Category Archives: Netflix Streaming

2011, Acceptable for teenagers, British Slapstick, Comedy, Conspiracy, Eccentric Detective, Lot's of Fun, MI5, Netflix Streaming

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

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From IMDB:

Johnny English goes up against international assassins hunting down Chinese Premier Xiang Ping.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute British slapstick film.

If you enjoy British slapstick or have ever seen a Johnny English film and have not yet seen the Reborn version then you are in for a treat. Granted that slapstick is not everyone’s cup of tea, but yours truly howled with laughter throughout the film.

In good slapstick timing is everything. In many instances you can see what is coming which sometimes adds to the humor (or should I say “humour”).  Cast of characters include:

  • Mister Bean or should I say Rowan Atkinson as Johnny.
  • Gillian Anderson (of X-Files fame) as Pamela.
  • Dominic West as the perfidious Simon Ambrose. Mr. West has an impressively long resumé.
  • Pik Sen Lim (Who?  In fact she played in “Doctor Who”) as the cleaning lady assassin or Killer Cleaner.  Her resumé is also immense. You probably have seen her in one of her many roles even though just as probably no one knows her name.
  • Queen Elizabeth.

Even though I may have seen it somewhere in the dim past (is 2011 really that long ago?),  the second viewing was just as much fun.

2015, Abduction, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Cancer theme, Cannibalism, Cooking and food, Could Be Hard To Watch, Creepy, Dark, Detective, Eccentric cast of characters, FBI, Fist Fight, Forensic pathologist, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Gory, Grim, Grisly, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Panic Attacks, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Psychopath, Serial Killer, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unusual, Violent, Wrongful Arrest

Hannibal (2015)

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From IMDB:

Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter, and his patient, a young FBI criminal profiler, who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.

From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons of this creepy TV series. Each season contains 13 episodes. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

If you are searching for an example of GRIM entertainment, if that is what you can call entertainment, then you have found the very definition of GRIM. We all know  Hannibal Lector as the infamous serial killer who eats the more interesting parts of his victims. What is eerie to watch is seeing Hannibal portrayed as a smooth, calm, stylish psychiatrist who is a fastidious gourmet cook taking great pains to prepare exquisite “organic” (get it? heh, heh) meals for his unsuspecting guests, including the very detectives searching for the serial killer.

Add to the mix  poor hapless Will Graham who regularly, after seeing the current butchered victim ( le corps du jour) ,  goes into a trance and visualizes some part of the murderous attack.  Will has been driven into a damaged mental state by the ambitious chief detective Jack Crawford. As a result Will spends the major part of Season 2 as a prisoner-patient at a Baltimore asylum for the criminally insane. Dr. Lector, a former sugeon, has his own psychiatrist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. Did you get that? Dr. DuMaurier treats Dr. Lector who treats Will Graham. Talk about convoluted!

There is an awful lot of psycho-babble that seems to occupy more than its fair share of the script. However, the sinister plot, including Lector’s clever methods for diverting suspicion from himself, is clever and suspenseful enough to warrant watching.

Some of the actors are well-known:

  • Hannibal Lector is played by Mads Mikkelsen who is now one of Denmark’s biggest movie actors.
  • Jack Crawford is played by Laurence Fishburne.
  • Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier is played by Gillian Anderson of The X Files fame. When she played in “The X Files” she was only 30 years old. In “Hannibal” she is a stunningly beautiful woman of 47 years.

Just one example of the many gory murders might convince you to avoid watching: Hannibal freezes a woman’s body and then uses a band saw to slice the body in 5 vertical cross sections, each section being then laminated in a plastic coating.

If by now you have not been dissuaded, then go ahead and watch the gore festival.

 

2018, Abduction, Action sequences, Bloody scenes, Boating, Complicated, Corruption, Dark, Finnish, Finnish Detectives, Grim, Kidnapping, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Police Corruption, Psychopath, Sea Rescue, Suspense, Violent

Deadwind (2018)

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From IMDB:

When Sofia Karppi, a detective in her 30’s who is trying to get over her husband’s death, discovers the body of a young woman on a construction site, she triggers a chain of events that threatens to destroy her life again. Deadwind is a highly thrilling series from Finland mixing crime investigation and personal drama.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this Finnish police detective story. Season one has 12 episodes. Season two has 8 episodes. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes. English subtitles.

Karppi is the woman detective and her sidekick is the male detective Nurmi.  Both are somewhat emotionally wounded. Of course, you wonder throughout the series if they will develop some emotional attachment.

Season one involves murders associated with a real estate investor and entrepreneur and his possible suspicious business dealings.

Season two involves murders this time associated with a large construction site and a somewhat suspect mayor.  Add to that mix a serial killer.

Somewhat mediocre and drags on a bit. But watchable.

 

 

2016, Abuse of Women, Action sequences, Adopted child, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Cancer theme, Cold Cases, Crime thriller, Dark, Disturbing Image, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric Detective, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Finnish, Forensics, Grim, KGB, Mixed Martial Arts, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Occasional gore, Police Investigation, Religious Theme, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Bordertown (2016)

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From IMDB:

Quirky police detective, in Finland, delves into his mind palace to solve despicable crimes all the while trying to keep his family together. If Sherlock was based in Finland this would be it.

From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons of this Finnish crime series. Season 1 consists of 11 episodes while seasons 2 and 3 consist of 10 episodes. Each episode lasts about an hour. Most often one complete story requires 2 or 3 episodes.

You can always get English subtitles. In seasons 1 an 2 you can get an English sound track which to my ears always sounded somewhat unnatural as if the dubbing was too formal. Oddly enough there is no English sound track for season 3, only Finnish, Spanish, and Italian.

Kari Sorjonen is quite possibly the most eccentric detective I have seen.  His odd mannerisms of touching his face and head with outstretched fingers might just get on your nerves. Supposedly when he does this he has ingenious flashes of insight.

Never mind the idiosyncrasies, the stories are as grim as they are good.  His supporting detectives and family members fill out the cast well.  Indeed a constant theme is his somewhat clueless neglect of his family because, as is the case in so many detective series, that phone is always ringing.

Worth a watch.

 

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Crime, Detective, Greed, Lawyers, Mediocre, Mildly Suspenseful, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Occasionaly violent, Plot Twist, Senior citizens

Dangerous Lies (2020)

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From IMDB:

When a wealthy elderly man dies and unexpectedly leaves his estate to his new caregiver, she’s drawn into a web of deception and murder. If she’s going to survive, she’ll have to question everyone’s motives – even the people she loves.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 37 minute complete film.

“Ordinary”, “mediocre” are a few adjectives that seem to describe this almost-thriller.  As the story unfolds we begin to question the precipitous behavior of Katie’s husband Adam. Eventually that behavior veers into dishonesty.

As far as actors go, it may be worth mentioning the following:

Nothing Special!

2019, Abuse of Women, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Catholic culture, Creepy, Dark, Detective, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Flashbacks, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Illegitimate Child, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Occasionaly violent, Panic Attacks, Police Investigation, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Psychological Thriller, Religious Theme, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent, Wrestling

Reckoning (2019)

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From IMDB:

Explores the darkest corners of the male psyche through the eyes of two fathers, one of whom is a serial-killer.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this serial-killer soap opera. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Far from being a predictable serial-killer police procedural, this series is a study in psychology that involves a large cast of well presented characters.

From almost the earliest episodes, your hunch as to which character is the RRK serial killer will be vindicated.  But having the police catch the killer is not the only important focus.  Additionally we watch the interaction of that killer with all the others involved.

Sean Barker, the Australian actor that plays Edgar Harris, steals the show.   Aden Young, the Canadian actor that plays detective Mike Serrato,  plays as tortured a personality as does Sean Barker.

There is a conclusion, but it will not be what you might expect. Be prepared possibly for a final moment in which you ask “Is that really the end of the story?”

BINGE WORTHY!

2017, Alcoholism, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Creepy, Dark, Disturbing Image, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Masturbation, Medical Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Outrageous Behavior, Physical child abuse, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Tragedy, Unusual, Unusual ending, Upsetting ending, Valium appropriate

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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From IMDB:

Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.

From Netflix you can stream this two hour complete film.

When I saw that the surgeon Steven Murphy was played by Colin Farrell and his wife Anna Murphy was played by Nicole Kidman, I was eager to see the film. Yikes!

“Weird” is the closest one word that seems to apply here. Other words might be “strange”, “creepy”, “outrageous” or “unnerving.”  Hopefully not everyone will even want to start watching after reading this review.  However, I was both hooked and horrified from the very beginning.

In Wikipedia you can find a discussion of the film but I have inserted below a summary from IMDB:

After the untimely death of 16-year-old Martin’s father on the operating table, little by little, a deep and empathetic bond begins to form between him and the respected cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Steven Murphy. At first, expensive gifts and then an invitation for dinner will soon earn the orphaned teenager the approval of Dr Steven’s perfect family, even though right from the start, a vague, yet unnerving feeling overshadows Martin’s honest intent. And then, unexpectedly, the idyllic family is smitten by a fierce and pitiless punishment, while at the same time, everything will start falling apart as the innocents have to suffer. In the end, as the sins of one burden the entire family, only an unimaginable and unendurable decision that demands a pure sacrifice can purge the soul. But to find catharsis, one must first admit the sin.

In the film there are at times oddly explicit sexual discussions and situations.  Martin is played by Barry Keoghan whose physical appearance presents anything but a Hollywood type. Speech throughout the film is so stilted that it seemed I was watching a stage play.  Spoken lines, especially from Martin, seem at times inappropriate.

From the very stylistically rigid beginning and onward there was a sense of anxious foreboding that tempted me to stop watching this tragedy.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

2020, Abduction, Acceptable Trash, Action Film, Action Hero, B-movie, Bloody scenes, Car Chase, Fist Fight, Flashbacks, Invincible Hero, Mayhem, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Pakistan, Sociopath, Surprise Ending, Thriller, Violent

Extraction (2020)

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From IMDB:

Tyler Rake, a fearless black market mercenary, embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he’s enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 57 minute killing festival.

As one critic noted: “I hope the actors were paid by the bullet.”  Indeed what you see is what you get and probably expected. Still, from time to time who doesn’t enjoy some gratuitous violence.

Of course, our hero Tyler Rake (played by Chris Hemsworth ) never misses a shot even when wounded so gravely that he can barely lift his assault weapon.  Similarly he never loses a martial arts bare hands fight.  However, I suspect the ending might surprise you.

Just insert your earplugs and let the adrenalin flow.

2020, Documentary, Ethical struggles, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Government Prosecutions, Homophobia, Independent, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Religious Theme

Circus of Books (2020)

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From IMDB:

In 1976, Karen and Barry Mason had fallen on hard times and were looking for a way to support their young family when they answered an ad in the Los Angeles Times. Larry Flynt was seeking distributors for Hustler Magazine. What was expected to be a brief sideline led to their becoming fully immersed in the LGBT community as they took over a local store, Circus of Books. A decade later, they had become the biggest distributors of gay porn in the US. The film focuses on the double life they led, trying to maintain the balance of being parents at a time when LGBT culture was not yet accepted. Their many challenges included facing jail time for a federal obscenity prosecution and enabling their store to be a place of refuge at the height of the AIDS crisis. Circus of Books offers a rare glimpse into an untold chapter of queer history, and it is told through the lense of the owners’ own daughter, Rachel Mason, an artist, filmmaker and musician.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 26 minute complete documentary.

IMDB’s summary tells most of the story. However, one of the most important themes of the plot is that one of the Mason’s sons during his college years came out to his parents as gay.  Karen needed time to absorb and accept this fact after which she and Barry became ardent supporters of the organization of parents of gay children.

In parts of the film you will see covers of gay DVDs and magazines which are quite explicit.

Watching this documentary is like watching a “happening.”   Still I cannot get my head around the contradictions: Karen, a devout practicing Jew, ran a gay porn shop and was at first shocked and dismayed that a son of hers could possible be gay.

Really?

 

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.