Category Archives: Cooking

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, Accidental Death, British, Brother-Sister relations, Complicated, Cooking, Creepy, Dark, Drama, Extramarital Affair, Flashbacks, Ghost story, Good Production Values, Horror, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Revenge, Strange Ending, Uncle-Nephew relations, Uncle-Niece relations, Unusual, Unusual ending

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

Leave a comment

From Netflix:

A bright-eyed American au pair hopes to make a difference caring for two orphans in a grand English manor. Yet the feeling of dread is undeniable.

From Netflix you can stream 9 episodes of this one season “horror” story. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Probably it is fair to call this series a “horror” story.  But there are no cheap theatrical tricks or ugly monsters.  Almost unfortunately the acting and production details are so good that I was willing to watch the complicated plot to the end.  Little by little the underlying premise and explanation for the strange events are revealed.   But this show is easily one of the strangest I have ever seen and is clearly not for everyone’s tastes.  By way of warning you to avoid spending time here, do NOT expect a happy ending.

If, however, you are determined to watch a well-done “ghost” story, then hopefully you will enjoy it.

2007, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Accidental Death, Action Film, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Cold Cases, Contract Killing, Cooking, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, DNA, Drug Dealers, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Financial malfeasance, Forensics, Gangs, Gay theme, Happy Family Gatherings, Jealousy, jiu-jitsu, Kidnapping, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Rape, Revenge, Sadism, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective, Thriller, Torture, Violent, Weapons Dealer, Wife Beating

Irene Huss (2007)

Leave a comment

From MHz Choice:

From the best-selling crime fiction of Helene Tursten, Irene Huss is a ju-jitsu champion, a mother, and a detective inspector. Her husband, Krister, is a successful chef and luckily for Irene, he gladly shoulders a fair share of the household tasks. In her work with the Violent Crimes Unit in Gothenburg, Irene encounters criminal minds of all stripes: from drug dealers to serial killers to psychotic young girls. Each new case challenges her assumptions about herself and others.

From MHz Choice (only foreign films with subtitles) you can stream 2 seasons of this Swedish crime series. Each season offers 6 episodes where each episode lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

As is common in so many detective series, the main police investigator is constantly interrupted when she is with her family of devoted husband Krister  and two daughters.  Running through all the episodes is the theme of her family life and her husband’s career as a chef. Often, in sometimes threatening ways, the husband and daughters become involved in Irene’s investigations. At times the lives of all four family members are in danger.

Repeatedly throughout the series we see Irene engaged in jiu-jitsu training which goes hand-in-hand with her many physical combats with criminals.  Irene is portrayed as somewhat of a superwoman who is always ready to chase on foot after a villain even if she should be suffering from some injury. Just suspend disbelief and enjoy the action sequences.

Expect a lot of nasty crime and violence. Expect ugly and explicit details of brutality, including rape and torture. This is not a series for the faint of heart.

On the positive side it is a pleasure to watch Irene’s happy family together. Also each story is so compelling and suspenseful that I could not stop watching each episode.

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Adultery, Amusing banter, Bad Acting, Based on a Book, Bicycles, Bloody scenes, Comic Moments, Cooking, Corny at times, Crime, Detective, Eccentric Detective, Extramarital Affair, Flirting, Italian, Italian detective, Journalist, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Murder, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Revenge, TV Series

Nero Wolfe (2012)

Leave a comment

From IMDB:

Interesting modern actualization made by italian broadcasting service (RAI) of immortal, well-known characters created by the genial american novelist Rex Stout. It’s second time RAI produce a Nero Wolfe’s Mystery series: first one – with famous, talented stage actor Tino Buazzelli as Wolfe and Paolo Ferrari (known as Humphrey Bogart movie’s dubber) as Archie Goodwin – was aired between 1969 and 1971.

MHz Choice streams just one season of 8 episodes. Each episode lasts a bit more than 1.5 hours. Italian with English subtitles.

Although sometimes corny, sometimes amateurish acting, at least you can relax watching these friendly murder mysteries. Just about all the women are beautiful. Every home is more or less a palace.

Nero Wolfe is a somewhat overweight gourmand (i.e. he is fussy about food and eats ALOT).  In fact, there is just as much emphasis on food and Wolfe’s orchids as there is on the rest of the plot. He has a full time professional cook with whom he spars a lot. He is often condescending or even insulting to his dashing sidekick Archie Goodwin, who flirts (at the very least)  with many of the female characters.

Thus we do not take these stories seriously or expect too much. But at least they do not feature any grim gore.