From Amazon Prime:
Two ex-government agents turned rival industrial spies have to be at the top of their game when one of their companies prepares to launch a major product. However, they distract each other in more ways than one.
From Amazon Prime you can stream this 2 hour 5 minute complete film.
You have probably already seen this somewhat old romantic romp featuring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.
Just plain complicated fun.
From Netflix:
Pia Brewer races to find Nick when he appears in an online video, bloodied and holding a sign that reads: “At 5 million views I die.”
From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of this mystery thriller. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.
Who kidnapped and killed Nick? At first he is shown in an online video, bloodied and holding a sign that reads: “At 5 million views I die.” As the 5 million viewers constantly view the video he holds other signs saying he abused women or that he killed a woman.
Each episode is from the viewpoint of one of the people involved in the plot such a family members, a detective, and an unscrupulous reporter. There are several plot twists. Just when you think you know what is going on, some new game changing fact comes to light. Along the way many people suffer loss and betrayal.
Some editing would have removed a bit of unnecessary footage. At times the plot veers toward the maudlin. Still, it is a clever shape-shifting plot.
From IMDB:
Audrey and Morgan are best friends who unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers the boyfriend who dumped her was actually a spy.
From IMDB you can stream this 2 hour thriller comedy.
If you register with IMDB, then for FREE you can stream using IMDB some of the films you find on that site. Locate a film and then on that page you will see a list of just which sites stream that film. Now and then one of those streaming sites will be IMDB.
One of my guilty pleasures is watching acceptable trash films for which I need a new category. As time goes by such films are in competition to provide the most vulgar conversations, the most explicit nudity, the most explicit sexual activity, and the most violent scenes possible. Often such films are touted as “comedies”. So from now on, if I call a film a “vulgar action comedy,” then you know what I mean.
This film under review fits all those criteria except that there is just kissing instead of sexual activity.
Until the end of the film you really do not know who the good guys are. But as is so often the case, each of the candidates can shoot guns so well that they never miss a shot. In addition these candidates are superb athletes that have mastered gymnastics and martial arts and can leap over tall buildings. Here the two leading competitors are Justin Theroux (from American Psycho) as Drew and Sam Heughan (from Outlander) as Sebastian.
Another requirement for such films are the wild, out-of-control car chases. Usually the car must travel the wrong way on a one-way street or highway. There must be several collisions in which some cars are turned upside down.
Why do I love this type of film?
From IMDB:
Live Hallangen is declared dead but hours later she suddenly wakes up with a sudden urge for blood. Meanwhile, her brother Odd tries to keep the family driven funeral home afloat.
From Netflix:
It’s just another average day in this small Norwegian town
until a young woman is found dead in a field. But things are not as they seem.
From Netflix you can stream 6 episodes of this Norwegian series. Each episode lasts about 44 minutes.
Categories such as comedy, drama, and thriller have been applied to this off-beat series. If I tell you what the series is about, I am afraid you will not watch it. Let me begin, therefore, by saying that no matter the theme, this is NOT a vampire story. More than any other characterization, for me “comedy” rings true because it shows Live (pronounced Lee-Va ), her brother Odd, the policeman Reinert. and Dr. Sverre getting in deeper and deeper in their combined efforts to conceal the truth about them and the strange secret of the town of Skarnes while trying desperately to keep the chief of police, Judith, off their trail. Some comedies such as this one are built on a succession of outrageous events. When was the last time you saw a completely clothed woman having a mud fist fight with a completely naked man with a plastic bag tied over his head?
Well done and well worth the watch.
From Netflix:
Ten years after losing two loved ones, a man is plunged into another dizzying mystery when his girlfriend vanishes. Based on a Harlan Coben novel.
From Netflix you can stream the 6 episodes, each episode less than one hour, of the serialized adaptation of Coben’s 2001 novel of the same name. French with English subtitles.
Even the reviews of Coben’s novel complain that this is not one of his better novels. Confusing plot twists, hard to accept events, and other defects, despite the many action sequences, make the story sadly forgettable.
In fact, I was tempted to stop watching the series. Either read a different Coben novel or find a film adaptation of some other Coben story.
Forget it!
From IMDB:
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.
From Netflix and Amazon Prime you can stream this 2 hour 18 minute film.
Based on the Dan Brown novel, this film stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon and Ewen McGregor as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna.
Awarding the category “Acceptable Trash” to this messy mixture of Catholic church misinformation and violent conspiracy theory nonsense is being charitable.
With this review I wanted only to point out that Ewen McGregor was a mere 38 at filming and looks very young. If you want a visual shock, then watch him at 50 playing the lead role in “Halston” which is reviewed in this blog. In fact, first watch “Halston” and then watch a bit of “Angels and Demons” (if you can even stomach a little bit of the farce) to see what a difference age can make. For that matter Tom Hanks in this film is no spring chicken.
At least one positive plot point comes to mind: It takes the entire film to reveal the true villains. Leading us to suspect one by one many of the characters is well done.
Don’t bother.
From IMDB:
After the sudden death of novelist and ex-Secret Intelligence Service man Alexander Wilson, his wife Alison is forced to investigate when mysteries from her husband’s past come knocking.
From PBS Passport (also called PBS Masterpiece Streaming) you can stream the 3 episodes of this Masterpiece drama. Each episode is less than an hour.
Mrs. Wilson is based on the true story of actress Ruth Wilson’s grandmother, Alison, who discovered, upon the sudden death of her husband Alec, that he had another, secret family. … And it’s up to Alison to prevent her family and her world from being torn apart as she unravels them, one at a time.
Ruth Wilson, who plays her grandmother Alison, and Iain Glen, who plays the intriguing Alex Wilson, are more or less the entire story. Rather than spoil the plot for you, let it suffice to say that Alison spends all three episodes trying to piece together her late husbands “adventures.”
Certainly you have seen Iain Glenn in many different productions. For example he played Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones. If you have never watched Ruth Wilson I would recommend your seeing her as Alison Bailey in The Affair and as the diabolical Alice Morgan in Luther.
DO NOT MISS!
From Amazon Prime you can stream the following 4 films whose main character is the gay detective Donald Strachey.
To rate each of these films as B+ is generous. Think of them as an amusing and diverting series of acceptable trash. Plots can be complicated. Throughout the series you will see the same actors in the major roles. Any mild suspense is short-lived.
Third Man Out (2005) 1 hr 39 min
A gay detective is hired to find who has been been threatening a notorious member of the gay community noted for outing people.
Shock to the System (2006) 1 hr 39 min
A gay detective tries to solve the murder of a college student.
On the Other Hand, Death (2008) 1 hr 26 min
A mysterious client of private eye Don Strachey pays him cash to tail a woman who turns out to be an undercover officer; an older lesbian couple are victims of threats and vandalism; an old flame of his lover Tim shows up to support the older couple; neighbors are angry at the couple for refusing to sell out to a developer; and, parents are angry at one of the couple, Dorothy, for being a good guidance counselor to gay teens. Her partner, Edith, wants to move away; Dorothy is adamant about staying. When someone dies in a fire in their barn, the stakes get higher. Don, who does not believe in coincidence, gives the police enough information to stay on their good side as he pursues the truth.
Ice Blues (2008) 1 hr 38 min
Tim Callahan, aide to New York Senator Lauren Platt, is disappointed that all of the $3 million funding has been pulled from his latest pet project, a safe zone for children and youth. His personal partner, private investigator Donald Strachey, believes Tim’s passion for the project stems from the fact of his own sister’s troubled youth, she who has been missing since age seventeen. Tim believes his prayers have been answered when a man, identifying himself as a lawyer, tells him that he represents someone who wants to make a $3 million anonymous donation to the project. Those prayers turn into a nightmare when that lawyer is later found murdered, the dead body in Donald’s car. The murdered man is Jake Lenigan, a third generation lawyer in a powerful family law firm. Jake’s father was murdered twelve years earlier, the perceived suspect in that case being his wife Joan, who has since disappeared. Tim and Donald’s situation becomes even more nightmarish when Tim anonymously receives that $3 million in untraceable Euro bonds. The murderer will do whatever is necessary to get that money back from Tim and Donald, the latter who is working with the police to find Lenigan’s purpose in wanting to donate the money to Tim’s cause, find if Jake’s father’s murder has anything to do with this case, discover the owner of the money and thus the probable murderer, and most importantly protect himself and his boyfriend from being possible murder victims.
From IMDB:
Is a trio of witches responsible for a series of sudden deaths or is there a rational explanation?
From Amazon Prime you can stream both hour-long episodes of this mystery story supposedly based on a story by Agatha Christie.
But don’t bother with this adaptation. Thank to a warning found in IMDB:
Sarah Phelps “version” is a complete mess. The production has an excellent cast including Rufus Sewell, who is magnificent as usual. The set design and costumes are top notch and even the cinematography and music are good, but…
Sarah Phelp’s story, script and directing are terrible. She makes an utter train wreck out of the original story and what’s left makes no sense at all. I can only hope that Sarah Phelps writes and creates her own scripts for future projects as she has no talent adapting existing stories.
Much of what the reviewer says rings true. Oddly enough I enjoyed watching what is essentially a good production. Indeed Rufus Sewell is very good. But the ending left me confused.
If you are interested, read the Wikipedia account of the novel where you will see that there is very little in common with the two versions.
Skip this unfortunately watchable mess.
From Netflix:
A stripper sets out to prove his innocence for a crime he didn’t commit and was unjustly incarcerated for seven years earlier.
From Netflix you can stream the 13 episodes (each episode about 70 minutes) of this Spanish telenovela. Many spoken languages and caption languages are available.
Spanish telenovelas inhabit a world of their own. Chief among their attributes are “corny”, “amateurish”, and “sometimes really stupid.” So why on earth did I watch this unintentionally laughable marathon? Netflix seemed to promote this series, so I started. Injustice and villains always get me going. Because I have to see justice done I just keep plodding along to the end.
Before you waste your time let me list some of the “features” of this charmer:
You can do much better, but in a certain sense the whole production is a hoot!