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

[Famous Mortimer]

Death Race 2050 (2017)

The Statham-begun sequel series is still going strong, but Roger Corman wanted to make a sequel that had the colour, camp and overt political commentary of the original. So he did, and it's fine, if a little too cheap for the ideas it had.

[Small Man Big Horse]

The Fall (2006) - An exploration of fantastical storytelling as an unwell Lee Pace is bored in hospital and tells a long story to a young child to manipulate her in to getting him drugs, with the two influencing each other when it comes to the story, and at the end Pace makes it all kinds of traumatic to teach the girl a lesson. It's the kind of film I'd normally love and it's undoubtedly visually stunning, but I felt it came across as oddly empty, and lacking something. I'm not sure what, but definitely something. 6.7/10

[MortSahlFan]

Kozara (1962)
A Report on Party and Guests (1966)

[MortSahlFan]

Stroszek (1977) - I have struggled with Herzog in the past but really enjoyed this. Well maybe enjoyed is the wrong word but it is a really good film. A really engaging central "performance" from Bruno S as well

This is my favorite movie of Herzog.

[bgmnts]

Midnight Run (1988)

Shame this came out just after Die Hard or it'd be widely known as possibly the best action comedy going. Masterpiece.

[Old Gold Tooth]

It's a crime Midnight Run isn't more celebrated. I was so happy that Rufus Jones picked it for Rule of Three.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Love it. It certainly deserves to stand alongside stuff like Die Hard and the works of Shane Black. Hell, I might even prefer it to Die Hard, which I've long thought to be more bloated than its reputation lets on.

"Here come two words for you: Shut the fuck up."

[Famous Mortimer]

I rewatched it recently and I didn't enjoy it as much as I remembered doing the first time, whenever in the 90s it was. I can't even remember what irritated me about it - possibly the way he continues to give the Duke opportunities to escape, or the Duke's general personality just rubbing me the wrong way.

It is, of course, Bergman crossed with every Oscar winner ever compared to the two sequels, among the worst experiences I've ever had while looking at a telly.

[MortSahlFan]

I'm an insomniac, but I was falling asleep when I tried to watch "Die Hard" within the first 30 minutes. I notice that thread with anything that is considered "action".

[kalowski]

Midnight Run (1988)

Shame this came out just after Die Hard or it'd be widely known as possibly the best action comedy going. Masterpiece.

"I can't fly. I also suffer from claustrophobia and agoraphobia."
"If you don't shut up, pretty soon you're gonna suffer from fistaphobia."

[bgmnts]

"I can't fly. I also suffer from claustrophobia and agoraphobia."
"If you don't shut up, pretty soon you're gonna suffer from fistaphobia."

"How much is the coffee?
"It's 53 cents."
"How much is tea?"
"53 cents."
long pause staring at change


"I'll have tea."

Get's me everytime.

[Jim Bob]

Midnight Run (1988)

Shame this came out just after Die Hard or it'd be widely known as possibly the best action comedy going. Masterpiece.

Die Hard is an action comedy?  I wouldn't classify it as such.  It has moments of levity, sure but it's not an action comedy in the same way that Rush Hour, or indeed Midnight Run is.  I mean, Terminator 2 has humorous scenes, but I doubt anyone would classify that as an action comedy.  Last Action Hero on the other hand...

Anyway, yeah; Midnight Run is great.  Avoid the two made-for-TV sequels though because they are rubbish.

[bgmnts]

No I was saying Midnight Run is an action comedy. I just meant generally being in the wake of Die Hard, on of the most famous films of all time, means it itself isnt mega well known.

Die Hard is a Christmas film. :)

[Jim Bob]

Die Hard is a Christmas film. :)

Damn straight.

[phantom_power]

I rewatched it recently and I didn't enjoy it as much as I remembered doing the first time, whenever in the 90s it was. I can't even remember what irritated me about it - possibly the way he continues to give the Duke opportunities to escape, or the Duke's general personality just rubbing me the wrong way.

It is, of course, Bergman crossed with every Oscar winner ever compared to the two sequels, among the worst experiences I've ever had while looking at a telly.

Holy shit, I didn't know there were sequels. Are they as bad as The Jerk 2?

[Famous Mortimer]

Holy shit, I didn't know there were sequels. Are they as bad as The Jerk 2?

Mercifully, I don't know. But if you'd like to find out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46juYmc_ZSo

[Gulftastic]

Midnight Run has one of the rarest things ever, a bit of censorship to make it more suitable for TV that I think is better than the original dialogue.

When 'I'll stab you through the heart with a fucking pencil' is changed to '...with a broken pencil.' it's less sweary but more gruesome.

[Old Gold Tooth]

Haha I remember watching that version on ITV and then later being surprised to learn it was masking a fucking. Brilliant bit of swearing substitution.

[kalowski]

MI Rogue Nation (2015) which is on C4 right now. I can't be bothered waiting until the end to post because I know it's going to be exactly the same for the next hour and a half. Rubbish, but compelling to watch Cruise struggle his way through ever more ludicrous set pieces.
Oh, lord, Ving Rhames is back.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis gets rowdy when a bloke shoves a woman about and accidentally kills him, and one quick trial later and it's not five minutes before he's in jail, the poor little bastard. Upon release he's looking to become a famous singer but he's something of an arrogant, moody dick at times, and so sometimes hard to like even before fame goes to his head and he's intentionally a twat, and though it starts well it becomes rather melodramatic by the end. 6.3/10

[Spiteface]

Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)

Got Criterion's Godzilla: The Showa Era Films 1954 - 1975 boxset last week. Going through them in order. Watched the 1954 original, Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong vs Godzilla (US version, original Japanese version is on the bonus disc) and last night, this.

Best Showa-era suit so far with the first one just behind. Mothra's always been a bit shit as far as the "classic" Toho kaiju though. More a King Ghidorah man, myself. His first appearance is up next.   Tokusatsu is good.

[Glitch King]

Just taking care of business.

Glitch King!

[greenman]

Got around to Khrustalyov, My Car! now the price of the Arrow release has dropped a little. Actually more akin to Hard to Be a God than I expected, especially the first hour or so which is the same circus like atmosphere with constant little disjointed performances for the camera. Not as constantly unpleasant as the latter film but as mentioned earlier when it does happen one scene is pretty horrific.

Might actually be a better starting off point as it has a bit more pathos/plot to it. There certainly is some kind of mad genius at play with the visuals in these films, not just in the design but how good the composition is with the roving long hand held takes.

[Sin Agog]

Wind's just shredded the cover to my boat, leaving it completely exposed.  Supposed to die down in the morning so I reckon I'll pull an all-nighter and finally finish this colossus 7-and-a-half hour multi-media '70s arthouse meditation on Hitler by Hans-Jurgen Syberberg before I attempt to fix it: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0076147/?ref_=m_tt_urv

Of course, saying isn't the same as doing, but I do remember it being quite unlike anything I'd ever seen on my last attempt; I may actually pull it off this time.

[Artie Fufkin]

All Is True, 2019 - written by Ben Elton, directed / starring Kenneth Branagh

Released February 2019, so apologies if this is 'too new'.
I really enjoyed this look into the later life of Willy Shakespeare.
Beautifully filmed, especially the use of lighting. Apparently all the interior shots were lit by candle only.
A great cam(p)eo from Ian McKellen.
Judie Dench is brilliant, also.
It's nice to know people were complete prejudiced wankers back then, too. Nothing's changed, really.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Colossal

Really not sure what to make of this film. I've been wanting to watch it for ages, and finally convinced the missus to do so yesterday.
All characters were unlikeable arseholes, and it just seemed to be too weird for weirdness sake.
I dunno. Great idea, I thought. But I'm not sure what the film wanted to be.

I watched this the other day. I liked it overall and I wouldn't say it was particularly weird - as long as you can go along with the premise.

Where it lost me a little was why, or perhaps when Gloria fell so under Oscar's thrall. Other than him being her boss for what seemed like a short time, it didn't seem like they had the sort of relationship in which he'd have that much control over her. It felt like she could simply have gone off to her sister's or back to New York, long before he started threatening to destroy Seoul. And, at the risk of sounding horribly naive, couldn't she have just had him arrested after he beat her up? It felt like the characters being forced to meet the needs of the plot, rather than driving it.

That aside, the cast were very good. Jason Sudeikis in particular was surprisingly effective.

[Artie Fufkin]

All Is True, 2019 - written by Ben Elton, directed / starring Kenneth Branagh

Which I now realise is the serious version of Upstart Crow, which I started watching last night.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis gets rowdy when a bloke shoves a woman about and accidentally kills him, and one quick trial later and it's not five minutes before he's in jail, the poor little bastard. Upon release he's looking to become a famous singer but he's something of an arrogant, moody dick at times, and so sometimes hard to like even before fame goes to his head and he's intentionally a twat, and though it starts well it becomes rather melodramatic by the end. 6.3/10

It's fun, though, watching Elvis play a cocky bastard. For someone with no acting experience or training whatsoever, he displayed some genuine potential in those early films, King Creole in particular.

Sure, he was sometimes a bit gauche and over-earnest, but he also had one helluva natural screen presence. If he'd actually been allowed to appear in some non-shit films post-army, I reckon he would've become a pretty decent actor.

[MortSahlFan]

The Balcony (1963) - 6/10

[Sin Agog]

I watched this the other day. I liked it overall and I wouldn't say it was particularly weird - as long as you can go along with the premise.

Where it lost me a little was why, or perhaps when Gloria fell so under Oscar's thrall. Other than him being her boss for what seemed like a short time, it didn't seem like they had the sort of relationship in which he'd have that much control over her. It felt like she could simply have gone off to her sister's or back to New York, long before he started threatening to destroy Seoul. And, at the risk of sounding horribly naive, couldn't she have just had him arrested after he beat her up? It felt like the characters being forced to meet the needs of the plot, rather than driving it.

That aside, the cast were very good. Jason Sudeikis in particular was surprisingly effective.

Rewatched it this morning. I remember thinking Sudeikis' heel turn felt pretty sudden when I saw it in the cinema, but on a rewatch he comes across pretty surly from the off, and it's only Sudeikis' SNL face that makes you think otherwise.  All the nice gestures he made early on were power moves so he could assert his control over Hathaway down the line.  Not quite sure if the film had much of a point to make, but it's not bad.