Movies Watched -- Cargo 200 (2007)

In Russian. 89 minute running time. Horror movie of sorts, based on “real events” that happened in 1984 in the Soviet Union… psychopathic guy who turns out to be a police chief kidnaps a teenage girl … pretty interesting to see how screwed up the place was (and is, I suppose) … rape, murder, torture, necrophilia … yeah, it’s dark… I didn’t hate it, but this is not something the average person should ever see, it’s just too horrifying.

UPDATE: Upon reflection, I really liked this. Three stars (recommended). Green-go.

Captain Zhurov

Movies Watched -- The Constant Gardener (2005)

129 minute running time …. way too long and convoluted and who cares about this murder and conspiracy when the story is this badly told? Boooorrriinnnggg. Ralph Fiennes mincing around as a wimpy British diplomat in Kenya, Rachel Weisz as his pain in the ass wife. You can give it a miss, I wish I had.

You can have me if you show me the letter [slutting for justice]

Movies Watched -- Tell No One (2006)

In French. 125 minute running time but felt like a lifetime. God, this was an awful movie. How John Farr, who is normally a RELIABLE recommender of movies, could mislead me this badly is just inexplicable. Tell No One is absolute crap, a convoluted, ridiculous story … yes, I know, it’s a French movie so a certain degree of absurdity should be expected, but this goes beyond the pale.

“Hitchcock would be mighty proud of this thrilling, fast-paced mystery.” Are you insane, John Farr? Hang on, the internet says director Guillaume Canet “is sexy and many gay men wish he was gay.” This may explain things. Do NOT see this movie and warn everyone you know NOT to see it, if they ask about it.

Planting Some New Seeds

Kee’ahn with “Better Things” … I dig it:

Movies Watched -- The Tin Drum (1980)

In German. 163 minute running time which means it’s an epic … normally I would say it’s an hour too long, but this was so wonderfully weird that it gets a pass … John Farr’s blurb is well-written and on point… the movie is bizarre and strangely mesmerizing, it’s a must-see, it’s a green-go.

Charles Champlin’s review

You belong in the loony bin, you scumbag!

A Bossa Is Born

Ignacio María Gómez with “Napin Dya” … he’s Argentinian, but I think he’s singing some kind of invented gibberish, which I dig:

Movies Watched -- The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975)

In German. 106 minute running time. I don’t know what was going on in Germany in 1975, but this was a political movie attacking tabloid journalism and the legal establishment … it didn’t interest me much and I wasn’t entertained. This was another clunker of a recommendation by John Farr (“a disturbing and thought-provoking entry”), nah, it was heavy-handed and sort of ridiculous, you can skip it.

You filthy, cowardly pig! [sounds better in German]

Talk Myself Into A Lie

Courtney Marie Andrews leads with “Burlap String” .. great song, I love her voice:

Apple Mentions in Berkshire Annual Report

61,242,652 shares Apple Inc. 1.1 (percent owned) 6,747,000,000 (cost) 7,093,000,000 (market value 12/31/16)

166,713,209 shares Apple Inc. 3.3 (percent owned) 20,961,000,000 (cost) 28,213,000,000 (market value 12/31/17)

255,300,329 shares Apple Inc. 5.4 (percent owned) 36,044,000,000 (cost) 40,271,000,000 (market value 12/31/18)

250,866,566 shares Apple Inc. 5.7 percent owned) 35,287,000,000 (cost) 73,667,000,000 (market value 12/31/19)

907,559,761 shares Apple Inc. 5.4 (percent owned) 31,089,000,000 (cost) 120,424,000,000 (market value 12/31/20)

“Berkshire’s investment in Apple vividly illustrates the power of repurchases. We began buying Apple stock late in 2016 and by early July 2018, owned slightly more than one billion Apple shares (split-adjusted). Saying that, I’m referencing the investment held in Berkshire’s general account and am excluding a very small and separately-managed holding of Apple shares that was subsequently sold. When we finished our purchases in mid-2018, Berkshire’s general account owned 5.2% of Apple. Our cost for that stake was $36 billion. Since then, we have both enjoyed regular dividends, averaging about $775 million annually, and have also – in 2020 – pocketed an additional $11 billion by selling a small portion of our position. Despite that sale – voila! – Berkshire now owns 5.4% of Apple. That increase was costless to us, coming about because Apple has continuously repurchased its shares, thereby substantially shrinking the number it now has outstanding”

907,559,761 shares Apple Inc. 5.6 (percent owned) 31,089,000,000 (cost) 161,155,000,000 (market value 12/31/21)

“Apple – our runner-up Giant as measured by its yearend market value – is a different sort of holding. Here, our ownership is a mere 5.55%, up from 5.39% a year earlier. That increase sounds like small potatoes. But consider that each 0.1% of Apple’s 2021 earnings amounted to $100 million. We spent no Berkshire funds to gain our accretion. Apple’s repurchases did the job. It’s important to understand that only dividends from Apple are counted in the GAAP earnings Berkshire reports – and last year, Apple paid us $785 million of those. Yet our “share” of Apple’s earnings amounted to a staggering $5.6 billion. Much of what the company retained was used to repurchase Apple shares, an act we applaud. Tim Cook, Apple’s brilliant CEO, quite properly regards users of Apple products as his first love, but all of his other constituencies benefit from Tim’s managerial touch as well.”

Movies Watched -- Open Your Eyes (1997)

In Spanish. 117 minute running time so at least half an hour too long, plus this was just a mess from start to finish, like a Spanish Trust Fund Kid’s project, it was just terrible. The only good part was seeing Penelope Cruz, who is very beautiful. Once again John Farr has given me a shit recommendation. “This dark, boldly inventive film, accented with intriguing futuristic elements, keeps its audience engrossed and guessing until the very last frame.” No, John, it’s just crap.

Eyes Wide Open