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

[Morrison Lard]

Tangerines (2013)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2991224/

Estonian/Georgian (anti)war film.
Not much I can say without spoilering it.

Really fucking good. Best film I've seen in a long time.

9 tangerines out of 10.

[greenman]

Modern(2015) version of Diary of a Chambermaid I didn't know existed previously, rather the reverse of the Bunuel one I spose with less focus on the characters around the lead and in favour of Seydoux at maximum withering contempt, willing to be surprising nasty as well.

[Sin Agog]

Still yet to see an adaptation of that anywhere near as good, or perverse, as Mirbeau's book. Renoir also did a version: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038477/

[SteveDave]

American Graffiti

I was surprised by this. I was always told that this is what Happy Days was based on but if that was the case there would've a lot more driving around in Happy Days.

[Shit Good Nose]

American Graffiti

I was surprised by this. I was always told that this is what Happy Days was based on but if that was the case there would've a lot more driving around in Happy Days.

The pilot was made before Graffiti, but it was Graffiti's popularity that basically got Happy Days made into a series.  Also, the first couple of series (which barely featured Fonzie and were VERY rarely aired here in the UK) were closer in tone and style to Graffiti's light adolescent drama, but they weren't that successful so it was overhauled to become more of a traditional sitcom.

Avoid More American Graffiti.

[SteveDave]

Avoid More American Graffiti.

Man alive, if ever a film didn't need a sequel it was this one. And The Matrix.

[Old Gold Tooth]

Hotel Du Nord (1938).

I made myself give this a watch as I'm trying to push myself out of the rut I'm fallen into during lockdown with either rewatching familiar films, or sticking to "easy watches" which mostly turn out to be disposable shit.

It paid off on the first try as I absolutely fell in love with this. Painfully beautiful in its depiction of loves and loss set in pre-war Paris. A film so old it feels like some precious artefact from a distant world, which I suppose it is at this point. Arrow Academy's restoration is a lovely thing in itself too. It's currently only a couple of quid on iTunes / Prime if you fancy an hour and a half of wonderful melodrama escapism.

[Dex Sawash]

American Graffiti

I was surprised by this. I was always told that this is what Happy Days was based on but if that was the case there would've a lot more driving around in Happy Days.

Harrison Ford was actually cast for the part of 1932 Ford highboy coupe when they discovered him as a credible human actor.

[phantom_power]

After Hours - pretty much my perfect film and Scorsese's best IMO. Not an ounce of fat, some great camerawork and it looks great. All the characters are brilliantly drawn given their limited screen time. None of them are wacky, OTT lunatics but they all give off a subtle oddness or desperation that keeps you un-nerved all the time. And the nightmare just builds and piles up with each small, and not so small, incident. Some of it borders on magic realism but with a heavy emphasis on the second word, especially the ending. Some great comic performances as well, again subtle rather than gurning or manic. I haven't seen this for about 20 years and was worried it wouldn't live up to my memory of it but it does on all counts. It also captures a Soho that no longer exists, which is an extra plus that wouldn't have been there when it was released. I do love a good "bad things happen and escalate over the course of a night, turning an everyman protagonists life upside-down" film and this is the daddy of them all

[rjd2]

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.

Don't sleep on Craig Fairbrass also in this and "star" of Rise Of The Footsoldier films and numerous other rowdy films where nonces get their heads kicked in.

[SavageHedgehog]

I like how Fairbrass says "soccer".

[zomgmouse]

Hotel Du Nord (1938).

I made myself give this a watch as I'm trying to push myself out of the rut I'm fallen into during lockdown with either rewatching familiar films, or sticking to "easy watches" which mostly turn out to be disposable shit.

It paid off on the first try as I absolutely fell in love with this. Painfully beautiful in its depiction of loves and loss set in pre-war Paris. A film so old it feels like some precious artefact from a distant world, which I suppose it is at this point. Arrow Academy's restoration is a lovely thing in itself too. It's currently only a couple of quid on iTunes / Prime if you fancy an hour and a half of wonderful melodrama escapism.

Coincidentally I recently watched Children of Paradise. It's absolutely amazing, the depth of construction is huge and the acting (esp Barrault) is divine. The only other Carné film I've seen is The Devil's Envoys which just totally took my breath away so I had trouble comparing this to that, but CoP was still spectacular.

Also watched The Muse, a very underrated Albert Brooks comedy, a deceptively light satire on Hollywood and filmmaking and the creative process. Great cameos and lots of funny bits.

[Blinder Data]

Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941). Joan Fontaine's eyebrows deservedly won an Oscar for this. It was interesting to see Cary Grant's charm and good looks used to lie, cheat and steal. His character's physical domination and ridiculing of Fontaine, plus his indifference to her feelings, was not pleasant to watch; it's difficult to ascertain whether that was intended as part of his method of manipulation or simply a extremely dated view of how gentlemen cads and bounders behaved back then, wot wot. Overall it's a pretty slight story that could easily have been a 30 minute mystery, but inevitably old Hitchers' was a pro at ramping up the tension. 6.5/10

[SteveDave]

Braven

Aquaman plays a small time businessman (logs). He's got a dad with dementia and a crooked employee who's trying to smuggle cocaine in the middle of some logs. After a crash, the drugs are stored overnight in Aquaman's cabin, little knowing that he and his pa were going there the next day.

Standard fare that would've starred Liam Neeson 15 years ago. It did have some pleasantly brutal beatings in it and realistic(ish) fight scenes.

[rjd2]

I like how Fairbrass says "soccer".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWz52Rj4q2Q

Cradle my balls.

[Sebastian Cobb]

The Bigamist - 50's noir about a bloke that ends up having a double life. Directed by and staring Ida Lupino. She did a cracking job at both roles.

It deals with the thing quite compassionately when the thing was a moral taboo. Paints the bloke as a bit of a soft lonely bloke who was largely a victim of his own cowardice and desire to do the right thing rather than a sleazy bastard.

[Custard]

Bad Day For The Cut (2017)

"A middle-aged Irish farmer, who still lives at home with his mother, sets off on a mission of revenge when the old lady is murdered".

A cracking little Irish revenge thriller. Reminded me a bit of Dead Man's Shoes. Really good

[SteveDave]

Little Malcolm And His Struggles Against The Eunuchs

I was all in on this until the last 3 minutes when John Hurt

Spoiler alert

beat up a woman and kicked her full force in the fanny

[close]

. I know it was meant to show his moral breakdown but it just made me feel a bit queasy.

[Small Man Big Horse]

My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999) - This is the weakest Studio Ghibli film I've seen yet (though I've not watched Tales From Earthsea or Ocean Waves so far), it starts off in a nicely imaginative way before telling a cute tale about the time the family forgot their daughter in a shopping mall, but after that it's just a selection of sketches concerning family life and while often likeable and gently amusing it really isn't anything that amazing. It picks up during the final twenty minutes or so with a segment involving a motorcycle gang and an ending which is half sweet and half melancholic, but I still felt it was disappointing when compared to everything else that the studio has produced. 7.1/10

[SteveDave]

What's Up Doc?

Ugh. Ryan O'Neal has no comedy timing. Barbra Streisand is the OG Manic Pixie Dream Girl but more annoying with it. The end chase goes on for approx 4 days.

[phantom_power]

Days of The Bagnold Summer - well observed, gentle British comedy directed by Simon Bird. I really enjoyed it and liked the fact the main character was a bit of a prick, but in an understandable way, being a moody teen. The relationship between him and his mum was really well-drawn and made me get quite teary at the end

Ready or Not - Almost the diametric opposite. Loud, gaudy, silly horror-comedy starring Samara Weaving, who seems to be the new scream queen on the block, and bloody good it is too. Starts off a bit slow but when the black comedy kicks in it ramps up to another level and becomes really enjoyable

[Sin Agog]

Meet the Applegates, Michael Lehmann's weird but inspired choice of a follow-up to Heathers.  It's about these giant insects who, incensed at the encroachment of their home in the rainforest by loggers, mutate into the perfect Aryan nuclear family, led by Ed Begley Jr, so as to blow up a small-town nuclear power station.  It's not the most razor sharp satire I've ever seen, but it's really fun.  It actually does have a bit of that Heathers feeling to it in a weird way, despite the whole giant genocidal insects thing.  America's really obsessed with its suburbs, isn't it?  You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5cI6fXadck

[Egyptian Feast]

Meet the Applegates, Michael Lehmann's weird but inspired choice of a follow-up to Heathers.

I loved this at the time, had completely forgotten about it over the years and your post has flooded me with memories. One of those films you'd think would have a rabid cult following, perhaps it's non-availability on DVD hasn't helped.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Barry Lyndon (1975) - they really did allow more stuff in PG-rated films back then, didn't they? A threesome scene featuring two topless women, good lord. Anyway, incredible cinematography and candlelit scenes done with that special 0.7 NASA lens. Great soundtrack, some fine performances mostly coming from small bit parts, O'Neal is fine but apparently didn't like the finished product.

[Shit Good Nose]

Meet the Applegates, Michael Lehmann's weird but inspired choice of a follow-up to Heathers.  It's about these giant insects who, incensed at the encroachment of their home in the rainforest by loggers, mutate into the perfect Aryan nuclear family, led by Ed Begley Jr, so as to blow up a small-town nuclear power station.  It's not the most razor sharp satire I've ever seen, but it's really fun.  It actually does have a bit of that Heathers feeling to it in a weird way, despite the whole giant genocidal insects thing.  America's really obsessed with its suburbs, isn't it?  You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5cI6fXadck

It makes a nice thematic double-bill with Coneheads.  Obviously Coneheads is broader (a LOT broader), but they're both level-pegging in terms of critical reception (and both re-evaluated to some extent as well in recent years).

I've always had a soft-spot for both.

[SavageHedgehog]

National Lampoon's European Vacation
Its reputation as a sloppy sequel is fair. It's pretty lowbrow and probably not for no reason is it a favourite of Mike "UKIP Calypso" Read.

But darn it, it does make me laugh.

[Puce Moment]

The Taking of Pelham 123
Obviously, the original. It has aged so well - and NYC just looks so amazingly grotty. The music kicks in at the credits with that stomping, driving beat that mirrors the tension of the heist. I'm looking around for really good, pre-Oceans heist movies, particularly from the 70s.

[Shit Good Nose]

I'm looking around for really good, pre-Oceans heist movies, particularly from the 70s.

(some of these are late 60s...)

The Anderson Tapes
The Hot Rock
Thief
The Silent Partner
The Brinks Job (nowhere near as bad as most people say)
Robbery
Topkapi
The Great Train Robbery


The original Ocean's isn't all that - definitely one that was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch.  Soderbergh's remake is infinitely better.

[Famous Mortimer]

Knights Of The City

The Warriors, crossed with the video for "Beat It". A guy in his late 30s, pretending to be in his mid 20s, made this as a passion project I presume. Street gang discovers they're shit-hot at music, meet a record exec in a holding cell, and go on to be in an inner-city battle of the bands while fighting another gang for control of their turf. The heroes run a nice-guy protection racket (like, they seem to actually be protecting their neighbourhood) and don't actually seem to do any crimes (apart from be horrible to women). Janice Turner off of Northern Exposure is in it too.

Thumbs up for camp and lots of musical numbers, thumbs down for the actual movie.

[Puce Moment]

(some of these are late 60s...)

The Anderson Tapes
The Hot Rock
Thief
The Silent Partner
The Brinks Job (nowhere near as bad as most people say)
Robbery
Topkapi
The Great Train Robbery

Thanks! I really do love cool, old, tense heist movies. I've been watching them after my recent Michael Mann run - Heat and Thief in particular really got me in the mood.

The original Ocean's isn't all that - definitely one that was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch.  Soderbergh's remake is infinitely better.

I'm afraid I have no interest in seeing any of them - I really just want older stuff with a bit of grit.