ARQ (2016) I just streamed this little time travel movie on Netflix and was really disappointed when it was over because I wanted more. Since it was rated TV-MA I thought I was watching the pilot to a new series, but it was just a made for tv movie. It’s similar to Edge of Tomorrow and Groundhog Day in that the protagonists live one day and loop back and do it again. It follows the time loop movie rules with a few…
Tubitv.com Tubi TV (Tube-E TV) has an impressive library for a new up-and-comer to the online streaming market. Tubi TV is a free streaming service that utilizes commercials for funding, much like YouTube and Crackle. I searched through their catalog and found many movies I liked so I thought I would list a few as an introduction to their service. 12 Angry Men (1957) Henry Fonda stars as the sole holdout in a jury negotiating a seemingly open and shut case involving a…
I love time travel movies. They are fun, they can be great, and they can be silly. I believe they exist in their own genre, and not necessarily a subset of science-fiction, since many exist without any scientific rationale and or weird time traveling equipment. Many are built on the case of a single what-if. What if I could go back in time but only if I am naked like in The Terminator (1984) or what if I could travel back in…
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) A girl walks home alone, a boy searches for his stolen cat, a drug addict jones for a fix, and a drug dealer mistreat everyone he meets. Also a strange quiet girl might be a vampire. If this is your first foray into contemporary Iranian cinema you might be a little confused by this quiet/still/strange little black-and-white film, but stick with it and your time investment will be shortly repaid. This film…
New to Netflix: Short Term 12 Looking for a solid drama to stream tonight? Look no further. Grace and Mason run a group home for teens not placed by the foster care system. These teens are troubled, hurt, angry, and unwilling to be helped, just like most kids but more so. Parenting is hard, but without the advantage of a biological connection it’s almost impossible. Grace slowly builds trust while overcoming her own childhood traumas. Great writing, directing, and acting make…
The great thing about streaming is if you don’t like it, you can bail. Here are six Netflix streaming movies I watched all the way through. I am not saying they are good, just that I liked them. Safety Not Guaranteed – Is he crazy? Is he a genius? You have to watch to the end to find out. Jeff, Who Lives at Home – He is a clueless loser stoner, but pot allows him to see “the fundamental interconnectedness of all things”….
Black Snake Moan (2006) Sometime you see someone in pain and you think you can’t possibly help them, but still you try. “Black Snake Moan” is about broken people. People that life has not been kind to, people on the short end of the stick. It’s a story about intervention, and about trying to anchor someone to an unmovable object, to help save them from themselves. Many people like this for being an entertaining story of a messed up girl…
IP Man (2008) My love of martial arts started with the TV show Kung Fu. I progressed to movies featuring the likes of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, and the legendary Ralph Macchio. Unfortunately while the fight scenes were compelling, the acting and story telling was usually lacking. The genre was littered with exceptions like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, and “Kung-Fu Panda” but unfortunately they were the exceptions not the rule. The latest addition to this short list is…
A Bag of Hammers (2011) What do you do when life hands you lemons? Everyone knows the answer to that question. How about when you’re handed “A Bag of Hammers”? Really, what can you make from hammers? This small drama about two slacker/thieves living in LA. gives you one possible poignant solution. Satisfied with their life of petty crime these two man/boys are forced to deal with their troubled past in order to prevent the same misery from repeating…
Fetching Code (2005) If you could change the past what would you do? Would you tell JFK to stay out of convertibles? Maybe you would do something a little less grand like close your windows before it rains. This movie is about changing something in between. A young man gains the ability to time travel in order to save his girl, just when she needs it most. But even if you could change the past, what would you do? Where would…