Last Movie You Watched

[hopefullytrusting]

Tubi is quite a resource!

For sure, it has a lot of movies that are in my wheelhouse, but it also has a fair number of Hollywood releases as well, so I am like a pig in a pen.

[Karl Henning]

For sure, it has a lot of movies that are in my wheelhouse, but it also has a fair number of Hollywood releases as well, so I am like a pig in a pen.

Happy as a tick on a dog's ear, as they say in Tennessee. 

[Karl Henning]

Now re-watching The Elephant Man. I do remember it being profoundly touching.

[Karl Henning]

Now re-watching The Elephant Man. I do remember it being profoundly touching.

I had forgotten, though, that it is a Brooksfilm and that Mrs Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft is in the cast.

[hopefullytrusting]

Meh, that is what I have to say about those Hemingway movies. I'd not recommend them, nor do I plan to rewatch them. She is just not compelling.

Moved onto a film with an actor I love: Josh Caras - Jackrabbit



Maria Vultaggio said it best: "E]xciting in theory, but lacking in execution." It feels like a short expanded into a full-length forgetting that a full-length to be full-length needs length.

But, Caras was unforgettable in it. He brought his nonchalant intensity to the screen, a cute sinisterism, and he plays his role to perfection, so it was worth it, for me, to watch him. The music was excellent, and when the pacing was on point the movie was also excellent - it just dragged in places because they needed length to make it full-length, and so they used aesthetics to make that - think arthouse trash like Gerry, but, when it hit its mark - it was terrifying tense - you will feel on edge, and wonder why you feel so scared - it captures an atmosphere so eloquently - it just couldn't sustain it, and, man, I wish it did because as is - the movie is middling, and I couldn't recommend it to anyone if I wanted them to trust my recommendations ever again.

Watch clips of Caras on YouTube, or, better yet watch him in his far better movie, the one he also directed: Leon's Fantasy Cut



This movie, in my opinion, not only has no flaws - it has some of the funniest, most realistic dialogue I've ever come across, and actual-real dialogue not that self-indulgent Sorkin tripe. The two leads - I've not laughed that hard in a while, and it starts right off the bat with them grocery shopping - so banal, so mundane, so realistic, and I was dying with laughter, lol.

[hopefullytrusting]

By pure happenstance, I left Tubi on autoplay, and after Jackrabbit it played a movie I never would have selected on my own: Parallel Minds (2020)



I've heard of none of the actors nor the director, but the interplay of the two leads plus the music drew me in and captured my attention - I am really enjoying myself, and I am fully invested - I cannot wait to see how this one ends.

[hopefullytrusting]

By pure happenstance, I left Tubi on autoplay, and after Jackrabbit it played a movie I never would have selected on my own: Parallel Minds (2020)



I've heard of none of the actors nor the director, but the interplay of the two leads plus the music drew me in and captured my attention - I am really enjoying myself, and I am fully invested - I cannot wait to see how this one ends.

This is like finding a diamond in the rough - this movie was incredible - gripping until the end, and the ending, which is where many movies falter, especially of this type, was pitch perfect. It helps, of course, that I am obsessed with its primary mechanism - memory, its cost, its storage, alongside ai/tech-transhumanist argument - think of the vide game Remember Me, one of the best video games ever, and that is this in movie form - also think of the long running strands in Deus Ex, the greatest video game series ever made, and that is here as well.

I'm quite literally shocked, and to have found it by accident - and a true accident, as I am not plugged into Tubi's algorithm, and the connection between Jackrabbit and it is conceptual, which is a pattern than an algorithm would take note of, so probably not pure happenstance, but I am now questioning my allegiance to research vs. serendipity.

High recommendation. Highest if you got any of the references above, lol.

[hopefullytrusting]

Longitudinal documentaries is where it is at: Frontline's Born Poor (2012-2025):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTbo4gb_c3o

Follows three families regarding generational poverty and the difficulty of escaping the cycle.

Spoiler alert: it is not uplifting - it has a realistic ending, not the Hollywood ending, and it is quite sad to see the regression of the progress made.

I will say it does compel one to question the notion of "adaptive preferences" from the Capability Approach because their aspirations and dreams aren't constricted. There is a clear pattern, but I won't spoil that.

I found it heartbreaking in a sorrowful way.

[hopefullytrusting]

Saw that this was offered for free on YouTube, as long as you watch some ads, so I was like why not: The Last Samurai



If I was able to make a film, I'd want everyone to be as dedicated and devoted to it as Tom Cruise. The movie is fun, but it is clearly weeb, and its ending, which is meant to be serious, is anything but, and that Cruise causes the emperor to reconsider the trade deal and bring the Americanized Japanese to heel is prima facie hilarious.

The battles and fights were amazingly choreographed, and all the acting and shots were top notch, but it has such a bloated sense of self-importance, but if can overlook that - the movie is a banger.

[Karl Henning]

Saw that this was offered for free on YouTube, as long as you watch some ads, so I was like why not: The Last Samurai



If I was able to make a film, I'd want everyone to be as dedicated and devoted to it as Tom Cruise. The movie is fun, but it is clearly weeb, and its ending, which is meant to be serious, is anything but, and that Cruise causes the emperor to reconsider the trade deal and bring the Americanized Japanese to heel is prima facie hilarious.

The battles and fights were amazingly choreographed, and all the acting and shots were top notch, but it has such a bloated sense of self-importance, but if can overlook that - the movie is a banger.

Kind of a Samurai version of Madame Butterfly. Flawed, but enjoyable. 

[hopefullytrusting]

First movie of the night: Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman:



Yes, I selected it explicitly because of the poster. There is a good chance I wont make it through the entire thing, but I had to at least give it a shot - I mean that is an awesome poster.

[hopefullytrusting]

First movie of the night: Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman:



Yes, I selected it explicitly because of the poster. There is a good chance I wont make it through the entire thing, but I had to at least give it a shot - I mean that is an awesome poster.

There is a lot to respect for something that states exactly what it is - this is a Latin exploitation film, and it gets right into it - you will know within minutes whether this is your kind of film or not - it is raunchy, and the violence is often slow-moed and over-the-top. The poster is true to form, and the main gimmick of the film - that everyone, basically, is a wanted assassin with a bounty on their head - including our lead - with a bounty starting at Zero - killing is gamified within this universe. The music is excellent - some classics from black exploitation, as well as pulse pounding techno when the action kicks up. It is very well shot, and it is a lot of fun.

It is heavily indebted to Grand Theft Auto, in fact, the entire structure of the movie follows the mission-based structure of Grand Theft Auto, and it is an excellent way to structure a film like this because it guarantees that you are always moving forward, so the film never loses momentum, which a movie like this is dependent on. It is also very funny, especially as the lead sort of just stumbles into success - like when he gets his first wanted status with the spray-pray method - sort of like the famous what scene from Pulp Fiction.

I keep getting the feeling of Only God Forgives, Run, Lol, Run, and Hardcore Henry.

It kept my attention, and I really did enjoy my watching experience.  The ending was epic, just like a videogame, lol.

I would recommend this movie to fans of the genre, but probably not to anyone else - it is a niche film.

I did look up the techno music after the film was over.

[hopefullytrusting]

I would have loved to have been in the pitch meeting for Warriors of Virtue:



That it bombed, and were able to convince someone to allow them to make a second movie - that is someone who has the true gift of the gab. Seriously, kangaroos? I was alive in the 1990s - Tank Girl - also, kangaroos! What were we thinking? I mean it is the common kid movie, but it is not the common kid movie packaging - I suppose that was one of their selling points - no one has done THIS before without questioning why no one had done it before - sort of like Dr. Malcolm in Jurassic Park semantizing the difference between could and should.

What is funny is I have no idea how I even came across this movie? I mean I saw it when it came out. I mean turtles were mind-blowingly successful - why not kangaroos? Still no clue how I saw it, but it taught a good life lesson in maybe the most strange way possible? You will most definitely remember the lesson it wanted to teach, and also how they beat the final boss - if you are truly a kid of the 1990s, lol.

All in all, this is a charming movie - with an unforgettable cast, but it is a kid movie, so high recommend if you are in the mood for a kid movie - otherwise not.

[hopefullytrusting]

Finishing at almost Noon exactly, Auntie Lee's Meat Pies:



Unlike the prior film, this one is for adult sonly and the poster tells you all you need to know from what to expect from this flick, so if you go in with the right expectations, you will have a good time. I mean it is Karen Black, one of the greats of this genre, and it is of the same grade as the fmv computer game - Harvester - tasty.

Recommended, as long as this is the kind of film that you want to watch.

[Todd]

Gladiator II: Electric Boogaloo.  Gladiator is one of the better sword and sandal entertainments made, though it's ultimately just a Russell Crowe vehicle with some juicy tidbits from Oliver Reed and entirely over the top scene chewing by Phoenix the Greater.  (Crowe's stories about his post-movie fame and experiences are perhaps more entertaining than the movie itself at this remove.)  What better way to ruin a legacy, such as it might by, than to make a sequel?  Ol' Ridley decided to make a proper ruin of the film.       

The sequel follows the adventures of Maximus' son, wherein he meets up with his mom, interacts with The Mandalorian, has to deal with the whims of not one, but two crazy emperors, and fight.  For something.  And fight he does.  Early on, he fights a baboon in the arena and he wins, without his face being ripped clean off.  While most people might poo-poo this outcome as beyond cartoonishly silly, having once gotten into a scrap with a particularly malodorous baboon at a Pantera concert, I can assure you, it ain't no thing.  There's even some shark fightin' in the arena.  Sharks!  (Are said sharks metaphors for Hollywood execs?  I, for one, want to know)  There's plotting, and deviousness, and violence, and debauchery, oh yes.  And it's all for nothing.  The movie is just awful.  There is but one near-saving grace, and that is, of course, Denzel, who does what he can with the slop that is the script.  Even he can't save the film.  The fact that the best scenes in the movie are flashbacks to and snippets from the first movie demonstrates how bad this movie is.

Until recent-ish years, Ridley Scott could be relied upon to deliver visually compelling films, even if they were too slick and silly.  Not so here.  The visual effects are often strikingly bad given the budget.  Some scenes have a smoothed over, almost Unreal Engine look and feel.  Worst of all, in some of the interior set pieces, I was entirely conscious of green screen usage, blocking, lighting, and sloppy color grading.  It looks like someone copying Scott's style.  I ended up watching it in four parts, separated by a couple weeks.  That's never a good sign. 

Tastes differ of course, but some people will forever hold Mr Scott in the highest esteem.  Like Ridley Scott: Ridley Scott Says Most New Movies Are 'S—' So He Rewatches His Own: 'We're Drowning in Mediocrity'

[hopefullytrusting]

Let me just say that @Todd and I had very different experiences with Gladiator 2:

https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,33.msg1610484/topicseen.html#msg1610484

lol

[Todd]

Let me just say that @Todd and I had very different experiences with Gladiator 2:

At least we agree, basically, on Denzel.  (He was overqualified for his role.)  I think I may have to approach any Scott film, directed or produced, from probably Prometheus on as slick B-movie material.

This makes me even more apprehensive about viewing Napoleon, which I have so far avoided.

[hopefullytrusting]

Z for Zachariah

First, the positive - the music is excellent, and the three leads were all excellent, especially Chiwetel Ejiofor, who, in my opinion, is asked to, in the end, carry the movie, and he can play the full range - he definitely has a killing rage in him that he brings to this role, and that is impressive, but you'll see my major issue by just looking at the poster below:



It is the post-apocalypse, and yet everything - including the leads - is beyond beautiful. The cinematography is equally clean, and how do they all stay so well-groomed?!

You can easily detect the direction this movie is going to take - look at the poster and guess. Because of that, you can also easily guess where it is going to end - look at the poster and guess.

I looked up the source material - there is a book and a movie upon which this was modeled - those were both much darker, so this is the Hollywood version, and that leads me to the thing that I don't like the most - rather than be bold and answer the question, they leave the question unanswered - ambiguity as an aesthetic choice is almost always done because of the weakness of the will - to fully commit to one's humanity - and that makes this movie, in the end, one that I simply cannot recommend.

It wanted to tell the truth, but in the end - wasn't even able to tell an effective lie.

[hopefullytrusting]

For me, when I think of cinema, I think John Woo's Red Cliff



This is a feast for the senses, and easily the best naval battles pre- Kim Han-min, who is the master of that style of filmmaking.

This is film mastery - a film that was meant to be made, and it was meant to be made by that director. It all just lined up perfectly. The scale of the film is epic, grand, tragic, in short - mythic. These kinds of films are generational and rare and truly do demand to be seen on the big screens, as they are diminished without the stage. They are still fun to watch, but something is lost in that experience like Saving Private Ryan or the films of Nolan.

[JBS]

Finishing at almost Noon exactly, Auntie Lee's Meat Pies:



Unlike the prior film, this one is for adult sonly and the poster tells you all you need to know from what to expect from this flick, so if you go in with the right expectations, you will have a good time. I mean it is Karen Black, one of the greats of this genre, and it is of the same grade as the fmv computer game - Harvester - tasty.

Recommended, as long as this is the kind of film that you want to watch.

Looks painfully punny.