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

[Johnboy]

Watched Boxcar Bertha for the first time - what a romp!

Followed it with Mean Streets with Marty's commentary, had to look away from the screen he was saying so much stuff (which was good).

Then Raging Bull which I hadn't seen in decades, was surprised how much of it I remembered, it left an imprint, hilarious and serious at the same time.

[A Hat Like That]

Cobra

I know this has been discussed somewhere else, alongside your Dirty Harrys and Death Wishes. Anyway, its approaching Peak 80s Screw-The-Rules Detective Actioner. There's a truly bizarre montage cutting between Sly, Bridgette Nielsen dancing with some robots and Brian Thompson doing his thing. Lots of Pepsi signs in the background. Do love a good ending in a steel works.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Cobra

I know this has been discussed somewhere else, alongside your Dirty Harrys and Death Wishes. Anyway, its approaching Peak 80s Screw-The-Rules Detective Actioner. There's a truly bizarre montage cutting between Sly, Bridgette Nielsen dancing with some robots and Brian Thompson doing his thing. Lots of Pepsi signs in the background. Do love a good ending in a steel works.

The original version of this is over 2 hours long, they cut out about 40 mins so that it could play more times per day at cinemas.

[Blumf]

The original version of this is over 2 hours long, they cut out about 40 mins so that it could play more times per day at cinemas.

Really? What was cut?

[El Unicornio, mang]

Really? What was cut?

List of cuts here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_(1986_film)

Apparently only a VHS workprint of it exists.

[phantom_power]

We demand The Cosmatos Cut!

[A Hat Like That]

The original version of this is over 2 hours long, they cut out about 40 mins so that it could play more times per day at cinemas.

They cut the montage.

Philistines.

[A Hat Like That]

They didn't cut down Art LaFleur's massive head, tho, did they??

[Shit Good Nose]

Cobra fans should check out (or maybe not) the Italian rip-off/remake Black Cobra starring Fred Williamson.

[monkfromhavana]

The Fourth Protocol is on Talking Pictures.

Enjoyable cold war hokum featuring Pierce Brosnan doing a trade and a whole host of TV actors with bit parts.

[Blumf]

The Fourth Protocol is on Talking Pictures.

Always happy when it turns up on TV. It's not great or anything, but a nice late evening film to leave on.

[Mr Banlon]

Really? What was cut?

His pizza, with scissors. https://youtu.be/5SxN_U2H0Xc?t=18

[dissolute ocelot]

Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019ish) - very entertaining French banlieue film about incompetent, asshole cops failing to deal with the social problems of a poor, mostly-immigrant housing scheme near Paris. There's a big cast of very colourful characters: an obnoxious cop who collects pig toys, a populist mayor who goes around in a football shirt with "La Mairie" (Town Hall) on the back, very scary circus types, very scary Muslim leaders, and vast amounts of kids getting up to mischief. It's all fun and games till somebody loses an

Spoiler alert

eye

[close]

and

Spoiler alert

a lion

[close]

. Slightly connected with Victor Hugo, but more like La Haine remade as farce.

[Dex Sawash]

Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019ish) - very entertaining French banlieue film about incompetent, asshole cops failing to deal with the social problems of a poor, mostly-immigrant housing scheme near Paris. There's a big cast of very colourful characters: an obnoxious cop who collects pig toys, a populist mayor who goes around in a football shirt with "La Mairie" (Town Hall) on the back, very scary circus types, very scary Muslim leaders, and vast amounts of kids getting up to mischief. It's all fun and games till somebody loses an

Spoiler alert

eye

[close]

and

Spoiler alert

a lion

[close]

. Slightly connected with Victor Hugo, but more like La Haine remade as farce.

Sort of a Do the Droit Thing

[JamesTC]

It is pretty funny when he gets noshed off by his dog though. It is pretty funny, come on it is pretty funny.

I rewatched this a few months back and honestly I think it deserves praise for depicting Ali G accidentally getting wanked off by a blind council worker who thinks he is polishing a railing and then just 30 minutes later shows Ali G brokering peace at the United Nations.

[zomgmouse]

Watched a few more assorted Agnès Varda things on MUBI:

The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later, a follow-up to Varda's famous documentary The Gleaners and I. It mainly catches up with several of the film's subjects, as well as featuring some of Varda's reflections on the subject matter and showcasing objects that people sent her after the film was released.

And some of her shorts: "You Have Beautiful Stairs, You Know", "7p., cuis., s. de b., ... à saisir", "The Pleasure of Love in Iran", "Women Reply", "Elsa the Rose", "Salut les Cubains", "The Vanishing Lion". An interesting selection from a range of times and places. I think the best of these was "Salut les Cubains", a great ethnographic overview done pretty much entirely from still photos; some great editing in particular.

[Famous Mortimer]

Avenging Force

Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, from in between the first and second "American Ninja" movies - they must have enjoyed working together? Anyway, the two men are old army buddies, and James is running for Senate. The idea of a black man getting power so incenses a local businessman that he organises a lot of wealthy racists into a full-on fascist militia that hunts people for sport, as well as tries to seize power wherever possible.

The way the Government instantly springs into action against this far-right threat to democracy is the thing that makes it seem almost laughably quaint, though. I was watching it, enjoying the action and the fight scenes, while simultaneously lamenting when even low-budget action movies had better politics than Presidents.

[JamesTC]

Dredd (2012)

I like the idea that an obscure BBC Three comedy/sketch show becomes popular in the far future.

[amputeeporn]

Thoroughbreds - Well, NEVER would have watched this if there'd seemed like a better choice, I was just in such a rut and went for it. So glad I did - what a stunning, funny, pitch-BLACK (crime?) drama. Performances all terrific, and I was very sad to realise that the excellent fucked-up loser guy was played by Anton Yelchin, that actor I'd heard had died in tragic circumstances.

As a debut this was stunning, and it made me very excited to see the director's follow-up Bad Education, which looks like a similarly wicked affair, this time with Hugh Jackman.

[Artie Fufkin]

I rewatched the first 3 Indiana Jones films Friday/Saturday.
Lost Ark - Classic!
Temple - Not so good
Crusade - Better, but not as good as Ark.

[Artie Fufkin]

I also rewatched Return Of The Pink Panther the other day.
Brilliant stuff, although a little 'of its time' in places. I cringed a few times. But overall so good. Sellers is just brilliant in it.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yesterday I watched
S1m0ne - Expected it to be a bit more of a black mirror social commentary on a fictional star but it ended up having a bit of a Mrs Doubtfire vibe with the ex husband living through her and trying to get back his wife and daughter.

The Big Bus - a bit of an Airplane! but a bus scenario really.

[Inspector Norse]

Independence Day: Resurgence This was universally panned on release but I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't good, either, it was just kind of relentlessly OK. I mean alright, the only memorable action scene involved a gigantic alien queen running in slow motion after a school bus, tentacles wiggling everywhere like some kind of monstrous wacky waving inflatable tube man, but other than that there wasn't anything that inspired any particular negative or positive feelings. The film existed, it passed two hours on a Saturday evening. Nice to see old-timers like Bill Pullman and William Fichtner picking up a pay packet.

[greenman]

Independence Day: Resurgence This was universally panned on release but I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't good, either, it was just kind of relentlessly OK. I mean alright, the only memorable action scene involved a gigantic alien queen running in slow motion after a school bus, tentacles wiggling everywhere like some kind of monstrous wacky waving inflatable tube man, but other than that there wasn't anything that inspired any particular negative or positive feelings. The film existed, it passed two hours on a Saturday evening. Nice to see old-timers like Bill Pullman and William Fichtner picking up a pay packet.

I did get the sense they realised that the main plot with the new lead characters was bollocks and just focused on maximum Golblum/Hursh/Spiner.

[samadriel]

Yesterday I watched High Ground, an Australian western set just after WW1, about an ex-Army sniper who gets involved in an Aboriginal massacre, and then, years later, has to enlist one of the survivors to help him hunt an Aboriginal outlaw. It was great -- a very tense, frequently violent action-drama with heaps of great performances, particularly Jacob Junior Nayinggul and Simon Baker, the two leads. A familiarity with Australia's violent history will make several images and scenes more familiar and poignant, but the nature of white.Australia is so terrible and obvious that a prior education isn't necessary. You just need to know that shit like this happened all the time. Check out the trailer: https://youtu.be/LOCAKnVHpos 

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The Way Way Back (2013)

Coming of age comedy/drama written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Dragged on holiday by his mum and her overbearing boyfriend, introverted teenager Duncan comes out of his shell when he's offered a job by the free spirited manager of the local waterslide park.

Liam James, himself a teenager at the time, leads the film with remarkable ease, backed up by one heck of a supporting cast, including: Toni Colette as his mother, trying desperately to mask her anxieties; Steve Carell, playing very effectively against type as her suburban alpha douche boyfriend; Alison Janney, as their amusingly blunt neighbour; Amanda Peet and Rob Corddry as family friends; Faxon, Rash and Maya Rudolph as employees at the water park. Anna Sophia Robb fills the love interest role, but is more than a prize to reward Duncan's emotional arc. But it's Sam Rockwell who steals his every scene, as the militantly fun-loving park manager, with whom Duncan forms a brotherly attachment.

Set in the present day, but consciously harking back to the 80s (Duncan listening to music on his phone, instead of a Walkman, is about the only signifier of the era) the film is nothing we haven't seen in others of this type. I suppose there might be some novelty to the amount of focus it gives the adult characters. The rest of the park staff are conspicuously middle aged and Rudolph gets some poignant laments about still working there at their age and being forced to be the only responsible one among them. It also feels more grounded and real than the Likes of Caddyshack, with even Rockwell, at his Rockwelliest (yes, he does a little dance) remaining believable, rather than a cartoon character made flesh.

[zomgmouse]

The Corporation. Comprehensive documentary chronicling the rise and continued influence of corporations. Really well put together. They've made a sequel which apparently isn't as good but it'd be worth a watch.

Swordsmen in Double Flag Town. Chinese historical adventure/action film, starts off quite interestingly but fairly quickly loses meaning and momentum. The end in particular is rather sloppy and unimpactful.

Jerichow. Moving earlier in my Christian Petzold watching. Absorbing, understated, complicated personal relationships as usual.

And the two films Chloé Zhao made before Nomadland (which I'd like to see): Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, which were fine, some extremely good moments but overall not really my favourite style.

Yesterday I watched High Ground, an Australian western set just after WW1, about an ex-Army sniper who gets involved in an Aboriginal massacre, and then, years later, has to enlist one of the survivors to help him hunt an Aboriginal outlaw. It was great -- a very tense, frequently violent action-drama with heaps of great performances, particularly Jacob Junior Nayinggul and Simon Baker, the two leads. A familiarity with Australia's violent history will make several images and scenes more familiar and poignant, but the nature of white.Australia is so terrible and obvious that a prior education isn't necessary. You just need to know that shit like this happened all the time. Check out the trailer: https://youtu.be/LOCAKnVHpos 

I didn't mind this, the landscapes were beautiful, but gosh I'm sick of stories that are ostensibly meant to be about indigenous people somehow still centred on white people.

[zomgmouse]

Radio Mary. Interesting premise of a woman suddenly able to hear people's thoughts but it did not really execute it very well and the supporting characters were all annoying.

Variety. American independent film about a young woman who gets a job at a porn cinema but somehow this turns into a mystery investigating a shady businessman, I dunno, some good aspects but seemed a bit unfocussed.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Variety. American independent film about a young woman who gets a job at a porn cinema but somehow this turns into a mystery investigating a shady businessman, I dunno, some good aspects but seemed a bit unfocussed.

I love this movie. Underrated.

[zomgmouse]

I love this movie. Underrated.

Can you elaborate? I didn't connect with it