Category Archives: Mental Illness

2013, Alcoholism, Basically Sad, Corruption, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Scam Artists, Self-Deception, Wonderful acting

Blue Jasmine (2013)

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From Netflix:

The high life leads to high anxiety for a fashionable New York City homemaker in crisis who finds herself forced to live a more modest lifestyle in San Francisco. Woody Allen directs an ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

Woody Allen may have married his daughter but the man sure knows how to capture ugly slices of contemporary life.

Using a jumbled set of flashbacks as well as scenes from the present, we watch a human circus of some really deceitful people (Alex Baldwin [Hal], Cate Blanchett [Jasmine], Louis C.K. [who seduces Jasmine’s sister Ginger]), some error-prone people (Sally Hawkins [the sister Ginger]), and some really decent and honest people (Andrew Dice Clay [Ginger’s former husband Augie], Bobby Cannavale [Ginger’s long-suffering boy friend Chili], Alden Ehrenreich [Jasmine’s son Danny], Peter Sarsgaard [Dwight]).

Short summary: Watch Cate Blanchett’s Jasmine’s incredibly well acted descent into an abyss of self-deception.

Is Woody Allen poking fun at the wealthy? It would seem that the lying high-fliers are scoundrels while (except for Peter Sarsgaard) the basically good characters all come from the middle class.

If nothing else, this film is a vehicle for Cate Blanchett to show off her remarkable talent even if she has to appear at times as physically and mentally destroyed.

In the category of sad urban human affairs this film is a DO NOT MISS!

2013, Abduction, Dark, Detective, Drama, FBI, Flirting, Gay theme, Grim, Lawyers, Love Story, Made For TV, Mental Illness, Occasional gore, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sadism, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, Violent, Wonderful acting

The Following (2013)

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From NetFlix:

When escaped serial killer Joe Carroll goes on a new killing spree, reclusive former FBI agent Ryan Hardy is called in, having captured Carroll nine years ago. Hardy soon discovers that Carroll has a loyal following of killers ready to terrorize.

Fifteen TV episodes of psychosis, ugly violence, and really good acting offer you a guilty pleasure. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Kevin Bacon always delivers a great performance, including this gory series. James Purefoy makes a great psychotic and insidiously clever villain. Take note, in addition, of the trio of very young adults (Valorie Curry, Nico Tortorella, and Adan Canto) who provide a sadistic bisexual mini-drama on their own. Nothing is nice in this series except possibly Kyle Catlett who plays the little boy Joey.

Stream along with NetFlix and expect to be absorbed.

2012, Comedy, Coming-of-age, Drama, Feel Good Not For Children, Flirting, Love Story, Mental Illness, Optimistic, Quiet, Sex Scenes, Small gem of a film, Talking Heads, Witty dialog

Liberal Arts (2012)

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From Netflix:

A speaking engagement brings 35-year-old Jesse back to his college alma mater, where he’s blindsided by nostalgia and a plucky sophomore named Zibby. Newly single and unfulfilled by his job, Jesse finds Zibby pulling him out of his disillusionment.

Call it talking-heads, call it an hour and one half of feel-good bubbles, but this little gem made me smile. Just enjoy all the philosophical pronouncements, some of them even make sense.

How can you not like 35 year old Jesse (played by Josh Radnor), an ordinary-looking guy with a friendly, sincere smile who is moral enough to think twice about sleeping with a 19 year old college student and warm enough to help a student suffering from manic-depression?

Feel sorry for the other characters who in a negative way help Jesse start to come alive: Professor Holberg (played by Richard Jenkins) who regretfully must retire even though he still feels like he is 19; Professor Fairfield (played by Allison Janney) who has grown cynical and bitter after loveless years of teaching literature.

Enjoy listening to the clever banter between Jesse and Zibby (played by Elizabeth Olsen). Were you like Zibby at her young age ?

Try and see it with someone you love.

2013, Clever Plot, Creepy, Dark, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Erotic Thriller, Flirting, Mental Illness, Mystery Film, Plot Twist, Psychological Thriller, Rape, Suspense, Unusual, Violent

Stoker (2013)

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From Netflix:

An impressionable teenager grieving for her late father lives with her unstable mother and is bewitched by her enigmatic uncle, who has mysterious motives for his sudden appearance in her life.

“Creepy” is the first adjective that comes to mind. “Stoker” is not a horror film. Rather it is a psychological, suspense-filled, well-written story with unexpected plot and character twists. In addition it is somewhat of a mystery story that asks “Just who is this suddenly appearing uncle?” At each step you think you know what will happen, but you are probably wrong.

Does Nicole Kidman get more beautiful each day? Matthew Goode, the British actor who played Charles Ryder in the 2008 production of “Brideshead Revisited”, is the perfectly cunning psychopath. Mia Wasikowska, the Australian actress who played Jane Eyre in the 2011 production of “Jane Eyre”, steals the show as an enigmatic and unpredictably strange teenager.

You will stay glued to your seat during this frighteningly possible sequence of events.

2012, Animation, Black humor, Car Chase, Comedy, Crude Talk, Fantasy, Love Story, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Motorcycles, Musical, Nudity, Satire, Senior citizens, Short Films, Suicide, Unusual, Vulgar

Oscar Shorts (2012)

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From Netflix:

This collection of Oscar-winning shorts from 2003-2012 covers works from around the globe, including “God of Love,” “The New Tenants,” “Toyland,” “West Bank Story,” “The Lost Thing,” “Logorama,” “The Danish Poet,” “Ryan” and “Harvie Krumpet.”

Live Action shorts are:

  • God of Love – Singer uses unusual methods (timed darts) to cultivate love affairs.
  • The New Tenants – Surprise! Vince D’Onofrio (looking really overweight and unhealthy) The new tenants have a series of crazy visitors.
  • Toyland – German with subtitles – Persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. “Toyland” is a euphemism for a concentration camp. Little Aryan child wants to accompany his Jewish friend to “Toyland”. Grim, sad, beautifully done.
  • West Bank Story – Much effort went into making this satirical take-off on “West Side Story”. Kosher King versus Hummus Hut.

Animated shorts are:

  • The Lost Thing – Australian – On beach man finds incredibly imaginative “thing” that seems to be a giant almost-teapot with reptilian extremities. Priceless!
  • Logorama – Vulgar mockery of American products and their logos, complete with car chases shoot-outs, earthquakes, an oil flood, and the west coast under water.
  • The Danish Poet – A Danish poet visits Sigrid Unset
  • Ryan – Imaginative but grotesque people missing parts (e.g. missing half a skull) provide opportunities for digital distortions. Downright weird.
  • Harvie Krumpet – Claymation story of Polish Harvie born to insane mother and lumber jack father. Harvie escapes the Germans and flees to Australia where he lives a life full of funny misfortunes each of which lands him once again in the hospital. Meanwhile he continues to collect increasingly funny facts (misspelled as “fakts”). Explicitly vulgar and very tongue-in-cheek.

“West Bank Story” is probably famous. In fact, I think I have seen it in other collections. Well worth watching.

“Harvie Krumpet”, while funny, could also be a bit depressing.

“The Lost Thing” may well be one of the most original animations I have seen. To enjoy all its details you might have to watch it more than once.

2011, Alcoholism, Drama, Ethical struggles, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Nudity, Optimistic, Quiet, Sex Scenes

360 (2011)

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From Netflix:

In this remake of the 1950 classic La Ronde, an all-star cast weaves through interrelated stories about love, passion and loneliness. From London and Denver to Phoenix and Vienna, people are haunted by their need to connect, despite the consequences.

Of course the coincidences of people’s lives interrelating as described in the film are contrived. But, so what? Not only are the individual stories interesting (and sometimes cliff-hangers) but the acting is excellent. There are successes, failures, disappointments, and people in and out of love. Call this medley of stories a “people pot-pourri”.

Whenever a character speaks in a language other than English (e.g. Russian, French, Slovakian) there are English subtitles.

In addition to many new faces there are some well-known actors: Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Anthony Hopkins.

Hopefully you will enjoy this optimistic well-done adult drama.

2013, Conspiracy, Crime, Depression, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Lesbian Theme, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Plot Twist, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense

Side Effects (2013)

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From Netflix:

Emily copes with her depression by taking antidepressant medication. But when her dire state apparently spirals out of control due to her husband’s prison release, she turns to a new medication that alters her life forever.

At first you may think this is a film about Big Pharma and its possibly controversial drug trials. Just stay tuned!

The fact that Channing Tatum is in this film is a red herring. He is practically a walk-on cameo. Instead, this show belongs to Jude Law who seems like a victim until he shows a resilience and cleverness not to be matched.

You could call this a “revenge” film and indeed the revenge is incredibly satisfying, especially since Catherine Zeta-Jones plays such a villainess and clever nemesis.

Hats off to Rooney Mara as Emily Taylor. In case you don’t recognize her, Rooney Mara was Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

In the category of suspense, intrigue, and conspiracy this film is a DO NOT MISS!

2003, British Mystery Series, Clever Plot, Detective, DNA, Dysfunctional Lives, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Serial Killer

DNA (2003)

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From NetFlix:

After recovering from a mental breakdown, brilliant investigator Joe Donovan joins the Manchester Forensic Investigations Unit. But his past continues to haunt him as he solves crimes with a fervor that causes tension between him and his wife.

Tom Conti and Samantha Bond appear in a cleverly written British detective series available from NetFlix as 2 discs that represent the only year (2003) that the series played. These 5 episodes may also be streamed from NetFlix.

In this particular story the novelty is that the DNA expert Joe Donovan experiences night-time wanderings which he cannot recall the next day. These night-time travels are connected with murders and seem to involve Donovan himself.

Enjoyable British mystery series with its own original gimmick!

2007, Canadian Mystery Series, Clever Plot, Crime thriller, Crude Talk, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Gritty, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Murder Investigation, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller, TV Series, Violent

Durham County (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Eager for a new beginning, Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon) transfers to Durham County with his wife, Audrey (Helene Joy) — in recovery from breast cancer — and two daughters. But there’s trouble in suburban paradise. In particular, a serial killer is on the loose. As Sweeney gets sucked into the ugly case, his suspicions turn to his neighbor Ray (Justin Louis), a man he has known since high school, in this disturbing crime drama series.

As far as I can tell “Durham County” is available from NetFlix only via streaming. There are three seasons beginning with 2007. Each season consists of 6 episodes. After I finished watching Season One I was shaking with excitement. And it gets better.

Each season features a (serial) killer who lives among the investigators as an accepted or even highly admired member of society while cleverly disguising his or her proclivities. You may learn who the killer is immediately or it may take some time to discover. But you will know who that killer is a long time before the police.

You can find a season of all the summaries in the Wikipedia article.

“Gritty” is a category of film that implies the following:

  • Violent and often creepy or gruesome murders
  • involving most often a serial killer
  • who may or may not get away with the crime or crimes
  • and possibly causing the wrong person to be convicted.
  • Only very intelligent killers may apply for the role.

Most British TV detective series are “gritty”. “Durham County” is almost British in that it was produced in Canada. Hence there are no British accents.

Season One is so suspenseful and the serial killer so clever and dissimulates so well that he fools almost everyone that I could hardly wait to see each of the 6 episodes. From the very beginning we know who the killer is: he is a plumber and the former best friend of the detective. Both men’s lives are troubled: violent mental illnes plagues the killer; the detective’s wife almost died of cancer. For both men their marriage is in trouble. Both men have one or more children whose lives are difficult. No one believes that the plumber could be guilty because he is the town’s athletic hero.

If you like “gritty” then this is a DO NOT MISS!!!

2011, Clever Plot, Conspiracy, DO NOT MISS, Explicit sex, FBI, Made For TV, Mental Illness, Military, Nudity, Plot Twist, PTSD, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suspense, Torture, Wonderful acting

Homeland (2011)

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From NetFlix:

When Sgt. Nicholas Brody, an American prisoner of war, returns home after eight years of captivity, frantic CIA agent Carrie Anderson suspects the Marine of having been turned into an Al Qaeda terrorist in this espionage drama from Showtime.

At the urging of a neighbor, I have started watching season 1 of “Homeland”. For months the title sat at the top of my NetFlix queue before it finally arrived. This TV series deserves to be so popular.

Part terrorist film, part treatment of family problems of a Marine returning from Afghanistan, this film is hard to stop watching. Acting is excellent. Expect a lot of surprise twists.

If Claire Danes (who plays Carrie Mathison) was not well known before this TV series, she will certainly make her mark with this work. She plays an FBI agent looking for a terrorist while taking medicine to combat her manic depression.

Damian Lewis (who plays Nicholas Brody) is actually British. His American accent is flawless. You might remember him as Soames Forsyte in the British TV series “The Forsyte Saga”.

Morena Baccarin (who plays the wife Jessica Brody) first came to my attention as the alien queen of the remake of the TV series “V”.

Currently only season 1 is available on DVD because season 2 is now playing. Because the story is so intriguing you won’t forget season 1 while you wait for season 2.

DON’T MISS THIS TV SERIES!