Category Archives: Drama

2007, Complicated, Confusing Time Sequence, Drama, Failing Marriage, Fatal Accident, Father-daughter relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Religious "solution", Suspense

Premonition (2007)

From Netflix:

One day, a woman learns that her husband has died suddenly in a car crash. But the next day, he reappears as if nothing ever happened.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 36 minute complete film.

Prepare to be possibly as confused as poor Linda. Sandra Bullock (as Linda Hanson) lives a week’s days out of order.  Before disaster strikes (or maybe afterwards) she tries valiantly to figure out what is happening.  It doesn’t help that her husband Julian McMahon (as Jim Hanson) keeps dying or disappearing and then reappearing.

Sandra Bullock started appearing in comedy films. She then switched to serious roles. While nothing especially memorable, I have yet to see one of her films that I did not enjoy, including this particular movie.

Forget some technical flaws (see IMDB for a list of the goofs), and just enjoy.

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Bisexual theme, Brother-Sister relations, Cooking, Cooking and food, Could Be Sad, DIY Ending, Drama, English, Extramarital Affair, Failed Marriage, Family Conflict, German, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Jewish Religious Observance, Keeping Kosher, Love Story, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Quiet, Sex Scenes, Slow, Unhappy Marriage

The Cakemaker (2017)

From Kanopy:

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates into the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Cafe in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her and create German cakes and cookies that bring life into her Cafe. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation, and to protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 50 minute complete film. Because the story takes place in Germany and Israel,  three languages are used: English, Hebrew, and German. English subtitles are provided.

Kanopy’s description is so complete that I need only say that the economy of dialog, the meaningful pauses at facial expressions, and the slow pace are essential components. Is it boring to watch Thomas slowly and painstakingly bake bread and cakes?  Instead are we not seeing his dogged, determined, accepting attitude toward life?

Warning: You will have to interpret the ending for yourself. Please let me know how you think things turned out.

Patience required for watching this worthwhile film that is not for everyone.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Basically Sad, Conflicted childless couple, Drama, Gay theme, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Sex Scenes, Single Mother

15 Years (2020)

From IMDB:

Yoav’s demons start haunting him after his best friend becomes pregnant without telling him, and after his boyfriend of 15 years starts talking about children too. His life unravels, and self-destruction seems inevitable.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 28 minute complete film.  Hebrew with English Subtitles.

Because the acting is so good and the story so sadly real, this film is worth watching.  Probably the same story pertains to so many couples that it could just as easily centered on a straight couple as on a gay couple.

Do not expect a happy ending.

2016, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corrupt Corporation, Corrupt lawyers, Corrupt policemen, Cover-up, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Environmental concerns, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failed Father, Failed Marriage, Father-daughter relations, FBI, Frame someone for a crime, Gay theme, Government cover-up, Illegal Weapons, Lawyers, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Office Love Affairs, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Revenge, Suicide, Suspense, Trial Scenes

Goliath Season 1(2016)

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From Amazon:

Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of the massive law firm he helped create, Billy and his ragtag team uncover a vast and deadly conspiracy, pitting them all in a life or death trial against the ultimate Goliath.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 4 seasons of this lawyer series.  This review is just for season 1 which consists of 8 episodes where each episode is roughly one hour.

Billy McBride is played by Billy Bob Thornton who has often taken unusual roles. You might recall him as Lorne Malvo in “Fargo”.  In season one he is up against the Goliath of law firms named Cooperman and McBride which he helped establish.  His personal nemesis is the other name on the company name,  Donald  Cooperman. Cooperman as one of the best “bad guys” I have ever seen is played to stunning and eccentric perfection by William Hurt. Not that Cooperman is the only villain.  His most notable lawyer-in-crime, Callie Senate,  is played with cunning malice by Mollie Parker, whose every smug smirk is a masterpiece of acting.  When you really hate one of the villains, that actor is doing her job. Mollie Parker played Jackie Sharp in “House of Cards”.

Rest assured the daemons get their comeuppance.  But the journey to get to that point is agonizingly frustrating.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Basically Sad, Bloody scenes, Drama, Dystopia, Father-son relations, Government human experiment, Military, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Remarkable Body Transformation, Violent

The Titan (2018)

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From Netflix:

On a bleak future Earth, a soldier endures a radical genetic transformation to save humanity. But his wife fears he’s  becoming more creature than man.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 37 minute sci-fi drama.

Because Earth is doomed,  the U.S. government has decided to try to populate Titan, one of Jupiter’s moons.  Titan’s environment (air, temperature, water) is harsher than that of Earth. Consequently a (mad?) scientist (played by Tom Wilkinson) has devised a radical restructuring of a body’s genome so that the resulting person can thrive on Titan.  Among the group of volunteers is Rick Janssen (played by Sam Worthington) whose wife Abi (played by Taylor Schilling) loves him dearly and is terrified by the treatments, suffering, and changes taking place in her husband.

Rather than full-fledged sci-fi, this is more a minor drama about how impending planet disaster affects a marriage.

Ignore the improbable details (how many people does populating a new planet require?), enjoy the yarn and the personalities.

2021, 911 Operator, Abandoned child, Anxiety Attacks, Could Be Hard To Watch, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Failed Marriage, Friendship, Mental Illness, Netflix Streaming, One Man Show, Physical child abuse, Police Culture, Psychotic Mother, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Valium appropriate, Well developed plot, Wonderful acting

The Guilty (2021)

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From Netflix:

A troubled police detective assigned to 911 operator duty scrambles to save a distressed caller during a harrowing day of revelations — and reckonings.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 31 minute complete film.

Ever since Donnie Darko, Jake Gyllenhaal has seemed to me to be a consummate actor, probably because he dares to present unusual and challenging roles.  In this tense film he does not disappoint.  As far as I can remember there is hardly a second of the film in which the camera is not focused on him,  usually a full screen closeup that catches every nuanced facial expression.

Little by little as the film progresses,  you learn more and more about the troubles facing Officer Joe Baylor (i.e. Jake Gyllenhaal).  Let’s just say he is a deeply caring man who has made some bad mistakes. Even the way in which the plot lets us learn more and more about Joe is clever.

If you can stand the tension and are committed to never relaxing even for a second, then

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Accidental Death, Action sequences, Addiction, Black humor, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Comedy, Cover-up, Defies Categorization, Drama, Eccentric cast of characters, Ethical struggles, Fist Fight, Forensics, Funeral Director, Hopeless Love, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Norwegian, Norwegian Comedy, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Plot twists, Police Investigation, Problematic Ending, Quirky, Small Town

Post Mortem: No One Dies In Skarnes (2021)

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From IMDB:

Live Hallangen is declared dead but hours later she suddenly wakes up with a sudden urge for blood. Meanwhile, her brother Odd tries to keep the family driven funeral home afloat.

From Netflix:

It’s just another average day in this small Norwegian town
until a young woman is found dead in a field. But things are not as they seem.

From Netflix you can stream 6 episodes of this Norwegian series. Each episode lasts about 44 minutes.

Categories such as comedy, drama, and thriller have been applied to this off-beat series.  If I tell you what the series is about, I am afraid you will not watch it.  Let me begin, therefore,  by saying that no matter the theme, this is NOT a vampire story.   More than any other characterization,  for me “comedy” rings true because it shows Live (pronounced Lee-Va ), her brother Odd, the policeman Reinert. and Dr. Sverre getting in deeper and deeper in their combined efforts to conceal the truth about them and the strange secret of the town of Skarnes while trying desperately to keep the chief of police, Judith, off their trail.  Some comedies such as this one are built on a succession of outrageous events. When was the last time you saw a completely clothed woman having a mud fist fight with a completely naked man with a plastic bag tied over his head?

Well done and well worth the watch.

 

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Anti-Semitism, Attempted Rape, Attempted Suicide, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Detective, Drama, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jewish Culture, Mental Illness, Mild Torture, Military, Military Corruption, Military School, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Old-Fashioned, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Politics, Portraiture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychopath, Psychotic Attacks, Sadism, Self-harm, Spiritualist, Suspense, Vienna of 1900, Violent

Vienna Blood (2019)

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From PBS Streaming:

A student of Sigmund Freud and an Austrian detective team up to solve some of the most mysterious and deadly cases in early 1900s Vienna.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can watch 6 episodes, each lasting about 45 minutes.  Each of the three stories encompasses 2 episodes.

Changes were happening in 1900s Vienna.   Oskar Reinhardt is an Austrian detective who, when the series begins, is used to old-school methods that can involve using violence against suspects.  Little by little he adapts to using the newer methods of Max Liebermann. Max is a doctor working in a hospital run by a bully that is fond of using electrotherapy.  Max, as a student of Sigmund Freud, is more attuned to using psychological methods for understanding and curing his patients.

One important theme is Vienna’s virulent  antisemitism.  Max is the eldest son of an observant Jewish family.  As a subplot, Max is engaged to one woman (a Jewess) but falls in love with one of his patients (a gentile) whom he cured using Freudian methods.

Oskar is in constant mourning over the death of his young daughter. As a result his wife has at least temporarily left him.

In each of the 3 murder cases, Oskar stands fast against the prejudices and rush to judgement of his superiors.  Similarly Max stands fast against the malpractice of his own superiors.

Be at least warned that the third story leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Old-fashioned and well-done drama.

1987, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Art appreciation, Art History, Art Treasures, Basically Sad, British, British Drama, Church of England, Classic, Drama, Ethical struggles, Homophobia, Hopeless Love, Love Story, Old-Fashioned, PTSD, Quiet, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sexual Tension, Slow, Small British village, Small gem of a film, Stuttering, Things Left Unsaid, Vintage Film, Wonderful acting, WWI Veteran, Yorkshire Accents, Yorkshire setting

A Month In The Country (1987)

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From Amazon Prime:

Five centuries ago, a mural was created in a country church in the north of England, and then hidden under layers of white paint. Looking at it again will be a distraction, the Reverend Mr. Keach tells World War I veteran Tom Birken, who will spend a month in the country restoring the mural.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this beautiful but sad classic British film which lasts 1 hour 36 minutes.

Direct quote from Wikipedia:

A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O’Connor. The film is an adaptation of the 1980 novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide. The screenplay was by Simon Gray.

Set in rural Yorkshire during the summer of 1920, the film follows a destitute World War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war.

The film was shot during the summer of 1986 and featured an original score by Howard Blake. The film has been neglected since its 1987 cinema release and it was only in 2004 that an original 35 mm film print was discovered, due to the intervention of a fan.

34 years ago Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh were a mere 27 years old while Natasha Richardson was even younger at 24 years of age.  (Sad note: Richardson died in 2009 from a head injury while skiing.) Has Jim Carter, the head butler in Downton Abbey, always looked the same age his entire life?

For some reason the above quoted summaries fail to mention that the character James Moon (Kenneth Branagh) was also suffering PTSD from World War I.

BEAUTIFUL BUT SAD! (Gooseflesh anyone?)

2017, Abandoned child, Acceptable for teenagers, Drama, Drug Dealers, Drug trip, Drugs, Father-son relations, Kanopy streaming, Quiet, Slow, Small gem of a film, Small Town Atmosphere, Southern U.S. wilderness, Wonderful photography

Moss (2017)

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From Kanopy:

In this coming-of-age tale set in the American South, Moss is an isolated and troubled young man who embarks, on his eighteenth birthday, on an unexpected adventure never to be forgotten.

For Moss, whose mother died while delivering him, the day means freedom, especially from his father, whom Moss believes resents him for his very existence. However, it will take more than this milestone day to set him free. During a chance encounter with a woman fleeing her own heartache, the two escape into a psychedelic journey that teaches Moss lessons of life and loss.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 21 minute complete film.

Perhaps you should be smoking a joint while watching this photographic essay go dreamily on its way.  Sometimes the camera work seems clumsy,  but the film captures a piece of the South notable for raw, beautiful nature and the poverty of its inhabitants.  In this rush-rush age it is amazing to watch folk who are in no hurry, have no ambitions, and are content to smoke pot and just enjoy watching the day go by.