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What Non-New Films Have You Seen? (2021 Edition)

Started by zomgmouse, January 14, 2021, 11:12:22 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Small Man Big Horse

Invisible Man Appears (1949) - A Japanese take on H.G. Wells famous story where the scientist responsible for the formula is kidnapped and his protégé is tricked in to taking the serum that will turn him invisible. It takes just under half an hour before we can't see the fella, but even after this there's an annoying subplot about the theft of some diamonds and the search for the invisible man and it's mostly dull. The effects aren't as good as the 1933 original either, even when the invisible fella is out and about we often witness things from his perspective rather than seeing (or not seeing) him, it's a very sober film lacking the dark humour of the US version, and even though it picks up in the final half hour I still felt quite disappointed. 4.9/10

Small Man Big Horse

Tommy Boy (1995) - I've heard a lot of comics talk about how amazing Chris Farley was over the years (most recently in Norm MacDonald's book, and he clearly adored the man) but had never seen any of the films he was the lead in so thought it was about time I watched this. It's not bad either, Farley's a very likeable lead and quite unusually I didn't want to set David Spade on fire, Dan Ackroyd pops up for a fun just slightly bigger than cameo role and Rob Lowe's a decent villain, but while consistently gently amusing it's only occasionally laugh out loud material. 7.0/10

Dusty Substance

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 30, 2021, 08:39:00 PM
Tommy Boy (1995) - I've heard a lot of comics talk about how amazing Chris Farley was over the years (most recently in Norm MacDonald's book, and he clearly adored the man) but had never seen any of the films he was the lead in so thought it was about time I watched this. It's not bad either, Farley's a very likeable lead and quite unusually I didn't want to set David Spade on fire, Dan Ackroyd pops up for a fun just slightly bigger than cameo role and Rob Lowe's a decent villain, but while consistently gently amusing it's only occasionally laugh out loud material. 7.0/10

This review has made me think it's time to revisit Tommy Boy.

Chris Farley never made me laugh back when he was around but I was introduced to his SNL appearances last year and have a whole new appreciation of him as a comedy figure - Also, same as SMBH, thanks to Norm MacDonald's brilliant book.

famethrowa

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 30, 2021, 08:39:00 PM
Tommy Boy (1995)

I went to see this at the movies when it came out, I think it was ok but the only thing I can remember is where Spade was going mad at Farley for spilling M&Ms all over his car dashboard, and Farley says "it's ok, they've got a hard candy shell" and Spade says "your head's got a hard candy shell" and Farley says "oh well um your head's.. uh" and fails to come up with a comeback. I liked that

St_Eddie

Quote from: famethrowa on July 31, 2021, 05:18:22 AM
I went to see this at the movies when it came out, I think it was ok but the only thing I can remember is where Spade was going mad at Farley for spilling M&Ms all over his car dashboard, and Farley says "it's ok, they've got a hard candy shell" and Spade says "your head's got a hard candy shell" and Farley says "oh well um your head's.. uh" and fails to come up with a comeback. I liked that

"Shut up, Richard."

mothman

I'm currently boring everyone in the, er, The Suicide Squad thread with my impressions of (no The) Suicide Squad when really I should be boring you all here. But no worry, I'm watching Red Sparrow right now and I Have Opinions to bore you all with later!

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Dusty Substance on July 31, 2021, 01:23:22 AM
This review has made me think it's time to revisit Tommy Boy.

Chris Farley never made me laugh back when he was around but I was introduced to his SNL appearances last year and have a whole new appreciation of him as a comedy figure - Also, same as SMBH, thanks to Norm MacDonald's brilliant book.

It's not a film which is in any way special and if (as I've been led to believe) it's the best Farley film then I won't be rushing to watch any of the others, but it was what I was in the mood for last night, a switch off your brain and laugh at the idiocy kind of film, and for a mainstream US 90's comedy there were only two minor moments (retard and spaz "jokes") which made me wince which isn't too bad going, at least compared to a lot of other popular films back then.

Egyptian Feast

I think the only film I ever caught Farley in was his supporting role as a Vietnam vet with half a nose in Norm MacDonald's Dirty Work, which turned out to be his last movie.

I've been meaning to rewatch that for years. I saw it during an extremely refreshed movie night around a mate's house in the late 90s. None of us knew who Norm was, but the film absolutely killed us. I think we ended up watching it again the next morning and it was frequently quoted thereafter. I imagine much of the humour (dead sex workers, prison rape etc.) will be a bit jarring after all these years, but I can't deny that was part of the appeal back then.

Even now, I can't watch Jack Warden in anything without thinking about the line "Back then we didn't have these fancy birth control methods. Like pulling out." or imagining his character making increasingly aggressive demands to be supplied with prostitutes.

zomgmouse

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on July 30, 2021, 02:20:01 PM
I liked this, without knowing much of either Shirley Jackson or Josephine Decker or the novel it's based on. Since IMDb is packed with people contesting its accuracy, it may be better not to know much about the real Jackson. It's another great Elizabeth Moss performance: in some ways reminiscent of her work in Her Smell where she also plays a self-obsessed creative with similar lack of vanity and focus on her art, though the films are very different. If you've not seen it, it's also worth watching the recent adaptation of Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle, which is packed with splendid period creepiness and evil.

Yeah I mean the novel and by the extension the film were not really mean to be particularly "accurate" (although one of the inaccuracies is that Jackson had 4 kids, who are present in the novel but not the film) - it's really more about evoking the atmosphere and frustrations of Jackson. I'm very keen to read We Have Always Lived in the Castle - really all I've read of Jackson is The Haunting of Hill House, which is astoundingly great (I've only seen the Robert Wise adaptation, which is really good), and perhaps her most famous short story "The Lottery", also excellent.

privatefriend

Queen of Diamonds (1991) directed by Nina Menkes.

Quite an obscure one, although it was restored in 4k recently. I had to rent it from Vimeo.

Slowcore look at the life of a female Blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, the scenes in the casino look great.

Would recommend it, especially to fans of Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman.

trailer

sevendaughters

the perpendicular shot of the lead drinking is very Akerman, also the tree burning seems very Tarkovsky. big names to reference, but I'll give it a bash.

Small Man Big Horse

Kin-dza-dza! (1986) - Really fucking odd Russian minimalist sci-fi sort of comedy where after briefly meeting an alien two men are transported to the desert planet of Pluke, and have to work out a way to return to Earth which is fairly problematic as everyone they meet is somewhat strange to say the least. It's an often dry comedy about the nature of society, class and the strange rules and customs we impose on ourselves, and sometimes it's just absurdly daft for the sake of being daft, or that was my presumption anyhow. I found its relentless weirdness a bit exhausting on occasion if I'm to be honest, but the majority of the time I was amused or bemused by it. 6.8/10

zomgmouse

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 31, 2021, 09:15:28 PM
Kin-dza-dza! (1986) - Really fucking odd Russian minimalist sci-fi sort of comedy where after briefly meeting an alien two men are transported to the desert planet of Pluke, and have to work out a way to return to Earth which is fairly problematic as everyone they meet is somewhat strange to say the least. It's an often dry comedy about the nature of society, class and the strange rules and customs we impose on ourselves, and sometimes it's just absurdly daft for the sake of being daft, or that was my presumption anyhow. I found its relentless weirdness a bit exhausting on occasion if I'm to be honest, but the majority of the time I was amused or bemused by it. 6.8/10

A beautiful film in its own bizarre way.

dissolute ocelot

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) - continuing my occasional exploration of the less celebrated corners of the Disney world with this disappointing adventure. Vaguely Jules Verne/Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired, it's about a young philologist who joins a mission to find the secret power source of Atlantis c. 1914. It's perhaps the dullest Disney I've seen: the main character is not a great protagonist (he likes books), the other characters are potentially interesting but never fully developed, the plot amounts to "people go somewhere", the character designs are good but Atlantis is not that spectacular. Futurama's Atlanta is much better. It was followed by Treasure Planet which gets everything right: a central character with emotional needs (searching for a father-figure and a purpose in life), comedy, and much better action sequences.

Rewatching two excellent, humanistic mid-century films that I last saw decades ago. (Not quite when they were first released, but a while ago.)

La Grande Illusion (1937) - brilliantly subtle and complex World War one prisoner-of-war movie. Astonishing filmmaking - the great cast turns what could be archetypes into real characters; light-hearted moments can reveal just as much as the more serious, and there's always a closeness between comedy and tragedy (plus great use of La Marseillaise before Casablanca). But also it is so complex about race, class, nationhood, history, war: making an anti-war film with a Jewish main character in 1937? And what to make of the ending -
Spoiler alert
our heroes set against a bank of white snow - it surely means there is much left to be done
[close]
. Other issues: Gabin's working-class man's ingrained antisemitism, but also there's a black inmate who's ignored (he paints a picture which our heroes refuse to look at!). And what of Rosenthal's insistence that it's only pride that makes him help his fellow prisoners?  Renoir fills everything with such complexity and conflicted emotion. A film to rewatch and think about endlessly.

Sansho the Bailiff (1954) - a Japanese folk tale that proves anything but simple. Moments of drama, brutality, peril, excitement, beauty. The message (the importance of mercy) seems inadequate to the situation; this is a film that loves ironies and the cruelty of fate, people who think they're saved only to be ruined, sacrifice, and chance.

mothman

2 Fast 2 Furious. Now. I think I watched TFATF on Sky when it was first on, and never seen any of the others. Obviously since those days it's become this huge franchise where people are spies by driving really showy fast cars. But back then, there was a sequel to TFATF which is basically a retread where people steal things by driving really showy fast cars. There's lot of hip-hop music video-style sequences, women are just there to wear bikinis and not even have names (Devon Aoki's agent must have been shit-hot, because she gets to be called Suki and at least drive a car - while wearing a bikini).

Paul Walker... Not to speak ill of the dead but he's a bit of a personality vacuum, isn't he? So much so they didn't even bother bringing him back for the sequel to this one. Fortunately they put him up next to Tyrese Gibson who can't act at all - at least not in this, early in his career. And if the best you can do for a baddie is Cole Hauser, well...

Since ITV seem to be doing a season of here maybe I'll look up how part 4 was devised as rebooting the franchise into its current style. I find it amusing how Vin Diesel managed to take a series of what turned out to be in hindsight really bad decisions. Wouldn't do  2F2F because he was doing XXX. Wouldn't do XXX2 because he was doing The Pacifier. And so on...

Small Man Big Horse

Detroit Rock City (1999) - It's 1978 and four teenage boys (including Giuseppe Andrews, the subject of director Adam Rifkin's 2014 documentary Giuseppe Makes A Movie) head to a Kiss concert thinking they've won tickets but as one of them screwed up they have to find another way in. There's the odd bit of dialogue from the boys that'll make you wince, but this cartoonish slice of wish fulfilment has a lot of funny moments even if it is often quite ridiculous. 7.6/10

zomgmouse

Wasted Youth, 2011 film by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, of whom I'd only seen Suntan (which was quite good, definitely worth watching). This was a nice bit of urban malaise set amongst the 2008 Greek crises, just before the riots.

Then watched his latest film, Monday. Follows two Americans having a weekend tryst in Greece. This is actually really decent, surprisingly given the low ratings. It's interesting for running the gamut of a typical romcom within the first half-hour (a bit like the set-up to Catastrophe) where it captures a particular ephemeral holiday party vibe pretty well - and then having the rest of the runtime follow through with the eventual relationship where it turns into an effective drama tracking all the inevitable ups and downs. The two leads have nice chemistry together too. Maybe the last true pre-pandemic film?

Then onto Detour, a film by Christopher Smith (ahead of watching his latest, which I'll post about in the horror thread). Has its moments but it's not particularly great is it. Doesn't seem to lean in to its "what if the protagonist had made this choice" split timelines premise at all.

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on August 01, 2021, 08:25:31 PM
Detroit Rock City (1999)
Loved this film when I watched it about 15 years ago. Thanks for reminding me of it.

zomgmouse

A little "Konchalovsky gone back to Russia" double before getting to his latest.

Starting with House of Fools, a black comedy/war drama in which a mental hospital gets caught up in the Chechnyan war. It goes beyond the "war sure is crazy!" vibe that the premise suggests, becomes quite touching and thought-provoking. Also Bryan Adams is in it.

Then moving on to The Postman's White Nights. Filmed entirely with amateur actors ostensibly playing themselves, this is a meditative portrait of a man and a community.

And then his film from last year, Dear Comrades!, a retelling of the Novocherkassk factory workers strike massacre (seems like the most Russian thing ever). The protagonist is a Party representative whose daughter goes missing during the riot. It's rather good, but while the "recreation" aspects of the first half are more or less on par, the film really comes into its own in the second half when it becomes a much more personal affair.

Custard

Get Smart (2008)

Steve Carell basically plays Michael from The Office in this, but with a bit more bravery and spy skills

Anne Hathaway is really trying, but she doesn't get much to work with. She's so gorgeous, oof

The Rock is plastered all over the poster and DVD cover, yet he's probably onscreen for about 20% of the runtime.

Eh, it was alright. Was looking for a light-hearted funny film after watching Dead Man's Shoes the previous night (it's still great), and although it was likeable enough, it wasn't all that funny. There's a scene with a room full of lasers that is fantastic, however

3 bags

Parenthood (1989)

I've always really liked this film, as it captures family issues and dynamics better than most serious dramas, and is genuinely very funny in places, with a great cast

Steve Martin is great in this, and the Cowboy Gil scene is hilarious. "Here's your lower intestines!" whilst trying to do balloon animals

It's full of great lines, and has Rick Moranis singing Close To You. What's not to like?

A young Joaquin Phoenix is in it, and I like to think it's a Joker prequel. "All men are scum", let down by his father, his long scraggly hair. It kinda works

Really enjoyed it

4 bags, and a BJ on the highway

Small Man Big Horse

So Dear To My Heart (1948) - A Disney film which is largely live action but with the occasional animated bit, it's the year 1903 and young Jeremiah lives on a farm with his grandmother and when a sheep gives birth to a black lamb he fucking loves it, it's all he thinks and talks about and jesus kid, were you always this fucking odd (a previous obsession with a horse called Dan suggests that yes, yes he was). Plot wise this is slight as hell, Jeremiah wants to enter his black sheep in to the county fair but needs to raise funds to do so, which he eventually does by finding a "Bee Tree" full of honey. Some of this feels a little "Edu-tainment", a song about Christopher Columbus and Robert The Bruce especially, while granny's a pious cunt, albeit one with a heart of gold, and there's a sod load of filler. Sometimes it's likeable and we get to see a fair amount of heart warming old fashioned countryside life, but very little really happens and it's unlikely this will ever be anyone's favourite Disney movie, not even someone who loved sheep as much as that fucking weirdo Jeremiah. 5.4/10

Blumf


Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Blumf on August 03, 2021, 03:37:22 PM
Could have stopped there.

It wouldn't have been inaccurate either, that boys love was unnatural I tell thee.

We Live Again (1934) - Adaptation of the Tolstoy novel Resurrection, unsurprisingly it's set in Russia though only about a third of the cast bother with the accent, the rest sound either English or American. Katusha (Anna Sten) starts the film as a maid for two rich posh spinsters but
Spoiler alert
she's thrown out when she's impregnated by their soldier nephew Dimitri (Fredric March), but then the baby dies and misery follows, it's implied she's fallen in to prostitution and is imprisoned for a murder she didn't commit.
[close]
There's much discussion about class, society, politics and the nature of justice, but it's let down by some of the performances, March is okay but Sten is often melodramatic, while many of the supporting cast feel rather am-dram and as a whole this is a film which lacks subtlety, which is a shame as the script is often of interest. 6.1/10

Dusty Substance

Quote from: Shameless Custard on August 03, 2021, 09:28:45 AM
Parenthood (1989)

I've always really liked this film, as it captures family issues and dynamics better than most serious dramas, and is genuinely very funny in places, with a great cast

Steve Martin is great in this, and the Cowboy Gil scene is hilarious. "Here's your lower intestines!" whilst trying to do balloon animals

It's full of great lines, and has Rick Moranis singing Close To You. What's not to like?

A young Joaquin Phoenix is in it, and I like to think it's a Joker prequel. "All men are scum", let down by his father, his long scraggly hair. It kinda works

Really enjoyed it

4 bags, and a BJ on the highway

Yeah, Parenthood is *really* bloody good. Probably Ron Howard's best film. An outstanding ensemble cast. Diane Wiest and Martha Plimpton playing mother and daughter was amazing casting - They look so similar and have a great on screen dynamic. I could have watched a two hour movie of just the two of them.

I made the same Joker prequel observation when revisiting Parenthood last year.

famethrowa

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on August 03, 2021, 03:27:57 PM
So Dear To My Heart (1948) - A Disney film which is largely live action but with the occasional animated bit, it's the year 1903 and young Jeremiah lives on a farm with his grandmother and when a sheep gives birth to a black lamb he fucking loves it, it's all he thinks and talks about and jesus kid, were you always this fucking odd (a previous obsession with a horse called Dan suggests that yes, yes he was). Plot wise this is slight as hell, Jeremiah wants to enter his black sheep in to the county fair but needs to raise funds to do so, which he eventually does by finding a "Bee Tree" full of honey. Some of this feels a little "Edu-tainment", a song about Christopher Columbus and Robert The Bruce especially, while granny's a pious cunt, albeit one with a heart of gold, and there's a sod load of filler. Sometimes it's likeable and we get to see a fair amount of heart warming old fashioned countryside life, but very little really happens and it's unlikely this will ever be anyone's favourite Disney movie, not even someone who loved sheep as much as that fucking weirdo Jeremiah. 5.4/10

Well good lord. There's a Longmont Potion Castle track (Lamb Patch) that has all this type of weird dialog, and I bet it's from this movie. Thanks for solving that one!

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: famethrowa on August 03, 2021, 11:20:55 PM
Well good lord. There's a Longmont Potion Castle track (Lamb Patch) that has all this type of weird dialog, and I bet it's from this movie. Thanks for solving that one!

I was intrigued to find out if it was and it definitely is, and mentions the lead character "Jeremiah Kincaid" in one of the lines.

Custard

Quote from: Dusty Substance on August 03, 2021, 09:20:02 PM
Yeah, Parenthood is *really* bloody good. Probably Ron Howard's best film. An outstanding ensemble cast. Diane Wiest and Martha Plimpton playing mother and daughter was amazing casting - They look so similar and have a great on screen dynamic. I could have watched a two hour movie of just the two of them.

I made the same Joker prequel observation when revisiting Parenthood last year.

Totally agree. The casting is excellent

The only character I don't really enjoy watching is Billy, but I get why he's there

I remembered the closing scene as everyone suddenly having babies, at the exact same time, in the same hospital, so I was glad that I'd misremembered that as that'd have been a bit shit

Still laughing at the Cowboy Gil stuff, days later!

Dusty Substance

Quote from: Shameless Custard on August 04, 2021, 10:55:09 AM
I remembered the closing scene as everyone suddenly having babies, at the exact same time, in the same hospital, so I was glad that I'd misremembered that as that'd have been a bit shit

Still laughing at the Cowboy Gil stuff, days later!

Pretty sure the "everyone suddenly having babies at the exact same time" has happened in a similar, less smart, less funny film. Can't place which one right now, unless I'm also thinking of Parenthood.

Maybe Lethal Weapon 4?

El Unicornio, mang

Parenthood is great, and filmed in the same area that I used to live at so nice to see the familiar locations.

Sebastian Cobb

I was, quite unusually, channel hopping at the weekend and stumbled across Road House. It's shit but great isn't it?

"I used to fuck guys like you in prison!"