What Non-New Films Have You Seen? (2019 Edition)

[Shit Good Nose]

Petey Wheatstraw (1977)
After seeing the RLM review, had to give it a try. Really quiet good, and plenty bonkers. The review covers it fairly well, but I'll give G. Tito Shaw a note for a pretty great rendition of the devil.

Going to have to watch some more Rudy Ray Moore.

Warning - there's a LOT of shit in there.  I mean even compared with ass-end low grade blaxploitation it's bad.

Wheatstraw is, probably, his only objectively half decent film.  Even the "mighty" Dolemite (which is a [very] poor man's Super Fly) is a bit shit.

I always say if you want to watch a decent Rudy Ray Moore film, watch I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.  And Moore's not even in it.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Hang on, there's a Tarkovsky version of Hemingway's The Killers? How have I not heard about this?

[greenman]

Student film.

[Shit Good Nose]

Yep.  It's only a short (20 minutes) student film, but already you can see there's something special about him at the age of 23 (or however young he was).

Here you go - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofHN3PTpVg

[Sebastian Cobb]

Warning - there's a LOT of shit in there.  I mean even compared with ass-end low grade blaxploitation it's bad.

Wheatstraw is, probably, his only objectively half decent film.  Even the "mighty" Dolemite (which is a [very] poor man's Super Fly) is a bit shit.

I always say if you want to watch a decent Rudy Ray Moore film, watch I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.  And Moore's not even in it.

Dolemite's good you wally.

[Shit Good Nose]

Dolemite's good you wally.

It's alright with a few beers, but it's not great really.  It wouldn't even be in first twenty blaxploitation recs I'd make.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I quite enjoy it, I don't think it's meant to be taken seriously or takes itself seriously.

Slightly relevant, I saw Spike Lee's Chi-Raq tonight, that was bloody brilliant if not a bit mad in places, some of the hammy rhyming in the speeches did make my toes curl in places though.

[PlanktonSideburns]

Yep.  It's only a short (20 minutes) student film, but already you can see there's something special about him at the age of 23 (or however young he was).

Here you go - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofHN3PTpVg

That's great. I really want that lads wool jumper also

[greenman]

Zama, Spanish colonial administrator at the end of his tether in backwater Argentina. Has a rather Aguirre like atmosphere to it with a similarly surreal atmosphere but I admit I found it a bit disappointing after seeing so much praise, reasonably interesting viewing but wallows a bit too much in its low key obtuseness to really have much of an impact for me.

[Famous Mortimer]

Petey Wheatstraw (1977)
After seeing the RLM review, had to give it a try. Really quiet good, and plenty bonkers. The review covers it fairly well, but I'll give G. Tito Shaw a note for a pretty great rendition of the devil.

Going to have to watch some more Rudy Ray Moore.

Oddly, my local bar, which shows movies all the time, had "Petey Wheatstraw" on a few days before the RLM review was released. They're huge fans of Rudy Ray Moore, though, and keep insisting I watch "Dolemite" (I'm always doing something else on nights they show it).

[Twit 2]

The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentinian original, obvs).

Put this one off for a long time. Really brilliant. I wasn't prepared for how funny it was or poignant. Some extremely skilful weaving of plot and themes. The political points were subtly done and the stuff about injustice and corruption was pretty timeless and certainly depressingly familiar in today's world (I thought the "what are you going do about it? Nothing!" speech by the corrupt official was basically what the current MO of our lovely government is, and many others of course). What's great is that the whole thing is easy to follow and zips along as a twisty turny police procedural, but after it settles you realise it's actually a very sophisticated film. Great acting too. If you haven't watched it yet I highly recommend. Just go in as cold as possible (all I knew was it was a crime drama set against the backdrop of Argentina's military junta). Dread to think how awful the remake is.

[phantom_power]

Then I watched Cutter's Way, cheers to whoever it was that mentioned it in the Lebowski thread.

John Heard was good at playing the mental Cutter, but I thought Lisa Eichhorn did a smashing more low-key job as as his wistful alcoholic wife.

I watched this for the same reasons and pretty much agree with what you say. Heard is one of those unsung actors isn't he. I reckon he is as good as his more feted peers but doesn't seem to get the plaudits they do. I think the Lebowski link is a bit of a stretch as well. I was surprised to see it was made in 1981 as it has a real mid-to-late 70s vibe about it. I suppose it is in the film version of the "eiventies" that Taylor Parkes talks about on Chart Music

[SteveDave]

Spoorloos

A lovely bit of business only ruined by the shot of chin beard burying Rex. Totally unnecessary. Should've gone from him blacking out to him in the coffin. 

[kalowski]

War For the Planet of the Apes.  I DID like it, but felt the Kurtz tropes were a bit lame and completely unnecessary, which spoilt it for me.  Also the score belonged in some mediocre mid-00s adventure film.  Weakest of the three, but obviously infinitely better than the Burton one and most of the original saga sequels.

Kurtz tropes must be a thing. I'm pretty sure the australopithecus voiced by Christopher Walken in The Jungle Book had a few mannerisms.

[kalowski]

Warning - there's a LOT of shit in there.  I mean even compared with ass-end low grade blaxploitation it's bad.

Wheatstraw is, probably, his only objectively half decent film.  Even the "mighty" Dolemite (which is a [very] poor man's Super Fly) is a bit shit.

I always say if you want to watch a decent Rudy Ray Moore film, watch I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.  And Moore's not even in it.

https://youtu.be/Ws1YIKsuTjQ

[Sin Agog]

I watched this for the same reasons and pretty much agree with what you say. Heard is one of those unsung actors isn't he. I reckon he is as good as his more feted peers but doesn't seem to get the plaudits they do. I think the Lebowski link is a bit of a stretch as well. I was surprised to see it was made in 1981 as it has a real mid-to-late 70s vibe about it. I suppose it is in the film version of the "eiventies" that Taylor Parkes talks about on Chart Music

Y'all should both hear Heard talk about the movie on uToob or somewhere.  There's one particular anecdote he shares about the Czech director of Cutter's Way that's amazing if 85% likely to be apocryphal.  Heard claims that he was some enterprising rando who desperately wanted to escape the Iron Curtain so assumed the identity of a real person, a young director, at the border crossing, then went onto live his life, Talented Mr. Ripley-style.  In any case, Cutter's Way is yet another instance of a foreigner nailing a country's essence better than the locals ever could.

[Shit Good Nose]

Y'all should both hear Heard talk about the movie on uToob or somewhere.  There's one particular anecdote he shares about the Czech director of Cutter's Way that's amazing if 85% likely to be apocryphal.  Heard claims that he was some enterprising rando who desperately wanted to escape the Iron Curtain so assumed the identity of a real person, a young director, at the border crossing, then went onto live his life, Talented Mr. Ripley-style.  In any case, Cutter's Way is yet another instance of a foreigner nailing a country's essence better than the locals ever could.

Passer was already well established in the Czech film industry (since the early 60s) by the time he got to the States, and, IIRC correctly, someone like Antonioni or Bertolucci got him over to the West around the same time as his sometime colleague Milos Forman.  I don't think there was anything particularly fanciful about his "defection" and he wasn't alone in moving to the States.  So, as you say, mostly an apocryphal tale.

[Shit Good Nose]

https://youtu.be/Ws1YIKsuTjQ

Already looks better than Dolemite.

[Epic Bisto]

Dolemite's good you wally.

Dolemite was a lot of fun, but the films that Moore made afterwards are much better.  For me, the order of greatness is Petey Wheatstraw > The Human Tornado > Disco Godfather > Dolemite.

[zomgmouse]

Truffaut's The Last Metro. He really is a massive sentimentalist and I think this works both for and against him in this film. It's a little overlong but there's some brilliant moments and the way this portrays fear and theatre and almost unflinchingly portrays antisemitism in occupied France was really well done I thought.

Neon City. Like a shitty love child between Stagecoach and Mad Max, not really very good but it did produce the line "for an asshole you really are an asshole" which is very good.

Crack in the World. Uninspiring scientific disaster film where Dana Andrews leads a team of scientists who explode a thermonuclear missile through the earth's crust to access precious magma, but this causes a crack in the earth's crust which they then try to stop by exploding another nuclear bomb.

It's a Disaster. Decent enough awkward comedy about a group of friends who gather for a couples' brunch and then find out there's been a possibly humanity-ending disaster. In the meantime there's marital strife and social difficulties and all the rest of it. Not bad at all.

[Blumf]

Bunraku (2010)
It's not a classic or anything, but the reviews it got are very unfair, don't let them put you off. Something a little different, and Kevin McKidd was great in it.

[kalowski]

Ladri di Biciclette (1948). [Bicycle thieves]
Often talked about as an all time great, I loved it. It made me think about how hard it is to spot innovation in movies. We've had years of films shot on location or on very realistic backlots, so don't immediately notice the power of a film like this, shot on the streets of Rome with amateurs.
But when you see it, it's wonderful.
And fuck me, when little Bruno is crying near the end I was in bits.

[zomgmouse]

Ladri di Biciclette (1948). [Bicycle thieves]
Often talked about as an all time great, I loved it. It made me think about how hard it is to spot innovation in movies. We've had years of films shot on location or on very realistic backlots, so don't immediately notice the power of a film like this, shot on the streets of Rome with amateurs.
But when you see it, it's wonderful.
And fuck me, when little Bruno is crying near the end I was in bits.

It really is something special when you find a great and it turns out to actually be a great. I've not seen this film in forever but it's amazing isn't it. If you liked it definitely watch Umberto D. and Shoeshine.

[kalowski]

It really is something special when you find a great and it turns out to actually be a great. I've not seen this film in forever but it's amazing isn't it. If you liked it definitely watch Umberto D. and Shoeshine.

Definitely, I will do.

[Puce Moment]

Rewatched Blade Runner 2049 yesterday and enjoyed it about a thousand times more than I did the first time. I think it's a wonderful film - the sound design in particular is astounding, and even the fan service inclusion of Ford did not annoy me. I find it very beautiful and quite moving.

Watching it with no sleep on the front row of a huge cinema screen with a packed house in Paris turned out to be less than suitable conditions for seeing this the first time.

[Artie Fufkin]

The Conjuring.

Creepy AF
I thought it was going to be a silly film.
I was wrong.

[phantom_power]

Rewatched Blade Runner 2049 yesterday and enjoyed it about a thousand times more than I did the first time. I think it's a wonderful film - the sound design in particular is astounding, and even the fan service inclusion of Ford did not annoy me. I find it very beautiful and quite moving.

Same here, though it seems I liked it more than you the first time round. It does have that thing where in the first film Deckard goes of to an unknown yet optimistic future at the end of the first film and then you find out his life has been shit since (see Force Awakens, the last Halloween, Alien 3, among others) but at least he gets a happy ending in this film


Slade In Flame - a really interesting film. A good window into early 70s England and a fairly interesting, if rote, story. I don't know how deliberate it is but the band's rise to fame seems to almost happen off-screen. We get told how famous they are without really seeing it. I think it is to show how isolated they are to it being on tour but it could just be bad scripting. The band are really good actors as well, nowhere near as embarrassing as I was expecting. Also, young Tom Conti looks amazingly like Al Pacino in The Godfather

[Shit Good Nose]

Slade In Flame - a really interesting film. A good window into early 70s England and a fairly interesting, if rote, story. I don't know how deliberate it is but the band's rise to fame seems to almost happen off-screen. We get told how famous they are without really seeing it. I think it is to show how isolated they are to it being on tour but it could just be bad scripting. The band are really good actors as well, nowhere near as embarrassing as I was expecting. Also, young Tom Conti looks amazingly like Al Pacino in The Godfather

Flame is brilliant.  It's a real grim oop North rockumentary, and probably the most realistic (up there with Spinal Tap).  Apparently Bill Bruford appears VERY briefly in it (in the background, so not even a cameo), but I've never spotted him.



The Tree of Life extended cut.  I've always said I thought there was a great film in the original cut trying to get out, and when I heard the news that Criterion was putting together a longer version, I thought it might be the film that was missing. 

I...still don't know.  It's a different edit, it's structured differently, scenes have been moved around (I'm pretty sure a few scenes from the theatrical cut have been excised altogether), it's more overtly religious as opposed to spiritual or philosophical, and a big chunk of the extra footage is people walking around looking moody.

I know there are lots of critics who consider it to be Malick's masterpiece, but for me, for now at least, it still trails behind Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven, The New World and Badlands.  To the Wonder can get right to fuck (he should apologise for that), and I still haven't seen Knight of Cups or Song to Song (although my expectations are VERY low for those).

Fortunately, Radegund/A Hidden Life looks like he might be back on form.  We shall see...

[zomgmouse]

Circuitry Man. Low-budget bonkers sci-fi chase film, not that good but full of some fun moments. The final mind sequence is pretty amazing and it seems to predate a lot of subsequent cyber-style cinema.

Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds. Early (and good) Alex Proyas. Moody as heck

The Plague at the Karatas Village. Recent surreal semi-horror film from Kazakhstan about a new mayor who arrives at a small village and uncovers what he thinks is a plague epidemic that is being covered up. Good slow cinema and super hellish in parts.

Radio On. This is like a British Wim Wenders film. Ultra ennui, packed soundtrack. Road trip to nowhere.

[greenman]

Walt Whitman's Metropolitan , the talk of a WASP Woodley Allen was always a bit of a turn off as I imaged something much blander and more self obcessed but this offered a little different from Allen in lead characters deadpan metaness and was generally well written and self aware enough to avoid the latter problem.

The Tree of Life extended cut.  I've always said I thought there was a great film in the original cut trying to get out, and when I heard the news that Criterion was putting together a longer version, I thought it might be the film that was missing. 

I...still don't know.  It's a different edit, it's structured differently, scenes have been moved around (I'm pretty sure a few scenes from the theatrical cut have been excised altogether), it's more overtly religious as opposed to spiritual or philosophical, and a big chunk of the extra footage is people walking around looking moody.

I know there are lots of critics who consider it to be Malick's masterpiece, but for me, for now at least, it still trails behind Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven, The New World and Badlands.  To the Wonder can get right to fuck (he should apologise for that), and I still haven't seen Knight of Cups or Song to Song (although my expectations are VERY low for those).

Fortunately, Radegund/A Hidden Life looks like he might be back on form.  We shall see...

I didn't consider the original cut to really be held back by a lack of footage though, if anything I felt it overplayed children capering around and the free wheeling camera at points.

Its easy to see why big fans consider it his masterpiece though, I'd say its the most Malick of all Malick films I'v seen. Its a very good looking film certainly but it does have a bit too much of the whiff of the new age and quite straight forward Christianity to it for me relative to say Tarkovsky. His other work with more of a grounding in the everyday tends to hind that rather more so I spose maybe that could help here but the nature of the film seems to be against taking things in that direction.

Rewatched Blade Runner 2049 yesterday and enjoyed it about a thousand times more than I did the first time. I think it's a wonderful film - the sound design in particular is astounding, and even the fan service inclusion of Ford did not annoy me. I find it very beautiful and quite moving.

I still think it suffers a bit from the script being essentially two stories bolted onto each other but takeing it for what it is rather than next to the original its still an excellent piece of cinema.