Category Archives: Contract Killing

2017, Acorn TV, Arson, Bloody scenes, Child custody, Contract Killing, Crude Talk, Dark, Depression, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Fishing, Forensics, Gloomy, Lawyers, Murder Investigation, Nazis, Nudity, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Small Town Atmosphere, Suicide, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, TV Series, Violent

Rebecka Martinsson (2017)

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From Acorn TV:

Swedish with English subtitles. Based on Asa Larsson’s celebrated and popular crime novels, the series takes place in the bleak Northern Environment and revolves around Rebecka Martinsson (Ida Engvoll) a Stockholm lawyer. When a childhood friend suddenly dies Rebecka reluctantly returns to her hometown. But not everything is what it seems and she’s drawn into the gripping pursuit of a killer.

Although MHz Choice offers only foreign language TV with English subtitles, in this case it is exceptionally Acorn TV that streams this particular TV series. Recall that Acorn TV claims to offer only shows from countries associated with the British empire.

Season 1 offers 8 episodes. Each two episodes comprise one complete story.  Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Watching from the beginning is important because, in addition to the detectives solving murders,  all 8 episodes show continuous developments in Rebecka’s life  as a young adult.

This series was a lucky find. Not only are the stories original and out of the ordinary, but the writing and acting are excellent.

Daily life in Sweden is presented in all its frigidity,  gloom, and hardship. But one of Rebecka’s conflicts is whether to continue her successful career as a Stockholm corporate lawyer (and marry one of her fellow employees) or to remain in the cold north where she grew up. Rebecka is played by a Swedish actress named Ida Engvoll. Despite her golden-haired beauty, the story line puts her through much anguish, including a stint in a mental hospital for clinical depression. For much of the series her eyes are made up to be sunken and red making her look downright miserable.  Her relationship with a one-armed police dog handler is an important part of the series, and in fact seems to lead to an as yet unavailable new season.

For a detective series I vote DO NOT MISS!

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Beck (1997)

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From MHz Choice:

He’s got no style, he’s got no flash and he’s squarely in middle age. But Swedish detective Martin Beck is good at one thing: methodically catching criminals so that they can be put away… for a long time. His tightly-wound partner, Gunvald, is his opposite: an impulsive man who cuts a dashing figure, is in no way politically correct and who never met a boundary he didn’t leap across.

MHz Choice lets you stream 5 seasons of the Swedish detective series “Beck”.  All seasons offer 8 episodes except Season 4 which only offers 2 episodes. Each Episode is approximate 1.5 hours.

Harsh and sometimes hard-to-watch, the episodes are well done. If you want something less tense, try the MHz Choice series “Magellan”.

Through the 5 seasons Beck’s physical appearance does not change much. But the difference between the Season 1 Gunvald and the Season 5 Gunvald is striking in the way that the actor has aged.

Part of the appeal of the series is that the personal lives of the characters continue from episode to episode. Therefore it is best to view the episodes in order. However the mystery story for each episode is self-contained.

When you browse to MHz Choice, just enter “Beck” in the search box. Then you can see all the seasons and episodes listed. If you pause over one of the episode boxes, you get a short description of that episode.

Choosing categories for this series is difficult because after 34 episodes, there is hardly an untouched category.

Never boring, never relaxed viewing.

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Bloody scenes, Contract Killing, Corruption, Cowboy, Crude Talk, Frontier Life, Gangs, Greed, Horses, Mercenaries, Miners, Murder, Netflix DVD, Police Corruption, Psychopath, Revenge, Small Town, Sociopath, Suspense, Violent, Western

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

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From IMDB:

Seven gunmen in the old west gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves.

With the DVD from Netflix you can watch, read, and listen in at least seven different languages.

In 1954 Akira Kurosawa co-wrote, edited, and directed the film “Seven Samurai“.

In 1960 Jul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and others starred in the film “The Magnificent Seven“.

In 2016 Antoine Fuqua directed yet another version. This time some of the actors are:

  • Denzel Washington as Chisolm
  • Chris Pratt as Josh Faraday
  • Ethan Hawke as Goodnight Robicheaux
  • Vincent D’Onofrio as Jack Horne
  • Peter Sarsgaard as a “magnificent” sadistic, greedy, sociopath Bartholomew Brogue. In some ways, this part steals the show.

You already know the story: Nasty Brogue kills and terrorizes a small town in order to steal their land and enslave their menfolk for his mine.  One by one Chisolm recruits his band of seven “Samurai” who then have a week in which to prepare for battle against a giant gang of Brogue’s hired guns. During the ensuing battle zillions of people die by gun and knife and arrow (one of the seven is an American Indian). Some of our heroes die (prepare to weep) but needless to say justice prevails. Shucks – you knew there had to be a happy ending somewhere.

Indeed the devil is in the details which are very well done. As I may have mentioned before I am a sucker for plots involving good guys versus bad guys. Such a guilty surge of joy I felt each time a bad guy got shot. Of course, the good guys never missed their shots.

As  kid every Saturday I got an allowance of 30 cents. For 20 cents I could go to the movies which inevitably showed one or two cowboy films. For the remaining 10 cents I went to the Five-and-Dime store, read every comic book but one, namely “Captain Marvel Junior”, which I then purchased. Had they shown this version of “The Magnificent Seven” and had my mother gotten wind of just how violent a film it is, then I would not have been allowed to see the film.

What fun!

 

2016, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amnesia, Art History, Art Treasures, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Cambridge University, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Cult Brainwashing, Germ Warfare, International thriler, Istanbul scenes, Mediocre, Motorcycles, Murder, Netflix DVD, Nothing special, Personal Betrayal, Rome scenes, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

Inferno (2016)

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From IMDB:

When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.

Netflix sent me a DVD.

At the time the film was created Tom Hanks was 60 years old. Not bad for 60! Already we have followed Hanks as the expert in ancient symbols, Robert Langdon, in “The Da Vinci Code”.  “Inferno” was just more of the same  involving Robert Langdon.  Not to say that the film wasn’t fun. Just don’t expect anything different.

2016, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, British, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Gambling, Greed, Grim, Illegitimate Child, International thriler, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Mercenaries, MI-6, Military, Murder, Nudity, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Sociopath, Swedish crime series, Thriller, Torture, Unmarried mother, Violent, Weapons Dealer

The Night Manager (2016)

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From IMDB:

The night manager of a Cairo hotel is recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer’s inner circle.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this one season, six episode British TV series based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré.

Easily one of the most suspenseful and engaging undercover TV series I have ever watched, this series grabbed my attention and pushed me into  binge-watching.  Wikipedia offers this synopsis:

Luxury hotel night manager and former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is recruited by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), an intelligence operative. He is tasked to navigate Whitehall and Washington, D.C. where there is an alliance between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. He must infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie), Roper’s girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki), and associate Corkoran (Tom Hollander).

Angela Burr has spent decades trying to bring down Richard Roper. Note from the synopsis above that she must simultaneously fight several corrupt members of the British intelligence community who profit from the weapons sales. Roper, played to chilling perfection by Hugh Laurie, is a very clever, ruthless and amoral weapons dealer who is permanently attached emotionally to absolutely no one. He will kill anyone who interferes with his cynical drive to enrich himself by selling illegally obtained weapons of war (napalm, sarin,  rocket launchers, heat seeking missiles, you name it) to whomever is willing to pay his price. He surrounds himself with a coterie of loyal, equally brutal henchmen.  By showing displays of weapons in action and relating past outrages (such as disfiguring children taking part in a sports outing by dropping chemical weapons) the story tries to emphasize the inhumane horror of Roper’s crimes. Roper is more than likely a sociopath.

What is equally chilling is the unemotional complacency of the corrupt intelligence officers who either don’t even attempt to rationalize their behavior or offer some bland excuse. As a result, the efforts of the other officers, i.e. those who have consciences, take on the character of a sacred mission that could easily fail.

What adds to the suspense is the complication that the night manager Jonathan Pine (played by Tom Hiddleston) falls in love with Roper’s girl friend Jed (played by Elizabeth Debicki).  However this attraction is no side piece, but an essential part of the plot.

You may recognize some of the actors from older productions. As far as I am concerned I especially noticed:

  • Alistair Petrie (Sandy Langbourne) was George Forsyte in “The Forsyte Saga”. His resume is very long.
  • Tom Hollander (Lance “Corky” Corkoran) first came to my notice as the famous British spy Guy Burgess in “Cambridge Spies”.
  • David Harewood (the American Joel Steadman) was Francis Warrender in “MI-5” and David Estes in “Homeland”.
  • Olivia  Colman (Angela Burr) was D.S. Ellie Miller in “Broadchurch”.

Make no mistake, this series is violent and suspenseful enough that you might have trouble watching it. Of course that is why I felt compelled to binge-watch. Every episode seemed to end with a nerve wracking cliff hanger.

If you can stand the tension, DO NOT MISS!

Abduction, Abuse of Women, Alcoholism, B-movie, Contract Killing, Corny at times, Corruption, Crime, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Mediocre, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Oligarchy, Police Culture, Rape, Revenge, Russian detectives, Sometimes seems silly, Suicide, Violent

Silver Spoon (2014)

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From Netflix  you can stream 12 episodes of season 1. Russian is spoken and the subtitles are in English.

As far as I can remember, this is the first Russian TV series I have ever watched. One the one hand much of the mechanics of this police procedural resemble other such series, however there are elements which must be a part of Russian culture that we don’t see in other presentations.

At first face Igor is a wealthy playboy who gets into enough trouble that his powerful father forces him to work as a beginning cop. As the plot thickens Igor improves as a person eventually becoming competent in his job. But dogging him throughout the series is the background quest to learn who killed his mother. This quest leads to all kinds of conflicts that delve into the oligarchic corruption that is Russia. In addition there is a romantic triangle involving conflict between Igor and his rival for the attentions of Igor’s female boss in the police department.

Besides the constant presence and influence of powerful, wealthy, and often unscrupulous oligarchs, there is the constant and pervasive problem of alcoholism in the general population. In fact, whenever Igor has a setback, he gets drunk. Russian alcoholism is NOT a myth or cliché. Go to Google to learn that although from time to time the Russian authorities try to combat the problem, basically the government is hypocritical in that it is the government that sells and profits from the alcohol.

Because I was fascinated by what I hope is an honest portrait of life in Russia, I watched all 12 episodes. HOWEVER, I cannot recommend this show as good drama. Often the acting is insufficient. From my viewpoint, the plots for the most part are unrealistic and offer simplistic and far too easy solutions. In the beginning of the series (which is really boring and terribly amateur) Igor just spends Trump-like amounts of money to solve not only his problems, but also those of the police. Igor’s “conversion” is only somewhat believable. He could never survive on a policeman’s salary. Many of the emotional moments are just plain corny.

Finally, before you commit to all 12 episodes, I think it only fair to warn you (spoiler alert!) to not expect a happy ending. In fact, the ending reeks of Russian despair.

2012, Abuse of Women, Anti-Semitism, Bloody scenes, British, Child abuse, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Crude Talk, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drag Queen, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Gambling, Gangs, Greed, Grim, Grisly, London History, Mayhem, Mild Torture, Murder, Murder Investigation, Murder Trial, Newpaper work, Nudity, Orphans in Foster Care, Outrageous Behavior, Physical child abuse, Police Politics, Prison, Prostitutes, Revenge, Sadism, Suspense, Theft, Torture, Violent, Vulgar

Ripper Street (2012)

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From IMDB:

The streets of Whitechapel are the haunt of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team of officers, who aim to maintain law and order in a place once terrorized by Jack the Ripper.

A new drama set in the East End of London in 1889 during the aftermath of Jack The Ripper murders. The infamous H Division – the police precinct charged with keeping order in the district of Whitechapel- is in a chaotic state trying to keep order after a tumultuous time for London and reported infamously worldwide.

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons consisting of 37 episodes  as follow:

  • Season 1 – 8 episodes
  • Season 2 – 8 episodes
  • Season 3 – 8 episodes
  • Season 4 – 7 episodes
  • Season 5 – 6 episodes       As of April 21,2017 not yet released

WARNING: Season 4 ends with a real cliff-hanger that needs Season 5 to resolve the issues. But at this point you cannot stream Season 5.

Matthew MacFadyen superbly plays Detective Inspector Edmund Reid.  Jerome Flynn (who was Bronn in “Game of Thrones”) plays Det. Sgt. Bennet Drake. Adam Rothenberg (who played Danny in “The Divide”) plays Dr. Homer Jackson.

Strong stomachs and tolerance for blatant vulgarity are required for watching this series. Otherwise these intense episodes are captivating. Trying to be authentic for 1889, the speech is formal, possibly pedantic, even when describing sexual activity.  Here we have an escape from the usual formulaic police procedurals. Do not be misled by the very first episode which deals with a murder that tries to mimic the work of Jack the Ripper because subject matter for the episodes is incredibly varied (thievery, pestilence, and other delights).

London in that period was a horrible, dirty, smelly, hellhole in which the place of women was especially dire. In the eighteenth century, one in every five women were sex workers. If a woman was not wealthy or married, she very often ended up in the streets.  In this series the plight of women is often the motivating theme.

Workers had no rights, no workplace safety precautions.  Future readers of this review should be reminded that under our current President Trump, the Republican party places itself in opposition to such protective organizations as the EPA.  One episode features (and shocks with a view of a match girl [woman who worked in a match factory] inflicted with) phossy jaw. You may never forget the sight.

One episode features as a character the famous Elephant Man whose real name was Joseph Merrick.  Merrick the actor is made to look exactly like the photograph in the mentioned Wikipedia article. You may never forget the sight.

One episode centers about the laws against sodomy which enabled blackmailers and often destroyed lives.

One episode makes vividly alarming the horrors created by the law making abortion illegal. Note that even now in the USA the Republicans would return to that terrible past.

London was an ugly, ugly place. Brace yourself!

After viewing more and more episodes I have upgraded to DO NOT MISS!

 

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Ambiguous Conclusion, Based on a Book, Black Ops, Car Chase, Chase film, CIA, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Ethical struggles, Father-son relations, Mayhem, Revenge, Suspense, Torture, Uncategorized, Violent

Jason Bourne (2016)

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From IMDB:

The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.

Our British Airways flight to London gave me the chance to see this latest installation in the Bourne saga.

Because the very beginning is just noise and chasing I almost gave up watching. But in time the plot was interesting and current enough to warrant continuing to the end. Also on our BA flight I watched “I.T.”  which really shares a theme with “Jason Bourne” in the sense that both stories feature the threatening tendency in this 21st century for intelligence agencies and individuals wanting to eavesdrop on every detail of our lives. In other words, the theme is the War on Privacy. In this regards you can also read Dave Eggers book “The Circle” and watch certain episodes of the TV series “Dark Mirror.”

Acting is a secondary consideration in this production. Tommy Lee Jones as CIA Director Robert Dewey grunts through his scheme to establish a new torture black ops program as well to force the equivalent of Apple Corporation to give the CIA a back door into everyone’s smartphone.  Notice how often in films the CIA is the wicked enemy.  Matt Damon plays his usual unemotional role as Jason Bourne.  For a man of 47 years, Matt Damon has kept in good physical condition. Of course his face has aged to a middle age presence. Tommy Lee Jones at 71 years looks considerably older.

Because of the way the ending is constructed, there could be sequels. But this film in the series was enjoyable enough to have us consider yet another future installment.

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Computer geeks, Contract Killing, Father-son relations, FBI, Finance, Financial malfeasance, Frenetic, Invincible Hero, Netflix DVD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Suspense, Torture

The Accountant (2016)

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From IMDB:

As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.

From NetFlix

Offering two very different skills to his clients, a financial forensics expert and trained assassin goes to work for a tech mogul who’s determined to eliminate those responsible for secretly manipulating the company’s financial records.

Netflix sent me this DVDS which lasts 2 hours 8 minutes.

Of all the many Ben Affleck films I have seen, in some respect this is one of his best Instead of a romantic hero, he is an autistic,  number savant, assassin. Naturally you can expect a lot of violence. Moreover the action and shooting sequences are over the top if not just plain impossible. Still isn’t it fun to see that our anti-hero never misses a punch or a shot? And such advanced weaponry!

But there is more to the story than just the noise, because in some way the major theme is autism. We get to see Christian Wolff’s childhood traumas, his siblings, and  the extremes to which his father goes so that Christian can protect himself during his lifetime. In that regard expect a great plot twist.

Ben Affleck was 44 during the filming.  Older actors include J.K. Simmons (Will Pope in “The Closer”),  Jeffrey Tambor (the transsexual dad in “Transparent”),  and John Lithgow (who has a huge resumé).  One of the younger stars is Anna Kendrick who plays Dana Cummings, whom Christian is determined to protect.

Such violent action films are my guilty pleasure. Loved it!

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Based on a Book, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corny at times, Corruption, Drug Dealers, Dysfunctional Lives, Father-daughter relations, Illegitimate Child, Invincible Hero, Mayhem, Military, Military Corruption, Mixed Martial Arts, Murder, Netflix DVD, Suspense, Unmarried mother, Violent

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

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From Netflix who sent me the DVD:

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) returns with his particular brand of justice in the highly anticipated sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. When Army Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who heads Reacher’s old investigative unit, is arrested for treason, Reacher will stop at nothing to prove her innocence and to uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy involving soldiers who are being killed.

So what if you have seen one then you have seen all the Jack Reacher films (of all the action films, for that matter)!  Once the action starts I am attracted like a fly to fly-paper. Never mind that Tom Cruise looks much older. At least give him credit: not bad for someone who is now 55 years old. Never mind that his street fighting skills are improbably staged, they are still fun to watch. Never mind that he and his fellow fighters for truth and justice get some unlikely breaks from time to time just to let their side win. Never mind that the last 10 minutes or so are unbearably maudlin. Never mind that our hero can just barely speak an emotive line of script.

Who cares! What you see is what you get and it just plain fun!