Skip to main content

THE GENTLEMEN

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

This series is a spin-off from Guy Ritchie’s film, “The Gentlemen” and it stays true to the story of the film. As in all Ritchie’s films we have boys behaving badly, very badly at times, which makes for entertaining viewing. The plot follows Eddie Horniman, who has inherited his father’s sizeable estate only to discover that it’s sitting on top of a weed empire owned by the legendary Bobby Glass. But there are some that have their doubts that this straight-up soldier has got what it takes to master the dark arts of the British criminal underworld and take control of the entire operation. Thoroughly enjoyable with Theo James leading an excellent ensemble cast, which includes the wonderful ex defensive midfielder Vinnie Jones. There’s a great soundtrack to accompany the action.

DIRECTOR:

DAVID CAFFREY, ERAN CREEVY, GUY RITCHIE, NIMA NOURIZADEH

CAST

THEO JAMES, KAYA SCODELARIO, DANIEL INGS, JOELY RICHARDSON, VINNIE JONES, GIANCARLO ESPOSITO

3 BODY PROBLEM

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

Based on the trilogy The Three-Body Problem by Chinese computer engineer and celebrated multi award-winning sci-fi writer Cixin Liu, which was considered to be so complicated, it was unadaptable. But the creators behind Game of Thrones decided to give it a go. Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilisation on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. There’s a lot going on here and it does become confusing at times with the technical descriptions, but it is well worth viewing, and does give one cause for thought if you feel so inclined. Is there anybody out there? Well, I think there must be, but I do hope they’re nice! But I don’t think we can guarantee those in power on earth will be nice in return.

DIRECTOR:

MINKO SPIRO, JEREMY PODESWA, DEREK TSANG

CAST

LIAM CUNNINGHAM, JOVAN ADEPO, BENEDICT WONG, MARLO KELLY, ALEX SHARP, JONATHAN PRYCE, JOHN BRADLEY

THE MIRE

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

As The Mire – Millenium is released on Netflix, the third season of this Polish drama, I took the opportunity to revisit this excellent, suspenseful crime thriller, with many twists that will keep you guessing, and view the first two series. Set in 1980s Poland in a small, forgotten city somewhere in the south-west of Poland, there is a brutal double murder: a young prostitute and a local communist activist. At the same time, teenagers also commit suicide. Witold Wanycz, an experienced, slightly bitter journalist, is to write about the murder in the local newspaper. At the same time, a young editor is employed in the same editorial office who is the son of a high-ranking party activist. He begins his own journalistic investigation. The more involved he becomes, the deeper he sinks into the swamp of intrigue.

DIRECTOR:

JAN HOLOUBEK, KAMIL MISZTAL

CAST

ANDRZEJ SEWERYN, DAWID OGRODNIK, MAGDALENA ROZCZKA, ZOFIA WICHLACZ, AGNIESZKA ZULEWSKA, LUKASZ SIMLAT

THE MIRE – THE MILLENNIUM

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

The Mire: Millenium is the third and final chapter of this excellent Polish drama. Set in late 1999, The Mire: Millenium uses flashbacks, as in past seasons, to tie up the various threads of stories that were wound through the first 2 seasons. This time, the flashback decade is the 1960’s, which is the root of the current rot and corruption in Gronty, where the body of a Polish woman is found in what is believed to be a German grave. The previous seasons need to be viewed prior to The Millenium. Otherwise, it will be difficult to know what’s gone before in previous investigations. The police procedural aspect of the story can be a little tedious, but this is crime drama at its best.

DIRECTOR:

JAN HOLOUBEK

CAST

ANDRZEJ SEWERYN, DAWID OGRODNIK, MAGDALENA ROZCZKA, LUKASZ SIMLAT, AGNIESZKA ZULEWSKA, WANDA MARZEC

AMERICAN CONSPIRACY: THE OCTOPUS MURDERS

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

Photojournalist Christian Hansen and director Zach Treitz’s excellent documentary follows the story of journalist Danny Casolaro, who was found dead in a hotel bathtub, police ruling it a suicide, while probing an alleged conspiracy called “The Octopus” linking spy software theft, unsolved murders and major 20th-century scandals. Casolaro’s friends and family have maintained for many years that Casolaro was murdered. What is intriguing about this scenario is that another journalist, Gary Webb, also died from an “apparent suicide” when investigating the CIA’s involvement and collusion with cartels. It is a complicated story as is anything that involves the intelligence agencies. Conspiracy theories abound.

DIRECTOR:

ZACHARY TREITZ

THE PROGRAM: CONS, CULTS AND KIDNAPPING

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

This investigative docuseries tells of a woman haunted by her teenage experience at a troubled youth program as she and other students return to the now-shuttered Ivy Ridge Academy school and reflect on the horrors they endured during their time in the programme. Katerine Kubler’s three-part docuseries describes the psychological and physiological torture teenagers were put through to straighten them out at what was termed a “behavioural modification” boarding school. I found it quite disturbing that parents could be so easily led into believing they were helping their children. I expect if you are desperate to change your child’s patterns of behaviour, you could be easily influenced. Disturbing viewing.

DIRECTOR:

KATHERINE KUBLER

GOOD MORNING, VERONICA

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

With the third season of this excellent nail-biting series lands on Netflix, it provides an opportunity to go back to Season 1 and recap, or watch all three seasons, if you haven’t already done so. The story follows Veronica Torres, an unobtrusive police clerk who, after witnessing a suicide, decides to investigate two neglected cases on her own, both involving abused women. There are disturbing scenes of violence, torture and murder as a tale of conspiracy and police/political corruption going back for generations unfolds. Excellent viewing but be warned there is lots of blood!

DIRECTOR:

JOSE HENRIQUE FONSECA, ROG DE SOUZA, IZABEL JAGUARIBE

CAST

TAINA MULLER, ADRIANO GARIB, REYNALDO GIANECCHINI, RODRIGO SANTORO, EDUARDO MOSCOVIS, CAMILA MORGADO

MINDHUNTER

WATCH NOW

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH?

There are two seasons of this excellent series on Netflix. Mindhunter is based on a true story and inspired by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s true crime novel. However, the show is a dramatisation of the real events that occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when criminal profiling was in its early stages. The plot revolves around two FBI agents, fighting the departmental stigma of backroom boys, who work to develop an innovative investigative field incorporating psychology, anthropology and sociology as a method to reveal the motive, focusing on their development of a new criminal insight. This will be of great interest for all those crime solving viewers.

DIRECTOR:

DAVID FINCHER, CARL FRANKLIN, ANDREW DOUGLAS, ASIF KAPADIA

CAST

JONATHAN GROFF, HOLT MCCALLANY, ANNA TORV, CAMERON BRITTON, HANNAH GROSS, COTTER SMITH, ALBERT JONES