Last Movie You Watched

[hopefullytrusting]

If not in the local collection, certainly in the network.

Lol, I sometimes forget how long ago the 1990s were.

[hopefullytrusting]

Thanks to Tubi - a ton of free movies - currently, Skeleton Man (2004)

[Karl Henning]

The Straight Story, and accompanying supplements. 

[hopefullytrusting]

My favorite genre of movie is treasure hunting, and, thanks to Tubi, I have just found a new one - Tomb Invader - currently watching now, and that will be added to my to be purchased pile:

[hopefullytrusting]

If you like treasure hunting films, I highly recommend Tomb Invader - super satisfying - loved how coy the ending was - very fun watch, all in all.

Now, also thanks to Tubi: Hacked

[hopefullytrusting]

Hacked was an absolute snooze fest. The sole positive was that it introduced me to Courtney Hope Turner, who was very funny in it, so there's that. Glad to have found Tubi though, so many interesting movies to watch that I most definitely wouldn't have come across, but it is 2 AM here, so I think I need to mosey onto bed, lol.

[hopefullytrusting]

Sometimes you just get lucky: Scarlett (2020) is an action thriller which far exceeds its expectations. In fact, I would rank this among one of the best action thrillers I've seen. First things first, the lead - Melanie Stone - can actually run, like actually run - not only that, she can brawl - I actually thought she was Milla's stunt double, given how similar they are in appearance and her more rough-and-tumble nature. Honestly, I must return back to the running because this is one thing that Hollywood gets so wrong, especially among its women action heroes - I can't recall any of them being able to run properly, and hers is so elegant, so powerful.



The plot, of course, is boilerplate - t is an action thriller after all. We watch them for the action and sometimes the thrill, but it is really about the action, and this one is excellent on that front. The male lead is meant to be like John Wick, and while he is also good, he is not John Wick, but I do love that they at least keep it realistic in that they have to load their weapons - they run out of ammo - have to use fists and knives, so I like that a lot, again, although, eventually, they got sick of that realism, at least with the enemies, even so,  it still far exceeded expectations.

High recommend, if you like action thrillers.

[hopefullytrusting]

Hacker (2018), starring the lesser known of the Duff's, Hacker is a movie that feels like it has combined the scripts of Enemy of the State with Dead to Rights: Retribution, yes, the b-grade video game. Hacker is basically a downgrade in all departments. Enemy had Smith, Voigt, and freaking Gene Hackman, and Dead to Rights is Dead to Rights. There's meant to be a plot twist, but it comes off as comic and is, I believed, lifted directly from Alias – one of the greatest espionage shows ever. Duff's Disney legacy shows in the limits of her acting ability = in that now it feels like a Hallmark/Lifetime affair – at least that is where I suspect all those Disney actresses end up, lol.



For a movie being so new, its handle on technology is pre-Hackers, but unlike being quaint, as it was then – it comes off as anachronistic. It also feels like a film that doesn't recognize what it is. If you have ever seen a Neil Breen movie, then you already know, but, in short, Breen is always the savior in his movies – everyone else is stupid, and only he knows – this verges into that area. Like Breen they also try to squeeze in a gratuitous, gross relationship.

All in all, I cannot recommend this at all.

[SimonNZ]

Marlowe's Edward II with Ian McKellen from 1970.

Recently uploaded to the Shakespeare Network channel on YT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv3jnBCxCiw

[hopefullytrusting]

Having now watched a bunch of b-movies and below, as treasure hunting movies tend to fall into this slot - the number one thing that keeps them from rising above their station aka the main thing that separates them from their more successful and better counterparts - is that b-movies and below try to do to much - they take a kitchen sink approach to filmmaking rather than a grocery cart approach. That has been the consistent lesson I've seen as I watch all these films - thanks to Tubi - I will gladly suffer through any treasure hunting movie, usually, at least once.

[Madiel]

A Most Wanted Man



Philip Seymour Hoffman's final leading role. A spy story based on a John le Carré novel. Early on it wasn't really clicking for me, but it definitely got better as it went on. The whole plot is really about gradually building and building a plan, so in a way it made sense that my involvement in the story built as well.

I think I also had a bit of difficulty early on perceiving Hoffman as German (not least because the vast majority of the time, all of the "Germans" just speak English with a bit of an accent - but in some cases I know the actor IS German and I know Hoffman is not). But he's really very good. Especially right at the end of the movie, which I'm not going to discuss...