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

[dissolute ocelot]

Capernaum (2018), a bit of a mixed bag, about half of it is a touching, well-made drama about people living on the fringes of Lebanese society, mixing suffering with a bit of humour and excitement (Lebanese spiderman!). But there's also stuff about child brides, which is just too horrible to be any kind of entertainment watching. And a subplot about the main character, a 12 year old boy, suing his parents for allowing him to be born: this is exactly stupid as it sounds, but it seems like the filmmakers realised that because it's kind of skated over and isn't really resolved. The film has been attacked for sentimentality, but I feel, give them a break.

I also watched John Woo's Hard Boiled (1992) which feels like the acme of a certain type of filmmaking: the sheer destruction of an entire hospital, as well as all the usual stuff about undercover cops and criminals and regular police and losing your moral compass or being just the same. And the moment when a baby pisses on Chow Yun Fat, which is the single greatest moment of any action movie ever.

EDIT: Obviously, this week's theme was babies and unconventional childcare arrangements.

[phantom_power]

I have not seen it for a while so I can't help which is not ideal but I had a similar view of the film.

I do recall the reviews however were incredibly sneery and patronising, the Kermode review especially was bollocks.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcl3GAOyJSk


For what its worth It Follows was fine but nowhere near as worthwhile.

Kermode got it so wrong. He started by saying it was OK that Sam was a letch because he was a handsome young man but the whole point is that he is a shallow, letchy creep. He then says the film is misogynist when the film is partly about how women are treated in Hollywood. There is so much going on and it is a bit of a mess but that is why I liked it. But then I like Southland Tales and this is similar in the way it grasps for profundity and falls short but is more interesting for that nonetheless. Funnily enough for a film about the pointlessness of trying to crack codes and seek out conspiracies there is a subreddit dedicated to exactly that with the film, though to be fair the film does ask for it

[PlanktonSideburns]

Kermode got it so wrong. He started by saying it was OK that Sam was a letch because he was a handsome young man but the whole point is that he is a shallow, letchy creep. He then says the film is misogynist when the film is partly about how women are treated in Hollywood. There is so much going on and it is a bit of a mess but that is why I liked it. But then I like Southland Tales and this is similar in the way it grasps for profundity and falls short but is more interesting for that nonetheless. Funnily enough for a film about the pointlessness of trying to crack codes and seek out conspiracies there is a subreddit dedicated to exactly that with the film, though to be fair the film does ask for it

I tend to love anything kermode describes as a mess

Southland tales really has something mad and wonderful about it. Dwyane and Sarah dancing at the end is pure evocative. Not of anything in particular, it's just distilled evok

[zomgmouse]

Continuing my meander through Zhangke with Still Life. Perhaps his slowest one yet, very meditative. I rather enjoyed it once I got onto its level.

[greenman]

Spilt Second from 92, only had a vague memory of this(maybe just the trailer?) but it ends up being very fun, Rutger Hauer hunting a demon in flooded 2008 London with every british character actor they could get their hands on. Wouldnt be supprised if there was a bit of Red Dwarf influence here as its pushing deliberately towards parody but never to the degree of not playing things straight.

[dissolute ocelot]

I tend to love anything kermode describes as a mess

Southland tales really has something mad and wonderful about it. Dwyane and Sarah dancing at the end is pure evocative. Not of anything in particular, it's just distilled evok

Yeah I loved both Under The Silver Lake and Southland Tales although I'm not sure how similar they are. Silver Lake has fantastic Andrew Garfield as the nicest bro, and old Hollywood, while Southland Takes is far more random and more clearly bullshit but also more ambitious and prophetic. While Silver Lake parodies conspiracy theorists, Southland Tales is more pro theory.

[phantom_power]

I didn't mean that they were thematically or tonally similar but just that they were the films that followed the breakthrough films from young directors who just said "fuck it" and threw everything into a very personal but divisive film that practically tanked their careers but slowly gained a cult following

[Famous Mortimer]

My Demon Lover

Keeps up the grand tradition of every movie with "Demon Lover" in the title being absolutely horrible.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Haha I've literally just finished watching Demonlover! Grim innit, reminded me of Videodrome in some ways.

Yesterday I watched The Long Good Friday for the first time. It was quite good, a shitload of familiar faces in it too.

[Famous Mortimer]

I was referring to the 70s "Demon Lover" as the other one, but I'm glad to know there's a third one which also sucks.

Young Frankenstein

I still liked it, but...it's a bit baggy. Some of the jokes have aged pretty badly? I suppose, doing that "length of time comparison" thing, it's closer in time to the originals it's parodying than it is to now, so it's to be expected it feels a bit that way compared to more modern things.

[zomgmouse]

Babette's Feast. Beautiful film. Simple and touching and gorgeously shot. (But I still do not understand religious people. Absolutely baffling and frustrating bunch.)

[Artie Fufkin]

The Imitation Game - 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch & Keira Knightley star in this dramatisation of cracking the Enigma Machine.
Really, REALLY good. With a whole host of familiar faces.
Such a sad film, really. We really were cunts to homosexuals back in the day, weren't we? Yes, I know we still are, but you know what I mean. Really well filmed, and cleverly plotted, and I though Benedict was great.
Could quite easily watch that again right away.

[Dex Sawash]

I was referring to the 70s "Demon Lover" as the other one, but I'm glad to know there's a third one which also sucks.

Young Frankenstein

I still liked it, but...it's a bit baggy. Some of the jokes have aged pretty badly? I suppose, doing that "length of time comparison" thing, it's closer in time to the originals it's parodying than it is to now, so it's to be expected it feels a bit that way compared to more modern things.

This is why I am always giggling when someone answers their door

[zomgmouse]

Spite Marriage. Trying to whittle down my Buster Keaton gaps. Really quite disappointing. It seems MGM didn't actually let Keaton write this, and it shows. He's basically just the lead in a mediocre romance, with minimal great gags, even less so those of a particularly physical nature.

[Artie Fufkin]

Saving Mr Banks - 2013

The dramatisation of Walt Disney's meeting with Mary Poppins author PL Travers, if you didn't know.
Watched this last night. I almost turned off after 10 minutes cos Emma Thompson's portrayal of Mrs Travers really annoyed me. Fucking rude bitch. But so glad I stuck with it as it was such a good film. And so sad.
I held it together until they started playing Feed The Birds towards the end, and then I blubbed like a big girl.
I have to say, Tom Hanks is pretty awesome in everything he does nowadays.

[EOLAN]

Spite Marriage. Trying to whittle down my Buster Keaton gaps. Really quite disappointing. It seems MGM didn't actually let Keaton write this, and it shows. He's basically just the lead in a mediocre romance, with minimal great gags, even less so those of a particularly physical nature.

Have to brush up on my Keaton post silent film era stuff alright. Tend to not match his classic for a multitude of reasons, but did watch Speak Easily which is considered one of the relatively better ones and was far from a classic but was quite fun. Jimmy Durante and Keaton worked well together. Was fearful Durante would try to dominate screen and definitely benefited from being a Pre-Code era film as well.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I was referring to the 70s "Demon Lover" as the other one, but I'm glad to know there's a third one which also sucks.

Young Frankenstein

I still liked it, but...it's a bit baggy. Some of the jokes have aged pretty badly? I suppose, doing that "length of time comparison" thing, it's closer in time to the originals it's parodying than it is to now, so it's to be expected it feels a bit that way compared to more modern things.

I remember at school we had one of those days where we couldn't have a lesson for some reason so teacher had to put a film on. She put this on and was cackling like a loon throughout, while the class just sat in total bored silence. Felt kinda sorry for her, not really a film a bunch of twatty 14-year olds are going to be into though.

[EOLAN]

Yet when a bunch of 12 year olds watched Brooks other 1974 film: Blazing Saddles we absolutely loved it.

[zomgmouse]

Baxter, Vera Baxter. Hypnotic beyond belief. Sometimes beyond comprehension. I liked it, I think, but struggled to stay connected despite its mesmerising nature. I wonder if Angela Schanelec was inspired by Duras.

Have to brush up on my Keaton post silent film era stuff alright. Tend to not match his classic for a multitude of reasons, but did watch Speak Easily which is considered one of the relatively better ones and was far from a classic but was quite fun. Jimmy Durante and Keaton worked well together. Was fearful Durante would try to dominate screen and definitely benefited from being a Pre-Code era film as well.

This one had totally slipped me by! I guess I only put on my watchlist the ones he actually directed. Are any of the ones he didn't worth it?

[phantom_power]

The Day The Earth Caught Fire - sort of a proto-Threads. Very grim detailing of the slow breakdown of society following a climate-changing event. Early blink-and-you'll-miss-it uncredited appearances from Michael Caine and Peter Butterworth a well

[Custard]

Did any women wee themselves in the street?

[shagatha crustie]

Carnival of Souls (1962) - loved this low-budget creepfest about a pretty but nervous church organist who survives a car wreck, moves out to the sticks to get away from it all and then starts having weird visions and being drawn to this old abandoned entertainments pavilion. Written out like that, it sounds ludicrous and very of its time but I think that's why I loved it. The slightly 'off' acting and direction at points just added to its woozy charm. Big influence on Romero apparently which I can definitely see. 8/10.

[greenman]

I'd recommend Night Tide with a young Dennis Hopper from around the same time.

[Egyptian Feast]

Carnival of Souls (1962) - loved this low-budget creepfest about a pretty but nervous church organist who survives a car wreck, moves out to the sticks to get away from it all and then starts having weird visions and being drawn to this old abandoned entertainments pavilion. Written out like that, it sounds ludicrous and very of its time but I think that's why I loved it. The slightly 'off' acting and direction at points just added to its woozy charm. Big influence on Romero apparently which I can definitely see. 8/10.

Masterpiece. David Lynch clearly a fan also.

[Famous Mortimer]

It's such a great film. If you can get the Criterion Collection version, it's packed with good things.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

All the President's Men

Another of those classic films that I'd not seen, but felt like I had via cultural osmosis. One thing I didn't know is that it just ends, suddenly and arbitrarily. One minute they're all fretting that G-men might be about to kill them, then a quick montage of headlines tells us that everything worked out fine.
Rather a baffling turn of events, I thought.

[Famous Mortimer]

Teenage Exorcist

Cleverly titled, as the only exorcist in it is an old man, and the star who's playing a college student was in her late 30s when she made it. Given she also wrote it, the utter lack of agency of her character is a curious choice.

But anyway, it's terrible.

[zomgmouse]

The Day The Earth Caught Fire - sort of a proto-Threads. Very grim detailing of the slow breakdown of society following a climate-changing event. Early blink-and-you'll-miss-it uncredited appearances from Michael Caine and Peter Butterworth a well

Love this film, shocking and captivating and feels very real.

[phantom_power]

It manages to mix that breakneck banter that is associated with screwball romantic comedies with gritty disaster movie stuff and doesn't seem incongruous. Showing the whole thing from the PoV of a newspaper and its reporters is a great touch

[EOLAN]

It manages to mix that breakneck banter that is associated with screwball romantic comedies with gritty disaster movie stuff and doesn't seem incongruous. Showing the whole thing from the PoV of a newspaper and its reporters is a great touch

Presume this isn't about All the President's Men but isn't far off.