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

Started by zomgmouse, January 07, 2018, 12:20:15 PM

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bgmnts

Its well cheeky of the French to have directors Besson AND Bresson.

Imagine us having Hitchcock and Hitchcocke. Bollocks.

zomgmouse


bgmnts

One is American and the other isnt even really a filmmaker.

Dex Sawash

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 30, 2018, 12:41:07 AM

Can't tell if this is a joke or a legitimate confusion of Besson and Bresson.

Both, I read it as Besson and rushed right off to find this previously unknown title.

zomgmouse

Fassbinder
Fassbender

Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen

bgmnts


zomgmouse



Quote from: zomgmouse on May 30, 2018, 12:41:07 AM
The Cameraman, Buster Keaton. Again I'd heard so much about this but it was just a bit subpar. Some inspired sequences (staircase especially) but really not enough to sustain a feature.

this is incorrect sir

zomgmouse


It's packed with lots of lovely little moments, lots of great little acting touches, and it's one of the most perfect uses of Buster as a performer, a perpetual loser but helpless romantic who will do reckless things to win the affection of a girl. That's the standard Keaton character of course, but it feels like the most finely sketched version of that. I also like all the vaguely metatextual stuff about being a filmmaker too. I have to say that I feel that it escalates quite satisfyingly, although I could see why someone might think that it was a bit too episodic in structure (but then again, so is Chaplin's City Lights). Not his best film, but one of his better ones. It's been a few years since I've seen it though, so if I watch it again and it's actually sub par then boy will my face be red.

Sin Agog

#791
Quote from: zomgmouse on May 30, 2018, 12:41:07 AM
The Cameraman, Buster Keaton. Again I'd heard so much about this but it was just a bit subpar. Some inspired sequences (staircase especially) but really not enough to sustain a feature.
Can't tell if this is a joke or a legitimate confusion of Besson and Bresson.

They both did films about Joan of Arc.

Saw Bresson's Lancelot of the Lake a week or two ago.  May be my new favourite of his.

zomgmouse

Re The Cameraman: It's a bit telling when one of the biggest laughs I had was from an intertitle - then again, an intertitle was the punchline to "The Boat", so what do I know.

zomgmouse

A Place in the Sun. Blimey what an emotional punch. The Clift/Taylor combo was phenomenal. Drama at close to its finest.

Love that one. Clift really did have a great face, one that could mine new depths in anxiousness and sorrow. And the young Elizabeth Taylor was to die for. A Place in the Sun is the Hollywood studio era doing what it does best. Drama, glamour, allure, tears. Love it.

Dr Syntax Head

Manchester by the sea. Loved it. I'm a big fan of that kind of American drama though. Proper sucker for it.

Valerian. Bored the hell out of me. Nice to look at and all that but by god it dragged on.

Gerry. Casey Affleck and Matt Damon lost in a desert. That's it. It was stunning. Like a series of still photos rather than a film. Will deffo watch again.

zomgmouse

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on May 30, 2018, 02:22:20 PM
Love that one. Clift really did have a great face, one that could mine new depths in anxiousness and sorrow. And the young Elizabeth Taylor was to die for. A Place in the Sun is the Hollywood studio era doing what it does best. Drama, glamour, allure, tears. Love it.

Stevens was magnificent at this really. Giant is another fantastic example of all that.

Shit Good Nose

Just finished the Criterion restoration of Barry Lyndon, with the (finally) corrected aspect ratio.  Wow.

Large Noise

Subscribed to the BFI streaming service, trying to rattle through as many classics as I can before my Free Trial runs out. So far I've watched:

Breathless and My Life to Live- Godard. I'm sort of disappointed in myself in how I'm not really enjoying Godard that much. I can't put my finger on why exactly, but his films seem to be kind of rambling and disjointed.

A Woman Under the Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie- Cassavetes. Thought both of these were great. Studies in people putting on a brave face while their world collapses. They both seem to completely nail the atmosphere they're going for, and there are no neat endings.

Rashomon- Kurosawa. A lot of characters who seem to agree with 2018 Germaine Greer.

zomgmouse

Quote from: Large Noise on June 01, 2018, 06:31:38 AM

Breathless and My Life to Live- Godard. I'm sort of disappointed in myself in how I'm not really enjoying Godard that much. I can't put my finger on why exactly, but his films seem to be kind of rambling and disjointed.

Don't be. He's pompous and overrated. You have no obligation to enjoy his work despite his canonisation in the cinephile world. I quite liked Breathless as it seemed energetic and passionate but the latter was very much indicative of his work which on the whole for me is tremendously dull and pseudointellectual. No point in forcing yourself.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Large Noise on June 01, 2018, 06:31:38 AM
Subscribed to the BFI streaming service, trying to rattle through as many classics as I can before my Free Trial runs out. So far I've watched:

Breathless and My Life to Live- Godard. I'm sort of disappointed in myself in how I'm not really enjoying Godard that much. I can't put my finger on why exactly, but his films seem to be kind of rambling and disjointed.

A Woman Under the Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie- Cassavetes. Thought both of these were great. Studies in people putting on a brave face while their world collapses. They both seem to completely nail the atmosphere they're going for, and there are no neat endings.

Rashomon- Kurosawa. A lot of characters who seem to agree with 2018 Germaine Greer.

IIRC loach's Land and Freedom is on that, it's really worth watching; heavily based on Homage to Catalonia.

Alphaville is a really good Godard film. Every frame is beautiful.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: zomgmouse on June 01, 2018, 08:47:18 AM
Don't be. He's pompous and overrated. You have no obligation to enjoy his work despite his canonisation in the cinephile world. I quite liked Breathless as it seemed energetic and passionate but the latter was very much indicative of his work which on the whole for me is tremendously dull and pseudointellectual. No point in forcing yourself.

I missed the original comment, but I HATE Godard.  Christ, if I never have to sit through Weekend again I'll die happy.  Even Breathless left me moderately whelmed at best.

I find Godard tremendous and very rewarding, but zomgmouse is right that there's no reason to be disappointed in yourself for not enjoying the work of a canonised director. There's no point continually beating your brains with someone's work if you've given it a fair chance and simply don't connect with it. I don't think I'll ever understand what appeal Fellini holds, and having seen about 10 of his films I think it's safe to say that it's just not my flavour. Art really is like that, and it's no reason to feel bad.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on June 01, 2018, 04:06:08 PM
I find Godard tremendous and very rewarding, but zomgmouse is right that there's no reason to be disappointed in yourself for not enjoying the work of a canonised director. There's no point continually beating your brains with someone's work if you've given it a fair chance and simply don't connect with it. I don't think I'll ever understand what appeal Fellini holds, and having seen about 10 of his films I think it's safe to say that it's just not my flavour. Art really is like that, and it's no reason to feel bad.

Well, quite - I have major problems with most of PTA's (a lot of stuff about very little) and Wes Anderson's (odd for the sake of being odd) films.

On the other hand, To the Wonder aside, I'm a huge Malick fan, and he's probably the most divisive "important" director.

Large Noise

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on June 01, 2018, 10:57:43 AM
IIRC loach's Land and Freedom is on that, it's really worth watching; heavily based on Homage to Catalonia.

Alphaville is a really good Godard film. Every frame is beautiful.
Cheers, I'll put them on the list

Regarding Godard, having looked into it a bit more, I'm starting to think that my initial inability to connect with Breathless is more intentional on Godard's part than I'd realised.

On Fellini, I've only seen La Dolce Vita and I liked it but it's very long. Thinking back, it's hard to believe that all the different scenes I can remember were in the same film.

bgmnts

Can someone recommend a good film that came out in the past 20 years? It has to be something I have on DVD though.

Steven

Quote from: bgmnts on June 01, 2018, 08:12:20 PM
Can someone recommend a good film that came out in the past 20 years? It has to be something I have on DVD though.


Sebastian Cobb

lol at the 'gay porn' in every corner, just in case you can't take a hint.

JesusAndYourBush

I saw Johnny Mnemonic for the first time last night.
For something that wasn't supposed to be a comedy there were a lot of laughs.  Funniest scene had to be the one where he accessed the internet using some sort of virtual reality thing.

Blumf

Quote from: JesusAndYourBush on June 01, 2018, 08:51:13 PM
Funniest scene had to be the one where he accessed the internet using some sort of virtual reality thing.