Category Archives: Love Story

2011, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Trash, Chick Flick, Comedy, Crude Talk, Embarrassing Father, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Happy ending, Love Story, Mostly About Sex, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Romance, Sex Scenes, Vulgar, Young Adult

No Strings Attached (2011)

From IMDB:

A guy and girl try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 48 minute comedy drama.

Want to relax and watch some vulgar, fun semi-trash? Have I got a film for you! It’s wonderful when there is absolutely nothing to take seriously in a move.

Natalie Portman (as Emma) and Ashton Kutcher (as Adam) are a nice, funny couple. Kevin Kline as Adam’s thrice-married father about to marry someone his son used to date also deserves a mention.

When I catch myself grinning while watching some scene, is that a positive recommendation or a lapse of judgement on my part?

 

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Ageing Couple, Drama, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Fight Scenes, Inevitable Ending, Kanopy streaming, Love Story, Mother-son relations, Murder, Redemption, Suspense, Torture, Unhappy Ending, Violent

Deadfall (2012)

From Kanopy:

Two siblings (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) fend for themselves in the wake of a botched casino heist, only to reunite during another family’s Thanksgiving celebration in this thriller.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 34 minute complete film.

During this violent thriller there is never a dull moment.

  • Eric Bana, as the brother Addison, is a killer through and through who also happens to lust after his sister Liza.
  • Olivia Wilde is the sister Liza.
  • Charlie Hunnam, as Jay Mills, is the prodigal son of the Mills family. He leaves prison as the film starts
  • Sissy Spacek, as June Mills, is Jay’s mother.
  • Kris Kristofferson, as Chet Mills, is Jay’s father. Chet has more or less disowned Jay.

As Addison flees the law while killing one person after another, he arrives just in time for the Mills’ family Thanksgiving. So also do Liza and Jay arrive for the dinner. By this time they are in love due to Liza’s manipulations.

Expect and ending which is violent, exhausting, and not especially happy.  Worth watching!

2019, Acceptable Trash, Action sequences, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Controlling personality, Corny at times, Corrupt Pharmaceutical Firm, Ending demands sequel, Explicit sex, Extremely Violent, Fantasy, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Flashbacks, Greed vs Common Good, Invincible villain, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Martial Arts, Mayhem, Mother-son relations, Narcissist, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Political references, Pornographic Scenes, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Some exaggerated violence, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Super Hero, Violent, Vulgar

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.

2016, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Basically Sad, Discussions about Emotions, Dishonest father, Drama, Embezzlement, Failed Father, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Flashbacks, Fraud, Friendship, Gay theme, Jewish Religious Observance, Love Story, Love Triangle, Manipulative personality, Mother-son relations, Pianist, Prison, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Unhappy Ending, Wonderful acting

Those People (2016)

From Amazon Prime:

On Manhattan’s gilded Upper East Side, a younger painter, Charlie, finds the man of his dreams in an older pianist from across the globe, Tim. If only Charlie weren’t secretly in love with his own manipulative best friend, Sebastian, who is embroiled in a financial scandal. In the wake of Sebastian’s notoriety, their tight-knit group of friends must confront the new realities of adulthood.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 29 minute complete film.

Alone the acting would be a reason to watch this film. But Charlie himself is a sympathetic, naïve, and engaging character.  Root for Charlie BUT (spoiler to follow) do not expect a happy ending.

1998, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Amazon Prime, Art Auction, Art forgery, Art Marketing, Bloody scenes, Clever Plot, Complicated Scams, DO NOT MISS, Father-son relations, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Fraud, Greed, Happy ending, Love Story, Murder, Physical fighting, Plot twists, Ruthless Killer, Scam Artists, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Trains, Trial Scenes

Incognito (1998)

From IMDB:

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints a fake Rembrandt picture for $500,000. Marieke, the woman he meets in Paris and gets into bed with, turns out to be the art expert whom Harry’s clients are using to check the counterfeit picture he painted.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 24 year old complete film that lasts 1 hour and 47 minutes.

About a year after he appeared in “Sleepers” the then 32-year -old Jason Patric starred as Harry Donovan in this cleverly plotted story of financial skullduggery.

If nothing else, just watching the painting details involved in forging a Rembrandt portrait are fascinating.

Moreover the romantic battle between the forger and the art expert Marieke Van Den Broeck (played by Irène Jacobs of “Au revoir, les enfants”), who seems to be the only art expert who knows a forgery when she sees one, is a lot of fun.

Plenty of action sequences only add to the enjoyment. DO NOT MISS.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Adultery, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Arson, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Father-son relations, Forensic Anthropologist, Forensic pathologist, Forensics, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Mildly Violent, Murder, Murder Investigation, Scottish, Scottish Detectives, Sexual promiscuity, Suspense

Traces (2019)

From IMDB:

While attending an online forensic course, young lab assistant discovers that the fictitious case study has a link to her past. With the help of two female professors she works on bringing a killer to justice.

From Amazon BritBox:

Emma Hedges needs to find out what happened to her mum. In a world of danger and deceit, will Emma have the nerve to follow the evidence no matter where it takes her?

From Amazon BritBox you can stream two seasons of this mystery series set in Dundee, Scotland.  Each season consists of 6 episodes. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

SEASON  1:

Emma (played by Molly Windsor) enthusiastically begins her new job in a forensics lab where she discovers a link to the still unsolved murder of her mother twelve years ago.  Coincidentally her team must investigate a suspicious fire in which 3 people died.  During this investigation she meets the father and son team of building contractors involved in the construction of that building.  Her relations with each of these two men could not be more opposing: she falls in love with son Daniel MacAfee (played by Martin Compston) and is afraid of the father Phil MacAfee (played by Vincent Regan).  And then the plot thickens.

Vincent Regan may be the most familiar actor in this series. Usually he plays a nice guy such as Ray Conlon in “The Bay“.  In “Traces”, however, he is a very effective bad guy.

Worth calling this season a DO NOT MISS.

SEASON 2:

Although this season begins with the trial of Phil MacAfee for murdering Emma’s mother,  this season suddenly ignores that plot and launches into the search for a serial bomber.  At least three bombs go off before the forensic scientists uncover the bomber’s identity.  Along the way there are many personality clashes and other issues.  To repeat: season 2 seems strangely disjoint from season 1, is more into scientific details, and is not as exciting as season 1.  Not exactly a “do not miss”, but still worth the watch.

1997, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Action sequences, Astronauts, Classic, Happy ending, Human spirit, Identity Theft, Impersonation, Love Story, Mistreatment of under class, Netflix Streaming, Remarkable Body Transformation, Suspense, Vintage Film

Gattaca (1997)

From IMDB:

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

From Netflix:

In a dystopian future where genetics determines your fate, a man born into limited prospects plots to escape his second class citizen status.

From Netflix you can stream this 25 year old classic film which lasts 1 hour and 46 minutes.

Again from IMDB:

In the not-too-distant future, a less-than-perfect man wants to travel to the stars. Society has categorized Vincent Freeman as less than suitable given his genetic make-up and he has become one of the underclass of humans that are only useful for menial jobs. To move ahead, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a perfect genetic specimen who is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. With professional advice, Vincent learns to deceive DNA and urine sample testing. Just when he is finally scheduled for a space mission, his program director is killed and the police begin an investigation, jeopardizing his secret

Jude Law plays the paraplegic Valid Jerome. Ethan Hawke plays the ambitious In-Valid Vincent. UmaThurman plays Irene who cannot be Valid because she has a heart condition.  Irene and Vincent become lovers.

Most of the plot centers around the extreme means that Vincent must take to become Jerome, all done with Jerome’s unselfish help. For one example, Vincent must change the length of his legs (ouch!) in order to match Jerome’s height. All these maneuvers are necessary because there are watchful cameras and security entrances just about everywhere.

At the time this film was made, do you suppose the filmmakers could imagine how close the film details come to the 2022 social controls in, say, China or North Korea?

Good flick!

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.

2014, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Love Story, Physical fighting, Romance, Russian Anti-USA Scheme, Suspense, Terrorist Attack, Violent

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

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From Amazon Prime:

Jack Ryan must quickly evolve from soldier to analyst to full-fledged operative to stop a devastating terrorist plot against the United States.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 45 minute action film. Unfortunately the film leaves Amazon on November 1, 2021.

Kevin Costner as Thomas Harper convinces Chris Pine as Jack Ryan to stop  Kevin Branagh as the Russian Viktor Cherevin from destroying not only the US financial system but also some building in New York City. Keira Knightly as Jack’s girl friend Kathy Muller eventually learns what Jack is doing and helps him.

Kevin Branagh creates convincingly a determined and dedicated Russian menace.

Neither better nor worse than the fun excitement in most such action films.

2020, Alcoholism, Anti-Gay Laws, Anti-Semitism, B-movie, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Black struggles, Career Competition, Corny, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Feel Good Not For Children, Gay Bashing, Gay Prostitution, Gay theme, Happy ending, Hollywood Culture, Homophobia, Imperfect, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Male Chauvinism, Male Prostitute for Women, Male Prostitutes, Marital Infidelity, Maudlin, Mediocre, Mostly About Sex, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Oscar Awards, Preachy, Promiscuity, Romance, Satire, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Soap Opera, Unhappy Marriage, Vulgar, Women's Equality

Hollywood (2020)

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From Netflix:

While waiting for his big break, aspiring movie star Jack Castello accepts a job at a local service station that pumps more than just gas.

From Netflix you can stream the 7 episodes of this soap opera. Each episode runs between 45 and 58 minutes.

Maudlin. Salacious. Corny. Subtle as a brick. Clichéd. Barely acceptable trash. Maudlin. Raunchy. Preachy. Woke. Terrible acting. Production errors.  And the list could go on.

My college freshman rhetoric teacher suggested that in order to better appreciate good examples of a given art discipline such as literature, music, and film, it helps to experience the bad examples. Well, with this film we now have a golden opportunity to experience one of the lesser achievements of the movie industry.

“Golden Tip Gasoline” is a gas pumping station that doubles as a gas pimping station for the young male gas attendants who will “fill your tank” if the customer uses the code word “dreamland”, no matter if that customer is male or female.   Not only all these attendants but also their boss and some customers have Hollywood aspirations. One way for such a gas pumper to get his start is to service those customers who are part of the Hollywood management nobility. Instead of casting couches it seems there were casting nozzles.

Rather than merely prurient attractions, this story offers a noble sub-theme: No longer would the film industry suppress black,  gay, and women actors.

Indeed from the goings-on we might suspect that half of Hollywood consisted of closeted gays .  As an example: One client, say Jake, is so stupid that when he drives up to engage Archie Coleman he can’t remember the word “Dreamland”. But they hook up and eventually fall in love.  Jake is told he cannot act. Nonetheless he forges ahead.  Because he could not remember two lines, his first screen text required 67 takes. Because Jake is as handsome as he is stupid, some producer accepts him but says “Jake” is not an acceptable screen name and must be changed to ROCK HUDSON (get it?). His boyfriend Archie is a black man (horrors!) who wants to become a screen writer. Camille Washington is a black woman (even worse!) who wants to have some screen role other than playing a maid (uppity!). And so it goes on and on for 7 episodes.

Is this a satire? Have I missed something here?

If you can last till episode 7, which is aptly named “A Hollywood Ending”,  you will be rewarded with a happy, sappy ending. Amen!

But just remember I LOVE TRASH!