JULY 2021 - FILMS + TV (HOME VIEWING)

A fair few films, a bit of football and a catch up on some previously enjoyed TV series. All in all a decent month's viewing ....

Run All Night (2015) - TV Film

A second viewing, but still enjoyed. Sometimes you just want something exciting that doesn't require too much attention to wind down with. Liam Neeson and Ed Harris are very good. I do like watching Vincent D'Onofrio as well.

From Google ...

Jimmy Conlon, a hitman, is best friends with his mob boss Shawn Maguire. The situation changes when Shawn abducts Michael, Jimmy's estranged son.

Euro 2020 in 2021

Well England got close, but on reflection the best team in the tournament, Italy came out on top. Typical behaviour from a minority of fans before, during and after the final. And sadly predictable abuse aimed at the three palyers who missed penalties.

Hang 'Em High (1968) - TV Film

Clint Eastwood, a Western, enough said.

From Google ....

Jed Cooper seeks revenge on a group of vigilantes after they punish him for the crimes he had never committed and leave him for dead. However, Jed returns to bring his lynchers to justice.

Son of a Gun (2014) - Netflix Film

A bit of Australian crime featuring Ewan McGregor. I really enjoyed it. I do like a prison flick with a breakout. That's only some of what goes on here. My wife didn't like it quite as much as me.

From Google ...

JR, a small-time, teenage criminal finds himself locked up for a minor crime and forced to adapt to the harsh realities of prison life. Fellow prisoner and Australia's most notorious criminal, Brendan Lynch, offers JR protection, but it comes at a price. Upon release, JR must help secure Lynch's freedom by staging a daring prison break.

Knuckleball (2018) - TV Film

Another enjoyable tension filled crime flick. Can't say I knew any of the cast, but it didn't stop me enjoying it.

From Google ....

Left alone on an isolated farm, a 12-year-old boy must fight for his life when he becomes the target of a crazed psychopath.

Thunder Force (2021) - Netflix Film

Love Melissa McCarthy, but not here. To be frank, it was dire.

From Google ...

Two childhood best friends reunite as an unlikely crime-fighting superhero duo when one invents a formula that gives ordinary people superpowers.

Law & Order Series 7 (2013) - ITV TV Drama

Watched the first six series maybe a year ago, having missed it when it aired first time around. I was happy to get the chance to catch up with the last two series when I saw them airing on some obscure satellite channel. 

I love the format and was a fan of the US series originally. I like the revolving characters in the drama which serve to keep it fresh. Love the new faces, but I reckon the one constant, Bradley Walsh is my favourite.



From All Things Law and Order and Wikipedia ...

EPISODE SYNOPSES

Episode 1 – Tracks (adapted from Locomotion)

Writer – Emilia di Girolamo

A suicidal man drives his car across a railway causing the train to crash and killing 15 people, but he survives. Crown Prosecutor Jake Thorne (Dominic Rowan) pursues the culprit, Finn Tyler (Aidan McArdle) with vigour whilst the man’s defence barrister (Kate Barker played by Georgia Taylor) tries to prove his vulnerability and mental illness. Just as the case finishes, his boss, CPS Director Henry Sharpe (Peter Davison), springs one more surprise on Jake…Kate is Alesha’s replacement. Another new face is DI Wes Leyton (Paterson Joseph). He’s an old colleague of Ronnie’s (Bradley Walsh) and is covering for DI Chandler when Tyler is found dead in his cell at court and the last person seen entering the cell was DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls)…

Episode 2 – Tremors (adapted from Aftershock)

Writer – Emilia di Girolamo

DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls) is suspended over the death of Finn Tyler and DI Wes Leyton (Paterson Joseph) gets hands on with this investigation, with a reluctant DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) as his partner. For the first time we explore a day-­in-the-­life of the Law & Order: UK regulars. After a few drinks Jake (Dominic Rowan) opens up to new colleague Kate Barker (Georgia Taylor) about his mothers’ death. We meet Ronnie’s estranged daughter and follow Sam as he spends the day with his son, giving new insight into our heroes’ off-­duty lives.

Episode 3 – Paternal (adapted from Deadbeat)

Writer – Nick Hicks-­Beach

A man is found shot dead in a hotel room and the cash he was carrying has gone missing. We discover the man owed his ex-­wife thousands of pounds in unpaid child support and was lying to his girlfriend about his line of work. DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls) and DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) also learn he has a son dying of leukaemia, but hadn’t been tested for a bone marrow match. Attention turns to the ex-­father-­in-­law, Philip Donovan (Ian Bleasdale). Did he hunt down the father of his dying grandson to try to recoup the unpaid money or is there more to this family set up than first appears? How far will a parent go to protect their child… At the CPS Jake (Dominic Rowan) and Kate (Georgia Taylor) work out their differences and reach a more even keel.

Episode 4 – Fatherly Love (adapted from Family Values)

Writer – Noel Farragher

The body of Charlotte Leigh is pulled from the Thames. After ruling out suicide, DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) and DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls) focus their enquiries on the victim’s abusive ex-­husband Richard (Patrick Baladi) with whom she was involved in a bitter custody battle over their teenage daughter, Holly (Charlotte Hope). However, the investigation turns closer to home when it appears Holly was involved in a relationship with her mothers’ new husband, Sean (Rory Kennan). Despite the evidence pointing to Holly, Crown Prosecutor Jake Thorne (Dominic Rowan) follows his gut and gambles on a hunch at the trial in a bid to draw out the real killer, and in turn uncovers the dark truth behind the façade of a seemingly perfect family. This is a story about how far a girl will go to protect the man she loves…

Episode 5 - Mortal (adapted from Golden Years)

Writer - Nicholas Hicks-Beach

Following a break-in, a frail, elderly woman is found dead in her flat. Ronnie and Sam initially suspect a burglary gone wrong and however, following a tip-off from the victim's grand-daughter Connie, the detectives' attention turns to live-in carer Cecile, who has disappeared having stolen a clock, the police find Cecile with the clock and she is promptly arrested. But Cecile claims the clock was a present and accuses Connie of firing her because she would not obey her instructions and starve Jenny to death. She backs up her claim with written instructions and the detectives discover that Connie, a potential bankrupt, has inherited Jenny's flat and she is charged with murder. Her lawyer Vijay Prasad submits that the accusation is vague and that Connie could easily have smothered her grandma if she wanted. Then Connie gives evidence, stating that her grandmother was in great pain and killed herself for the release. Chief Prosecutor Jake Thorne has the bit between his teeth when he tells the jury Connie was the only real family the victim had, and she left her to die. When Connie tells her side of the story she is very convincing and it seems likely that Jake will fail to secure a guilty verdict.

Episode 6 - Dependent (adapted from Phobia)

Writer - Jane Hudson

A gay man called Richard Peters is found bludgeoned to death outside his flat and Leo, the baby he adopted with his partner Gareth Wilks is missing. Ronnie and Sam try to find the person who murdered Richard and took his adoptive son. Ruth Pendle, Leo's biological mother and a former drug addict, is seen on CCTV leaving the murder scene with a man who proves to be Neil Jenkins, the baby's real father. Jenkins admits to pushing Richard though he and Ruth both deny murder and the police charge them jointly. They have separate barristers, each accusing the other, but Kate believes Ruth should not be prosecuted and gets into trouble with Jake for colluding with Ruth's barrister Lydia Smythson by providing information to help her. Ronnie discovers that Kate's bias is due to her missing sister Beth's situation, similar to Ruth's. Ultimately Kate lets her head rule her heart in identifying the real killer, after which Ronnie has good news for her regarding her sister.

Regular Cast

DS Ronnie Brooks: Bradley Walsh

DS Sam Casey: Paul Nicholls

DI Wes Leyton: Paterson Joseph

Jacob Thorne: Dominic Rowan

Kate Barker: Georgia Taylor

Henry Sharpe: Peter Davison

Bull Season 2 (2017-18) - US TV Drama series

I think I've watched most of series one and loved them. It's quite a quirky drama, with a bit of humour in the interactions between Bull (Michael Weatherly) and his team. I'll get back to this one when I've completed Law & Order UK #8.

From Wikipedia  and Google ...

Bull is an American drama television series starring Michael Weatherly. CBS ordered the program to series on May 13, 2016, and it premiered on September 20, 2016.The show is based on the early days of talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw's career, when he was a trial consultant. On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a fifth season, which premiered on November 16, 2020. On April 15, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a sixth season which is set to premiere on October 7, 2021

Dr Jason Bull, a psychologist and a trial science expert, heads a consulting firm that helps its clients choose the right jurors and aids them in deciding the best argument that can win the case.

Breakdown (1997) - TV Film

An oldie but goodie, featuring Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan and J.T. Walsh. If I ever get back to America, I ain't driving cross-country through the desert. 

From Google ....

When a couple drives cross-country to California, their car breaks down in a desolate region and the wife disappears. The husband's frantic search for his missing wife unveils a chain of crimes.

Hitman Agent 47 (2015) - TV Film

An ok film watched over a couple of nights. Nothing amazing, nothing objectionable.

From Wikipedia and IMDB ....

Hitman: Agent 47 is a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Aleksander Bach in his directorial debut and co-written by Skip Woods (who also wrote the original 2007 Hitman film ) and Michael Finch. It is based on the Hitman video game series, developed by IO Interactive, and its main character, a mysterious assassin known only as Agent 47.[

The film, starring Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds, Thomas Kretschmann and Angelababy, was theatrically released on August 21, 2015. It received negative reviews, criticism aiming at the script, performances, score, and visual effects, but was a box office success, grossing $82 million worldwide against its $35 million budget.

HITMAN: AGENT 47 centers on an elite assassin who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research and forty-six earlier Agent clones -- endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence. His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47's past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe.

Law & Order UK Season 8 (2014) - ITV Drama Series

I've enjoyed the first seven series. And am working my way through the last season of 8 episodes. I do like the set up for the show. Crime, investigation, justice. Love a bit of Bradley Walsh as well.

From BritBox ....

From award-winning producer Dick Wolf comes the Brit version of the classic Law and Order, starring Bradley Walsh and Jamie Bamber. DS Brooks and DS Delvin work with the Crown prosecution to bring the culprits of murderous crimes to justice.

1. Flaw

DS Ronnie Brooks and new partner DS Joe Hawkins investigate the murder of a jeweller.

2. Safe from Harm

Crime drama series. Ronnie and Joe investigate the fatal stabbing of a psychiatrist.

3. I Predict a Riot

Ronnie and Joe are drawn deep into a case in which the law itself is in the witness box.

4. Pride

A murder hunt leads Ronnie and Joe to ex-DI Natalie Chandler, Ronnie's old boss.

Fire With Fire (2012) - TV Film

Another film that wasn't too taxing on the brain. Bruce Willis and the lady from Briarpatch (which I didn't enjoy). 

From Google ....

Jeremy, a firefighter, witnesses a murder at a convenience store by a dreaded criminal named Hagan. After a failed witness protection programme, he decides to fight Hagan and protect his loved ones.