Since this craziness with C-19 began, I have discovered that I have Smart TVs and Amazon Prime with access to Russian War movies with English subtitles. They are worth watching for just the pleasure of viewing the country side and the likes of Svetlana Ustinova. Try some of the following: Lieutenant, Panfilov's 28 Men, Ancestral Land (the tv series), The Dawns Here Are Quiet (the tv series), Battalion and many more. You can also watch a number of them, not all, on YouTube. CP.
Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
I like some of the English shows. They're a little different from US shows and you have to watch a few to get used to the style, especially their humor (think Monte Python). One thing I like is that many of the actors are more like real people, not the Hollywood glamour types like we have. They have a lot of murder mysteries that seem slow moving but they get pretty deep. I liked the Midsomer Murder mysteries on Amazon.
A cool thing about Amazon and Netflix is the exposure to foreign films and TV shows. The Russian war movies are interesting to see - patriotic themes in a war where your comrades are dying by the millions and your own government would kill or imprison you for saying the wrong thing. The Korean, Japanese and Chinese films and TV range from the same pablum you'd see on domestic networks to some very good work. Chinese stuff tends toward fantasy a lot, the Japanese TV on Netflix is overall pretty good.
In that vein, Million Yen Women on Netflix is good. You think it's going to be some lightweight jiggle show like the old Three's Company - five girls in an apartment with one guy - but it turns dark pretty quickly.
if you want a break from shoot'em ups and sword fighting, Samurai Gourmet is pretty good, about a timid 60ish retired guy who suddenly has time to enjoy life with his spiritual alter ego, a Samurai warrior. Funny and warm at the same time.
Midnight Diner is slightly different but also a good show about people. It's not violent or has much if any sex but most of the episodes are about the less publicized parts of Japanese culture and people - gambling addiction, unfaithfulness, dealing with human foibles in a land of rigid social norms - but in the end it's very uplifting. You'll either like it or turn to some shoot'em up real quick.
Babylon Berlin on Netflix is a terrific show IMO. It's in German with English subtitles (you might be able to see it dubbed in English, I never checked). It's set in Berlin in the late 1920's at a time of social change, the Nazi's are still just another street gang fighting the Communists at this point in time, and is about a detective on the Berlin police force with shell shock and nightmares from WWI and a young woman, a stenographer and part time prostitute, who aspires to join the police force. Really engrossing characters and top notch production values with great sets, filming and acting. The lead character, Detective Gereon Rath, is a morphine addict when you could get morphine at the corner drug store. The actress who plays Charlotte is sexy in a Dana Delaney sort of way, pretty although not drop dead gorgeous - she's a working class woman struggling to succeed, not a glamorous soap opera vamp. You really root for her.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
