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Sex/Life (2021)
Too many sharp turns in episode 8
The last episode of season one is an uncomfortable ride with too many sharp turns. It starts with a marriage on the rocks. Someone says to Billie that her husband has one foot out the door. Coop tells her "There is a stain on our marriage." It seems this couple is over. Then they go to a school function where everyone has a pretty sorry opinion about Billie while Coop defends her. A few minutes of TV time later they are having naked shower sex and telling each other they just "need to be honest with each other." They are suddenly blissfully happy after being on the edge of a precipice... and if you went to the fridge you missed it. It was a sharp turn to make but the showrunner must have a lot to pack into this episode. So let us just ignore that is way too much healing to just happen and move on. BTW- If you are into rom-com, here is your ending. Hit pause and pretend it is over. I keep watching but I must subtract one star. So everything is now fine in Billie's mind. She is happy and smiling. She has her home, family, and husband. Then she and Coop go to a new book release by Billie's oldest friend. The friend speaks of women not living in the construct that has been built by men. Coop says she is amazing and is happy and smiling at Billie. Billie smiles at Coop but turns away with her sad face again for the viewers to see. She is not happy again! Sharp turn! Billie listens to a speech and is so malleable as to revert all the way back to episode #1. This is the final season one episode and we have just started over. I subtract a star and move on thankful that Billie's friend did not write a book about female serial killers. Just a few TV moments ago Billie and her husband said how important it was to be honest with each other, and she is lying already. Don't go to the fridge because Billie and Coop are at another school function watching their child on stage just a few moments later. Coop is still happy and smiles at Billie. Billie smiles at Coop but turns away sad again. These school functions must make her really horny for Brad because she suddenly comes to the epiphany "I can have it all!" A few seconds later she is running down a city sidewalk headed to see Brad. A lustfully happy smile comes to her face as she thinks about what she is going to do with Brad. Yes, another incredible sharp turn that sucks a couple more stars out of the rating. I'm getting whiplash from all the turns now. The scene switches to Billie in the home she once shared with Brad and the first thing she says is "I'm not leaving my husband...now f___ me." There is very little in the developed character of Coop over the last seven episodes that make those first words ring true. He has been presented as a man who can not share his wife or be a cuckold husband...assuming he knows about it. So is she "cheating?" I repeat, it was early in this episode that they said above all else, they must be honest. Another turn on two wheels because if she didn't tell him then she is lying! Scratch some more stars for Billie thinking her marriage will survive this just because she is "not leaving" Coop! Coop might have a thought or two on the subject. Too much was forced into this episode and too little of the conversation between Billie and Coop. This is especially true as they parted ways at the school function. Did she say something to Coop like, "Babe, I'm going to go spend the night with Brad. See you tomorrow." Did he say something like,"OK Babe. Have fun." We do not know because we did not get to hear any of that conversation. There were really not enough minutes in that parting with Coop for her to adequately convince him that she could "have it all." Especially if "it all" includes Coop, family, home, Brad (for sure), and maybe a few characters we have yet to meet. The word "all" encompasses a lot. We're the semi omniscient TV audience yet they shut us out. If season 2 does come, I hope they flashback to that assumed conversation. I really want to know the words she spoke to her husband just prior to making that sprint. I also hope season 2 deals with a bit less fantasy and maybe talk about some real issues like STD/STI's (Billie is about to effectively expose Coop to everyone Brad has been with), unplanned pregnancy (I think Brad wants kids), uncertain paternity, postpartum depression (which I assume Billie has.)
I feel the need to double down the last few minutes of season 1 episode 8 disappointment. For seven episodes of admitted fantasy, Billie and Coop had entertained me even though I had no empathy for them. Perhaps it was the pair working out their problems in unconventional ways together that kept my attention. I was sad at the conclusion. Not entertained. Disappointed in the showrunner for trying to indicate cheating on Billie's part. Whether or not Coop was informed of her decision to run down the sidewalk to Brad's house doesn't even make a difference to me. Writers are clever and perhaps they can cheer me up if there is a 2nd season. If they simply choose to make another sharp turn by having Coop suddenly be happy about being a cuckold husband, that will not work. The character they created would never be pleased with that. He would never watch her GPS location move to Brad's house and just be happy for her.
I have no empathy for any of the characters on this show other than the children. Especially the selfish Billie who will risk that 85% of happiness she has just to reach that last 15%. She doesn't care that the accounting may subtract from Coop's and her children's happiness exponentially. Apparently, she is the alpha and they don't get an account. Yes, I know it is a fantasy, but not a good one.
Ibeon Ju, Anaega Barameul Pibnida (2016)
I tend to rate high when cheaters get karma
I should add a disclaimer here that all of my thoughts are based upon the closed captioning that was probably auto-generated and may not have completely matched the actual dialog of the characters.
Romantic relationships between people are probably the most prolific subject of TV and movies. We all can't fly rocket ships or wear capes and fly thru space and time however, most of us have had a relationship with someone who disappointed us in some way. I could easily say that cheating is the main subject of this series. The real main subject is hinted at in the title "My Wife is Having an Affair This Week." These are the words the husband in this series posted anonymously to an online chat group as he struggled with his wife's supposed and then confirmed affair with another man. He could not bring himself to talk with friends or family so he indevoured to gain some knowledge or at least solace by chatting with anonymous strangers. It was interesting to see some of the fictional group of posters frequently mimic my thoughts. Many did not agree of course. What was equally interesting was noticing that actual persons were out in the world posting online at various sites making comments that agreed with one side or the other. So the actual main subject of this screenplay may be our modern ability to seek anonymous online advice on everything and consider if that is a good thing.
I think the series creator, writers, and director intended for us people in the viewing audience to be drafted onto the husband's crew of online helpers by coming to our own conclusions about what was happening. Many of us posting in real-time (and later for some like me) with our conclusions about what the cheating wife was doing and what the dutiful husband should do. Many were on both sides of the issue and many stating the same comments as the fictional characters. It was also rather exciting to see many of my thoughts as a resident of the southern United States agree and markedly disagree with those from distant lands. This series apparently hasn't had much playtime in the USA.
Many of the real comments point out a severe lack of characterization for the cheating wife. A likely great actress was tasked to spend an inordinate amount of time just looking with anguish at her clenched hands with her missing wedding ring saying "I'm sorry", "It's my fault." She very quickly was determined to separate and divorce without thoughts or discussion of reconciliation. Not many (if any) TV viewers seemed to see that it was a purposeful direction and not a mistake. The wife was suddenly an enigma for the husband. He could not understand what motivated his perfect wife to cheat and abruptly give up on the marriage. Likewise, his group of online supporters could also not be allowed the inner thoughts of the cheater. Since we viewers were also cast in the role of his online group we also could not be given that information. The usual semi omniscient view of the TV audience dictated we not see her any more clearly than the storytelling husband. She had to be closed off to everyone including us. Therefore it was necessary for her to have virtually no characterization for us to judge her by.
But
I think they accomplished that too well. Even in the final episode when "The Cheating Wife" as she identified herself logged on to the message board to defend her husband, she doesn't reveal herself quite so well as I thought she could. Although blaming herself by "wearing herself too thin" being a working mother and wife, I think she could/should have addressed every single question and thought her now ex-husband posted to his pack of online helpers. This series was about that online relationship more than the marriage. We (or at least I) would really like to know if she forgot the wedding anniversary? She bought the gift but left it in a drawer where it remained till the next day. Why not give it to him on the anniversary. If she did intend to keep the marriage intact (as her cheating lover said prior to being caught) then she would have continued the excellent facade of happiness by celebrating the anniversary with her husband. She did not do that. She forgot or ignored it. Next was the question "Why didn't my wife follow me from that hotel room?" which could have been directly addressed. She stated it was her that insisted on divorce after discovery but didn't answer "Why was she so determined to divorce?" An opportunity to fill in her motivations to her husband's online crew and us TV viewers could have been better used. She might have tried to resolve her earlier angry statement to her husband that she" longed for her lover and asked him to meet her." That did not seem congruent with her later words that "when I'm with him I don't think about my husband, child or work." That longing for him sounded liked she thought she loved him and not that he was just a distraction from responsibility. This was the final episode so her internal thoughts should have been more generous and forthcoming to those of us paying attention to all these details about her that bothered the husband so much. I guess I am saying that all of the missing characterization of the wife from early episodes was not adequately made up for in the concluding episode.
What is/are the moral(s) of this story? Pay attention to your spouse if you value their happiness and your family. Happiness is a life-long endeavor. Talk to your spouse about things that trouble you, please you, and everything in-between. They can't read your mind because they are not perfect and you know that neither are you. Don't save these conversations for an outside lover with pillow talk which virtually guarantees the end of your marriage.
One more very personal opinion about the plot: I disagree with the conclusion of this story that you suddenly find yourself in someone else's arms like that full "glass of water" suddenly losing its surface tension talked about by the husband's female co-worker. Cheating is strictly a choice. With every action of this series in place, I would still conclude the wife cheated just because she wanted to. She cheated because it felt good and new and exciting. She was only sad because she got caught and her fun came to an end.
Good Girls (2018)
Beth making a safe and secure home for the kids
Today as I am warming up the DVR to entertain my young great nephew who is about to arrive, I noticed the latest episode (season 4 episode 1) of Good Girls is yet to be watched. It is of course already spoiled by social media. It is not that I mind the occasional spoiler that inspires me to write this, however. The thing that got my attention is how it slightly depressed me to see the unwatched season premiere. I recall thinking when the series began a few years ago that it might be something fun to watch. Something that you could sit back, relax and have a chuckle. I think it did start that way. Did it though?
I recall Beth going down this criminal path as a way to make the money she needed to save her home as a safe and secure place to raise her 4 children. Her lying, cheating, undependable beta husband was about to lose it all. It also occurred to me that she has very much accomplished quite the opposite. The home she created is a dangerous scary place that I would not like for my young nephew to enter much less live in.
I recall an occasion when her husband was tied to a chair seated at their breakfast table as he was beaten by her evil, felonious, criminal boyfriend Rio. Rio put the gun in her hand to get her to shoot him and then put a bullet through his chest himself when she would not do it. Where were the kids? I do not recall, but they could easily have been there. I seem to recall a conversation in a previous episode that took place in that same kitchen area when her husband pointed out the kids were talking to him about mom's new friend. The gangster was already a normal part of their lives. Was it a safe home yet? I just now recalled a scene that happens a day or two after it was certain that dad would survive the shooting. Beth was trying to tell the kids a made-up story about what happened. They were frightened that bad guys would come to their house and kill them. She made light of it by saying something (I do not recall what it was.) What she said scared them worse and the doorbell rang. Beth was unable to get them to answer the door to get the pizza that she had ordered. They were too afraid!! Was her home a safe place to raise kids yet?
On the day she expected her husband to come back home from his mother's house with the kids, she went out of her way to have Rio there earlier in the day for a tryst. She had lied to Rio to get him there saying that is where his latest cut of the money was hidden. She had it in her purse all the long, but she wanted to get Rio to her home so she could "enjoy sex with him." (Those are the words she had used on one occasion to punish her husband so I just thought I would use them here. Sorry about that!) After sex took place in the home where kids would soon arrive and in the messed up bed that she would share with her husband that night, she gives Rio his money and tells him to leave because she needed a shower before they arrived. She told him some other things that would definitely anger a murderous criminal and as I sit here expecting my 3-year-old great-nephew to arrive I wonder how the home her kids were about to enter would seem at all like a safe place to her. The thing I half expected to happen next was that Rio would make sure to stay right where he was, naked and in bed so the husband and kids would know what he had just done to their wife and mother.
Having a safe place to raise your kids has a different meaning in the dramatic comedy world of "Good Girls" than in the one where I live and want a safe place for my nephew.
My great-nephew has arrived now. I have him set up in front of the TV watching a cartoon about number blocks. As he watches that device I've been addicted to for decades, I see a social media post about how hot Rio looks. Over the 4 seasons of the series, it seems the more people he kills the hotter he gets. When he shot Beth's husband I read much about what a cute couple Rio and Beth would be. When meek little Lucy was killed by two shots that would have obliterated her tiny frame the camera had to pull back so we viewers could only see the muzzle flashes. Social media still reported how steamy Beth and Rio were as a pair. When Rio left a team of FBI agents dead and dying in a parking lot, comments reported that he and Beth looked so good together.
Throughout the run of this series (as of season 4 episode 1) Rio has been training Beth to be a remorseless killer. My honest opinion is that he will ultimately be successful. Beth will be placed in a position where she must kill an innocent to save herself or a family member. She will do it and then the two of them will be together. Her beta husband will have to raise those kids alone.
Virgin River (2019)
The Virgin River Killer
She killed her husband.
All of the previews and promos now talk of how her husband died in a horrible accident while they were arguing about having children. As of the end of season two, those are even her own words. That is not what happened. She killed him just as surely as if she had stood behind him on the edge of a cliff and shouted "Boo!" There is no other way to describe telling your loving husband out of the blue as he drives several tons of automobile at high speed while you discuss your lost child and the options of trying to have another baby, those terrible words that cause him to lose focus and turn to you saying "You're leaving me." Those are his last words as they crash. No reasonable person could ignore their own culpability in his death. "I killed my husband" would be the words burned into the psyche of any normal moral person. What happened to him was no more an accident than pulling the trigger of a gun.
She is trying to kill again.
She has treated her pregnant patient with the same recklessness that killed her husband. She is a medical professional tasked with the health of a woman in a difficult pregnancy with twins yet she decides to sleep with the "baby daddy" for a second time at the end of season two. She has already acknowledged during the season why this is not a good idea yet she does it anyway. The poor pregnant woman is emotionally disturbed about what her future holds. She asks herself will she stay in Virgin River? Will she move away? What does Jack really mean by buying a house to raise their children? All the thoughts that might go through the mind of an emotionally distraught pregnant woman who absolutely would be livid at the thought of her nurse practitioner sleeping with the object of her affection for a second time. There is no doubt that she might be the one who put a bullet through her ex-lover in the closing minutes of season two. She might even be getting ready to jump out of the kitchen and put a bullet through Mel for her behavior. Is there any reason to think she might even put a bullet through her own head taking her own life and the lives of her unborn children because of the reckless and horrible behavior of the woman who should be concentrating on their health?
Mel is a serial killer in training.
I'm sure season three has something slightly less deadly in store. After all, Mel and Jack are such a cute couple and that is all that is important! Right? She and Jack will have a long life together with many children no matter how many souls are crushed to get there. Also, they may have to raise those twins while the mom is in prison for shooting Jack! That is assuming the twins really are Jack's.
I can't wait to see what damage Mel causes in season three. Yes, I will be watching. I keep hoping for the karma she deserves.
Rectify (2013)
After watching 2 seasons then all 4, maybe I got it
One good guy, one bad guy, and one love interest! The most common plot of TV and movie is accomplished here with Daniel, the possibly guilty but certainly railroaded protagonist being released from prison after 19 years due to finally tested DNA evidence. The antagonist is not singular in that they are every person in law enforcement and most citizens of the small Georgia town that want to send him back to prison. That group may also include the real killer assuming it is not Daniel. The love interest is certainly different in this case since she is the demure Godly Christian wife of Daniel's step-brother Teddy. Tawney and Teddy are in a seemingly happy marriage until Daniel suddenly returns home and "connects" with her, to use her word.
From the beginning, Daniel and Tawney are engaged in conversation, making eye contact, discussing grand issues, taking long walks, sitting close to each other clasping hands, etc. all in plain sight for the semi-omniscient audience to witness as well as her husband. Right away she is pulling away from her husband. He points out to her that since meeting Daniel she refuses sex, will not let him see her naked, etc. Later she concedes to sex but looks up at the ceiling like she is a hostage. Tawney avoids simple human contact with Teddy as he leaves on a long business trip. She hides in the bathroom running her hairdryer till he finally leaves just to avoid a goodbye kiss. He has already pointed out that he has noticed her "connection" to Daniel which she said was a "disgusting" comment. It was disgusting of course, but it was also true. She is in an emotional cheating relationship with Daniel for over two solid seasons of this series. She eventually acknowledges this but initially insists she is only doing good work bringing Daniel to God. She is a cheater. I do not like her. I have no empathy for her. As Teddy said on one occasion to his disrespectful wife, "Now you are free to go to Daniel. Maybe he will kill you and give you some peace."
I do not like Daniel, but at least I have some empathy for him at this point.
That about sums up the over two seasons of the show I have watched. We don't know who killed Daniels's highschool girlfriend, Daniel is still out of prison and nobody quite yet has the girl although Daniel and Tawney did recently spend the night in a motel room where she wasn't acting very Godly or respectful of her husband. Drunk...slow dancing with Daniel... falling into bed...waking up in the morning asking what happened...)
As of this time, I am only a few minutes into season three. Maybe Teddy and I will get our way and Tawney will suffer. Doubtful though since cheaters never seem to get the karma they deserve in TV or real life.
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OK, now I have finished all 4 seasons available on NetFlix. Spoiler alert because I must say something about the ending! Everyone is certain now that Daniel didn't kill his highschool girlfriend, but they never resolved who was the killer! Maybe they were trying to squeeze out another season. As for the girl, no one gets her. Tawney and Teddy divorce and she and Daniel say goodbye. Not the typical ending to a triangle, but I consider both guys lucky to not end up with that demon...err.. wonderful Christian girl.
I will make one observation about the slow pace of the show. It seemed purposeful as if intended to emulate Daniels 19 year-long existence in a small rectangular prison cell. He spoke in length about this passing of time with many, many flashbacks. I do not think it was some sort of poor direction or editing. It was as if the audience of this series was supposed to feel that slow passing of time. I think so.
...and just maybe this show was about how prison changes someone and not the standard good guy vs bad guy who gets the girl plot after all.
Addicted (2014)
Addicted not
The idyllic life of a successful businesswoman, wife, and mother of two is about to be uprooted as she nears middle age. She suddenly is stricken with sex addiction as a result of a horrible rape she endured but doesn't recall as a ten-year-old girl approximately 25 years ago.. We know this to be true of the beautiful Zoe by the end of the movie because we are told it is true. It is evidenced by repeated reference to a missing memory, an unexplained scar, and finally a dream near the conclusion where Zoe finally remembers. In the final moments of the movie, Zoe relates this information to her group of sex addicts, their psychiatrist, and finally her husband as he enters the room. The writers, director, producers, and the original novel dictate it is true, so we must accept it to be so. It is the name of the movie after all! She is addicted to sex...and it just happened...out of nowhere...just as she started a torrid sexual affair with a talented local artist. We are told she is addicted to sex... not having an affair. As she and her new lover view some of his work and have public sex, it is because of an addiction. As she poses nude for paintings for him and they then have sex, it is because of an addiction to sex and not a sorted affair. As she looks upon various other nude paintings of various young women with great jealousy, she is somehow not having an affair with this fellow but is just addicted to sex. As she discovers him sleeping with his neighbor and reacts with more jealousy we are to believe she was not having an affair but was merely addicted to sex. As her artist lover asks her to leave her husband and she tells her psychiatrist she is tempted to do so, somehow her counselor interprets this to be a sex addiction and not her having a family crushing extramarital affair.
She is a beautiful woman. She could walk into any bar, gym, grocery, or bus station and say to the hottest guy "if you have an hour, I will have you." and that guy will likely have uncomplicated anonymous sex with her. That is what an addict would do. She does nothing even close to that and we are told she is addicted to sex while she pursues and is pursued by her lover in a typical cheaters fashion.
But wait, there is another fellow she starts sleeping with. That will make two other men besides her husband. When one lover gets too clingy, she starts another affair. This hardly seems like an addiction but we have been told it is so. If you are a woman who is addicted to sex, I hope you are as lucky as Zoe to come across the real-life male model Tyson Beckford playing Corey. Her first sex with Corey as I recall was a quickie in a public bathroom at a club. This actually fits the mold for what I would call a hookup fitting a sex addict. Yet on their next tryst, Zoe gets all dressed up and wears uncharacteristic red lipstick. They party late into the night rolling around on the floor drinking booze and snorting cocaine. Sex addiction apparently involves an hours-long drug induced hot date while your husband and family wait at home wondering where you are. Just to be clear, she was on a date. She was not just hooking up with someone for sex. Just as with her first lover, she is hanging out with him having a good time. She is on a date. She is cheating on her husband. As she prepares to enter their home where her husband is waiting, she pauses to wipe away the red lipstick. She's just a little drunk and stoned with some disheveled clothing, but the trusting husband won't suspect anything if she's not wearing the red lipstick.
To be clear, Zoe is merely a cheating wife. About 3 minutes of this movie are devoted to anything resembling sex addiction. Most people like sex. Cheaters certainly like sex. This movie is an embarrassment to the subject of sex addiction and has little to do with it. However the part when Jason accepts the diagnosis and takes her back to a round of applause from the sex addicts group members, just as the credits start to roll, helps to at least draw attention to the real thing.
I really think Sharon Leal did a good job with the character Zoe considering the implausible plot. Boris Kodjoe playing the part of husband Jason gets my coveted oblivious husband award for actually seeming to believe the lies of his cheating Zoe. That took some skill. Tyson Beckford...hmm...is a great male model!
Amar (2017)
A movie about immaturity growing into adulthood...until the 180 at the end
Laura and Carlos are young, immature, in love and in lust for each other. This film shows several months of their life. I believe the films intention was to show how two young people maturing at different rates eventually are doomed to separate at the behest of the more mature person. I also think the dialog fell a little short of delivering that message. Short of having a narration by one or both of the characters, their conversations are the best way to gauge what they are thinking. Their actions being a secondary indicator.
Their relationship came to and end starting one fateful evening as they partied with a large group of other young people. Laura had matured a bit and seemed happy with herself and Carlos. She introduced him to a group of girls saying "This is my boyfriend Carlos." She was proud of the fact and the relationship. He on the other-hand was still immaturely upset, jealous and controlling of her. He stormed out of the party and she dutifully followed to some obscure location where they had sex. The immature Carlos should be content that he got his way but he escalates his need to control Laura by threatening and then calling for "a break" in their relationship "to get perspective." She is surprised. They go separate ways which for her was back to the party. She makes a date to go out with El Moro, a local well-known ladies-man. When Laura and Carlos cross paths much later in the evening he finds out about her plans. He obviously sees the error in his ways, but she is not persuaded to cancel her plans. This would be a good time for some narration on Laura's part to know for certain what she was thinking. Is she trying to break up with Carlos? Does she just want the experience of a night with El Moro and stupid Carlos gave her an out to do it? Is she just angry and wants to punish Carlos in the worst way? They were supposed to be "on a break" not "broken up", but that is a much used misunderstanding in movies and television.
We proceed to the date night. Carlos has been informed by friends that El Moro has a standard operation to get his girls into bed. He gives them a midnight tour of a museum he has access to which ends in the room with "The King's Bed" where he has sex with them. We later find Carlos outside the building screaming to Laura who is partial clothed in "The Kings Bed" with El Moro. It is insinuated they have not yet had sex but possibly. They both go to the window and look down as Carlos screams, cries and takes a fetal position down below them. Carlos then calls police to report a bomb has been placed under "The Kings Bed" and it will immanently explode. We do not see what Laura and Carlos are doing at that time and they know nothing of the phone call. Carlos has demonstrated his absolute lack of any maturity. The scene soon changes to the police station where they all sit looking down with no conversation. How this all played out is left to our imagination.
It is three weeks later and Laura has come to see Carlos for a better ending to their relationship (which is a mature thing to do.) His mother reports he has not left his room in those weeks (which is an immature act.) She indicates they are finished as a couple and starts to tell of her near and future plans for life. After being asked three times, she admits to having sex and an orgasm with El Moro. "I think I did it just to break us up." she says. We finally know what she says her motivation was, but was it true? There was a large ladies room scene where all the girls are comparing notes on the local guys. I think Laura knew the plan El Moro had and was into it for carnal reasons. She stood at the window watching her boyfriend cry in a fetal position below and still returned to "The Kings Bed" for sex. She offers Carlos a "friends with benefits" relationship by saying he can have her anytime he wants her. He instantly says he wants her now which she agrees to do. She seems surprised so perhaps she has not matured quite enough to understand what most men will say when you offer them sex. I will not try to insert any thoughts on maturity levels here. They disrobe and Carlos starts to unwrap a condom. She says "I'm on the pill." Carlos replies "I don't want to catch anything" apparently thinking that since Laura has been with the biggest womanizer in town that she is no long assumed safe from STD's. (Let me pause to point out what a logical and mature act that Carlos has finally performed. It is about time it occurred.) Laura shows no sign of being upset apparently realizing that she has been reckless in that regard just as insinuated. They engage in sexual intercourse, but it is more calm, purposeful, thoughtful, etc.(possibly more mature?) than their previous encounters. Is there hope for them to possibly start fresh in their relationship she says to him while they "make love?" He stops having sex abruptly. She starts to softly cry and asks that he not forget her. OK, I need some more dialog here! She is looking for a way back and he is indicating refusal. This movie just did a 180 degree turn with about 3 minutes left. It should be him wanting and her refusing. I don't quite get it and the dialog between these two is not helping. And then it's The End.
Most of what I have stated here is my just my humble opinion based on the actions and dialog. Would it have been better to have a running narration to understand their thoughts. Frankly I do not think so. The lack of certainty is part of growing up. Not knowing what the person of your dreams is thinking is part of the process. A narration would have been as big of a distraction as cartoon balloons appearing above the heads of the characters to describe their thoughts. It is true that some of the dialog just fell short to me. Especially in the last minutes.
I would like to briefly explore that one element of a movie that so obviously rotates around a sexual young couple. Sex scenes are probably necessary even for those who primarily come for the romance. They are obviously needed for those who only tolerate the romance to get to the sex. This movie seemed to fall into that middle territory that I can only describe as "I know it when I see it." My evidence of that claim can also be based on the sex scene that was not included in the movie. That is the scene of Laura and El Moro in the museum. The fact that we did not see Laura screaming with delight while El Moro pleased her in ways the young boyfriend, huddled in a fetal position down below the window, can only imagine... was not included in this work. Perhaps it ended up on the cutting room floor, if indeed it was ever considered. There were three opportunities to place it in the film. It could have been in real time, a bad dream the boyfriend had later or a flashback Laura had later as the boyfriend quizzed her about "Did you have sex? Did you have an orgasm?" That missing opportunity at eroticism is quite clear evidence that this work was for arts sake. Much like the boyfriend Carlos, we only got to see what happened in "The Kings Bed" in our imagination. No "erotic" work of fiction would have missed that scene. It was good to be left that way.
Oscuro deseo (2020)
A naked misadventure
Maite Perroni gets quite naked multiple times with multiple men in this series. It is really more of a soap opera, but with overt lovemaking sessions that go on for several minutes longer than the typical mainstream entertainment effort. At approximately 15 minutes intervals, she and others simulate various positions with men holding onto those bits of their anatomy to conceal them from view. It is an attempt at porn without actually being porn I think. Maite Perroni has been in show business for a while with very much success in TV and music. She has a following here in my southern state and much more so south of the US border. Now she has moved in a different direction. I recall many years ago in our youth my wife saying to me on some occasion that "Men really love to be visually stimulated." That visual stimulation is the primary reason I can find for watching this series. The character Alma that she plays would be incensed that I think she needs my approval. She is a university professor and attorney who lectures on the subject. In this series, I would guess Maite Perroni was really attracted to the soliloquies of her character Alma speaking to her students in the classroom and her discussions with her psychiatrist. She gets to explore the place/role of women in society. I can only wonder about the desire of an actress to get this type of dialog and have the camera focus on her words and delivery. This is especially true considering the focus of most TV and movies on men. Women generally get to be the damsel in distress. Her character Alma is clearly the central character in this sexy misadventure where she spends a lot of time having sex or thinking about having sex. Even her new young lover Dario is secondary. It is certainly not her husband's story nor her daughter's. It is Alma's story.
I have a bit of trouble deciding if the erotic path her character takes is in contrast to her university lectures or is supposed to represent them. At one point she says "She feels no guilt" for her actions. At another point when her brother in law finds out about her affair she says that this is what men do, why not women. Those ideas don't come to mind in the text of her lectures. So my biggest issue with Dark Desires is that I find it hard to equate her words to her actions. I do not like Alma. I have no empathy for her. That set me up to wish no good for Alma which is usually the attitude I save for the antagonist, not the protagonist. So have I cast Alma as a "bad guy?" I don't quite know about that.
If I were to write about what a horrible person her young lover Dario is, it would require way too much time and involve almost every other scene in which he appeared. To me, he represents a pure antagonist. Alma would disagree and paint him as good as he strives to destroy her marriage, husband, daughter, career, etc. Alma will of course forgive him and continue in season two looking at him like a child looks at a puppy. More accurate would be to say in the way I look at a cheeseburger. Then all their clothing will fly off and.... Again I find a character I do not like and have absolutely no empathy for. Alma and Dario are the focus of the show and everyone else can be thrown away. I would imagine the fun for writers of characters like these two who have no remorse and are self-centered. I find almost no character in this show to wish well except the daughter (who is the 18-year-old girl also seduced by Dario.)
The show has been renewed for season 2 and this awful couple will have another great unlikely adventure while the now wheelchair-bound husband will only get to watch from afar...or closeup...or sitting near the bed. (I am alluding to a porn-like scene where Dario creepily watched Alma and her husband have sex after their 20th-anniversary party. It went on for a while as he crept closer and closer till he was near being seen. BTW - Dario had sex with her earlier this same day. I repeat...it was the day of her wedding anniversary and she had sex with Dario and then her husband!)
The flashbacks of events, old memories, random thoughts, conjecture about what might have happened, sexual fantasies about a "dark desire" are very prominent throughout the series. All of these scenes are presented to the viewer in the same way and you can't always be certain which you are seeing. You have to ask yourself did something I saw really happen to a character or did that character just fantasize that it happened? Oh, I forgot about dreams! My very favorite is the one where Alma is dreaming of her and Dario having sex in the family swimming pool. Her husband walks up and shoots Dario in the head! A picture from this scene is used in a lot of promos for the series and it turned out it was just a bad dream Alma had. Alma spends a lot of time daydreaming and we get to see along with her. I don't care for it to be unclear if what you are watching really happened or not. I would rather be a little omniscient as a viewer and be confident that what I see on the screen is what happened.
It does have a plot. Spoiler!!: It's mostly about the brother in law's love and desire to have his brother's wife Alma and at the same time destroy his brother. This character drives nearly the entire story from the very beginning. He is the mad puppet master. Dario has a similar desire to destroy Almas's husband (the judge) based entirely on something he thinks the judge did 10 years ago. It turns out he is wrong. It was the evil brother in law who did it. Together these two do much to accomplish the destruction of the marriage and careers of Alma and her husband. Of course, Alma and Dario fall in love which brings me to...
...cheating! I really prefer cheaters to get some sort of bad karma for their actions. Bad behavior deserves consequences in fiction and real life. Grant me the joy of punishment, please! Do I get my wish here? What came up in conversation between Alma and other characters was how devastating being outed would affect her and her husband's careers and family. He is a major public figure and a judge while she is a university professor and attorney. It is important to also realize that in both of their situations there was law-breaking in conjunction with their trying to hide the cheating. She was sleeping with a student. That can't really be OK in Mexico either. Since Alma and husband were both forced by circumstances to admit everything to law enforcement near the end in an effort to locate their missing daughter, (thought to be kidnapped by Dario) I must assume their careers were so affected. It was not depicted very well in the series and I can only rejoice that the negative publicity must have ensued. The judge did get a bunch of reporters yelling questions about his wife, etc. as he was entering the courthouse. I would have liked to have seen it come more closer to fruition on-screen (but screen time is expensive.) Most viewers come for the "romance" and don't need the consequences for actions that I desire. Perhaps season two will explore this. I may not get my way entirely in that regard though because in a flash-forward in the last episode Alma was giving a classroom lecture and using the recording of her friend's last words to make a point about women's role in society. In other words, she still seemed to have a job. I would prefer her to be homeless and living on the street. I'm going to estimate that I get my wish of karma in the case of the husband though. He even ends up wheelchair-bound which might be permanent. The beautiful cheating Alma will probably walk away unscathed and continued to be enthralled with her young lover...no matter what he has done to her, her daughter, her family, her reputation. The groundwork has already been laid for Alma to forgive Dario for diddling with her daughter. The daughter is going to for sure credit Dario with her life-altering epiphany that she is a lesbian and make her mother love him so much more. I'm being serious. I think the writers will try to spin this. Dad will not be happy with his wife continuing to see the man who ruined him, his marriage, and spoiled his baby girl. That alone is the dad/husband's bad karma. Alma needs more bad things to happen in season 2 for me to be satisfied. Her partner in dreadful behavior Dario looks to be on his way to no karma whatsoever. I hope to find both Alma and daughter pregnant by Dario in the next season. The husband/father would be so proud at family gatherings. That's more karma for him!
I will watch season 2 much like I would watch any disaster.
Infidelity in Suburbia (2017)
I would watch another 90 minutes if the wife gets karma at some point.
I just watched this movie and like some others, I am dissatisfied with the ending. Do not despair because there was an alternate ending that was filmed for release in the United States. Just as a reminder, the Canadian ending shows the wife upstairs at home smiling as her husband and child play outside a window. The alternate ending takes place at the home shortly after the wife has killed the contractor and rescued her husband from the boat. It goes like this:
A police detective arrives on the scene and says to the wife, "Do you know why your contractor killed your husband's assistant and then attempted to kill him." She replies, "Well, I had told him I thought my husband was having an affair with his assistant." The detective says, "So you conspired with the contractor to kill your husband and his assistant." "No, the affair wasn't true," she says. He says ", So you told him that just to get him to kill them for you?" She cries out "No, why would he do that?" The detective replies "To get rid of them for you. Weren't you having an affair with the contractor? We have a neighbor ready to testify to that fact." The scene switches to the upstairs window where the husband and son are watching police officers handcuff the cheating wife and lead her away to jail.
I guess the ending I found (somewhere on Youtube I think...very, very difficult to find:)) indicates my dissatisfaction. I have a preference for cheaters in movies and television. There needs to be bad karma in the end. I did not get to witness enough on her part. Give me retribution for disrespecting a spouse or get a low rating!
Peaky Blinders (2013)
Grace (ironic name)
Now that I am a fat old man, I sometimes reflect on the decisions I made in my chosen profession. There is little I look back on with any illusion other than I did it for the paycheck. There was a moment in episode #1 of this series when Grace enters the scene for the 1st time from behind that makes me regret not having chosen cinema. I was not handsome or talented for on-screen but delude myself into thinking I could have created something like that entrance from behind the camera. We see a feminine shape from the back wearing a green dress walking into a dirty grey frame. She was the only color I recall. We haven't yet seen her face as she rather boldly strides through the ash polluted air into a tavern. I had thoughts that the series would seek to corrupt her as she sought to bring joy and happiness. This was supported by her breaking out into song in a rather ragged barroom. I thought she would be the good among all the bad based upon how much thought and energy must have gone into that entrance she made.
It seemed for a short time that my thoughts would actually be correct about the direction her character would take. That soon was not the case. Now I see her as the most corrupt person in the show. She cemented my change of thought when supposedly trying to conceive a child with her husband. Instead of respect and fidelity towards her spouse, she purposefully seeks a tryst with Thomas. She does become pregnant and Thomas is the father of course. By early season three, it is alluded that her actions have brought on the death of her husband as she weds Thomas. My disdain for her character is complete. The series has continued long after her death and now she is only seen in drug-induced visions by Thomas.
I do greatly appreciate karma for a cheating spouse in life and in art. So much so that I have taken the time to give a single star to this dark series. Grace so deserved that bullet in the chest. I think however that as an actress Annabelle Wallis would have appreciated the chance for her character Grace to have a dramatic dying confession of guilt though. I would have liked it. That maybe would have made her involvement in the death of her husband a little clearer. I like for the viewing audience to have a little more omniscience than the characters in the play. Just tell me what happened, please! They chose the more abrupt action of her just falling dead.
In any possible future episodes I would appreciate drug induced visions Thomas has of Grace to show clearly that they are broadcast from her current residence in hell where he will join her someday. Harsh I know!
Il processo (2019)
No empathy possible for main character
The angst that drives characters to take certain actions frequently helps entertain we viewers of television. It would certainly be difficult to maintain a viewing audience while depicting people going about a typical normal day doing everyday unexciting activities. Even "reality shows" do not do that. Main characters can and do exist in popular fiction without being good, right, noble, perfect, etc., but at some point, they must be worthy of empathy. There does come a time on occasion when the main character exceeds a certain level of questionable behavior and becomes another antagonist. That happened to me in this series called "The Trial" on Netflix. At some point, I turned against the main character who was the prosecutor. At that point, I started to hope she would lose her case. I started feeling empathy for the accused murderer to the point of hoping for her acquittal. (Please excuse any use of improper legal terms as I am not a lawyer in the USA or Italy.) Even near the end of season one where it was shown that the accused had actually pushed the victim to the ground and stomped her in the face with her high heeled shoe penetrating her eye and brain killing her, I still felt more for the killer than the prosecutor. It didn't help that the 17-year-old victim had accomplished her own lack of empathy by that time for her prostitution, pregnancy, attempted and accomplished destruction of a person and their marriage. The only two people I cared for at all in this show were the accused murderer and the husband of the main character and I was not that fond of them. For one thing, he was a bit too forgiving of his wife.
The main character is a terrible person. She lied through omission to her good and devoted husband of several years. She never told him of her youthful relationship that produced a daughter that was given up for adoption. She "ghosted" her husband when they had an amicable decision to move to New York and start a new life together. She just didn't show up and left him "looking at an empty seat" per the husband. She offered no excuse to him as to why she couldn't leave (when the victim turned out to be the daughter she had given away 17 years ago.) Again she lied through omission. She took the case which was stupid for something that would most likely be brought up eventually in the course of a trial (and it did.) A year later when her husband returned, he wanted to salvage their marriage which she agrees to do with a seldom seen smile. They then disappeared into his room to consummate their new-found relationship and start to work on having that child. Within a day she was in the bed of her old lover trashing that agreement and muddying the gene pool of any child that might be (and would be) conceived. She had to realize the importance of fidelity to her husband when trying to make a bay but apparently did not care. Within a day he had read the news coverage and seen pictures of her tryst. (Her opposition had her followed.) As he is leaving her, she for the very 1st time tells him of the daughter and the man she was photographed with being the father of that child, but it was much too late for him to hear that news. He left her of course. Good for him.
Much later during their official visit with lawyers to divorce, he noticed her hyperventilating. He had kind words for her in an effort to help. She offered no apology, accounting or explanation of her total disrespect for him for the previous year. She only said that she "had been having panic attacks since he left" placing blame on him for her current state. I again have no empathy for this awful person.
In the last episode of season 1 when she is dining with her father, she is so flippant about not knowing who is the father of her child. Her assessment of the despicable behavior of the last year is that it is not the ideal situation and she has no plans to tell the men.
The plot holes do not help. Anyone who has spent a few years of their life in front of television identified the murder weapon during the 1st episode. It is so obvious that I thought for the longest time that it must be a "Red Herring." If two women are outside of a very public gathering and it is believed that one of them murdered the other by crushing something through her eye and into the brain of the other, what weapon did she have on her person at a party that would accomplish this goal? In an early scene, the assumed murderer is on-screen and the 1st thing she is asking her lawyer is the location of her "lucky shoes" that she was wearing. Why on Earth would the writer of this series spend the eternity of an entire minute of a TV show talking about the defendant's high heeled shoes if they were not important? Why would it not occur to this supposedly brilliant prosecutor or anyone else on her staff to not consider the shoes? Maybe Italian law schools should consider making the Perry Mason TV series a part of their curriculum. Check the shoes for blood sometime prior to her being acquitted! It is not rocket science.
A timestamped receipt found by the prosecutor got the murderer acquitted. Timestamps are only as accurate as the people running the equipment. Why would she or anyone she gave the receipt to assume the timestamp on a receipt is accurate? Particularly since it was a year old! Anyone would assume this information needed to be verified. Could you even trust it from a year ago! This was so ridiculous.
Lastly, in the final minutes of the final episode, she has found new evidence that could make a successful appeal for a new trial. She takes this evidence to the defense attorney rather than to her superiors. Instead of proper channels, she goes to the guy who got the defendant acquitted. This guy has been sleeping with his client since the acquittal. He is the guy who had her followed and had pictures taken and then published which ruined her marriage. He is the guy who illegally tested her DNA to see if she was the victim's mother. She may lose her license to practice on that issue alone. Now she is basically hiding evidence. Why would she do this? Why would she seek out this guy? The only reason I can think of is that since her husband left her and she broke up with the other guy, she must just be looking for Mr. Right. She was getting a bit flirty with him as the credits rolled. The poor guy doesn't know she is pregnant.
I hope there is no season two. As of the end of season one, she has lost the case, lost her husband, is suspended from her job, and may lose her license. A perfect ending to me!
Andreaskorset (2004)
Erotic Thriller? No.
The director and scriptwriter had a twist ending to get to and much of the movie as a means to that end. It was also intended to be an erotic thriller so that had to be accomplished whether or not it was reasonable.
The husband has everything but it all goes wrong while having phone-sex with his wife while driving. He is paralyzed from the waist down and can no longer perform below the waist. She leaves him. Along comes a hired hand to fix the house so that he still can get around and upstairs. Then the wife reconsiders and comes home. The husband fails at sex so he insists his wife should have some pleasure with the hired hand. She does not wish to do this so she only pretends to do it by making noises her husband will be able to hear. She stands downstairs near the room of the hired hand to do this so it is silly to think he will not hear as well which he does. He helps by making noises as well. He gets a bit excited and moves in to get close to the wife but she rebuffs him. She is uninterested in him. She does get to know him better and is friendly to him but never comes to desire him sexually. After quite a while she discovers that the handyman is actually her husband's estranged father that left home when her husband was two years old. The father knew this all the while he was pretending to have sex with his son's wife and during the time he actually tried to have her! (He is a creep!)
The son has now been told the handyman is actually his father. The wife of course is quick to point out the sex was only make-believe. Unknown to the wife were bad memories that make him insist his father leave the house immediately. The father appears to agree. As the son takes the stairlift to the 2nd floor, the wife carries some dirty clothes to the 1st-floor laundry room. Now the erotic thriller starts and quite frankly turns a bit into soft porn. Dad gets a strange look on his face, takes off all his clothes, and walks into the laundry room to have his way with the wife. She is unwilling and dismisses him and tries to get around him. He rips off all her clothes and starts to rape her on top of the washing machine. The actress has a rather unemotional look on her face and I am certain this was under the direction and per the script. The reason I think this is so the audience might later conclude that she grew to like it! I think this was how the film was originally marketed. She was even instructed to dig her fingernails just ever so slightly into the father's back. Not too much...just a bit. It must be ambiguous. The husband of course hears the actual sex going on and comes down the stairlift calling his wife's name. She does not look up so he (and we) can't see her face. The director did not want the husband and wife to lock eyes because that would of course make it more difficult for her to not show the emotion of rape vs consensual sex. Again, the director seemed to be trying to achieve ambiguity as to the willingness of participation of the wife. The father closes and locks the door. The husband can't get the door open (a silly notion that just because he is a paraplegic that he could not get through a laundry room door.) The husband makes his way outside to look through the window. Again his wife is looking away and he can't see her face. In some form of symbolism, the water-hose breaks loose from the wall spraying all over the window as we assume the father orgasms and the wife has a slight (again ever so slight) orgasm as well. Did she like it or did her body just betray her? We are supposed to wonder. She said no, so she was raped! I will repeat for clarity that this was rape. As this is happening the husband calls the police.
The scene changes to the end of the long driveway where the husband has wheeled himself to meet the police. This is silly! He would not leave his wife alone with this creep. This is necessary per the director and the script however to give the father (and wife?) time to clean up the rape scene and place the wife in the music room calmly playing the cello when the police arrive later. She'll deny the whole incident and says her husband hasn't seen his father since he was two years old. The father is not visible at this time. The husband is astonished. The police laugh and leave. (Can you think of any country on earth where the police would just leave?) She then just gets up to start a meal as if nothing has happened. Then the father shows himself to still be present by spinning around in a chair. (What a very clever place to hide from the police. Who would think to look in a chair in a different room?) As silly as this seems, it was obviously done under the control of the director and scriptwriter to make it look as if the wife was ready to take on the father as her lover and disregard her husband's feelings. The husband is distraught and turns his wheelchair to leave the house. As he wheels away heartbroken, with his back to her, his wife finally shows the emotion that would reveal the truth that she is doing all of this in fear of the father. It is further pointed out by the way she pulls away from the father in disgust when he reaches to put his arm around her. (It's really too bad there aren't a couple of young police officers around to protect you...but you just sent them away.)
Of course, there is a lot more adventure! More ambiguous sex between the father and wife. The father beats the son. The wife attacks the father to defend her husband. A close family friend comes by and gets murdered (Still think you should have sent those policemen away?) The wife attacks him one last time and he throws her down the stairs severely injuring her. The husband finally cleverly kills his father and we get to that twist ending where we have been headed the whole movie. As the credits roll the husband and wife are both wheelchair-bound. Her chair is more dramatic with head support and electric controls. As he flirts with her and feeds her with a closeup of him teasing her mouth with a green-bean, the movie ends. Again I say this last scene was the goal from the outset.
I think the marketing of this movie surrounded some erotic relationship evolving between the wife and some stranger after the husband's injury. I don't think it worked out well and just seemed creepy. What did happen was that the husband's ability to finally defeat his evil and twisted father was the elixir for his mental health and their marriage.
Torn Between Two Lovers (1979)
Mostly just thoughts
I can't remember when I fell in love with Lee Remick. She was about 20 years my senior when I was growing up and when I think about those blue eyes looking through me from the screen, I get a bit nostalgic. Even when they were on black and white TV, they were blue. It killed me when her character died in The Omen. Especially true since she died with those eyes wide open. George Peppard was someone I envied. A good looking ladies man that I would never be. I remember well when his character died in the final moments of The Blue Max. It was a good role for him and he got to play a "bad guy." Both of these actors are actually gone now, so I am really glad I have nothing bad to say about their performances.
This simple low budget made for TV movie is probably something neither of them remembered very well near the end of their careers. I liked them and all of their supporting cast. I disliked a lot of the other stuff. I will admit that I am particularly critical of TV and movie plots that involve disrespect for a spouse that has not earned such behavior. I can be happy if the story involves a sufficient amount of karma, sorrow, regret, punishment, etc. for the cheaters. This one almost got there. Regardless of the title "Torn Between Two Lovers" this is a story of a cheating wife Diane Conte (Lee Remick) and a good and loving husband Ted Conte (Joseph Bologna.) The character of the new lover Paul Rasmussen (George Peppard) is called into question for me when he says "I usually don't pursue a married woman." To me, that is just like saying "I usually don't eat the heads off dead kittens." You really only have to do it once to earn my disdain. The title was just mostly a gimmick so they could use the popular song "Torn Between Two Lovers". They tried to make it into a "torn" issue somewhere after the middle of the movie, but it was mostly a lying, cheating and deception on her part till then. The fact that she still loved her husband was a bit unique to a movie love affair. Usually, the cheating partner convinces themselves otherwise.
It was a bit clever how the movie made the transition from her cheating to her having to "choose" rather than just keep lying. She and her husband were closely involved in the disintegration of another marriage in the family that involved a cheating husband. The woman at some point said to them that she just wished she had never known about the affair so she could still be with the man she loved. The husband of Lee Remick's character disagreed. His thought was honesty was paramount in marriage. Lee Remick got that amazing sad, pained, guilty look in her eyes that was on display several times during the course of this film. Lee Remick's character's decision to come clean with her husband was also driven by her lover who was now pushing her to leave her husband and be only with him.
When she did tell her husband, she seemed astonished that he would not stay with her to help her resolve her "song lyric" version of the reality of cheating. "Stay with me and help me figure this out" was her rather naive thought. If it were that simple why did she lie for so long? He left her as many men would. So there was currently still no issue of being "torn between two lovers" because he made the decision for her. At that point, her marriage was destroyed along with her young son who was listening. (How dare he get in the way of her finding herself...Sorry, I'm a child of divorce.) Que the blue eyes though! Oh, those eyes.
OK, I will admit it finally did come down to her being "Torn Between Two Lovers." When her husband showed up to attend an important public opening she had been working on, that action let her know or at least think that he was still interested in her. She finally had to decide. Each man had made it clear by words or actions they were not willing to share her. She had to pick between two men she claimed to love equally.
Warning! I want to describe the ending I dearly desired for this movie. To accomplish that I will spoil the ending that I got! You have been warned!
In the closing minutes, she tearfully breaks up with her lover Paul to seek reconciliation with her husband and family. She later approaches her husband Ted at his workplace to say she has done this and hopes she and he can be together. He says it will never be the same and he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. As she is saying that he won't have to worry about that, he turns away and walks out the door. The soundtrack starts playing the part of the song that says "...I wouldn't blame him if he turned and walked away." She looks (with those eyes) as if she half expected to be rebuffed like this and sadly and slowly turns to walk away herself. ****Hit the pause button now and turn the TV off if you want my ending. This is the karma I wanted for the cheating wife. To be alone with no husband, no lover and no family.**** Unfortunately, he walks back through the door and calls to her. They agree to start again. I will admit that those few seconds of karma felt like the right ending. I wonder how much talk went on between the writers, director and producer about whether or not he would turn around and come back through those doors. I wonder if that piece of film was almost left on the cutting room floor.
Greatest Events of WWII in Colour (2019)
WWII in Colour vs Greatest Events of WWII in Colour
I watched and recall having interest in a series a few years back named WWII in Colour. I started watching this series (Greatest Events of WWII in Colour) thinking it was that same version with Netflix's name stamped on to it. It is not. I state this information not as a review, but just FYI. I am left with the impression the same video was reordered and reused but with completely different narration. Please be advised that this is just an impression from watching the previously mentioned documentary long ago. I suppose one could argue that there is only a finite amount of video from WWII and that I am over thinking the issue. Netflix is responsible for taking me down this path by giving such a similar name to their documentary.
Kara Para Ask (2014)
Subtitles. Not a review
This is not a review! I just thought I would leave a note here to the visually impaired (I exaggerate a bit.) If you have trouble following the action and reading subtitles as I do and you speak only english and you foolishly started to watch this series, you may be reading reviews to determine if you are going to continue watching. You may even be reading to see if you can find out enough of the conflict and resolution to be able to resist continuing. The following is just a bit of advice along those lines: As presented currently on Netflix, this series is 164 episodes. I do not have any idea of how that translates to the fewer number currently listed here. If you ignore the love story between the two main characters and concentrate on the murder of Omar's fiancee and Elif's father and why they were together that night, I believe you will be satisfied by the time you reach the end of episode 37 (as presented on Netflix.) You will be a bit disappointed with Sibel (the fiancee) by that time but you will probably not dislike her. The fathers' flaws are known much earlier in the series. You will also know who killed them and why (unless there is a strange plot twist down the road.) I stopped watching at the end of #37 and do not feel greatly disappointed in not knowing the outcome of the love story or if the bad guys all get what is coming to them.
I gave this an 8 of 10 based only on the 37 episodes! I enjoyed the series minus my own shortcomings to that point.
My Crazy Ex (2014)
Not Real
Not real IMHO. Example: An ex girlfriend from 10 years ago shows up and seduces a guys current wife and eventually convinces her to capture his sperm in condoms which she uses to get pregnant. Then the wife leaves the husband to be with his old girlfriend who kicks her back because she really wants to be with her own husband who could not have children. Seriously?
Take This Waltz (2011)
Random observations two years after
I seem to recall joining IMDB ~2 years ago specifically to review this film. I never got around to it and this bit of a review will be only be a collection of thoughts and impressions that are left from that couple of hours a long while back
I will state upfront that I identify with Lou (Seth Rogan) for reasons I will not get into and some of my opinions may be from an unavoidably screwed up POV. Still married for 37 years though.
#1) In the early scene (which may have been the opening scene) where Margot (Michelle Williams) is looking into the oven in the position others have noted is the proverbial "sticking her head in the oven wanting to kill herself"position, a male walks in. The scene is a little blurry from sunlight coming through the window and he has his back to the camera. The scene is repeated near the end of the movie. It is not the same scene though. In the early scene he is wearing shorts. In the later scene he is wearing long pants. I believe we were supposed to assume the character was Lou in that early scene and understand Margot was dying to get out of the marriage to Lou. The truth seems to be that the whole rest of the movie was a flashback and that guy was Daniel (Luke Kirby) in both scenes. Margot was dying to get away from Daniel by that time. By backing up to both scenes I did decide neither kitchen was the one Lou is so often using in testing his chicken recipes. They were both Daniel's kitchen.
#2) In the first roller coaster scene as she and Daniel are riding, there are exciting noises of people laughing and children screaming in fear. However when the ride is over and the camera pulls back, it is apparent they are nearly alone in a rather dark building (or tent) with no crowd at all. The excitement was in her head. In the later roller coaster scene, she is alone and manages to smile at some point and become happy again just being alone. I will not try to interpret beyond that.
#3) In the swimming pool shower scene Margot and a group of young women are talking about starting something "new." A woman from a group of older ladies across the room speaks up quickly and announces that "What's new gets old." I think this may be the major moral of this story. Margot picked "new" boyfriend Daniel over "old" husband Lou, but that got old too.
#4) In the scene where Margot is trash talking to Daniel about Lou as she and Daniel stroll down a sidewalk. She is complaining something about Lou filling the trash with rotten chicken, etc. That is probably a major scene for anyone who has ever been the "Lou" in a marriage and a barely noticeable scene for anyone who has not.
#5) I realize the movie was mostly about Margot, but Lou could have used a little more screen time. He took it all just a little too well IMHO and Margot surely could have had another of her rather well performed "face of regret" scenes while seeing his pain.
That's all. Well it was two years ago!