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

[SteveDave]

Miracle Mile

I thought this was going to be all set in the diner in the style of "Twelve Angry Men" and there'd be a "is this a prank or real?" ticking clock thing happening but no. Everyone splits up and you never see all the people from there again.

My Spy

Basically it's "Kindergarten Cop" even replicating a few shots. There's a lot of swearing in it so my son was almost constantly saying "Omm bad word"

Bloody Hell

A man (who looks like a mid-90s Mike Patton) foils a bank robbery but gets imprisoned for the death of a bank employee. When he gets out he goes to Finland. Bad stuff happens. It's not as weird as it thinks it is.

[Inspector Norse]

he goes to Finland. Bad stuff happens.

Tautology surely

[SteveDave]

Timescape

Dumber, from "Dumb And Dumber", runs a dilapidated boarding house/hotel in the middle of America with his daughter "Jurassic Park" girl. A group of travelers arrive and ask to stay even though the hotel is still in the process of being done up. They're fine with it. When one of the travelers turns up late covered in ash with a passport that's got dates going back to the late 19th century, Dumber's suspicions are raised.

It was alright. Passed the time while I waited to see if I was going to die. Spoiler-

Spoiler alert

I didn't die.

[close]

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Can you elaborate? I didn't connect with it

Not much to say really. I just think it has a great atmosphere.

[zomgmouse]

Dragon Inn (the original 1967 King Hu one). Incredible set pieces and choreography, though the last desert sequences felt a bit like they dropped in intensity and pace.

L'amour fou. I liked this but I have almost no idea what it is I watched. But I liked it. Gonna attempt Out 1 next week.

Not much to say really. I just think it has a great atmosphere.

Fair enough.

[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.

Watched Crystal Skull the other day.
Not bad.
I'd say from bestest to worstest :
Ark
Crusade
Skull
Doom

[chveik]

L'amour fou. I liked this but I have almost no idea what it is I watched. But I liked it. Gonna attempt Out 1 next week.

love this one but i wish they'd release a decent version.

[SteveDave]

Osmosis Jones

I really liked this. The gross out bits could've been a little more gross but the look of the happenings inside Bill Murray were beautifully designed with lots of background jokes.

The Squeeze

It took me a while to realise that Stacy Keach's ex-wife was Edward Fox's current partner when the kidnapping took place but I probably wasn't paying much attention. I loved seeing old stinking 70s West London and Freddie Starr was surprisingly good as Keach's ex-con sidekick.

[Blumf]

The Squeeze

It took me a while to realise that Stacy Keach's ex-wife was Edward Fox's current partner when the kidnapping took place but I probably wasn't paying much attention. I loved seeing old stinking 70s West London and Freddie Starr was surprisingly good as Keach's ex-con sidekick.

This deserves to be much better known. Keach does a great job as a hopeless alcoholic, and as you say Starr really shines (ahem). Pure 70's grime at it's best, sitting nicely between Get Carter and The Long Good Friday.

I suspect most of us have seen it, but for those that haven't, get it down yer!

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Watched Crystal Skull the other day.
Not bad.
I'd say from bestest to worstest :
Ark
Crusade
Skull
Doom

This is an even hotter take than my thesis that Episode I is the best Star Wars.

[samadriel]

Temple of Doom is my favourite, and I think Willie is a good foil for Indy, how's that for a hot take?

[greenman]

Temple of Doom is my favourite, and I think Willie is a good foil for Indy, how's that for a hot take?

The odd couple romance before most of the action kicks off is the best bit of the film I'd say.

[SteveDave]

Real Life

I've waited to see this for years and there were loads of laugh out loud moments but it didn't feel like a "complete" thing. That might be part of the joke but it felt very thin.

I could watch Albert Brooks talk to the camera for days though and the weird Dutch camera heads were constantly hilarious.

[McChesney Duntz]

Oh, I think it's a classic. I keep turning up brilliant stealth gags every time I watch. And the trailer for it's funnier than most full-length comedies...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOAihCRr1y4

[zomgmouse]

love this one but i wish they'd release a decent version.

Yeah, the flaff quality certainly didn't help. Started watching the proper good quality version of Out 1 on MUBI and it's a world of difference.

[SteveDave]

Oh, I think it's a classic. I keep turning up brilliant stealth gags every time I watch. And the trailer for it's funnier than most full-length comedies...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOAihCRr1y4

That is a GREAT trailer! He is a loveable motherfucker.

[dissolute ocelot]

The Rescuers - low-key heroic mouse drama from the mouse people, mixing earnest orphan and sad songs with lots of funny animals including Bob Newhart as a mouse janitor. Solid entertainment in the manner of The Aristocats, rather than the more flamboyant earlier or later Disney. Madame Medusa is an underrated villain. Must watch sequel.

The Killer - in which Chow Yun Fat wears some wacky disguises and shoots a lot of people. Less Christian symbolism and more gunfights than I expected, so it's great as an action film, but slightly disappointing for lovers of kitschy existentialism.

[Fambo Number Mive]

The Stuff

A really good film about everyone in the US becoming addicted to a dessert called "The Stuff", which also attacks people. A private investigator, small boy and advertising executive must battle the people behind "The Stuff". If you have Amazon Prime it's free on there.

[SteveDave]

Scare Me

A load of bollocks. I've fallen asleep twice and the fucking thing is still going.

[St_Eddie]

Scare Me

A load of bollocks. I've fallen asleep twice and the fucking thing is still going.

Should have titled it Bore Me... ooooooooooohhhh

[SteveDave]

Should have titled it Bore Me... ooooooooooohhhh

They really should've. Unfrightening stories told in a boring way that lead to nothing.

[SteveDave]

Monster Hunter

I should've just punched myself in the face for 90 minutes.

[St_Eddie]

Monster Hunter

I should've just punched myself in the face for 90 minutes.

Monster Hunter?  More like... um.... "Monster Cunter" Oooooooooohhhh

[Gregory Torso]

Minoru Kawasaki's Executive Koala (2005).

Well, this was weird.

It's a film about a down-trodden salaryman koala (or rather a man in a koala custome with a clearly visible zip on the back of the head) working in a pickled vegetable export firm who becomes a suspect after his human girlfriend is murdered.

I'd seen some frames from it that made it look like "crazy Japanese version of American Psycho with a koala" but it really isn't that. It's actually pretty disappointing in that it doesn't lean in hard enough on the weird stuff - it's just a sort of lightweight murder mystery with animal costumes, with a few digs at Japanese work culture thrown in. Some interesting facets of the film - such as having the lead character completely unable to emote as his face is covered by a koala mask, or even the ambiguity of whether we are supposed to see him as a giant koala or just a man who wears a koala costume under his business suit - aren't really explored in any way. There's a sort of Miika Takeshi-esque musical number that also doesn't really work that well.







On the plus side, it was fun and did quite a lot with its budgetary restraints and I genuinely had a couple of laughs just at the ridiculousness of it all. Fucking awesome theme tune, too.

I would like to check out some of the director's other films -The Calamari Wrestler (a giant squid enters the world of professional wrestling), The Rug Cop (a policeman with a weaponised flying toupee), The World Sinks Except For Japan (the world sinks except for Japan) and Super Erotic Businessman (who cares).

[SteveDave]

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

I'm on a roll of shitness this week. A girl wants an abortion. A girl gets an abortion but has to go to New York City for 3 days without having anywhere to stay. Her cousin (who works in the same supermarket where some weirdo kisses their hands when they post the money they've taken that day through a slot?) goes with her. They wander about. She gets her abortion. The end.

[amputeeporn]

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

I'm on a roll of shitness this week. A girl wants an abortion. A girl gets an abortion but has to go to New York City for 3 days without having anywhere to stay. Her cousin (who works in the same supermarket where some weirdo kisses their hands when they post the money they've taken that day through a slot?) goes with her. They wander about. She gets her abortion. The end.

Just the pits of where movies are at the moment. Endless, dreary defeat in service of an incredibly heavy-handed message - I couldn't believe that was all there was to it, expecting at any moment that the film was going to start. It never did - best part was the title.

[SteveDave]

Just the pits of where movies are at the moment. Endless, dreary defeat in service of an incredibly heavy-handed message - I couldn't believe that was all there was to it, expecting at any moment that the film was going to start. It never did - best part was the title.

YES! I was constantly waiting for *something* to happen. A reason for her to want to keep the kid or finding out that the step-dad was the father of her kid or ANYTHING! It's just grim and grimy. My wife loved it. Fucking weirdo.

The only reason I downloaded it was that I thought Edwyn Collins and Sean Read had done the soundtrack to it. Turns out that film is called "Sometimes Always Never" and I'm an idiot.

[zomgmouse]

George Kuchar's Ascension of the Demonoids, only the second Kuchar film I've seen after the brilliant Sins of the Fleshapoids. This one doesn't quite reach those heights but still continues the filmic dream state and lo-fi energy (and use of children's toys as props). Here we deal with some sort of a UFO experience.

And thanks to Famous Mortimer at some point on Letterboxd logging the short film "Red & Rosy" which I watched and loved, I watched that director's only other film, the 1997 feature Love God, which was absolutely berserk and featured giant rubber sex monsters and an oppressively manic style which is hard to not respect.

[zomgmouse]

Spent this whole week bit by bit getting through all of Out 1. Entirely worth it, all 12 hours of it (made easier as it's split into 8 episodes). Incredibly impressive, and honestly doesn't feel lengthy - I was content to just watch and see what was happening. Remarkable. At some point I'd like to also watch the Spectre version which apparently is not a shorter cut but rather an entirely different entity made up of a lot of the same footage plus extra that wasn't used.

[phantom_power]

The Rental - Not sure what to make of this. I enjoyed the first two thirds with all the character work that is Swanberg's stock-in-trade and then the horror element kicks in. Part of my likes the swift brutality of that final act but in the end it all felt a bit inconsequential and almost an afterthought. Decent direction by Dave Franco

Mad Max 2 - an absolute animal of a film. Perfectly streamlined and custom built to be a thrill ride

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation - Actually not as bad as I thought it would be, and loads better than the third one. It actually had some interesting satirical points to make about the commodification and toothlessness of sequels but in the end it just meant that the film ended up a bit toothless. There is an interesting Illuminati subplot that is reminiscent of Martyrs but it is a bit pissed away. It feels like the original vision by Kim Henkel, who wrote the first film, was too dumbed down and smoothed out by the studio which made the film a bit pointless in the end

Promising Young Woman - Brilliant, bleak, biting

The Gambler - Gritty, grim 70s film. Not bad, bit rote. James Caan is great in it

Love & Mercy - Really enjoyed this. I remember the reviews saying the Dano sections were better than the Cusack ones, and though I agree that Dano is excellent and his version of Wilson is better, I found myself a lot more engaged with the Cusack bits. Probably because it was about his rescue and redemption rather than his descent, and though I read his autobiography years ago I couldn't remember when he got free of the manipulative doctor so wasn't sure if things would end up well for him and Elizabeth Banks. Some lovely Beach Boys sampling soundscapes from Atticus Ross in there as well

Freaky - Fun comedy horror with everyone enjoying themselves

Unhinged - Not fun not comedy horror that wants to be The Hitcher (80s) but ends up being The Hitcher (2000s). People do a lot of stupid things to make the plot go. Russell Crowe is pretty good as a big unstoppable brute though

Insomnia - Meh

A Simple Favour - Enjoyable twisty thriller. Bit silly but it knows it

Blow Out - De Palma at his peerless best. Amazing visual treat and a killer ending

Housebound - Another fun comedy horror, this time from New Zealand. Ghostly hi-jinx when a woman has to go back to live with her parents in the country while under house arrest