BINGE OR BOMB

Turkish series, THANK YOU NEXT, a hybrid rom com is about a successful headstrong thirty something lawyer Leyla, who is recovering from her first love’s betrayal. Eventually she will have to make a choice between her ex, a handsome chef and a charismatic businessman. Along the way Leyla’s surrounded by a group of friends who while deciphering their own complicated relationships are planning Leyla’s strategy to identify which of the three men is really the one for her.

SAY NOTHING- This 9 part series encompasses 30 odd years of the time in Ireland called the Troubles. It depicts the people who caused or were caught in the rebellion by using a series of real interviews as its structure. It focuses on Brendan Hughes, once a top IRA leader but now disillusioned by the group and Dolours Price, an IRA stalwart in her youth but who, as an adult, also becomes a bitter critic of the organization. 

 EMILIA PEREZis a both a romance, suspense and musical movie. It centers around three characters. One is a vicious, rich narco gangster who will use any means to become his true self…as a woman. He enlists the help of a female lawyer to manage both the business and procedural details of that transition especially when it comes to his wife who he wants to keep supporting although she must never know his new identity.

In VIGIL, an intrepid Scottish police investigator is helicoptered onto a nuclear sub upon which a murder has taken place. Complicating this issue is that it appears Russian subs are trailing this English vessel. Meanwhile more people turn up dead.There are eco terrorists, espionage, forbidden romances and all manner of complications for the investigator to tackle… all while she is also struggling with  PTSD from a tragic accident and a complicated new romance with a fellow officer.

TRYING is about one couple’s attempt to become a family with kids. When regular methods fail, the couple decides to adopt. It’s not easy. But Tthey are supported by quirky friends and family who all have helpful but often useless tips.  When the adoption comes through the couple finds themselves with not one but two youn gchildren who are both trying to overcome years of foster care. Becoming an instant family is both a humorous and exasperating process.  The couple is engaging and funny as are the extended family around them. It’s a feel good with an edge.

COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS is a delightful comedy about  a slightly mismatched but very appealing couple…30 something Ashley, a med student and 40 something Gordon, owner of a struggling micro- brewery. They meet not cute but “ disturbing” when Gordon accidentally hits a scruffy small dog because Ashley has cheekily flashed him as he was stopped at a crosswalk in his car. The dog is ok. Sort of…He now requires a set of back wheels to navigate. These two strangers begrudgingly agree to share care of the engaging canine. Thus starts a relationship and eventual romance. The banter is delightfully clever and the secondary characters each have their own set of wonderful off-center personality quirks. It’ ll make you smile. Even laugh. Watch if you think naming a dog “ Bark Ruffalo” is incredibly funny.

BABY REINDEER( Netflix)-England- is a black comedy thriller based on the real life of comedian Richard Gadd. In the series Gadd plays Donny, a struggling comedian working as a bartender. One night into the bar comes Martha, a lonely woman who claims to be a lawyer. He offers her a free cup of tea. Big mistake. Martha, a large person also has large needs and desires which she focuses on the hapless Donny. Almost instantly she is obsessed with Donny and infiltrates every aspect of his life. Curiously Donny seems to become the somewhat willing object of this clever abuser. Escaping his demons and ridding himself of the persistent Martha becomes the focus of the series.

MAESTRO IN BLUE-( Netflix )Greece-This romantic drama/mystery is set against the backdrop of Paxos, a picture-perfect Greek island where a delightful classical music festival is to be staged. Arranging this event is Fanis, the head of a rich powerful family who’s running for mayor. Helping him is beautiful but discontented wife Sofia, their 19 year daughter Kleila, a talented pianist and Antonis, their teenage musician son with a secret. Arriving on the island is 40-something conductor Orestis who’s charged with pulling together the music festival. Soon we realize behind the gorgeous backdrop is big trouble. Someone has been secretly murdered. Who’s the victim? Whodunnit? And why? Don’t be fooled. Most of the series concerns the many illicit love affairs that develop.  Each causes a cascade of repercussions which are first played out against the backdrop of the island’s music festival and then continue when several characters move to Athens. If romantic murder mysteries aren’t for you, stick around for the music and scenery. You won’t be disappointed. 

UNDER THE BRIDGE-( Hulu)- Canada-This mystery is based on the 1997 murder of an East Indian teenage girl in a Vancouver suburb. Trying to uncover the murderer is Cam, a dedicated indigenous police officer who, having been adopted by the white police chief and his family, continually faces her own conflicts. Complicating the investigation is aspiring journalist, Rebecca, Cam’s former best friend, who returns to her hometown in order to unearth material for a book. Her search often finds her skirting the law and becoming too close to the troubled group of teen girls whose circle the murdered girl wanted to join. The frayed friendship between the policewoman and writer eventually finds a resolution as the murder investigation reveals the identity of the young girl’s killer.

I Hate Suzie-A black comedy centered around  TV actress Suzie Pickles whose life is upended when her phone is hacked and a scandalous video of her is released to the public compromising her marriage and career. Suzie goes to great lengths to get her life back on track while increasingly both she and her life fall apart. The only thing saving her may be her best friend and agent but it is Suzie who must save herself.

 The Gentlemen- Action comedy from director Guy Ritchie. Two sons of an artistocratic family find themselves coping with the alliance their late father, a cash strapped duke, arranged allowing a crime family to use the estate to grow marijuana. The stalwart younger son inherits the estate and a business partnership with a whip smart gangster’s daughter. But how far is he willing to go with this new element?

3 Body Problem-Based on the popular Chinese novel this sci fi thriller creates a world where a female Chinese scientist makes contact with an alien culture whose message to earth is received only by her. But these aliens might not mean well. As a matter of fact they will be invading earth. In 400 years. Now the question is what can earth do to save themselves from these malevolent visitors. Five young scientists join the global challenge to outwit this advanced species. 

MONSIEUR SPADE- picks up legendary detective Sam Spade living a comfy life in the South of France. He’s called on to deliver a teenage girl to her scoundrel father who disappears. Soon nuns are murdered, conspiracies abound and scores of factions are after a young Algerian boy with unusual talents.

EXPATS- The lives of three women intersect in the insular community of expats living in Hong Kong during the 2014 political unrest. Two are super privileged with servants whose lives continually intersect with those of their employers. One is a young Columbia grad whose careless confusion leads to a tragedy which impacts the lives of all those around her.

TRUE DETECTIVE-NIGHT COUNTRY- The fourth in this series is set in Alaska in the time of eternal night.  When 6 scientists from a research station are found gruesomely frozen in the ice two female cops are called on to solve the mystery. Their work soon must explain the long ago murder of an indigenous woman investigating the harm the research station was doing to their environment. Jodie Foster stars as an embittered law officer now working with her adversary an indigenous policewoman.

CRIMINAL RECORD finds two detectives pitted against each other. They’re working on associated cases, one having to do with a 911 call of a woman fearful that her boyfriend will kill her. But in that call she also reveals that a man in prison for killing his girlfriend is innocent. The two detectives are very different kinds of cops. One is middle aged, old school and believes the end justifies the means. The other, a young African American woman, refuses to accept the  questionable tactics that have riddled the police force.  

FISK- In this Australian workplace comedy Helen Tudor Fisk, a middle-aged recently divorced lawyer tries to jumpstart her life. She’s bright, and well-meaning but a bit of a hot mess whose entire work wardrobe consists of 3 identical mud brown pants suits. Not much of a people person Fisk was formerly a contract lawyer. But now she faces challenges when she joins a tiny law firm specializing in wills. Here she’s forced not only to interact with eccentric clients but also to navigate the 3 person law firm where her colleagues are as much of a challenge as her clients.

DETECTIVE FORST- Detective Forst, an unconventional Polish detective, is called to a small mountain community where a series of bizarre, bloody murders are taking place. It all points to a serial killer but these murders also dredge up nightmares which seem to lead to a secret cabal of town elders who might have been Nazi collaboraters. The gruesome crimes also might have links to dark parts of Forst’s own childhood that he has tried to forget.

ANNIKA

A quirky female detective must solve murders around Glasgow Scotland. Breaking the 4th wall, she shares her unvarnished views on subjects sparked by her investigations, including Moby Dick, Shakespeare and Greek tragedy. Complicating her life are a sullen teenage daughter and her eclectic but accomplished team. 

LITTLE BIRD
This quiet drama chronicles the odyssey undertaken by Esther, a soft spoken Montreal Jewish lawyer from an indigenous background who, as a child, had been adopted by a caring Holocaust survivor. When she learns she had been forcibly taken from poor but loving parents, Esther sets out to find her original family which includes an older brother, sister and even a twin brother. Incorporating all the contradictory pieces of herself will become an intense challenge.

 SHETLAND

Ruth Chandler, a tough funny detective, is called back to her former Shetland Island home to help solve a mysterious murder. Partnering with local policewoman, Alison McIntosh, the duo faces obstacles stemming from the murder’s ties to a powerful local family who don’t want their many secrets known. 

In LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, set in the 50s,  a talented young female would-be chemist battles a male dominated science world while trying to make her way professionally and raise a daughter. Unexpectedly she gains  fame when she hosts a cooking show. 

Interview with LESSONS IN CHEMISTY costume designer for, Mirren Gordon-Crozier, whose credits also includon WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, BURIAL and THE GLASS CASTLE.

In 30 COINS, a thriller/ horror film/ romance, several unlikely allies join together to find the 30 coins that Judas was paid to betray Jesus. The coins  have magical powers which an evil cabal of corrupt Vatican officials and unscrupulous billionaires hope to use to destroy the world and recreate it to their liking. 

The Sixth Commandment based on a true crime is set in an idyllic English town. Peter, a  closeted and devout gay professor meets Ben, a charming, handsome student who seems to fall in love with Peter. And then Peter dies, leaving his estate to Ben who now ingratiates himself into the life of Peter's neighbor, Ann, another senior citizen and retired academic. She too dies, leaving Ben her estate. What’s wrong with this picture.

In Nada, a jolly, but spoiled Argentinian restaurant critic finds his life out of control when his loyal housekeeper  dies. A young Paraguyan woman he hires turns his life upside down as she  helps him learn the real value of much he has taken for granted.

Interview with Alec Sokolow- Alec Sokolow is an Academy award nominated screenwriter for his work on "Toy Story." He is also a producer, director and documentarian. Hear what he's watching and what's upcoming for his holiday picks.

“LUPIN” brings back Assane, a master thief and disguises who has adopted the persona of the much beloved hero of  a series of crime novels. Previously it was thought Lupin had died but In this Third season he returns to Paris very much alive. He must use all his skills to combat a vengeful specter from his past who not only kidnaps Assane’s long-lost mother but also threatens his wife and beloved teenage son..

 “DON'T LEAVE ME” is set in Venice, very much a character in this mystery thriller. After years away, Elena returns to Venice  intent on taking down an international network trafficking in human slaves. To unravel this mystery she enlists the help of her former lover, a local detective now happily married to Elena’s one-time best friend. In facing her past Elena must also confront a dark secret she has been harboring. 

“Extraordinary”  takes us on a journey into a London in the not-so-distant future where everyone is born with a superpower which surfaces in their teens. The powers are not the usual kind. One boy can move through walls, another one can induce an orgasm just by touching someone and another can jump time. However Jen is frustrated because, even at 25, she has not found her superpower. Her best friend joins in a quest to jumpstart Jennifer’s superpower all while the two girls are navigating the ordinary struggles of dating, lack-luster jobs and annoying parents.