Netflix movie or show suggestion

gardenfun said:
I've raved about Vera, the itv British series starring Brenda Blethyn, here before. Just watched the DVD from Netflix of Season 3, Episode 1.

Still crazy about it. It's my favorite type of mystery/police procedural, because it deals with the psychology and the relationships among the characters so incredibly well. I'm not crazy about all the high-tech police procedurals out there--whether American or British or other European series. I love the ones that challenge you to wonder "who really wants to have these people out of their lives and why?". Vera is all that and more. Blethyn has the most wonderful way about her; reminds me of Colombo.

I may have to buy the whole series on DVD. :)

Can't wait for Netflix to offer Series 3 on streaming. I can watch these British mystery series over and over. I often forget whodunit. :blush:
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I watched one episode of this before giving up. Something about thick Irish accents I absolutely cannot understand. I've watched Irish movies and the Irish characters on Sons Of Anarchy, and had the same response.

I'm sure it's an excelent show. Just my personal quirk. Anyone else experience this?
 
I love Vera but admit we used closed captioning when we could. I love the character and the actress. Pretty sure it's not an Irish setting:)

We blew through Orange Is the New Black--loved it.
 
chilkoot said:
I watched one episode of this before giving up. Something about thick Irish accents I absolutely cannot understand. I've watched Irish movies and the Irish characters on Sons Of Anarchy, and had the same response.

I'm sure it's an excelent show. Just my personal quirk. Anyone else experience this?
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I have not seen Vera, but my understanding was that it was about a fictional police detachment in Northumberland, in the north of England.

As I am Irish by birth I would not expect to have a problem understanding Irish accents, but I might indeed have a problem with a very pronounced North of England accent. To answer this question, I will watch an episode of Vera and will report my accent experience.

Update: Vera is not showing up on my Netflix app. It was there a few weeks ago.

Update #2: I found an episode of Vera on Facebook. Those are not Irish accents. I am not sure how true they are to Northumberland, but I am having some difficulty following them too.

Now I have to get back to Facebook to find out whodunit!
 
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Zombie movies...thumbs down!
Feever, don't tell anyone else your DH paid to watch those movies! Yikes!
He does keep lobbying me for Zombieland...swears it is funny.
I'm a documentary type of person, just watched the one on Levon Helm. Sad, but pretty good.
 
About captioning.
Wherever captioning is available, we leave it on the screen. Not just for British films, but all films. A matter of the subconcious. We don't even notice the captioning except when the "clever" producers decide to place it over the head of the speaker which becomes a damned nuisance.
Niether I nor my DW are hard of hearing, but I usually multitask at the computer
and drift back to the TV when the action calls for it. Reading names or unusual words avoids confusion or losing part of the story.
It also allows us to keep the sounds at a reasonable level so the explosions and crashes aren't quite so annoying.
Something we do when we get old.
:)
 
Since my husband has started turning up the TV really loud because of ringing in his ears, I'm going to have to figure out how to turn on the captioning.

I tried to watch Orange is the New Black and didn't like it. It convinced me that I never want to go to prison.
 
Bestwifeever said:
I love Vera but admit we used closed captioning when we could. I love the character and the actress. Pretty sure it's not an Irish setting:)

We blew through Orange Is the New Black--loved it.
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My bad. Probably some kind of recency bias. I recently saw some episodes of Sons Of Anarchy which were set in Belfast and featured some purportedly Irish characters, some of whom had impenetrably thick accents. I had seen (and not been able to understand) Vera some time prior and presumed the countries were the same. I think "thick" was probably the operative word.

Apologies to all.
 
All is Lost - Robert Redford. I think he says 3 words in the whole film - but his facial expressions are priceless and truly tell the story. I thought it might drag but it did not.
 
gardenfun said:
Highly recommend "The Lunchbox", a 2013 movie from India. Only available on DVD from Netflix at this time, not on streaming yet.

Very sweet, funny, and an interesting look into everyday middle-class life in Mumbai. About two lonely people connecting with each other in a most unusual way. I don't want to give away any more details about the plot so that you can just let it wash over you. :flowers:

It doesn't have a nice fairy tale tie-it-up-in-a-pretty-bow ending, but that's what is so realistic about it. It's ambiguous, we don't know what will happen--just like life!
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Thanks for suggesting this. We watch "The Lunchbox" last night and enjoyed it.

I wonder if this is a really good representation of some Indian middle-class lives? It felt realistic.
 
got a new favorite: Rake. The Australian version. Laugh out loud funny, but not in your face stupid. Have to keep listening for the throwaway lines. With subtitles too!

About a train wreck but lovable lawyer. Excellent writing. yay--I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

I'm so glad Netflix throws up those recommendations--otherwise I would never stumble on these great shows.
 
Not Netflix, but available on Roku, free, on the PBS channel ... on-line, until October 21, and maybe on PBS itself. In any case "The Act of Killing" is a fictionalized/true story of the 1960's purge of more than one million Indonesians...
The repercussions from this 2014 Oscar Nominated, and winner of other Documentary Film awards, is a source for ongoing political discussion throughout the world.
Not for the faint of heart or for children.
I would suggest reading some of the news articles and reviews of the movie, before watching, since the presentation could be confusing.
Not for entertainment, so be forewarned.

I took away some ambiguous thoughts about politics, violence, and the kind of mass executions that have pervaded all of recorded history. Perhaps some understanding of the atrocities that have occurred in our lifetime... that we put in the back of our rational minds because this kind of death doesn't compute.

In any case, a story that can't be put into the category of "similar to...."
 
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Not sure if this movie was discussed before but we liked it. "Le weekend" with Lindsy Duncan available on netflix streaming. It's filmed in Paris and it's a comedy and drama.
 
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We liked this DVD, State of Play :
When his mistress is found dead, Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) tries desperately to protect his name and career. As journalists Cal (Russell Crowe) and Della (Rachel McAdams) investigate further, they uncover an intricate web of lies that stretches to the highest levels of power.
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imoldernu said:
Not Netflix, but available on Roku, free, on the PBS channel ... on-line, until October 21, and maybe on PBS itself. In any case "The Act of Killing" is a fictionalized/true story of the 1960's purge of more than one million Indonesians...
The repercussions from this 2014 Oscar Nominated, and winner of other Documentary Film awards, is a source for ongoing political discussion throughout the world.
Not for the faint of heart or for children.
I would suggest reading some of the news articles and reviews of the movie, before watching, since the presentation could be confusing.
Not for entertainment, so be forewarned.

I took away some ambiguous thoughts about politics, violence, and the kind of mass executions that have pervaded all of recorded history. Perhaps some understanding of the atrocities that have occurred in our lifetime... that we put in the back of our rational minds because this kind of death doesn't compute.

In any case, a story that can't be put into the category of "similar to...."
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I just read up on the topic after this post. I will pass on the documentary b/c I can't stand seeing another episode of people doing evil in the name of politics, religion, power, greed, ...

Unfortunately, the story is repeated too often throughout history, and everywhere.
 
the Jewish Cardinal (2013) is a a French made for TV movie about Aaron (Jean-Marie) Lustiger, who was born to a Jewish family in 1926, escaped the Holocaust, converted to Catholicism as a teenager, became a priest, and rose rapidly in the ranks of the church. He always considered himself a Jew, but was clearly conflicted. He died in 2007. There is a lot of smoking in this movie, which is in French with subtitles. This is a most interesting story about faith and identity. The actor who plays then-Pope John-Paul II is outstanding.
 
Meadbh said:
the Jewish Cardinal (2013) is a a French made for TV movie about Aaron (Jean-Marie) Lustiger, who was born to a Jewish family in 1926, escaped the Holocaust, converted to Catholicism as a teenager, became a priest, and rose rapidly in the ranks of the church. He always considered himself a Jew, but was clearly conflicted. He died in 2007. There is a lot of smoking in this movie, which is in French with subtitles. This is a most interesting story about faith and identity. The actor who plays then-Pope John-Paul II is outstanding.
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Thanks, Meadbh--it has been in my queue for a few weeks--I'll check it out.

Been watching Broadchurch (on DVD only, not streaming). I only get one DVD at a time, and it's killing me, waiting for the next one to arrive. I got the second DVD in the mail today and promptly watched episodes 4-6. Now I'll have to wait till Wednesday to get the third DVD and find out whodunnit! Highly recommended.
 
Scheduled Jewish Cardinal for tonight... :)

DW and I watched "Winged Migration" last night. A fascinating story about the migration of birds... some of whom fly as much 6000 miles (one way) between south and north each year. the photography is simply amazing. I cannot even conceive of how the flight shots were taken. A three year documentary that, in the credits at the end of the film, lists thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations who contributed.
An 8 star on IMDB.
Winged Migration (2001) - IMDb
After watching, I had to look up Vee Formations to understand how and why they fly that way. And we humans think we are sooo smart!
Why birds fly in a V-formation
 
We've been watching some of the older TV series on DVD when there's nothing else that we want in our queue. Recently we've been watching the Adam-12 TV series. Sometimes you can see the gas prices (often 27 to 39 cents/gal) when they drive by a gas stations and there were still lot's of 1950's vintage cars on the streets. Brings back memories.
 
The Last September (1999) is based on Elizabeth Bowen's 1929 novel if the same name, and stars Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon. It is a story of the decline of the Anglo-Irish gentry, set in County Cork in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. I read the book and watched the movie because this is part of my history, but I would rate both as 3 out of 5.
 
I just finished watching "The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life" about 109 year old Alice Herz-Sommer, the world's oldest holocaust survivor at the time of the 2013 short documentary. She discusses her life and the impact music has had on it. She has an amazing positive attitude on life. She died in February of this year at 110 year of age.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
Fleming (2014) is a four part BBC miniseries on the life of Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond novels. He came from a wealthy family and was a playboy and ne'er do well until his influential mother persuaded Churchill to find him a job in the British Intelligence during WW2. He went on to have some interesting spying adventures, which he developed into a lucrative writing career. He was also an obnoxious bastard and into BDSM with his upper class lover, who was cheating on her husband, who was killed in the war, and her fiancé, who seemed a jolly old chap. Fleming and his lover (who married in 1952) were heavy smokers and Fleming died at 56 of a heart attack. This series takes us up to the end of WW2, when he was discharged from the service and began his writing career.

I gave this 4 stars, because it was a good yarn with believable acting, but I disliked the Fleming character. Anna Chancellor, whom you might remember from Four Weddings and a Funeral, plays Lt. Monday (on whom Moneypenny is based).
 
Meadbh said:
Fleming (2014) is a four part BBC miniseries on the life of Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond novels. He came from a wealthy family and was a playboy and ne'er do well until his influential mother persuaded Churchill to find him a job in the British Intelligence during WW2. He went on to have some interesting spying adventures, which he developed into a lucrative writing career. He was also an obnoxious bastard and into BDSM with his upper class lover, who was cheating on her husband, who was killed in the war, and her fiancé, who seemed a jolly old chap. Fleming and his lover (who married in 1952) were heavy smokers and Fleming died at 56 of a heart attack. This series takes us up to the end of WW2, when he was discharged from the service and began his writing career.

I gave this 4 stars, because it was a good yarn with believable acting, but I disliked the Fleming character. Anna Chancellor, whom you might remember from Four Weddings and a Funeral, plays Lt. Monday (on whom Moneypenny is based).
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watched The Jewish Cardinal last night, Meadbh, excellent!

My son and DIL recommended The Game on BBC America. When I went to the webiste, they had video episodes of their other "spy shows" on there, including Fleming. I'll check it out. Can't seem to get to The Game, however.

Just finished the last two episodes of Broadchurch--wow, it was great! But only on DVD so far.

PS. I was never a fan of Four Weddings anyway. :(
 
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