What Non-New Films Have You Seen? (2018 Edition)

[sevendaughters]

quick: NTS live broadcasts in the cinema. bit pricey but I guess I'll not have the chance to see McKellen as Lear in reality. anyone been to one? worth it?

[Z]

Sylvester Stallone, the credible writer, actor and director

I mean... have you seen Paradise Alley?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

The Lonely Island team's second film, after Hot Rod. A mockumentary about an idiotic musician embarking on a disastrous tour in support of their latest album. Comparisons to This is Spinal Tap are inevitable, but I didn't think it suffered too badly from them. It actually made me think more of Walk Hard, thanks to the presence of Tim Meadows and a plethora of cameos by famous musicians. I think my biggest criticism would be that it felt like it fell just short of its comic potential.


Just to nitpick a point from three weeks ago.

Grosse Pointe Blank
... living in a mansion off your cushy gig on local radio.

That was her father's house. There's a line about her flat burning down or something.

I love that film. It does a whole load of stuff and pretty much nails all of it. I suppose you could criticise it for not investigating the true horror of all the violence that Martin perpetrates - if you were a boring old misery guts. The Cusack siblings and Dan Aykroyd reteamed in 2008 for War, Inc., which has been described as a spiritual sequel but, sadly, is apparently a bit shit.

[greenman]

Her being a bit of a self obsessed rich girl does seem part of the character to me and you do get somewhat of a hint of darkness with her discovering Martin with Benny's corpse albeit not really any focus on Martin having killed those undeserving of it.

Went beyond Last Year at Marienbad with Robbe-Grillet and watched Trans Europ Express, actually a bit easier to follow than I was expecting compared to something like say Pierrot le Fou, the meta stuff about making a film within a film being pretty straight forward and your left with most of it as more of a kind of dark satire of Bond/Breathless. Very nicely filmed although the feeling its perhaps enjoying the bondage and rapeyness rather a lot.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I watched Grosse Point recently as well and thought it was shite tbh.

[surreal]

Prisoners is a doozy. Wolverine vs Brian Wilson.

It is a doozy, but a warning - it's pretty hard going and no fun AT ALL.

You were not kidding.  Best thriller I've seen in a long time though, all put together so it keeps you guessing right up til the end.  Great stuff

[Sebastian Cobb]

Just watched Blind Massage, it's a bit like what would happen if John Hughes and Ken Loach teamed up and went to China and did a film about some young people working as blind masseuses, not the sordid kind, although one of them does fall in love with one of them and run off with one off with a brass. It was great.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I mean... have you seen Paradise Alley?

Yes, it's an underrated film.

I know he "sings the feem toon", but apart from that it's a rather gritty, well-made drama.

[Z]

Yes, it's an underrated film.

I know he "sings the feem toon", but apart from that it's a rather gritty, well-made drama.

I can't agree with that, it's him attempting to double down on the sentiment that worked in Rocky and it's just a very meh film. Not offensively bad (w/e of the theme) so it became forgotten rather than a trash classic but not a whole lot to it.

Some nice off kilter casting, but even though I'm the kind of person who _hates_ Rocky IV's bastardising of the characters, I'd still take the goofy fun of it over Paradise Alley.




Rogue One
This was alright really, wasn't it? Nice tone to the humour generally and knew which bits people were coming for without making the whole film become an anticipation of those bits. Maybe it's just because it didn't feel like it had an agenda to promote future releases like most Disney franchises do now.

[Cuellar]

Just watching Final Destination 3. Haven't seen the first two so I'm completely lost (only kidding!)

What is the point of these films. Its like having a pet jumping up and down and barking and wagging its tail frantically at you. I feel like it's trying to communicate something but both he and I have no idea what it is.

There's no drama, it's not really a horror, it's just a series of accidents. It's such guff.

One guy looks like Dennis from IASIP though so that's funny.

[thecuriousorange]

I haven't seen Paradise Alley but have a question. Is wrestling "real" in the film?

[amputeeporn]

Not sure this can truly count in this thread, but...

Second Time Around - Inspector Morse

Obviously part of a beloved and long running series, but if ever an episode rose above the constraints set by those that came before it, this is it. Incredibly, it was written by Danny Boyle (perhaps not so incredible, but feels interesting looking back). Having not watched Morse in a couple of years, I was so moved and mesmerised by Thaw's performance - and the script is terrific, with plenty of Morse lording it over Lewis, and Lewis getting his own back thrown in. Their whole relationship is hinted at so well that it could comfortably work as the first or last or only episode. Some real laughs among one of the darker plots they ever did.

A decorated detective is retiring to write his memoirs but dies after disturbing an intruder trying to steal his notes. From there, it's discovered that everything goes back to said detective's great unsolved case of a murdered 8-year-old girl...

It left a real note of sadness by the end because it struck me that nothing like this will ever get made again. No pandering, reflexive shit ideas (which I know the series itself wasn't totally free of), no crazed serial killer, no forced action or multiple murders etc. Just a great, well-told story that allows its performers to breathe.

As I say, I know this doesn't truly belong here but it's not worth its own thread necessarily.

[Cuellar]

Isn't that a different Danny Boyle that did all the Morses?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I haven't seen Paradise Alley but have a question. Is wrestling "real" in the film?

More or less, yes, but it focuses on underground wrestling in the 1940s, so the fights are quite brutal and non-choreographed.

It's not really about wrestling for the most part, though, it's a fairly downbeat, albeit sentimental, character drama about three penniless brothers trying to escape from the misery of life in Hell's Kitchen.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I can't agree with that, it's him attempting to double down on the sentiment that worked in Rocky and it's just a very meh film. Not offensively bad (w/e of the theme) so it became forgotten rather than a trash classic but not a whole lot to it.

Some nice off kilter casting, but even though I'm the kind of person who _hates_ Rocky IV's bastardising of the characters, I'd still take the goofy fun of it over Paradise Alley.

I agree that it doesn't really add up to much, but I thought Stallone did a pretty good job of conjuring an authentically grungy atmosphere. Unfortunately, that aesthetic jars with the pulpier and more sentimental aspects of the story. It's a bit of a mess, but as you say, it's certainly not a bad film. It's a halfway decent attempt at fusing neo-realist '70s gloom with Damon Runyon-esque wit and old Warner Brothers dramas such as Angels with Dirty Faces.

Rocky IV is much more fun, though, you're right. A very silly film that bears no relation whatsoever to the relatively low-key style of the first two films*, but pretty hard to resist as a piece of expertly orchestrated popcorn nonsense.

* Rocky III still has one foot in that world, but the series was beginning to lose touch with reality by that point.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Mildred Pierce - her daughter was a cunt.
Spring Night, Summer Night - rednecks and incest.
Bound - the matrix wasn't the first film they made that looked like a dated pastiche, now was it?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Isn't that a different Danny Boyle that did all the Morses?

The Danny Boyle directed two episodes of Morse, but the Daniel Boyle who wrote several Morse episodes is a different person.

[Cuellar]

Ah!

[amputeeporn]

The Danny Boyle directed two episodes of Morse, but the Daniel Boyle who wrote several Morse episodes is a different person.

That's crazy! I'd always just taken it for granted it was him. I love this place.

[zomgmouse]

Watched Chungking Express on the plane. Really striking, enjoyed it a lot. Got really into the stories and the style. (That was my first Wong Kar-Wai.)

[SteveDave]

Just watching Final Destination 3. Haven't seen the first two so I'm completely lost (only kidding!)

What is the point of these films. Its like having a pet jumping up and down and barking and wagging its tail frantically at you. I feel like it's trying to communicate something but both he and I have no idea what it is.

There's no drama, it's not really a horror, it's just a series of accidents. It's such guff.

One guy looks like Dennis from IASIP though so that's funny.

James Acaster on "Films To Be Buried With" said it's like someone telling the same joke over and over. You know the punchline: "Death" but the fun is in the ways (usually involving the wind) that Death gets them.

[alan nagsworth]

North by Northwest

One of those film's I've just never gotten around to. By Christ, it's good, isn't it! I mean, I know it's stating the bloody obvious here, but that cropduster scene is remarkable. I knew it was coming, but from the off, when Grant gets off the bus and looks about and you can see it in the background, argh sooo good. It probably says a lot about Hitchcock's methods of suspense that even when you know what's about to happen, you're still on the edge of your seat. I also absolutely did not predict that scene would end the way it does. I think I actually cheered at it.

Spectacular climactic scenes as well, I was well and truly gripped by the whole thing. Reading the trivia afterwards, I was amused at Hitchcock's early idea of having Grant suffer a sneezing fit and blowing his cover, hiding in Abraham Lincoln's nose (and that the film's working title also alluded to this). What a guy.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Watched Chungking Express on the plane. Really striking, enjoyed it a lot. Got really into the stories and the style. (That was my first Wong Kar-Wai.)

I've yet to watch any Wong Kar-Wai, my knowledge of Hong Kong cinema is shamefully scant

[Z]

Watched Chungking Express on the plane. Really striking, enjoyed it a lot. Got really into the stories and the style. (That was my first Wong Kar-Wai.)

Rewatched a load of him recently, those mid 90s ones held up really well but I was surprised how little time I had for In the Mood For Love, didn't even bother with 2046

[zomgmouse]

I've yet to watch any Wong Kar-Wai, my knowledge of Hong Kong cinema is shamefully scant

Apart from this I'm pretty sure my only Hong Kong cinema knowledge comes from kung fu films.

You'll dig this though! I think!

[SteveDave]

I watched "Cliffhanger" last night for the first time since the 90s. I still loved it. Sly looked quite cute in it too. His big brown doe eyes when he comes back to see her from "Northern Exposure" are lovely.

[Ferris]

I watched "Cliffhanger" last night for the first time since the 90s. I still loved it. Sly looked quite cute in it too. His big brown doe eyes when he comes back to see her from "Northern Exposure" are lovely.

His eyes are fine, but they are staring from a head like a crumpled refrigerator.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I watched "Cliffhanger" last night for the first time since the 90s. I still loved it. Sly looked quite cute in it too. His big brown doe eyes when he comes back to see her from "Northern Exposure" are lovely.

He looks like a cuddly wounded bear. I much prefer him in that mode - the sensitive, 'ordinary guy' action hero - than whenever he plays a humourless, tooled-up prick like Rambo* or Cobra.

Cliffhanger is great fun, you're absolutely right. It never pretends to be anything other than a big fuck-off blast of goodies vs baddies hokum. Lithgow quite rightly hams it up something rotten as the villain, he's tremendous.

* Sly is obviously in full-on wounded bear mode in the brilliant First Blood, but I refuse to accept that the violent right-wing superhero Rambo from the sequels is the same person.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

His eyes are fine, but they are staring from a head like a crumpled refrigerator.

His sad eyes are like a desperate plea from the soul: "I have taken far too many steroids and my neck is about to explode. Help me."

[Z]

Hearts Beat Loud
Very weird seeing a 2018 film featuring dialogue that's something like "Have you heard Animal Collective? They're the coolest thing ever!"
Brett Haley has been pretty good at doing small nice little films up to now, this one just wasn't anywhere near as nice... probably the Brooklyn setting more than anything else.