I have been going back and forth on how I want to lay this out, I want to talk about T.V. Shows and Films, ones that I watch repeatedly and others that I wish I had never watched. My only sticking point on this is how many should I bring into this particular post. I don’t know, I think we’re in for a random rambling train of thought.
Let’s begin with T.V. Shows and Limited Series that I have watched multiple times:
A Touch of Frost (1992)
DI Jack Frost is an unconventional policeman with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice. Sloppy, disorganized, and disrespectful, he attracts trouble like a magnet.
Inspector Morse (1987)
Chief Inspector Morse has an ear for Western classical music, a taste for beer, and a nose for crime. He and Detective Sergeant Robert Lewis solve intriguing cases in and around the Oxford area.
Inspector Lewis (2006)
DI Robert Lewis and DS James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.
Endeavour (2012)
Before Inspector Morse, there was the rookie Constable Morse, fed up with police work and ready to nip his career in the bud by handing in his resignation.
Midsomer Murders (1997)
A veteran Detective Chief Inspector and his young Sergeant investigate murders around the regional community of Midsomer County.
A Fine Romance (1981)
British sitcom about the simple relationship between Mike (Michael Williams) and Laura (Dame Judi Dench), two fairly unlikely individuals who come together and form an unmarried union. Nearing forty, Laura appears perplexed most of the time. Mike sports a perpetual grin. They first meet during a party at the insistence of Laura’s younger sister, Helen (Susan Penhaligon), and Mike’s sweet, inept, and endearing character sparks something in the bossy, stubborn, big-softy Laura. They never quite hit it off, but there’s something there that keeps them together.
Fawlty Towers (1975)
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty’s incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Grantchester (2014)
A Cambridgeshire clergyman finds himself investigating a series of mysterious wrongdoings in his small village of Grantchester.
Vera (2011)
With her caustic wit and singular charm, DCI Vera Stanhope leads her team as they face a series of captivating murder mysteries set against the breathtaking Northumberland landscape.
Shetland (2013)
A local police team investigates crimes within the close knit island community of Shetland.
Poirot (1989)
Hercule Poirot, a famous Belgian detective, who has an impeccable knack for getting embroiled in a mystery, solves crimes along with Captain Hastings and Scotland Yard Chief Inspector James Japp.
Marple (2004)
An elderly spinster living in the village of St. Mary Mead helps her friends and relatives solve mysterious murders.
All of these series are bizarrely comfortable watches, not sure if it’s the overall tone being ‘cozy mysteries’ the the fact that the majority of them are not American shows. I have nothing against American produced shows, just not my cup of tea. I did recently watch the first seven seasons of Murder, She Wrote (1984) Professional writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher uses her intellect, charm, and persistence to get to the bottom of every crime she encounters. -Now while nostalgic sorta it’s thin on having an overarching plot or charter growth and quickly becomes a platform for washed up soap operas starts to be weekly guest stars.
A couple honorable mentions:
Unforgotten (2015)
London detectives investigate crimes from the past, unraveling secrets left buried for years.
River (2015)
John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
Whitechapel (2009)
The streets of Whitechapel are awash with blood. A murderer stalks the night, picking off vulnerable women and leaving them brutally butchered. The locals live in fear and the police remain clueless, with no motive, no evidence and no hope of catching this barbaric killer. But this is not the 19th Century and the time of Jack the Ripper. This is now.
Now for some films:
CBGB (2013)
A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.
Love (2015)
Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with Electra. Unaware of the effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
At a media-swamped party to celebrate his 70th birthday and screen his avant-garde film-in-progress, a legendary but jaded Hollywood director is faced both with voracious fans and unsettling questions about what became of his lead actor.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.
The Raven (2012)
When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Zodiac (2007)
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
Brothers (2009)
While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam’s helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
For a few that are good films but hit too hard or a particular scene has stuck with me, not in a good way. I’m the type of person that remembers most of what I read, hear and watch so many horror and thriller movies just aren’t easily forgotten. Can’t unsee or unread things.
In the Cut (2003)
New York City writing professor, Frannie Avery, has an affair with a police detective who is investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman in her neighborhood.
Event Horizon (1997)
A rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.
Southpaw (2015)
After a fatal incident sends him on a rampant path of destruction, a champion boxer fights to get custody of his daughter and revive his professional career.
The Little Things (2021)
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city.
I have so many more I could add to this entire post but trying to keep it somewhat simplified. Bonus points to anyone that can explain The Little Things film to me. There are many shows and films that are entertaining but very forgettable overall.
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