From IMDB:
Private detective John Duval, an ex-lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy and Naval Intelligence, finds himself the prime suspect in a police hunt for a sexual killer when three women are brutally murdered.
From Amazon Prime you can stream this 2 hour 35 minute complete film. Another version of “Silent Hours” exists which is a series.
Follow the complicated clues interspersed with lots of sexual flash backs. Why are serial killer stories often so intriguing?
From Amazon Brit Box:
Based on the best-selling Peter James novels, John Simm (Life on Mars) stars as Roy Grace, a tenacious yet troubled detective known for his unorthodox methods. As he walks a career tightrope, he is assigned to a missing person case.
From Amazon Brit Box you can stream 3 seasons of this British mystery thriller. Season 1 has 2 episodes. Seasons 2 and 3 have 3 episodes. Each episode lasts an hour and a half.
Throughout the series Roy Grace (John Simm) mourns the loss of his wife who abandoned the family. Evolving toward declaring his missing wife dead, he is slowly falling in love with the woman coroner Cleo. In every episode Grace teams up with his sidekick DS Glenn Branson.
Each episode is well-written and involving. Highly recommended.
From IMDB:
In the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, in the small village of Glória do Ribatejo, João Vidal will take on several high-risk espionage missions that could change the course of Portuguese and world history.
From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this Portuguese spy thriller. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. In Portuguese and English with subtitles.
RARET is short for portuguese RAdio de RETransmissão (Retransmission Radio). Think of RARET as Radio Free Europe. An article in the New York Times suggested this film to me. That article, which is worth reading, begins as follows:
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Anyone who didn’t live through the Cold War might find the Portuguese Netflix spy thriller series “Glória” improbable.
Deep in the Portuguese countryside, in the tiny village of Glória, a complex radio transmission operation run by Portuguese and American engineers springs up in the 1950s, a branch of a Munich-based news organization called Radio Free Europe.
It broadcasts news and anti-communist messages in languages of various Soviet republics, but, in the show and in real life, that’s only part of its early mission: It’s also a C.I.A. front.
Until 1971, Radio Free Europe was a covert U.S. intelligence operation seeking to penetrate the Iron Curtain and foment anti-communist dissent in what was then Czechoslovakia, in Poland and elsewhere.
João (Portuguese for John) is a Russian spy seeking to undermine the activities of RARET. Through 10 episodes we watch his masterful deceits while many around him get hurt as a result. To really appreciate the story you might brush up on some Portuguese history such as its imperialism (especially in Angola), the dictator Salazar, and PIDE (the Portuguese secret police).
Because the very ending comes as a complete and puzzling surprise, after finishing the series you can read an explanation.
Do not expect much happiness. But – DO NOT MISS!
From IMDB:
Michi is a successful consultant in Zurich. But a phone call changes everything. His father took his own life. Together with his mother and two siblings, Michi must now decide between his own career or saving the family farm.
From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1 of this award-winning Swiss soap opera centering around milk farming in Switzerland. Each episode lasts about 48 minutes. “Neumatt” is the Swiss title for this series which is notable for the fact that the original language is Swiss German. Season 2 is supposed to be released in spring 2023.
According to Wikipedia : “Netflix will offer the series in 30 languages and in 190 countries worldwide.” Now is your change to hear Swiss German. Choose from a slew of languages for subtitles.
“Neumatt” is the name of the family milk farm of the Wyss family. Farming is an arduous, difficult life for which not everyone is suited. In one of the companies for which I worked there was a fellow employee who grew up on a North Dakota farm. He loathed the life and fled. Similarly in the Wyss family the son Michi and daughter Sarah also fled to other careers while the mother Trudi, son Lorenz (LoLo), grandmother, and father remain on the struggling, almost bankrupt farm. Is it any wonder the father commits suicide?
Julian Koechlin (Michi) and Marlise Fischer (Trudi) received the Prix Swissperform as “Best Leading Actor” as “Best Supporting Actress” in the first season of Neumatt as part of the 57th Solothurn Film Festival.
Make no mistake, this series is a SOAP OPERA. But I could not stop watching, no matter how harrowing the lives of the characters became. And if season two ever comes along, you can be sure I will be there rooting for Michi and Lorenzo.
If you are willing to endure a series that sometimes seems to go on forever, then
DO NOT MISS!
From IMDB:
It follows a young woman living on the fringes of society who becomes intoxicated by a stranger who overwhelms her quiet life.
From Kanopy:
Kate (Ruth Wilson) is sleepwalking through life when a chance sexual encounter with a charismatic stranger (Tom Burke) awakens her. High on infatuation, Kate is headed for an intoxicating car crash.
From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute film.
Ruth Wilson first came to my attention as the villainous Alice Morgan in “Luther.” In this rather nihilistic tale she has a sexually explicit affair with the uncommitted Blond, (we never learn his name) played to seductive success by Tom Burke, which starts her down a path to what is possibly of life of irresponsibility.
Never boring, but such a downer that I fear to recommend this film.
From IMDB:
A prequel, set before the events of Army of the Dead, which focuses on German safecracker Ludwig Dieter leading a group of aspiring thieves on a top secret heist during the early stages of the zombie apocalypse.
From Netflix:
A prequel, set before the events of Army of the Dead, which focuses on German safecracker Ludwig Dieter leading a group of aspiring thieves on a top secret heist during the early stages of the zombie apocalypse.
From Netflix you can waste some possibly fun time streaming this action film which lasts 2 hours and 9 minutes.
Forget zombies because, except for a brief glimpse, this prequel has nothing whatsoever to do with zombies. Instead, its entire goal is to successfully crack open three historical, massive, and well-guarded safes. At the same time a dedicated French detective is determined to catch the gang of thieves.
Matthias Schweighöfer is brilliant as the talented safecracker Ludwig Dieter. German audiences are probably more familiar with this actor. As for American audiences, you might recognize Stuart Martin as the thuggish Brad Cage because he plays the Duke in “Miss Scarlet and the Duke” on American TV.
Enjoy the action sequences in this throwaway snack.
From Kanopy:
When his husband surprises him with weekly Spanish lessons, Adam (Mark Duplass, Bombshell, The Morning Show) is unsure about where or how this new element will fit into his already structured life. But after tragedy strikes, his Spanish teacher, Cariño (Natalie Morales, Dead To Me, Parks And Recreation), becomes a lifeline he didn’t know he needed. Adam develops an unexpected and complicated emotional bond with Cariño — but do you really know someone just because you’ve experienced a traumatic moment with them? Bittersweet, honest, and at times darkly funny, this award-winning debut from director Natalie Morales is a poignant, funny, and emotionally resonant (Screen Rant) exploration of platonic love.
From Kanopy you can stream this 1.5 hour film.
Adam and Cariño talk via Zoom sessions. In fact the entire film is a series of such sessions, several of which are one-sided. Just after the first session, Adam’s husband dies. Adam goes into deep grief and depression which he escapes with the help of Cariño. Mostly they speak in English and if they do speak in Spanish there are subtitles. Really the language lessons are besides the point. Eventually we learn quite a lot about about Adam and Cariño.
This film is so sweet and touching that if you don’t yet belong to Kanopy (which is free), then join just for the chance to see this tender film.
DO NOT MISS!
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.
From IMDB:
Follows detective Matthew Venn as he returns to an evangelical community in which he grew up to attend his father’s funeral.
From Amazon BritBox:
Following the discovery of a dead body, DI Matthew Venn is led back into the community he left behind – and the deadly secrets that lurk there.
From Amazon BritBox you can stream the 4 episodes of this single season production. Each episode lasts exactly 46 minutes.
DI Matthew Venn’s investigation of the death of a Simon Walden leads him back to the religious cult in which he was raised, and to which he also returns for his father’s funeral. Years before Matthew left the cult because he is gay and therefore was considered by the cult to be a sinner. Matthew lives with his partner Jonathan Roberts who works hard to bring comfort and self-acceptance to Matthew who battles the guilt inculcated into him by the cult. Eventually we learn how involved the cult is in the death of Simon Walden. Along the way Matthew tries to make peace with his mother Dorothy Venn.
Two notable actors are:
Well-done and worth a DO NOT MISS!
From IMDB:
Wealth, lust, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Regency-era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
From Netflix you can stream 2 seasons of this Regency-era serial soap opera. Each season consists of 8 episodes, each episode lasting roughly one hour.
During the American revolution George III was king of England. Because he suffered from periodic madness due to porphyria (disputed), his son acted as regent and later became George IV. For this reason this period of history is called the Regency era.
Among the wealthy London aristocrats of the Regency era, social competition and ambition centered around gossip, fancy apparel, and above all else finding suitable husbands for one’s daughters. “Suitable” here means wealthy and hopefully titled, as in prince beats duke beats lord. Bridgerton in it entirety is about gossip, fancy apparel and husband pursuits. And what fun it is to watch!
SLIGHT NEGATIVES:
NOTABLE FEATURES:
SEASON ONE
Season One is devoted to finding Daphne Bridgerton a husband. After much pretending and maneuvering, Duke Simon is the one. As far as difficulties are concerned, Simon has taken a vow against his much despised father to never produce an heir to the title.
As an extra major distraction, the search is on the discover the identity of Lady Whistledown, the weekly publisher of a gossip paper that more or less rules society. My lips are sealed.
One further theme is the friendship between Eloise Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington. In reality the Featherington family is penniless, meaning that their daughters MUST marry well in order to rescue the family from its gambling induced poverty.
SEASON TWO
Season Two is devoted to finding a suitable wife for Anthony Bridgerton and a suitable husband for Kate Sharma. Along the way Anthony misguidedly proposes marriage to Kate’s sister Edwina.
We learn the identity of Lady Whistledown while Queen Charlotte threatens Eloise Bridgerton with ruin if she fails to discover the true identity of Lady Whistledown.
Season Two does not end happily ever after for all. Will there be a Season Three, dear reader?