Category Archives: Amazon Prime

My Policeman (2022)

From IMDB:

The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously.

From Amazon Prime:

A tale of forbidden romance and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows the relationships between three people—policeman Tom (Harry Styles/Linus Roache), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin/Gina
McKee) and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson/Rupert Everett)—and their emotional journey spanning decades.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute British drama.

In this intense drama Tom marries Marion all the while carrying on a secret love affair with Patrick.  Such an explanation is far too simple for such a superb, complex, well acted drama.

Because the action switches continually between the past and the present, each of the three characters are presented by two actors,  a younger actor for the past and an older actor for the present.

  • Harry Styles as young Tom also stars in the film “Don’t Worry Darling.”
  • Linus Roache as older Tom is well-known as the assistant DA from several seasons of “Law and Order.”
  • Emma Corrin as young Marion played Princess Diana Spencer in one of the seasons of “The Crown.”
  • Gina McKee as older Marion for me will always be Irene from “The Forsyte Saga.”
  • David Dawson as young Patrick played Alfred in “The Last Kingdom.”
  • Rupert Everett as older Patrick played George Downes in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”

Critics found many negatives but audiences, including Kathy and me, loved it.

DO NOT MISS!

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

From Amazon Prime:

A prominent politician meets a beautiful ballerina and instantly falls in love. However, when mysterious men conspire to keep the pair apart, he is forced to make the wrenching choice between his predetermined path and the only woman he has ever loved.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 46 minute romantic fantasy film.

Matt Damon has managed to keep getting acting roles.  As a person he is very appealing while as an actor he is so-so.  Speaking of so-so, so is this foolish plot. Supposedly there is this supernatural bureaucracy that plots the life of each person and keeps that plot in some magical notebook.  Need I go on?

Pleasant enough to watch. Give it a B minus.

John Dies at the End (2012)

From IMDB:

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?

With the help of Amazon Prime you can waste 1 hour and 39 precious minutes of your life watching this tongue-in-cheek horror flick.

In fact, this this B- farce is so horrible that it is a hoot, wasteful, but still a hoot. Imaginative special effects present lots of gory creatures. And then there is that parade of topless busty women. Don’t let any of this tempt you to watch such acceptable trash.

MISS!

The Beyond (2018)

From Amazon Prime:

After observing an anomaly in space, scientists transplant human brains in to synthetic bodies and send them through the wormhole.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1.5 hour sci-fi fantasy.

Proceeding as a sort of continuous interview with the scientists, which means a lot of talking heads, the plot mixes fantasy with the personal lives of the participants.  In most sci-fi scenarios we usually have to suspend disbelief and this example is no different.  However,  this particular sci-fi film does not fit the usual clichéd mold due to its monologue plus action style of flow.

Depiction of the aliens is perhaps the most original I have seen.

Probably not for everyone but well done production.

Firebird (2021)

From Amazon Prime:

Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on a Soviet Air Force Base at the height of 1970’s Communist rule.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 47 minute film in spoken and subtitled English.

This true story takes place in 1977 Soviet occupied Estonia as well as in Moscow. Both the love story and the details of life under Russian (military) rule are interesting.

Dog (2022)

From IMDB:

Two former Army Rangers are paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute comedy-drama.

While not exactly fit for children, this dog story has moments of fun, sadness, and eventually redemption.  Definitely a feel-good film.

The Lost City (2022)

From IMDB:

A reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with her cover model gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 51 minute comedy film.

Sandra Bullock comedies offer an easy way to relax. Here she teams up with Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Radcliffe. Bullock continues to look good whereas Tatum might be ageing past his young hunk persona.  Pitt’s part of the story comes to an unexpected end. Radcliffe’s agent continues to develop his client’s role variety.

Amazing how Bullock and Tatum can hold their breath and swim for several minutes through an underwater tunnel!

Surprisingly vulgar and explicit at times, but still the kind of fun you would expect from a Bullock comedy.

The Boys (2019)

From Amazon Prime:

THE BOYS is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about “The Seven,” and their formidable Vought backing.

With the help of Amazon Prime you might be willing to waste your idle time streaming 3 seasons of this super romp.  Each season consists of 8 episodes. Each episode lasts about 1 hour.

Calling all “adolescents at heart.”  There is very little point in being serious about this endless 24-episode mindless fantasy,  although I am forced to admit that despite all the nonsense, the acting is at times (but only at times) in the ranges acceptable to good.  Moreover, if you are interested in pornographic nudity, you will not be disappointed in this often raunchy farce.

The Terminal List (2022)

From IMDB:

A former Navy SEAL officer investigates why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of this action thriller. Each episode lasts about one hour.

Essentially, this is a revenge film based on the complications of a quasi-government human experiment gone wrong.  As more details of the government cover-up come to light, the revenge list maintained by James Reece, played by Chris Pratt, of the guilty parties grows as he doggedly eliminates each person on that list.

Violent but engaging revenge series right up to the relentless ending.

Night Sky (2022)

From Amazon Prime:

Irene and Franklin York, a retired couple, have a secret: a Chamber buried in their backyard that miraculously leads to a strange, deserted planet. When an enigmatic young man arrives, the Yorks’ quiet existence is upended and the mysterious Chamber they thought they knew so well turns out to be much more than they could have ever imagined. Starring Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1 of this Amazon Original series. Each episode lasts a bit less than one hour.

Never mind the escape portal to another planet. Do not think of this story as science fiction. That other planet is not important to the plot. Central to the plot are two themes: The enduring love between the elderly couple  Irene (Sissy Spacek) and Franklin York (JK Simmons); The efforts of a religious cult to discover all the portals and eliminate, i.e. kill,  all “apostates” from the cult.

Acting, especially the interaction between Irene and Franklin, is worth watching.

Among the actors we find:

  • Sissy Spacek was 73 years old during filming. Perhaps you recall her as the telekinetic prom queen in the horror film “Carrie”.
  • Although the name J.K. Simmons might not ring a bell, he played, among zillions of roles, the psychiatrist Dr. Emil Skoda in the original “Law and Order”. During filming he was a young 67 years old.
  • Adam Bartley plays the bearded troublesome neighbor Byron. Previously I have strongly recommended the long-running series “Longmire” in which Bartley plays the clean-shaven “The Ferg”. During filming he was a mere child of 43 years age.

Rest assured that the startling ending of episode 8 obviously demands another season. Season 1 certainly had me hooked.