Category Archives: Mother-daughter relations

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Illegitimate Child, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Surprise Ending, Vulgar

The Poison Tree (2012)

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From Acorn TV:

Emmy nominee Matthew Goode (A Discovery of Witches, The Crown) stars in this “gripping… psychological crime thriller” (Mirror, UK) of deception, seduction, and twisted family ties. Released from prison, convicted murderer Rex returns home to his devoted wife, Karen (MyAnna Buring, Ripper Street), who has always maintained his innocence. But Karen is hiding darker secrets than even Rex realizes

From Acorn TV  you  can stream the two 45-minute episodes of this twisted tale of murder and deception.

Clever plot, attention to details, and good actors make this story worth watching.  Even the ending was somewhat of a surprise.

2018, Abortion, Acceptable for teenagers, Based on true facts, Danish, Danish Soap Opera, Danish TV series, Divorce, Drama, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Father-daughter relations, Flirting, Friendship, Jealousy, Medical Theme, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Nurses, Revenge, Romance

The New Nurses (2018)

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From IMDB:

Love, sickness, health and exam anxiety at a Danish hospital in the 50s. Erik (Morten Hee Andersen) and Anna (Molly Blixt Egelind) are among the first to be accepted into a nursing school with men and women being trained together. Due to a lack of trained nurses, the danish government decides, on a trial basis, that it is acceptable for a man to work as a nurse. It is not easy for the men to be accepted as nurses in an working environment with old-fashioned hierarchies and strict disciplinary work ethics.

From MHz Choice you can stream 2 seasons of this Danish TV series. Each season contains 6 episodes. Each episode lasts about 40 minutes. Danish with English subtitles.

In case you were wondering what the Danish name for this series is, the title is Sygeplejeskolen. Now, don’t you feel better for knowing?

In all seriousness, this is a fine soap opera series involving lots of appealing fresh-faced young women and men nurse-trainees, doctors, and teachers. Needless to say, there are lots of romances, love affairs, unwanted pregnancies, and patient dramas.

One example of a romance should suffice: One female nurse-trainee (let’s call her Anna) falls in love with a male trainee (call him Eric). But that young man has two problems: He finds the text book portion very difficult and he has such a big heart that he gets himself in trouble helping patients sometimes by bending rules. As a result he has to leave the program and then moves to England to study. He leaves at the end of season 1. During season 2 Anna pines for Eric but meets and is attracted to another fellow (Jake?) who is not a part of the hospital but knew Anna from their school days. Anna never gets mail from Eric. Jake proposes to Anna. In the last episode of season 2 Anna gets a packet of letters from Eric. These letters had somehow been misplaced by the postal service. In the last few seconds of the season Anna is about to open the all important letter from Eric, but she does not read the letter in season 2. Talk about a cliff hanger! More seasons will follow.

If you like innocent, non-violent romantic soap operas, this series is for you.

2018, Abandoned child, Abuse of Women, Addiction, Amusing banter, Bloody scenes, Child custody, Clever Plot, Creepy, Disturbing Image, Drugs, Emotional child abuse, Erotic Thriller, Family Conflict, Flirting, Jealousy, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Self-Deception, Sex Scenes, Stalker, Suspense, Unusual, Violent, Vulgar

You (2018)

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From IMDB:

A dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this somewhat creepy series. Each season contains 10 episodes each of which lasts about 45 minutes.

Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) at first seems just to be an obsessive stalker.  But harmless he is not. Joe spends 20 episodes talking silently to himself and rationalizing his behavior by somehow letting himself believe that everything he does is for love.  Along the way he manages to kill an awful lot of people in the name of love.

Is Joe mentally ill or just some kind of narcissist that chooses murder as a way to continue  his quest for love?  In any case he is not a serial killer in the accepted sense of the word.

Why watch Joe’s lethal progress?

  •  All along we expect Joe to be killed or caught.  But cleverly unexpected events constantly occur to save Joe’s skin.
  • Trendy dialog rules the day, especially in LA.
  •  In face to face conversations, no matter what tight spot he is in, Joe always manages to manufacture a spin response.
  • Good acting enhances a story that is never boring (although the very end seems to drag a bit).
  •  Segments of Joe’s history as a sad, traumatized child are injected often to explain his current behavior.

Curiosity (as to how on earth this story ends) more than anything kept me hooked to these 20 episodes.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Action Film, Aliens from outer space, Bisexual theme, Bloody scenes, Cancer theme, Computer geeks, Drugs, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-daughter relations, Good digital effects, Happy Family Gatherings, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Nasty Aliens, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Nudity, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Suspense, Various Romances, Vulgar, Young Adults

Another Life (2019)

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From IMDB:

Astronaut Niko Breckenridge and her young crew face unimaginable danger as they go on a high-risk mission to explore the genesis of an alien artifact.

From Netflix you can stream the only season made so far of this series. Each of the 10 episodes lasts about 45 minutes except for the first episode which lasts an hour.

What makes this mediocre (and possible waste of time) series  different is that it is mostly about the inter-relations of the VERY young crew. Along the way you hear a lot of technical space babble. Who knows if any of that jargon approaches reality?  One crisis after another plagues the crew. Fortunately with each crisis there is some far-fetched solution. In a way it makes for easy watching when every seemingly insurmountable problem has a quick and often hokey fix. Eventually there must be another season because the story is just taking off when the season comes to a halt.

When I was a kid I went every Saturday morning to a movie theatre and spent the outrageous entry fee of 20 cents  to see one cartoon, one comedy short, an episode of a series starring such wonders as Superman, and a full-length feature film.  Every episode of that series ended with our hero in some jam. Next episode gets the hero out of that jam only to trap him in another jam. Needless to say, I could hardly wait for the next week’s exciting episode. Similarly I was compelled to binge watch “Another Life” to see how the kids (as I said, a VERY young crew) solved the current problem.

At least it was a welcome break from all the crime stories.

 

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Film, Action Hero, Cancer theme, Contract Killing, Father-daughter relations, Improbable details, Mad scientist, Mediocre, Merely acceptable, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

Self/Less (2015)

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From IMDB:

An extremely wealthy man, dying from cancer, undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man. But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause

From Netflix you can stream this full-length film which lasts almost two hours.

Ryan Reynolds  plays the transformed real estate mogul (Ben Kingsley ) who now has a new body which he discovers to his horror belonged to a young father. This previous owner of the body sold his body in order to get money to treat his daughter’s illness. Now Reynolds must confront the grieving widow and her now healthy daughter in order to save all their lives from the ruthless transformation organization.

As you might expect from this typical, not very special story, you must suspend a fair amount of disbelief. Reynolds quickly discovers that he has the fighting fitness of the dead father. Moreover he never misses a shot when in gun battles with the bad guys. Without spoiling the plot, I will hint that the use of certain medical pills leads to a happy ending.

Not a complete waste of two hours.

 

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.

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Beautiful Seaside Town, British Mystery Series, Detective, Eccentric cast of characters, Flirting, Forensics, Gay theme, Mediocre, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Small British village, Surfing, Suspense

The Coroner (2015)

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From Amazon Prime (Brit Box):

A high-flying lawyer returns, after a messy divorce, to the small town she escaped as a teenager to take up the post of Coroner. She finds herself thrown together with her old flame who broke her heart twenty years ago – now the local policeman – and they are forced to work together.

If you want to see the offerings from Amazon Prime’s Brit Box then you have to subscribe separately to Brit Box which is very inexpensive.

Brit Box offers 2 seasons of “The Coroner”.  Each season offers 10 episodes. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes and is a complete story.

Jane Kennedy is the coroner and Davey Higgins is the local policeman and her old love. He is married and faithful although he only mentions his wife whom we never see.  All 20 episodes show this pair flirting and discussing their old life in this small,  beautiful English seaside town named Lighthaven.  Her mother has a lover. They are a bawdy couple who together run a seaside pub.

As crime series go, this one is somewhat mediocre, easy on the emotions and never very violent. Think “Doc Martin” plus a few murders.

 

2017, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Boating, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Child custody, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Cynical, Dark, Drug Dealers, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, FBI, Financial malfeasance, Gambling, Gay theme, Grim, Large-scale gang activity, Lawyers, Mafia, Money Laundering, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Netflix Streaming, Orphans in Foster Care, Police Corruption, Prison, Revenge, Suspense, Teenagers, Torture, Uncle-Nephew relations, Uncle-Niece relations, Violent, Vulgar, Wonderful acting

Ozark (2017)

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From IMDB:

A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons. Each season consists of 10 one-hour episodes. You need to watch both seasons to come to a conclusion of sorts. Conceivably  there could be another season.

Before saying anything more let me warn you that this series is very VIOLENT!

In several places I have read that Donald Trump debases everything and everybody he touches. For a step-by-step detailed textbook showing how evil spreads to engulf even the originally most innocent souls, this series will more than suffice. The process of moral debasement portrays at the same time the “Wages of Sin.” Many involved characters receive harsh retribution, most especially the loss of life, love and respect.

Those of you with strong stomachs may well find these episodes captivating for their attention to detail in the plot, excellent dialog, and superb acting. No wonder the series received 9 Emmy award nominations!  Personally I was as hooked as I was horrified.  Seems I have become very jaded.

Hats off to some remarkable performances:

  •  “Arrested Development” was my first encounter with Jason Bateman who plays Marty Byrde. In both cases Bateman exudes a somewhat-repressed, matter-of-fact, nerdish comportment. Nothing seems to rattle him.  At each shock, after a thoughtful and facially inexpressive pause, during which you can almost hear his brain cells clicking, he manages to smooth talk his way through the crisis. You must wait for almost 20 episodes before you can see his despair.
  •  Laura Linney, who plays Marty’s wife Wendy Byrde constantly flashes the always beautiful smile that launches a thousand crimes.  After a while I finally realized that for the most part Wendy is one of the most evil characters.  Here I am reminded of Hannah Arendt’s phrase “the Banality of Evil”.  One rationalization leads to another.
  •  Julia Garner, who plays Ruth Langmore, turns in a bravo performance as a “white trash” daughter of a convicted criminal. Ruth’s character, while never innocent,  grows to recognize the lowness of her given state in life and does mature to rise above and take responsibility.  Her improvement owes much to the fact that she was born with a very intelligent mind.

Assuming you can get through the first stomach-churners, you may well become as addicted as was I.

2010, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, British, Bullying, Corny at times, Drama, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Miners, Mother-daughter relations, Racism, Romance, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Smallpox, Suspense, Unmarried mother, Wales

The Indian Doctor (2010)

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From Acorn TV:

This uplifting and charming period drama from the BBC follows an Indian doctor (Sanjeev Bhaskar, Mumbai Calling) who moves to a small Welsh village in the early 1960s. As he and his upper class wife (Ayesha Dharker, Indian Summers) adjust to life in the mining town, they start to change the community–and the community changes them.

From Acorn TV you can stream three seasons of this series which is in the same genre as “Doc Martin”.  Each season has 5 episodes and each episode lasts about 43 minutes.

Eventually Dr. Prem Sharma and his wife Kamini Sharma with difficulty  fit into the small Welsh mining community.

Season 1 centers on Dr. Sharma fighting to get chest X-rays for the miners in order to detect black lung disease.

Season 2 is about a church minister whose belief that prayer can cure smallpox endangers the community.

Season 3 has Dr. Sharma working to defeat a hoax that will impoverish the town inhabitants.

If you have ever watched the wonderful British series “Unforgotten” then you will recognize Sanjeev Bhaskar (who plays Dr. Sharma) as DS ‘Sunny’ Khan who is the sidekick to DCI Cassie Stuart (played by Nicola Walker).

If you need a family-friendly series then you cannot go wrong with these 15 episodes.

 

2019, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Bad high school, Career Competition, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Complicated, Corny at times, Dancing, Detective, DNA, Drama, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Fashion, Gay theme, Illegitimate Child, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Narcissistic Personality, Netflix Streaming, Psychopath, Sex Scenes, Sociopath, Suspense, Uncategorized, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent, Womanizing

What/If (2019)

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From IMDB:

An anthology series which tackles a different morality tale, and the ripple effect of a single decision that changes the trajectory of an entire life.

From Netflix you can stream 10 episodes of this soap opera. Each episode lasts between 40 and 60 minutes.

Anne Montgomery is the villain and most prominent feature of this acceptable trashy melodrama. She is played by Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones) who looks awfully good for her 50 years. Of course it does not hurt her appearance to wear not only tons of makeup but to wear in each new appearance an astounding designer creation. Best of all you can hear her lisp for all ten episodes.

Harlequin Books, the leaders in trashy bodice-rippers, will send you a story plot and will pay you to fill in the details. Suppose, in similar fashion you want to write a Netflix Original screenplay. What should be in the plot to be current in 2019?  Here are some suggestions (where we were motivated by this marvelous series):

  • In each couple, one of the partners must be hiding some terrible, guilty secret which prevents that person from being truly open with the other person.
  • One of the couples must be a gay couple. They should engage in least some filmed threesome sexual activity.
  • For each couple there must be a third party who has some destructive relation to one of the partners.
  • Some character must be a homicidal sociopath.
  • Financial dealings must complicated by the fact that you can never know whom to trust.

Probably I could extend the list, but those selling points should be enough to tempt you to watch almost 10 hours of acceptable trash. As a further inducement to wasting all that time, I am happy to reveal that by the end of episode ten, all problems have been resolved. Moreover, the plot leaves an opening for another thrilling set of trashy episodes.

Thanks to former colleague Kellie Trainer for suggesting this binge-worthy series. She and I have a motto:

WE LOVE TRASH!