(https://community.goactuary.com/uploads/default/original/3X/3/8/383817c6a97ae423892b5fff24c591fc4f12c7d7.jpeg “Ben Kenobi - “If you strike me down…””)
Ben Kenobi - “If you strike me down…”
As someone who quit at SW#3/6 and hasn’t paid the slightest attention since, did Ben actually become more powerful than Darth could imagine? I kind of remember that point as an unfulfilled plot hole at the time.
As someone who has seen the rest and thinks the rest is pretty shitty, I think his being able to mentor Luke without having to be right next to him, like telling him to go to Yoda, etc., made Luke a more powerful Jedi than Darth could imagine.
An awful stretch this is, admit I.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Netflix. Never saw this when it came out. Didn’t realize that Guy Ritchie directed it, but it shows. A bit campy and two pretty dull actors (Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer) and Alica Vikander. By the end, I was wishing that they had done a couple more of them.
Spin Me Round on Hulu. Alison Brie works at an Olive Garden type restaurant and wins a week in Italy at the companies retreat. Nothing is as it seems, but it isn’t as bad as she thinks either. A bit of a fun romp and you get Aubrey Plaza and one of Jeff Baena’s last films.
Love Me at the theater. Half animated, half live action with Kristin Stewart and Steven Yeun as the only actors. Hundreds of years after man has made the earth uninhabitable for any life form, there is a smart buoy that finally gets enough sunlight to trigger the solar panels and it boots up. In the mean-time, there is a welcome satellite over the earth broadcasting messages to any life forms that may eventually travel here. The two connect and start a “relationship” based on some random social media posts by the two stars. Odd film, but satisfying. But if you are a science nerd, you’ll wonder how the satellite managed to circle the earth for maybe a billion years.
You’re Cordially Invited on Amazon. Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon have both booked the same small island for weddings. His is for his daughter, hers is for her sister. Not a Ferrell fan, but he was pretty good here and I found it an enjoyable watch.
Neil Young - The First Decade on Amazon. Weird documentary that focused almost entirely on the development of Young’s songwriting and his choices of who to work with and what songs and types of songs were written during this decade. Not much on his personal life which I would have enjoyed more.
Candy on Amazon. Weird little sex romp from the late 60’s with a wild cast including Richard Burton, Walter Matthau, James Corburn, Marlon Brando, John Astin (as twins), Ringo Starr, Sugar Ray Robinson and John Huston. Social commentary abounds to the point of excess.
Gas Pump Girls on Amazon. Following in the footstep of the prior film, the niece tries to save her uncles gas station when he has a non-lethal heart attack. She brings in all of her girl friends to drum up business. Nudity ensues.
Elektra Luxx on Amazon. A little less sleazy than Gas Pump Girls. Carla Gugino is a former porn star who now teaches self help sex classes. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a social media guy who chronicles here life. Some mistaken identities pop up. Not too bad for what it is.
Take Cover on Hulu. What happens when a hit man (sniper) loses his edge and decides to retire. Well, the company he works for tries to take him and his spotter out. Pretty good action flick.
Maggie Moore(s) on Hulu. Two women named Maggie Moore are murdered and sheriff Jon Hamm investigates. He meets the neighbor of Maggie #1, Tine Fey. Nick Mohammed is the deputy. I enjoyed it even though I find Hamm a bit much usually. He is much more dialed back in this film.
12 angry men, finally.
The general art of crowd persuasion is really well done. It reminded me a lot of playing Social Deduction games in college. The same bag of tricks of manipulation and memory and logic and emotion.
The 12 archetypes are great. Some (many) of the speeches are a bit too on the nose-- especially from obvious racist guy. But also the movie makes up for it with really good filler lines? I don’t know exactly what to call it, but the random small talk makes the whole movie feel really natural.
The evolution of EG Marshall’s character is what gets me.
He was the most Actudork.
It started out as a play. I agree it’s well done but a bit unbelievable at times. I assume it was written in an era when women couldn’t serve on juries?
If the play is done now it’s usually called 12 Angry Jurors and they tweak several of the parts to work for girls / women (probably mostly high school drama clubs performing it).
When did women start serving on juries? When we got the right to vote? So… 1920?
(Not that I was around in 1920, of course.)
Ok, to answer my own question… no, not 1920… it varies by state.
Pre-1920: 7 states
1920: 5 states
1921: 7 states
1957: federal juries
It was not until 1968 that Mississippi allowed women to serve on juries and in many states jury service for women was optional until 1979 (thank you RBG!)
And it was not until 1994 that it became illegal for attorneys to use their peremptory challenges to remove all jurors of whichever sex was undesirable to them.
It would be fun(ish). To rewrite 12 angry men as actuaries arguing heatedly over a rate increase based on a pricing model.
Racist guy be like – just look at those demographics! It’s right there. Those people. YKNWIM.
Ooooh, I have a good real life case. My employer wanted to start selling long term care 20-25 years ago. They did a crap ton of work to develop the product and two pricing actuaries said that the premium we’d need to charge was like 40% higher than the second highest cost provider and like 60% higher than average.
That’s ridiculous… go back and crunch your numbers again.
Ok… 60% higher than average.
They actually managed to convince the powers that be that they were right and the entire rest of the industry was wrong, and saved the company who knows how many hundreds of millions of dollars.
Anuja (Netflix) Nominated short. A bit forced on poverty in India.
Sing Sing (Airplane) I liked this, very realistic portrayal of an Arts program in Sing Sing. Based on a true story, starring many of the actual inmates.
A Different Man (Airplane) This started off really unique and interesting and then about half way through it lost focus. I think there was a message here, but it really got muddled.
I’m Not a Robot (YouTube) Nominated short, about a woman who keeps getting rejected answering I Am Not A Robot and starts questioning her existence. Good premise, but doesn’t carry through
Monsters, Inc.
I’m Still Here at the theater. Nominated for best picture, best actress and best foreign film this year. I could see it winning all three. Very moving story based on an actual politician in Brazil who was disappeared and the impact on his family. Most of the story took place in 1970/71 with short segments in the late 90’s and 2014. Gave me feels like Roma. If you get a chance to see it, take it.
How to Train Your Dragon & HTTYD 2 are in my Netflix top 10.
#1 was fun. # 2 was meh.
Going to see Capt America - Brave New World tonight (and tomorrow night)
ETA:
I enjoyed it. I initially thought Sam had superpowers because of his super aerobics and not being tired after a fight scene. Physics is still weird in some scenes, especially with the new Falcon’s suit. The post-credit scene was pointless as it had already been occurring, and I loved Red Hulk! I love the new villain .
I’d be interested in your take.
I like a good superhero movie . . . but don’t want one with a lot of over-the-top CGI/action sequences . . . or a pretty dumb implementation of what appears to be an interesting plot.
And the previews of BNW I’ve seen has me concerned that one or both of the above will be a significant part of the movie.
My exception to the over-the-top action sequences are the “traditional” Chinese B-movie martial arts flicks. For some reason, I enjoy those a lot. I think it has a lot to do with nostalgia as I watched a lot of those growing up as they were one of my dad’s favorite movies.
That or it was the only reasonable for of visual entertainment we had access to on most Sundays outside of football season.
watched Kubo and the Two Strings a couple of nights ago. Fantastic animation style, great music, good story.
watched Chariots of Fire last night. A classic for many reasons - the music, cinematography, acting is excellent. I didn’t remember that Jennie came to the games to cheer for her brother, so I got a little misty-eyed and fist-pumped when she showed up in the stands!
Quiz Lady - Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. on a plane, it was ok. Would not watch again
Look Both Ways on Netflix. An interesting spin where a college age girl takes a pregnancy test. Two story lines fall out of this, one with a positive test and one with a negative test. Her life is followed in each path over maybe five years. It was worth the watch, but it felt weird that a lot of the same people were still in her life under both paths. The ending was interesting since the two paths sort of collided.
A Perfect Enemy on YouTube. This has the feels of a Hitchcock thriller. French/Polish with subtitles. An architect meets a young woman who tells him some strange stories that hit too close to home. The stories include stalking and maybe murder.
Definitely, Maybe on Netflix. A rewatch. Have seen it many times. Still a fun watch. Lots of good people including Ryan Reynolds. One of Abby Breslin’s earlier roles.
Ender’s Game on Hulu. Haven’t seen this in a while. Sci-Fi. Average film where children are used to play wars games to save Earth, but at what cost to the kids?
Love Hurts at the theater. Ke Huy Quan (Goonies, Indiana Jones, Everything Everywhere All at Once) has his past as an enforcer brought back up on Valentine’s Day. Actually, saw this on Valentine’s Day too. Lots of fun action, some pretty bloody.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets on Max. Never saw this when it came out. Sci-Fi with an unlikeable male lead. Cara Delevingne is the female lead and was OK. Rather bland.
Captain America: Brave New World at the theater. Another in the Marvel world. We have Anthony Mackie as Captain America. Harrison Ford is now Thaddeus Ross replacing John Hurt. We get the Red Hulk. Lots of action, decent story, nothing spectacular. Worth a watch. Only one post-movie clip at the very end.
Which Brings Me to You on Hulu. Two wedding guests meet up and spend the next day or so together sharing their past histories. I enjoyed it, more romance than rom-com.
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed on Hulu. This was recommended on some YouTube channel as a great hidden gem from 2023 in the absurdist realm. It has all the feels of a first-year film school effort that was lucky to get a C. There is a 30 year-old woman who is submissive and is changing her master a number of times. She spends most of this time naked and engaged in sex acts. She has weird parents that she spends a lot of dinners/nights with. Very weird and remarkably awful.
Scrambled on Hulu. A woman in her mid-30’s getting invited to a ton of weddings and baby showers decides maybe she should grow up and stop random dating. She decides to freeze her eggs and we get to experience the effort and pain associated with it, which is unexpected in a comedy.
Paddington in Peru at the theater. Probably shouldn’t have gone on school vacation week on $5 Tuesday. This is the third film in the series. Paddington heads to Peru to help his aunt. Too much Antonio Banderas, could have used a touch more Olivia Coleman. Nice cameo at the end.
Cheryl Crow: Live at the Capitol Theater on Tubi. A concert film from 2017. Pretty good show with a few short clips of her discussing the show. Played most of the hits, a couple new songs from 2017.
Wait Until Dark - Audrey Hepburn 
