MARCH 2020 - FILMS + TV (HOME VIEWING)

With the cinema outings understandably cut short, I didn't really get much of a bump in the way of TV viewing. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I'm still out to work so the usual routine persists for now at least.

We managed to get another couple of series of Prime Suspect under our belt - one to go, another episode of the Accused by Jimmy McGovern and a few films including one I've been meaning to watch for about 5 years.

Prime Suspect Series 5 (1996) - ITV Drama - DVD box set

All a bit of a blur, did I watch this Jan or Feb? Maybe half and half, who really cares? No one. It's very good though.

From Wikipedia....

Following an intemperate act at the end of The Scent of Darkness, Tennison is transferred to Manchester CID, where she investigates the murder of a drug dealer that she believes was committed by a local gang leader and folk hero known as "The Street".

The case becomes even more sinister when another murder is committed, but Jane finds it difficult to prove that "The Street" was responsible for the attack, as he manages to keep one step ahead of the investigation – leading her to suspect she may have a mole in her team.

Prime Suspect Series 6 (2003) - ITV Drama - DVD boxset

Cracking TV say no more. Ok a bit more...... I love Helen Mirren as an actor, I love her character - Jane Tennison,  her strength and her tenacity. I don't like her drinking so much. Roll on the last series, which will be watched as soon as normality returns to the world and my son goes back home to The Netherlands.

From Wikipedia....

DCI Tennison and her team gather more information about rent boys which leads to the existence of a possible paedophile ring. DI Ray Hebdon seems to know about gay bars, drag queens and transsexuals and he is teased; Ray calmly announces he is gay. DI Brian Dalton seems to take Ray's news personally; perhaps, his HIV scare (from the infected rent boy biting his hand) is too much for him to bear. Dalton and Jane travel to see young men previously victimized by an Edward Jones. Jane also speaks with DCI Lyall. Meanwhile, Ray manages to 'drag' a few of his colleagues into the posh Bowery Club. The vicious procurer, Jimmy Jackson, shows up at the club to attack one of the transvestites, and gets quite the surprise. The name of Asst. Deputy Commissioner John Kennington keeps coming up; every officer with rank, including Jane's former boss, warns Jane to quit the investigation. Even when she pretends she can "cut a deal" with her superiors, political games are not in her DNA. Jane visits her doctor and after a second appointment, she is told she is pregnant.

Accused Series 1 (2010) - BBC Drama - DVD box set

The second episode watched and one I could remember seeing before. Difficult viewing if I'm honest. Young British soldiers in a theatre of war and one freezes in action and is tormented physically and mentally thereafter by the rest of his squad. Mackenzie Crook is very good as the loathsome conductor of the band of bullies.

From Google.....

Following people accused of crimes as each person awaits the verdict of his or her trial. Each episode features a different character approaching the dock in court to hear whether they have been found guilty of their crime.

A Quiet Place (2018) - Netflix film

Watched in anticipation of going to the cinema to see the second film in the series, the cunningly titled A Quiet Place II. I'm not usually a massive fan of horror/sci-fi movies, but I really enjoyed this one. Great acting, decent story, very tense throughout. I love Emily Blunt. I'd happily watch this one again, more a thriller in my opinion than a horror film.

From IMDB....

Directed by John Krasinski. With Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe. In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence ...

Straight Outta Compton (2015) - Netflix film

Long, energetic, vibrant, amazing, loved it. I do like music bio-pics and having missed this when it came out a few years back, I was happy to finally catch up with it. I wouldn't class myself as a massive NWA fan, but neither am I standing in a lynch mob with a pitchfork, around a fire burning their records. Controversial, yes, but their politics and potent lyrics were undoubtedly shaped by their upbringings, environment and interactions with authorities. They did have some powerful tunes. A great film.  

From Wikipedia...

Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by F. Gary Gray, depicting the rise and fall of the gangsta rap group N.W.A and its members Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre. The members were involved in the production, including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre as producers, as was Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, while MC Ren and DJ Yella served as creative consultants. Ice Cube is played by his real-life son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., with Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre and Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E. Paul Giamatti also stars as N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller.

Talks of an N.W.A. biopic began in 2010 by New Line Cinema. Several directors were approached, including Craig Brewer, Peter Berg and John Singleton, before Gray was confirmed in April 2012. Much of the cast signed on in June 2014 and principal photography began that August, taking place around Los Angeles and Compton, California. The production faced several controversies, including casting call issues and several acts of violence on set.

Released on August 14, 2015, Straight Outta Compton made over $200 million on a production budget of $50 million, was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2015 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It inspired Dr. Dre's third studio album, Compton, which debuted at no. 2 on the US Billboard 200 album chart a week prior to the film's release. The soundtrack album, featuring music by N.W.A, debuted at no. 1 on the Rap Albums chart and reached no. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Heller filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers, protesting his depiction and claiming that parts were taken from his autobiography without permission.

Hopscotch (1980) - Film viewed on You Tube 

I absolutely loved the book by Brian Garfield when I read it back in 2013 - Hopscotch. It's taken a while to catch up with the film. I liked it but not quite as much as the book. I couldn't claim to have seen too much of Walter Matthau over the years and don't ask me what it is I've seen him in, I can't remember, but I do like him. Glenda Jackson is the love interest here and she's another one I enjoy seeing on screen.

There's a full version of this up on You Tube. The sound cuts out for a couple of minutes near the end, but you don't miss anything as it's during a chase scene. Watching the film did inspire me to pick up another book by Brian Garfield which I enjoyed during the month as well. Winner, winner, chicken dinner as they say in these parts.

From Wikipedia....

Hopscotch is a 1980 American spy comedy thriller film, produced by Edie Landau and Ely A. Landau, directed by Ronald Neame, that stars Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. The screenplay was written by Bryan Forbes and Brian Garfield, based on Garfield's novel of the same name.

Former CIA field officer Miles Kendig is intent on publishing an explosive memoir that will also expose the dirty tricks of Myerson, his obnoxious, incompetent, and profane former boss. Myerson and Kendig's protégé Joe Cutter are repeatedly foiled in their attempts to capture the former agent and stop the publication of his memoir. He cleverly stays one step ahead of his pursuers as the chase hopscotches around America and western Europe.

Lowlife (2017) - Film - aired on TV and recorded and watched

A bit of a mad one, but we really liked it. I liked the cutting back and forth with the same events featuring but from a different character's perspective, which definitely shakes up what you felt previously about them. 

Family, drugs, love, crime, kidnapping, loss, abandonment, people getting by and more.

From Google.....

Set amidst the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, zigzagging back and forth in time as it charts how fate, and a ruthless crime boss, connects three down-and-out reprobates mixed up in an organ harvesting scheme that goes from bad to worse.