Category Archives: Accidental Death

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Acorn TV, Alcoholism, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, Complicated, Detective, Financial malfeasance, Forensics, Friendship, Interest in cats, Jealousy, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Murder Investigation, Psychological Drama, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Violent, Well developed plot

What To Do When Someone Dies (2012)

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From Acorn TV:

In this “very superior psychological drama” (Daily Express, UK), happily married teacher Ellie (Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies, Marcella) is devastated when her husband (Marc Warren, The Good Wife) dies in a car crash–with another woman in his car. The police dismiss it as an extramarital affair, but Ellie feels certain that something is not right and determines to learn the truth about the accident.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 3 episode British TV series. Each episode lasts about 46 minutes.

One death leads to more deaths, all of which are really accidents or suicide or may have been made to appear as such.  For most of the 3 episodes only the grieving wife Ellie is convinced of foul play. Her supportive friends don’t give up on her, even as she stubbornly investigates.  At times even I was convinced she was delusional.  After watching the last episode, Kathy and I agreed it was a really good presentation.

Well worth your time.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amusing banter, Chick Flick, Child custody, Comedy, Cooking and food, Corny at times, Flirting, Gay theme, Happy Family Gatherings, Improbable details, Lawyers, Love Story, Motorcycles, Netflix Streaming, Romance, Romantic comedy, Sex Scenes, Sports TV

Life As We Know IT (2020)

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From IMDB:

Two single adults become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 54 minute complete romantic comedy film.

For anyone who has cared for small children this film presents many familiar scenes.  Add to that mix the fact that Holly Berensen (played by Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (played by Josh Duhamel  are suddenly forced to replace the deceased parents and you have many comic moments.

Before the film reaches a happy ending there are the usual clashing career choices, side romances (including Holly with Sam, played by Josh Lucas), and an eccentric social worker. 

Of course there are corny moments and very improbable details but at least you can relax for two hours without seeing any violence.

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)

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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.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, Accidental Death, Amusing banter, Black humor, Clever Plot, Comedy, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Quirky, Uncategorized, Vulgar, Witty dialog

Dead to Me (2019)

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From IMDB:

A series about a powerful friendship that blossoms between a tightly wound widow (Applegate) and a free spirit with a shocking secret.

From Netflix you can stream 10 half hour episodes of this Netflix original TV series.

Before going any further, let me assure you this series is very profane acceptable trash.

Who on earth thinks of such crazy plots full of surprises? In this case the answer is Liz Feldman. Her story line often caught me unaware and forced some real belly laughs.

Jen Harding (played by Christina Applegate) is in mourning because her late husband Ted was killed in a hit and run auto accident. Judy Hale (played by Linda Cardellini) was driving the car accompanied by her boy friend Steve Wood (played by James Marsden).   Judy wanted to call the police but Steve convinced her to hide the damaged car and keep the incident secret. Judy then spends 10 episodes trying to make Jen’s life happy.  Along the way all kinds of often funny difficulties pop up.

Feldman’s plot ends with a question mark that could conceivably lead to a second season. Hopefully that second season would be just as much fun.

 

 

2018, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Accidental Death, Addiction, African American centered, Basically Sad, Bloody scenes, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Gay theme, Gritty, Mildly Violent, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Trial, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Pessimistic, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Racism, Religious Theme, Spousal Abuse, Suspense, Trial Scenes, Upsetting ending

Seven Seconds (2018)

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From IMDB:

Tensions run high between African American citizens and Caucasian cops in Jersey City when a teenage African American boy is critically injured by a cop.

From Netflix you can stream this 10 episode series. Each episode is about an hour except the final episode is 80 minutes.

In the very beginning we see Officer Peter Jablonski accidentally run down a black boy Brenton who was riding his bicycle through the park on a snowy day. Immediately his corrupt white police buddies convince him to hide the crime as they drag the living boy to a ditch and leave him to bleed out over 12 hours. All ten very tense episodes relate the effort by a black female Assistant DA named KJ Harper and a white policeman  Joe ‘Fish’ Rinaldi to seek justice. Along the way we spend time with each member of Brenton’s family and the police families as their lives are sadly changed by the killing.  If there is a theme here, it is “Black Lives Should Matter” even if, sadly, black lives do not matter.

Acting is superb. None of the actors were familiar to me. Even the villains stand out as especially heinous, especially the unscrupulous white woman who defends the police.

For me much of the tension was getting to the end to see how the trial turns out.  Enjoy the gripping ride while you predict what a realistic ending would be.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2013, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Alcoholism, Antique Cars, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Circus, Dancing, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Illegitimate Child, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Norwegian, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Plot Twist, Rape, Sex Scenes, Slow, Teenagers, Unmarried mother, Violent

The Half Brother (2013)

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From IMDB:

The life of a family spanning five generations in the 20th century Europe split in half by WW2, centering around the half brothers Barnum and Fred growing up together in Oslo; Barnum with his father, Fred searching for his.

From MHz Choice:

Based on the internationally acclaimed and best-selling novel by Norwegian author Lars Saabye Christensen, The Half Brother is an evocative family saga revolving around the life of un-produced screenwriter Barnum Nilsen. His family is laden with oddities and secrets, the darkest of which happened on the same day all of Europe rejoiced over the end of WW II.

From MHz Choice you can stream the only season of this complete family saga. Each of the 8 episodes is about 45 minutes.

Past and present flashbacks weave through Barnum’s writing the story of his troubled family. There are not too many characters: Barnum and his half-brother Fred, their mother Vera, Vera’s mother Boletta, Boletta’s mother, Vera’s husband Arnold,  and Barnum’s two best friends Peder and Vivian (who marries Barnum).  Although the plot is easy to follow, there are many plot twists and turns all of which end with a genuine surprise.

Kathy found the film slow at times, but I found the relaxed pace was perfectly suited to the story of two boys trying to understand their lives.  Now days it is hard to find unusual but truly human family stories. Note however that there are rape, violence, bullying, heavy drinking and at least temporary surrender to real difficulties.

For me this series rates a DO NOT MISS!