One day last week, we saw an article from a respected publication that suggested ten films to watch this month on Netflix. I dutifully wrote down the names of the films, not knowing anything about any of them. The first on the list was a film called “Madame Web”. It was number one on the list, and – when I turned on Netflix – I saw that it was the number 1 searched film on Netflix. What could be bad?

I will tell you what could be bad. “Madame Web” could be bad. We stuck with it for about 15 or 20 very uncomfortable minutes. You know what it’s about? It’s about a rare poisonous spider in the Peruvian Amazon which is connected to a civilization of spider-people who live in the treetops of the jungle. A young pregnant American anthropologist found the rare spider thirty years ago, but was shot by her guide, who wanted it for himself. She was rescued by the spider people, gave birth and died. Thirty years later her daughter is (of course) a New York Fire Department EMT, and seems to have spider people allies to help her out when she gets into trouble.

Clearly not the film for us. And guess what – 89% of Rotten Tomatoes critics didn’t like it either. So what could be the secret of its “success”?

And where do we go from here? To India, of course, and to a film I selected at random (not on any list that I know) called “Laapataa Ladies”. (I just realized that I have no idea what “Laapataa” means, if anything). What a charming film. And what does Rotten Tomatoes think? 100% approval rating. Until this morning, I had no idea.

In deepest rural India, two young men get married. They don’t know each other, but they wind up on the same train with their brides, heading back to their native villages. The same train, different brides, different villages.

The brides just happen to be dressed in identical traditional bridal veils which hide their faces, impossible to tell one from the other. And, the brides (perhaps this is another custom) remain silent. And it’s a long train ride, people go to the “loo”, they move around, they get something to eat, they fall asleep. And suddenly, one of them realizes that he is home, grabs his wife’s hand, and leaves the train.

When he gets to his home village and it’s time to introduce his new wife to his extended family and friends, he lifts off her veil, and …… voila. He has brought home the wrong wife.

The other groom does not make the same mistake. All he knows is that his bride is missing. The “abandoned” bride, who has also left the train, has no idea where she is, or how to reach her husband. She is completely lost.

I am not going to tell you more, except (1) it’s a comedy, (2) the scenes of rural India are fascinating, and (3) because it’s a Bollywood film, everything turns out perfectly in the end. In addition to the four main characters, the family and friends of the groom who lost his bride, and the three unusual people who befriend the lost bride, the plot centers around the police chief of the village and his two assistants, one perfectly stupid, and the other completely amoral. They become convinced this is an example of a marriage scam ravaging the country – a fake marriage, a fake groom, a real dowry putting gold jewelry into the hands of the fake groom, and a disappearance, leaving the “bride” bereft. But this is not the case here. Here, it is a more complex story, showing the vulnerability of women in traditional India and their attempts to lead lives of purpose.

Recommended. “Laapataa Ladies”. Netflix.

So, it’s a story about two different women. Recently, while on my stationary bike, I have been watching a Spanish series, titled “Between Lands”, the lands being Almeria on the southern coast, and La Mancha in the center of the country. This is not a tale about two women, but about two men. Maria’s long time boyfriend leaves town and doesn’t contact her, and years go by. In the meantime, she marries (under very strange circumstances) Manuel, the nephew of an ornery olive farm owner from La Mancha. Then her boy friend re-appears.

The first six or so episodes have been interesting enough, but on a visit back to Almeria to see her mother and her ailing brother, Maria reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, and they engage in one episode of passion before she decides that he is history, and her marriage is her future. She goes back to La Mancha with her husband. And she discovers she is pregnant.

Now this is one of those series that focuses on unexpected twists. Whenever something good happens, you know that within fifteen minutes something equally bad will happen. The twists get a bit tiring, but it’s clearly a series where things will work out in the end, so you stick with it. You felt really good that Maria has decided that her husband Manuel is her choice, and that all they have to worry about now is his evil uncle, his young son, and some of the other characters you have met in La Mancha.

But the pregnancy has made things messy again. Who is the father? It could be either. So far, neither prospective father knows about the pregnancy. I don’t think I can take whatever is coming next as they try to figure it out and cope with the possibilities. I am through with “Between Lands” prematurely.

The search for the perfect entertainment continues…..