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.