Tubi or not Tubi (part 1)
Tubi is a free streaming service, with ads. The ads keep it free and Tubi adamantly claims they will always be free (thus, will always have ads). Now the ads may be a non-starter for many of you, but at least they warn you when they are coming with a countdown (unlike the evil You Tube) and are generally at periods in the film that make sense (unlike the evil You Tube, which thinks nothing of interruption mid-sequence). The ad breaks are not especially long, but you can't fast forward through them, so you have to plan for them and try to be serene. But if your choice is to Not Tubi, who can blame you?
The good news is Tubi specializes in films that aren't necessarily crushed by commercial interruption. The heroes who curate for Tubi are an equal opportunity programming machine, catering to all heights of brows, from the highest to the lowest. But they specialize in the lowest. And they seem to take pride in having stuff that simply isn't anywhere else. This can sometimes lead to less than stellar prints, but if you are, say, a Sergio Sollima completist, where else are you gonna go?
So begins my first in a series of Tubi recommendations. I will be emphasizing those hard-to-find-anywhere else titles, and these are going to be, let's just say, a little offbeat in nature. But that is what Tubi does best.
- Robert Duvall
If the recent death of the great Mr. Duvall has you contemplating a deeper dive into his filmography than his anointed classics, Tubi has you covered.
Tomorrow (1972) In many ways the film that put Duvall on the map as an actor, released just prior to the first Godfather. A Horton Foote adaptation of a William Faulkner short story, it is widely considered the best screen adaptation of any Faulkner work. Duvall is incredibly truthful and moving as the film's lead character, Jackson Fentry, a lonely farmer who takes in a drifter (Olga Bellin), leading to tragic circumstances. Duvall was absolutely robbed of an academy award nomination. He would receive one shortly thereafter for The Godfather.
The Chase (1966) Duvall nestles into one of the greatest casts ever assembled (Brando, Fonda, Redford, Dickinson, etc.) in Arthur Penn's acerbic Southern Gothic. Duvall plays a boot-licking cuck, and it is impressive he pulls it off for an actor who normally projects such unstoppable masculinity. Written by Lillian Hellman, who knew a little something about awful southern people, the film was deemed a disappointment at the time, given the talent behind and in front of the camera. But today, as we live through this iteration of America redolent with racism and white privilege, it is as timely as ever. Brando is great here as well, as the town's one decent man, who, apropos of the film's ethos, gets the living shit beat out of him.
Assassination Tango (2002) Duvall wrote, directed, partially self-financed and stars. Duvall plays a hitman who kills time between assignments learning and falling in love with the Argentine Tango and his dance partner (his real-life wife Luciana Pedraza). It isn't an entirely successful film, but it is a marvelous glimpse into Duvall, who had a real-life-long love affair with the Tango. The man could move.
Ever wondered about this oft-cited, extravagantly titled and frequently co-opted genre of grotty horror-thriller film (mostly Italian of origin)? Tubi has an incredible selection. A few recommended titles (just do a keyword search on "Giallo" on Tubi and they are nicely collected there for you):
Tenebrae, directed by the King of the Giallo, Dario Argento. Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, the exquisitely (and typically) titled Sergio Martino joint. Lisa and the Devil, directed by the great Mario Bava, with Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer!! Burial Ground, a truly unsettling zombie/Giallo hybrid. Don't Torture a Duckling, directed by the one and only Lucio Fulci...I could go on and on...
Quentin Tarantino wrote a (middling) book of film criticism called Cinema Speculation a couple of years ago. He isn't much of a critical thinker, but he does have great and eclectic taste, and the kooks at Tubi have collected all the films cited by Q.T. in one place, linked above.
