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

[Sebastian Cobb]

Mubi have an Ida Lupino double bill on at the moment, so I watched The Hitch Hiker despite seeking it out by my own will not all that long ago.

It's still great.

[Puce Moment]

Loads of nice stuff on MUBI at the mo! If anyone wants to try a free monthly sub, now is a good time!

[rjd2]

Regarding Mubi.,

I have express VPN which means I can watch the international versions of Netflix which is important as the Irish/UK version is pretty crap.

With MUBI,,,is their a huge difference between the UK/Irish and International versions (mainly American) ?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Regarding Mubi.,

I have express VPN which means I can watch the international versions of Netflix which is important as the Irish/UK version is pretty crap.

With MUBI,,,is their a huge difference between the UK/Irish and International versions (mainly American) ?

Here ya go https://whatsonmubi.com/

[rjd2]

Cheers Sir.

[zomgmouse]

Watched my second ever Věra Chytilová film, Fruit of Paradise. (The first was Daisies which blew me into another dimension, 5/5). Found it a little impenetrable but still incredibly impressed by the energy and imagery.

[Sin Agog]

Watched my second ever Věra Chytilová film, Fruit of Paradise. (The first was Daisies which blew me into another dimension, 5/5). Found it a little impenetrable but still incredibly impressed by the energy and imagery.

I need to give it another whirl, but I remember finding the sumptuousness and colour made it so much more appealing, at least aesthetically, to me than Daisies, which has a similarly anarchic scratchy first film quality to Fando Y Lis and Even Dwarves Started Small.  Her later films seem very different.  Only seen one of them years ago, but it was a bit more of a dowdy kitchen sink thing, with just a sliver of the old exuberance shining through.  Might give her sci-fi horror  Vlčí bouda a try tomorrow.

[chveik]

I hated Daisies, a waste of food really

[zomgmouse]

I need to give it another whirl, but I remember finding the sumptuousness and colour made it so much more appealing, at least aesthetically, to me than Daisies, which has a similarly anarchic scratchy first film quality to Fando Y Lis and Even Dwarves Started Small.  Her later films seem very different.  Only seen one of them years ago, but it was a bit more of a dowdy kitchen sink thing, with just a sliver of the old exuberance shining through.  Might give her sci-fi horror  Vlčí bouda a try tomorrow.

I have that on my list, and added a couple of 90s ones I hadn't heard of: Traps and The Inheritance.

With Fruit of Paradise, I don't know, maybe visually more elegant than Daisies but that's kind of what I liked about Daisies, the visual anarchy of it, still surreal but stuffed full of delights.

[greenman]

The Royal Tenenbaums - 2001

Second time I've watched this, the first around about the time when it first came out.
I was hoping I'd prefer it this time, but still didn't totally get into it. Although I thought Gene Hackman was brilliant.
Not my fave Anderson film by any means, but enjoyable enough to get 3.5 from me (0.5 for Gene alone).

I tend to think his style works better in films like Rushmoore or Moondrise Kingdom were theres more of a reason for younger characters behaving in that effected fashion.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Watched Crimson Tide last night.  When the film was released (1995) I think the message at the end was supposed to be comforting - telling you that the events of the film could never happen again.  It had the opposite effect on me, eliciting an "Oh fuck!"

[Sebastian Cobb]

Watched Crimson Tide last night.  When the film was released (1995) I think the message at the end was supposed to be comforting - telling you that the events of the film could never happen again.  It had the opposite effect on me, eliciting an "Oh fuck!"

The bit in David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone made me think of that as well.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Laughter In Paradise (1951) - After prankster Henry Russell (Hugh Griffith) dies he leaves fifty thousand pounds to four very different relatives, but there's a catch for all involved as to receive the money Herbert (George Cole) has to rob the bank he works at, crime writer Deniston (Alastair Sim) has to spend a month in prison, the hoity toity Agnes (Fay Compton) has to work a month as a maid, and dodgy cad Simon (Guy Middleton) has to put his penis in a shark's mouth, or marry the first woman he speaks to, it's one or the other for certain. It's a charming affair, very British and very of it's time, but bar George Cole's occasionally meandering tale it's extremely likeable and

Spoiler alert

it has a fantastic (if perhaps a little predictable) ending for all involved

[close]

too. 7.4/10

[peanutbutter]

ILast Resort 2000
A mood piece and mundanely grim just the way I like it. It was only Paddy Considine's second film after A Room for Romeo Brass and he is a natural talent. Suitably understated performances all round and the sense of place, a seaside resort way past it's glory days in the dead of winter is quietly realised.

Oh and Arlington House is some great architectural porn for us admirers of the brutalist aesthetic.

Directed by yer man who done Ida and Cold War too. It was kinda weird how he seemed to vanish after My Summer of Love, film after it must've pissed him off enough to ditch the UK entirely.



Have started rewatching Dekalog, first time since I was like 17 (so the first time where I'm not mainly watching it thinking "Ooooh, you're so sophisticated, watching Polish TV dramas from the 80s, well done you!")
First one was pretty good. Haven't decided yet whether I'll watch the TV versions of 5 and 6 or not, leaning towards watching them (assuming the theatrical versions are the re-edits).

[Sebastian Cobb]

Mubi had one of the first films made from a black perspective on last night, a 1920's silent film called Within Our Gates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Within_Our_Gates

It was quite interesting but I'd never watched a silent film with titlecards before and it's easy for your mind to wander.

The whole film's actually available to view on wikipedia by the looks of it!

[Neville Chamberlain]

Watched Victoria yesterday - that film shot in one single take about a Spanish girl living in Berlin who's out clubbing on her own and then, after making lots of very stupid decisions, ends up being the getaway driver in a bank robbery. I was sceptical about the 'one take' thing and suspected this might be just a gimmick, but it worked really well.

I had the rest of afternoon free so went into town to check out the main locations (i.e. all around the Checkpoint Charlie area).

[Sebastian Cobb]

Watched Victoria yesterday - that film shot in one single take about a Spanish girl living in Berlin who's out clubbing on her own and then, after making lots of very stupid decisions, ends up being the getaway driver in a bank robbery. I was sceptical about the 'one take' thing and suspected this might be just a gimmick, but it worked really well.

I had the rest of afternoon free so went into town to check out the main locations (i.e. all around the Checkpoint Charlie area).

That's a great film.

[Shit Good Nose]

Watched Victoria yesterday - that film shot in one single take about a Spanish girl living in Berlin who's out clubbing on her own and then, after making lots of very stupid decisions, ends up being the getaway driver in a bank robbery. I was sceptical about the 'one take' thing and suspected this might be just a gimmick, but it worked really well.

It's on my to-see list.

There's no mention of it on the Wiki page or in the IMDB trivia, but I'm SURE I read in an interview with the director a year or two ago where he admitted that there were one or two hidden edits/inserts in there as there was a particular sequence which they couldn't get in one go because of various technical issues and he had maxed out the number of single-take attempts he was allowed. 

[Blinder Data]

Captain Marvel (2019). Shite.

Did the critics agree not to criticise it too much for fear of being seen as sexist? The dialogue was pants, the "funny" bits were not, the characters were non-entities, the pacing was off and I wasn't a fan of Brie Larson in this - her stiff manner and constant near-smirk gave me sitcom vibes, which wasn't right for the film or what was required for a central performance. It was all just a bit rubs.

[Neville Chamberlain]

It's on my to-see list.

There's no mention of it on the Wiki page or in the IMDB trivia, but I'm SURE I read in an interview with the director a year or two ago where he admitted that there were one or two hidden edits/inserts in there as there was a particular sequence which they couldn't get in one go because of various technical issues and he had maxed out the number of single-take attempts he was allowed.

Hmmm, I'm honestly not sure about that. I watched a couple of interviews with the director and there was no talk of hidden inserts or cuts or anything like that. He said they managed to get the film done and dusted on the third run-through, which was earlier than anticipated. There is apparently a conventional, 'cut' version of the film, but he says it's rubbish.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah I heard the first run they were too careful and they went a bit mad on the second.

[olliebean]

What's that Mike Figgis film shot in four simultaneous consecutive takes, each shown on a quarter of the screen? That was pretty impressive, as continuous-take films go.

[Sin Agog]

While everyone in the nearby pub is partying it up, I watched Vengeance is Mine (1979, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079182/).  It's about the last month or two of a real Japanese serial killer's spree, and shot in the frostiest Melvillian style.  I must admit, I'm not a post-modernist when it comes to narrative structure.  I was weaned on old Warner Bros movies and classical literature so when the time frame starts jerking about too much, I have to really force myself to stay with it (I'm a lot better now than I used to be).  When this settled in, though, it really clicked.  It features one of the most unsettling murders I've seen in awhile.  Not because it's as grizzly as something like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but because the movie had just gaslit you into feeling like this guy might just have a faint pulse under there somewhere,

Spoiler alert

when he goes and takes out one of the most interesting characters in the film.  Then again, perhaps it was one of the few instances of him thinking of another, as the woman he killed was likely pregnant with his child, and maybe he didn't want another him roaming the earth

[close]

? 

I've only seen one other movie by Imamura, but I get the vibe he likes to sprinkle the occasional unexplainable bit of surrealism into otherwise gritty narratives.  The ending on, I believe, Mount Fuji was particularly out there. 

Spoiler alert

The dad of the now executed serial killer and the widow in love with the dad pass a cable car packed to the gills with nuns.  They then throw their murderous relative's bones from the mountain top, and each of the bones freeze in mid-air.  No idea what it denotes.  They're Japanese Christians so it could be some weird Asianification of Christian iconography.  Japanese Christians seem far more earthy and pagan than the western kind, and obviously have their own mind's eye of biblical happenings.  Is it God saying 'Never shall these bones soil my soil!'?  It's also possibly a statement that this utter sociopath will never leave their lives.

[close]

Really good film, vivid characters acted to perfection, a lead performance that perfectly brings to mind the mercurial charm some of these Bundy types tend to have, and lots of well-framed Melville-style shots mixed with an almost documentary handheld style.  Easily the best serial killer movie I've ever seen.

[Egyptian Feast]

What's that Mike Figgis film shot in four simultaneous consecutive takes, each shown on a quarter of the screen? That was pretty impressive, as continuous-take films go.

Timecode.

[Famous Mortimer]

Get Crazy (1983)
I'd never heard of this before - it's an Allan Arkush movie, and has lots of the Corman players in it. Bit like Airplane crossed with a concert film - constant gags along with Lou Reed as Dylan-alike Auden, spending most of his time onscreen in the back of a cab on his way to the venue; Malcolm MacDowell as Reggie Wanker, a kind of Jagger-ish singer, who had it written into his contract he be allowed to sing all his character's songs; Lee Ving playing an even wilder version of himself; Daniel Stern as the stage manager and Ed Begley Jr as the evil property developer.

There's a giant sentient joint as one of the audience members, and an absolute mountain of drugs consumed by every character (the energy of the movie felt like everyone was on coke too). It's pretty great, and it's available on Youtube (only ever had a VHS release, too complicated music rights for a proper DVD or blu-ray, apparently).

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

[Custard]

Just wanna chime in on Victoria too. It's a great film, and I was blown away when I watched it a year or two ago. Gripping stuff

Watched JoJo Rabbit the other night. Lovely little film. Might even be better than The Hunt For The Wilderpeople

[greenman]

Following the Ikarie XB-1 recommendations here and wasn't disappointed, it is a bit of a strange beast isn't it with the 50's sci fi elements being almost a pastiche then a mix of a proto trek episode and 2001 in terms of plot.

[bgmnts]

Cliffhanger

One of the funniest films ever made. So poorly acted and the plot is so dull 90s action but I can't help but love it. The villain thieves, led by Lithgow, are gloriously evil and traitorous to the point of comedy.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Cliffhanger

One of the funniest films ever made. So poorly acted and the plot is so dull 90s action but I can't help but love it. The villain thieves, led by Lithgow, are gloriously evil and traitorous to the point of comedy.

I remember this coming on the telly once just as me and my housemate were channel-hopping and him going 'nah wait' as we watched the opening sequence. "See, she fell so far, she had to stop for air, you don't see much of that in films. Anyway, carry on, the rest of it is crap!".

Love any film that has Lithgow as a camp villain though.

[Sin Agog]

Love any film that has Lithgow as a camp villain though.

Camp?  Camp?!  Laugh while you can, monkey boy!