Movies Watched -- Prince of Broadway (2008)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

100 minute running time … I’m on a Sean Baker kick since I liked both Tangerine and Take Out, but this movie needed subtitles to understand what was going on, so I quickly went to fast forward with it. Prince Adu is a beautiful man from Ghana, but I can’t understand a word he says. I’ll try again once the new DVD is released with subtitles.

Time for a nose wipe, Dad

Movies Watched -- Take Out (2004)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Chinese. 87 minute running time so the perfect length … a day in the life of a Chinese food delivery guy (illegal alien) in Manhattan … pretty grim but I really enjoyed this and am surprised I never heard about the movie before now (made in 2004!) … the movie was made by an androgynous guy named Sean Baker and his Taiwanese girlfriend (?) Shih-Ching Tsou for a grand total of $3,000 .. this is a green-go, recommended movie.

I see now that Baker went on to make Tangerine (which I also loved) and The Florida Project (which I hated), and a couple other movies that I’ve never seen and have added to the queue.

You have to smile!

Movies Watched -- Pitch Black (2000)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

112 minute running time so maybe 20 minutes too long … this was a Vin Diesel thing … it didn’t look super terrible, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it … the cute Australian lead actress kept on slipping in and out of her American accent which I found charming … crash landing on a planet that happens to have a wonderful atmosphere and oxygen, what a great coincidence. I wasn’t into it.

Sure, send the most beautiful member of the crew down into the creepy monster hole

Movies Watched -- Old Henry (2021)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

99 minute running time … this wasn’t super terrible like most recent movies, but it still isn’t good enough to recommend … there’s a funny editing error just as the movie starts where a car’s headlights can be seen in the distance even though it’s supposed to be 1906 or something … they owe a great debt to No Country For Old Men in a lot of scenes… Sam Gamgee is a handsome lad, must take after his ma … it’s pretty violent, but it’s a “western” of sorts … I wasn’t super thrilled, but it may be the perfect example of a two star movie (one star is terrible, three stars is recommend, two is in-between).

Movies Watched -- The Unforgiven (1959)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

121 minute running time so at least 20 to 30 minutes too long … this was a weird one, based on a book written by the same guy who did The Searchers (you know, Natalie Wood, white baby raised as Injun) … in this one he flips the story so it’s an Injun baby (Audrey Hepburn!) raised as a white … Burt Lancaster is her big protective brother (inklings of incest) … Lillian Gish, ancient silent star, plays Ma (who lost her blonde-curled baby) … Audie Murphy plays another brother … the Injuns come to take Audrey back but just ride around in circles giving the white man plenty of time to pick them off with ease .. this is a John Huston movie … there are some nice shots framed, but the story is sort of mixed-up, and of course Audrey chooses her white family in the end and the whites triumph over the Injuns. Interestingly they use the term “red nigger” several times in the movie, which I’d never heard before. Also “redhide Injun.” This wasn’t terrible enough to get a one star avoid rating, but it obviously isn’t three star recommended.

(There’s also a great scene where a “half breed” chases a guy down by using three spare horses and hops from one to the next as they tire… I wonder who the stunt man was? There’s also a good scene where Lillian Gish plays the piano to battle the Injun flutes.)

A Red Nigger if ever was!

1,000 Axe Milestone Hit in Dig Out!

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Hit a huge milestone in Dig Out! today: the 1,000 axe mark. This game is on an old iPhone kept next to the toilet. They ruined the game with updates, but I have a blessedly prehistoric, unsullied version from 2016. “An accessible wanderer game for simpletons.”