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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostTue Jul 07, 2020 1:30 pm 
Visited my folks, checked out a couple things streaming on Netflix. "Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable" is a documentary that covers a much larger time frame than the biopic "Soul Surfer" about her. Really interesting I thought. She got married and had a baby, and kept trying to become a pro surfer who is missing an arm. She's remarkable. "Ride Like a Girl" is based on a true story in Australia. Sam Neill is a single father of 10 kids, Teresa Palmer is the youngest of the kids. Almost all of them became jockeys under their dad's tutelage. All the other kids knew their mom but she died when Palmer's character was a baby. She eventually gets a ride in the Melbourne Cup, something equivalent to one of the Triple Crown races in the U.S. At the time, she was only the 5th female jockey to ride in it over 150+ years. Started a little slow but it was well done, worth a watch. Another interesting thing about the movie, the second youngest child has Down Syndrome. He actually played himself in the movie, I thought that was pretty cool. All the other family members were portrayed by actors of course.

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PostTue Jul 07, 2020 7:02 pm 
olderthanIusedtobe wrote:
eventually gets a ride in the Melbourne Cup, something equivalent to one of the Triple Crown races in the U.S
Melbourne Cup day is a holiday in the state of Victoria and the Australian Capitol Territory (where Canberra, Australia's capitol, is located). It's a very big deal there.

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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PostWed Jul 08, 2020 4:07 pm 
"Ballet Shoes" was an interesting British movie. Hadn't heard of it til I was surfing thru stuff available for streaming on Amazon Prime. Stars Emma Watson, somewhere in the middle of the Harry Potter series, and Lucy Boynton near the beginning of her career, among others. A bit hard to describe. Those 2 and one other (Yasmin Paige) are orphans adopted one by one by an anthropologist or something from London, so they grow up as sisters. He's gone all the time, so they are mostly raised by his great niece who also came to live with him when she was orphaned. He disappears, money gets tight, they take on several boarders and the girls find some work in various stage productions singing, dancing and/or acting. It's more interesting than I made it sound. The 3 girls might be the main characters, but the great niece and the various boarders and a few other people that enter their lives all have some arcs to their stories. A lot packed into a bit less than 90 minutes.

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PostSun Jul 12, 2020 3:47 pm 
"Bad Education" - Extremely well done/acted movie about the largest embezzlement scandal in US involving the public school system. Available on APrime https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bad+education+trailer&view=detail&mid=E9BED635C443F2EFA799E9BED635C443F2EFA799&FORM=VIRE0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dbad%2520education%2520trailer%26qs%3dn%26form%3dQBRE%26sp%3d-1%26ghc%3d1%26pq%3dbad%2520education%2520trailer%26sc%3d7-21%26sk%3d%26cvid%3dF99CBFDAC2F94C748D3C59AF917EB7E1

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostFri Jul 17, 2020 11:53 pm 
Not a movie. I started streaming "The Capture" from Peacock. Halfway thru, only 6 episodes. Pretty compelling. It's a conspiracy theorist's fever dream. With deep fakes advancing by the day, you can't believe ANYTHING you see anymore, even what's supposed to be live CCTV. No idea where it's going, but so far everybody is suspect including the British military, their police (especially anti-terrorism), their intelligence community, and some rogue American operatives of some type who are poking about too.

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PostSun Aug 16, 2020 6:18 pm 
Been going back and forth concentrating more on TV series and movies. Some duds w/ the movies, and some I've watched several times previously so I knew what to expect. I have found several I've enjoyed from the various streaming platforms, pretty much none of them I'd ever heard anything about previously. To start with, I don't understand why Katherine Hughes isn't a star. She's talented, she's got kind of a Hailee Steinfeld look going for her. I've really enjoyed her performances in a couple I've seen recently. Coincidentally both were about dealing with the grieving process. I don't think it's a spoiler, it's revealed right away. In "Monsoon" her and her male best friend finally get together, and immediately after are in a car accident. She doesn't survive, he does. He's pretty lost. She appears to him throughout the film and they interact with each other, but of course it's all in his mind. The memory of her keeps him going, but also kind of holds him back from moving forward with his life. It's sad, but it's well done. Just watched another one with her called "Say You Will." She is alive throughout in this one. She is the girl a classmate has been obsessing about throughout their high school years, but they never really talked. After they graduate they become friends and grow close. The guy is trying to navigate thru life after his father committed suicide about a year previously. It's a moving, bittersweet story about trying to figure it out, and also being okay with not having all the answers.

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PostSun Aug 16, 2020 6:29 pm 
I'm not sure I've ever seen a film in Russian before. "I Am Dragon" was all Russian, with subtitles. It does have a dragon, but it's not an action movie. I thought the production value was good for a low budget film. I found it to be quite interesting. "Operator" was a bit of an unusual take on a romantic drama. A young couple, the guy is developing an automated phone system for a health care network. He convinces his wife to be the voice of the system. He gets fairly obsessed with his work and starts to focus more on the digital version of his wife than the real version. It gets a bit dark, but enjoyable overall. Martin Starr and Mae Whitman are the couple, I've seen both of them in a few other things. "Waking Madison" was really different. About a woman struggling with what used to be called multiple personality disorder, apparently now it is known as dissociative identity disorder. The movie is purposely disorienting, it's hard to know what's happening. It kept my interest. I'm a big fan of Imogen Poots, she's in it, also Elisabeth Shue. What added to my confusion is that the credits on Amazon didn't list the main actress. It was tripping me out how much she reminded me of Sarah Roemer. Well, that's because it was her. Very different role from anything else I've seen her do (she's really disappeared, she was kind of a big thing around a decade ago).

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PostSun Aug 16, 2020 6:41 pm 
"Ways to Live Forever" is a lot less depressing than it sounds. About 2 12ish aged boys, best friends, who are both very sick. They come up with a list of things they want to do while they are alive. It's touching, and more uplifting than you'd think. While it was centered on the boys, it was also about their families' struggles as well. It was also one of the earliest appearances of Ella Purnell (who has the claim to fame of playing younger versions of Keira Knightley, Angelina Jolie and Margot Robbie in 3 films). "Banana Split" was at a few moments painfully awkward, but overall I liked it. Hannah Marks breaks up with her first boyfriend, Cole Sprouse, right after they graduate. Lianna Liberato is the new girl in town and Cole gets together with her. Then for some strange reason Hannah and Lianna become best friends, but they don't tell Cole about it. But his best friend knows. What could possibly go wrong?

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PostSun Aug 16, 2020 7:00 pm 
olderthanIusedtobe wrote:
I'm not sure I've ever seen a film in Russian before.
Really? Battleship Potemkin (1925, Russian) is probably one of the most significant pieces of cinema of the 20th century:
Don't waste your time on T-34 (2019, Russian) unless you absolutely cannot find anything else to watch.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostSun Aug 16, 2020 7:05 pm 
.... while I'm here in this thread.... currently Netflix is airing The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009, USA), a twisted comedy in which George Clooney pulls off his role brilliantly, with fabulous support from Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and Ewan McGregor. I had to stop in the middle of it - I got distracted by something else - and then went back a couple days later and watched it again from the beginning. Not quite as weird as many others I've seen, and there are scenes where you'd swear the Coen brothers were involved, but definitely a cinematic romp well worth an hour-and-a-half of your time.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostFri Sep 11, 2020 10:38 pm 
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=eye+of+instanbul&docid=607990360816813953&mid=E87E68B7244EB4311FE6E87E68B7244EB4311FE6&view=detail&FORM=VIRE An interesting character, and holey moley, the pictures. . . . . . .

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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PostFri Sep 11, 2020 10:49 pm 
Watching the 1967 Casino Royale on TCM, all star cast, at least 5 directors, all time bad picture. Wasting Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, and many others.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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PostSat Oct 10, 2020 11:20 pm 
This thread has been inactive. I've seen a bunch of movies, hit and miss of course. Will only mention the most recent, I know there are at least a few other sci fi fans out there. With that genre, of course you want a good story, but the look of the film is important too. You can get some really good visuals without being big budget. So anyway just streamed "Archive" on Amazon. Stars Theo James (seen him in several other movies) and Stacy Martin (wasn't familiar with her), also small roles by Rhona Mitra and Toby Jones. Mines familiar territory--robotics, A.I., transferring consciousness/memory, tortured genius, ethics of pushing technological boundaries, psychological costs of isolation. I'm a firm believer that sci fi doesn't need to be uniquely original, so much of it is standing on the shoulders of authors from many decades ago anyway. So this was somewhat slow paced, but I enjoyed it. It will probably remind you at least a little bit of numerous other films, the two that really came to mind for me are "Ex Machina" and "I Am Mother." The visuals as much or more as the story. One of the bots looked very similar to Mother and the setting, a research facility/home in a starkly beautiful landscape, with no one else around, was very much like "Ex Machina."

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PostSun Oct 18, 2020 12:57 am 
A really great respite from covid craziness, the mania of politics, any stuff that gets you down. Not a "nature documentary" as such, more like a meditation on inter-species relatedness. Good music score. I was entranced and briefly transported. Now streaming on Netflix.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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PostSun Oct 18, 2020 11:45 am 
Thanks Anne, that looks really interesting. I read a book about octopus a while ago that was fascinating. They are very intelligent, and because they are so different than us we can't really understand just how intelligent they are. I might be misremembering, but I think there was some reason to believe that each arm basically has its own "brain" and they could function or even behave very independently from each other.

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