget to finish that part of the story?   Sometimes present events plus flashbacks from the past might seem somewhat confusing.

Toward the end I watched slowly because I did not want the story to end.  If a LOOOONG soap opera with a fair number of sometimes explicit sex scenes is your thing, DO NOT MISS!

Original review:

Noah Solloway is played by Dominic West,  the British actor with a long acting resumé. At the time of filming he was 45 years old.

Alison Bailey is played by Ruth Wilson, the British actress whose own resumé is just as long even though she was only 32 years old at the time of filming.  Her role as the sociopath “Alice Morgan” in the TV series “Luther” was chillingly unforgettable.

Alison’s marriage is failing while she and her husband morn the death of their young son.  Noah is having trouble writing his second novel and is trying desperately to be faithful to his wife even though he is immediately attracted to Alison.

Along the way there is a death that is being investigated  by Detective Jeffries.

As soap operas go, this one is not too bad.

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.

 

 

 

Rebecca (2020)

From IMDB:

A young newlywed arrives at her husband’s imposing family estate on a windswept English coast and finds herself battling the shadow of his first wife, Rebecca, whose legacy lives on in the house long after her death.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 3 minute complete remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic rendition of Daphne du Maurier’s famous 1938 bestseller.

If the link works for you, you can read the review in the edition today (October 22, 2020) of the Boston Globe.  Let us say that the critic, Ty Burr, damns with faint praise. As Mr. Burr reminds us, Alfred Hitchcock make the film in 1940, which makes the first film version 80 years old. He also sadly informs us that currently (Oct 22, 2020) there is no genuine streaming source for the original.

Of course we old-timers will tell you that Lily James (playing the second Mrs.  de Winter is no Joan Fontaine. Nor is Kristin Scott Thomas (playing Mrs. Danvers) any Dame Judith Anderson.  For my taste Kristin Scott Thomas is scary enough.

Ignore the critics and enjoy this remake!

The Sounds (2020)

From IMDB;

Maggie and Tom Cabbott move to the town of Pelorus to escape the oppressive influence of Tom’s family. But when he disappears, unsettling facts about Tom soon come to light and the search brings long-buried wounds to the surface.

From Amazon Prime:

This twisty thriller follows a married couple trying to start a new life in an idyllic New Zealand town, but when the husband goes missing, dark secrets begin to surface.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of the only season.  Each episode lasts exactly 44 minutes.

“Acceptable soap opera”  seems like a fair assessment of this series. Murder, false imprisonment, drug dealing, alcoholism, indigenous people, embezzlement, unwanted baby, and several betrayals make for a watchable series.

Rachelle Lefevre as Maggie Cabbott commands the show.  No sooner had I finished watching the series and then took a peek at Electric Dreams, much  to my surprise there was Rachelle Lefevre playing Katie in the TV series adaptation of Phillip Dick’s novel.

Of all the many characters in the cast, Emily Piggford as the accountant for the ruthless Cabbott enterprises was certainly the most striking or should I say oddest personality.   In this B+ series she can get away with such an extreme portrayal of a dedicated but emotionless woman.

Mostly about sin and redemption, it was worth waiting for the next Tuesday installment. At least you won’t have to wait now that all the episodes have been released.

Sherlock (2010)

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of Sherlock Holmes stories. Seasons 1,2, and 4 have 3 episodes. Season 3 has 4 episodes. Each episode lasts 88 or 89 minutes.

Because there have been so many presentations involving the famous British detective, let’s be clear: In this series four of the many actors are:

Adjectives that describe this particularly imaginative adaptation are: eccentric, exaggerated, implausible, sometimes repellent.

Much of the time Sherlock indulges himself by  showing off his brilliant deductive genius.  At other times he is busy confusing his poor companion  Dr. Watson.  When he is bored he uses cocaine.

Toward the end of the seasons, especially in season 4, the plot devices are just plain over the top and unbelievable.  Also there is a lot of sadistic cruelty on the part of the last villainess, which repelled me.

If nothing else, these episodes are certainly not dull. Hang on tight!

Les Secrets (2018)

From IMDB:

Sarah and Alex are young, beautiful, they love each other, they own their lives. Until tragedy strikes. One morning, Alex’s body is found down a cliff. The investigation rules Alex’s death a suicide. Sarah’s life breaks down.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 3 episodes of this French mystery drama. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes. Subtitles in English.

Sarah and her young son Paul return to Alex’s hometown to try and understand why Alex Aguze seemingly committed suicide.  One by one Sarah interacts with Alex’s mother and his brothers, sisters, and in-laws. With each encounter she picks up pieces of the puzzle. At times she feels in conflict with a local detective whose role in the puzzle deepens as the plot develops.

Three episodes means  you don’t have to wait long for answers. Although the drama is at times corny and the plot is not perfect, still the story was compelling enough to keep us interested.

 

Speakerine (2018)

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!

 

Banking District (2017)

From IMDB:

A private banker goes into a coma. His sister becomes the director and finds out his coma might not be accidental as she finds obscure transactions her brother was involved in.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 6 episodes of season 1 of this French-speaking Swiss intrigue film with English subtitles.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.  IMDB seems to indicate that there is or will be a season 2 which, in my opinion, would be a shame.

REVISION for Season 2 which also consists of 6 episodes, each lasting about 50 minutes.

My above opinion about season 2 being a shame, is WRONG. Season two was just as good as season 1.  At least we know from the beginning of season 2 who the bad guys are. But now Elizabeth has the difficult task of removing the bad buys and cleaning up the bank ethics. However, the line between good and evil becomes increasingly blurred as the plot develops. Elizabeth has her troubles in spades. Expect cynical plot turns. And once again DO NOT MISS!

ORIGINAL review for season 1.

From the very beginning up to the very end there is a palpable atmosphere of intrigue, suspense, and danger (for the good guys at least).

Elizabeth Grangier is the black sheep of the Swiss Grangier banking family. In fact she is the black sheep because of her disdain for the crooked dealings of the Swiss bank.  More to the point, the whole series is an indictment of the shady Swiss banking system. We quickly learn that her beloved brother Paul, who lies in a coma for the entire season, was quite corrupt.  Besides Elizabeth, the only other honest adult seems to be her newspaper journalist former husband.   Impetus for most of the action comes from the United States hunt for American tax evaders.  Add murders to the mix.

Some details are left hanging.  Elizabeth cries a lot. We never meet the owner of the female phone voice that orders killings.  But the story grabbed me.  At last I have gotten used to and in fact admire the plotting technique in which the conclusion leaves many details hanging. Just use your imagination.

Despite some negative criticisms,  I rate this series a DO NOT MISS!

 

 

Life As We Know IT (2020)

From IMDB:

Two single adults become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute complete romantic comedy film.

For anyone who has cared for small children this film presents many familiar scenes.  Add to that mix the fact that Holly Berensen (played by Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (played by Josh Duhamel  are suddenly forced to replace the deceased parents and you have many comic moments.

Before the film reaches a happy ending there are the usual clashing career choices, side romances (including Holly with Sam, played by Josh Lucas), and an eccentric social worker. 

Of course there are corny moments and very improbable details but at least you can relax for two hours without seeing any violence.