What Non-New Films Have You Seen? (2020 Edition)

[zomgmouse]

Me and You and Everyone We Know. Well this was terrific. Firmly planted in the sphere of American weirdo art cinema alongside Solondz, Jarmusch, Lynch et al. Absurd, very very funny but wonderfully real, incredibly sweet, touching. Loved this a lot.

[Sebastian Cobb]

The Brand New Testament - God is alive and well in Brussels and a petty, vindictive prick who treats all of civilisation as a Sim City type game for his own amusement. It turns out he had a daughter as well as Jesus, who went on his crusade to put right his father's pettiness.

His daughter makes public how long everyone has to live then escapes to form 6 apostles (loveless recluse, boring office unit who won't leave a bench now they know how long they have to live, sort-of incel, serial killer in the making, woman trapped in loveless marriage, dying boy who wants to live his remaining day s as a girl).

God is played by the guy from Man Bites Dog and Catherine Deneuve ends up in a relationship with a gorilla. It's great.

[JaDanketies]

Me and You and Everyone We Know. Well this was terrific. Firmly planted in the sphere of American weirdo art cinema alongside Solondz, Jarmusch, Lynch et al. Absurd, very very funny but wonderfully real, incredibly sweet, touching. Loved this a lot.

Lovely movie. ))><(( forever

[Small Man Big Horse]

Me and You and Everyone We Know. Well this was terrific. Firmly planted in the sphere of American weirdo art cinema alongside Solondz, Jarmusch, Lynch et al. Absurd, very very funny but wonderfully real, incredibly sweet, touching. Loved this a lot.

I'm extremely fond of that and think it's the best thing July's done. Her novel The First Bad Man is also really good though, and I quite like The Future, though her short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You was a very mixed bag.

The Brand New Testament - God is alive and well in Brussels and a petty, vindictive prick who treats all of civilisation as a Sim City type game for his own amusement. It turns out he had a daughter as well as Jesus, who went on his crusade to put right his father's pettiness.

His daughter makes public how long everyone has to live then escapes to form 6 apostles (loveless recluse, boring office unit who won't leave a bench now they know how long they have to live, sort-of incel, serial killer in the making, woman trapped in loveless marriage, dying boy who wants to live his remaining day s as a girl).

God is played by the guy from Man Bites Dog and Catherine Deneuve ends up in a relationship with a gorilla. It's great.

I really enjoyed that too, and I'd recommend the director's other films Toto The Hero, The Eighth Day and Mr Nobody which I think are even better, he's one of my favourite filmmakers and I just wish he worked a little more frequently than he does.

Mahler (1974) -  A biopic from Ken Russell which lurches all over the place while telling the story of the famous composer, while nearly always interesting most of the time it's a fairly standard telling, though there's the odd bit of surrealism, most of which comes in the form of dream sequences. Robert Powell and Georgina Hale are really strong as the two leads, and it's a film that's certainly engaging, even if it's highly selective in the parts of Mahler's life it tells, but I was losing interest towards the end and the ending itself is a little bland, and so for me it's a lesser Russell work. 7.1/10

[Sebastian Cobb]

I really enjoyed that too, and I'd recommend the director's other films Toto The Hero, The Eighth Day and Mr Nobody which I think are even better, he's one of my favourite filmmakers and I just wish he worked a little more frequently than he does.

I'll keep an eye out for them, ta! It reminded me of Jeunet a bit.

[Puce Moment]

Me and You and Everyone We Know. Well this was terrific. Firmly planted in the sphere of American weirdo art cinema alongside Solondz, Jarmusch, Lynch et al. Absurd, very very funny but wonderfully real, incredibly sweet, touching. Loved this a lot.

Good lord - this film was so fantastic and showed so much promise that never materialised. I thought she was going to be the new Sofia Coppola perhaps.

As Horse says above, her writing is really good, but that short story collection is proper dog plops imho.

[SteveDave]

Transylvania 6-5000

Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr go to Transylvania to investigate strange goings on. Some nice bits (mostly involving Michael Richards). It also features Hollywood pedlo Jeffrey Jones.

[SteveDave]

Friday

From all the dickheads who I used to work with banging on about this film and barely being able to get to the end of sentence without cracking up about it, I was expecting a laugh a minute knockabout comedy. I was unprepared for it to end with a drive by shooting and then Ice Cube getting battered by a man twice his size (though he still manages to win).

The one bit that made me laugh was the dad saying "Don't go into the bathroom for 30 to 45 minutes..."

[Sebastian Cobb]

Friday

From all the dickheads who I used to work with banging on about this film and barely being able to get to the end of sentence without cracking up about it, I was expecting a laugh a minute knockabout comedy. I was unprepared for it to end with a drive by shooting and then Ice Cube getting battered by a man twice his size (though he still manages to win).

The one bit that made me laugh was the dad saying "Don't go into the bathroom for 30 to 45 minutes..."

I quite like the "got bit in the ass today son" bit as well.

[phantom_power]

Stretch (2014) - A noisy, gaudy action comedy(ish) about a limo driver who has the proverbially night to forget when he finds out he needs to pay a bookie off before midnight for....reasons. Charismatic lead performance by Patrick Wilson and generally quite fun though pretty forgettable. Directed by Joe Carnahan who seems to have fallen into a rut of making these sorts of high octane thrillers

[Small Man Big Horse]

As Horse says above, her writing is really good, but that short story collection is proper dog plops imho.

It's weird as the novel is fun, but the short stories suffer from all of the characters sounding identical, even though they were very different genders / ages, and though there were a couple I enjoyed the majority were surprisingly poor.

[Puce Moment]

It's weird as the novel is fun, but the short stories suffer from all of the characters sounding identical, even though they were very different genders / ages, and though there were a couple I enjoyed the majority were surprisingly poor.

It was the first thing I read by her, so I'm not sure why I endeavoured with her novels other than idle curiosity and the strength of her film. I remember being so excited to get a good, new short story collection (I adore short stories - the giant JG Ballard collection might be my favourite book) and story after story were dull as fuck. Not even hipstery - just very badly drawn.

[Shit Good Nose]

Friday

From all the dickheads who I used to work with banging on about this film and barely being able to get to the end of sentence without cracking up about it, I was expecting a laugh a minute knockabout comedy. I was unprepared for it to end with a drive by shooting and then Ice Cube getting battered by a man twice his size (though he still manages to win).

The one bit that made me laugh was the dad saying "Don't go into the bathroom for 30 to 45 minutes..."

I quite like the "got bit in the ass today son" bit as well.

Best bit of Friday is John Witherspoon's fridge reveal (sucks grapes) "every TIIIIME I come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen..."

The sequels are more consistent in tone and, from memory, are on a par with each other.

[JaDanketies]

Best bit of Friday is John Witherspoon's fridge reveal (sucks grapes) "every TIIIIME I come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen..."

wow the guys in college who I used to call my friends used to repeat that all the time and piss themselves with laughter

[Shit Good Nose]

wow the guys in college who I used to call my friends used to repeat that all the time and piss themselves with laughter

Because it's a very quotable piece of dialogue and a five alarm delivery by Witherspoon and the funniest bit of the film.

[Sebastian Cobb]

In the later films I quite like the on-the-nose callbacks to Ice's own work.

"I started this barbecue shit, and this is the motherfuckin' thanks I get?"

[SteveDave]

I'd be interested to find out (but not with any real work from myself) if they saw "Clerks" and went "We can do that!" because that's what it felt like they were going for.

[zomgmouse]

Honey Boy. Couldn't see a thread for it.

Black Panthers. Short documentary by Agnès Varda on the Black Panthers at the time of Huey P. Newton being sent to prison in 1968.

Followed by another Varda film from the same period, Lions Love. Quite interesting in juxtaposition with the previous short.

The Freshman. Not as good as the only other Harold Lloyd feature that I'd seen (and obviously his most famous), Safety Last!, but still with some nice inventive moments and really quite sweet. The disc also came with some shorts which were not bad: "The Marathon", "An Eastern Westerner" and "High and Dizzy".

Good lord - this film was so fantastic and showed so much promise that never materialised.

I'm interested in seeing The Future, and she's got a new film this year called Kajillionaire which I'm rather keen for.
Would also like to see some of her short films!

[Shit Good Nose]

I'd be interested to find out (but not with any real work from myself) if they saw "Clerks" and went "We can do that!" because that's what it felt like they were going for.

Ice Cube started working on the script as far back as Boyz n the Hood or Trespass (91 and 92 respectively) as he thought there was scope for an LA 'hood set film that covered something other than gang wars and violence (whilst obviously still throwing in a drive-by), and Kevin Smith started working on Clerks in 1993, so the two were developed in parallel.  I suppose it's possible that the tone of Clerks did feed into Friday (Ice Cube is a big fan of comedy and always wanted to make or star in a comedy film or TV series), but short of someone asking him the question directly I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Just watched Cure for wellness. DREAD

[greenman]

Joe Begos Bliss from last year, Driller Killer with LA Vampires, I spose nothing too revolutionary in terms of visuals but the fact he never really lets up its pace as a constant binge of drugs/sex/blood ends up working very well for me.

[rue the polywhirl]

Morvern Callar on the BBC iplayer. Morvern Crappar more like. Picks up a bit when they go to Spain. 3/10. One for each of Samantha Morton's knockers (her forehead almost looks a bit like a knocker).

[Dr Syntax Head]

Morvern Callar on the BBC iplayer. Morvern Crappar more like. Picks up a bit when they go to Spain. 3/10. One for each of Samantha Morton's knockers (her forehead almost looks a bit like a knocker).

A forgettable film

[Sebastian Cobb]

I thought Morven Callar was alright personally.

[Blumf]

Get Crazy (1983)
That was pretty fun. Lots of jokes and zaniness. Looking on wiki, it seems the director didn't love the experience of making it, which is a shame.
It's on Youtube in a low quality form, but looks like it'll be getting  BR release next year, which I think I'll grab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrIRmMNi800

[Sin Agog]

Malcolm McDowell was just on the Gilbert Gottfried pod talking about that (I mentioned Arkush's appearance earlier).  Wonderfully frank chat- haven't listened to many pods at all since Crona, but that was a great one.  He didn't think much of the script, but it was fun hearing him talk about the penis/manager scene.


Anyway, watched The Cassandra Cat (1963) for the first time in ages on my mother/son film night.  Really one of my favourite Czech fillums, even if it does aimlessly doggy paddle for a little in the second act before saving it with the ending.  It's a Bulgakov-style tale about about the friction between a free-spirited teacher and his cunning, conservative headmaster, and a circus troupe's shades-sporting cat which can transform anyone into their true colours (red for people in love, yellow for cheaters, purple for liars etc.).  The highlight is definitely the performance they put on, not just for the pure cinematic dervish as it climaxes in everyone in the audience rioting and parting into their colours, but for the audacity of stating their aim outright by having the headmaster in the audience remark (paraphrase): "No one will think it means anything if it's couched in ridiculousness."  Can see how this movie helped inspire the Prague Spring, and why it was subsequently banned, but it's mostly a really lovely, airy fairytale with some brilliant in-camera effects.

[SteveDave]

Malcolm McDowell was just on the Gilbert Gottfried pod talking about that (I mentioned Arkush's appearance earlier).  Wonderfully frank chat- haven't listened to many pods at all since Crona, but that was a great one.  He didn't think much of the script, but it was fun hearing him talk about the penis/manager scene.

Does he talk about any of the Lindsay Anderson films on that podcast? I can't sit through a GG podcast without justification.

[SteveDave]

Krippendorf's Tribe

My wife complained that I was always picking the films for us to watch (mostly because she says "You choose" most nights) so this week she's picking them from the acres of bullshit she's downloaded over the last 6 months.

We've had "Friday" (1/5) and "Wrinkles The Clown" (4/5) so far and last night we sat down to this. Woooo mama. Richard Dreyfus is an anthropologist who doesn't find the lost tribe of somewhere he's been given a grant to find. Cut to some time later and he's spent all the money and the university want to see proof. So he fakes a lost tribe by blacking up his kids and his ex-student/now fellow anthropologist/love interest (Dharma from "Dharma and Greg").

The film was abandoned at about 45 minutes in. The only other film we've abandoned this year is "Cats".  She said she only downloaded it because it had Natasha Lyonne in. This is why we saw "But I'm A Cheerleader" and have yet to witness the straight to video sequel to "Freeway"

[Sin Agog]

or=SteveDave link=topic=77258.msg4326232#msg4326232 date=1600932037]
Does he talk about any of the Lindsay Anderson films on that podcast? I can't sit through a GG podcast without justification.
[/quote]

Yep, he goes into them.  Also liked the way he made Kubrick sound like the most oblique, socially barren fucker on the planet.  There are two parts, so technically it would be sitting through two GG podcasts.  Although I can't see how any film fan can fail to procure pleasure out of a podcast in which really old Hollywood people talk about the various ways in which Laurence Olivier and Danny Kaye give each other physical succour.


Watched Something About Mary chased by some old Chris Marker and Jean Rouch docs, of which Le Mystère Koumiko was prob my favourite.  She felt like a lost Anna Karina or Bardot, coyly spouting cute, existential malarkey while roaming about Tokyo, never quite connecting with anyone.  Sometimes you need that kind of thing.

[Blumf]

Yep, he goes into them.  Also liked the way he made Kubrick sound like the most oblique, socially barren fucker on the planet.

I remember McDowell did a tribute to Kubrick when he died which was similarly harsh, something along the lines of a brilliant director but without humanity.