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March 28, 2024, 12:28:20 PM

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

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

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Small Man Big Horse

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (2020) - Very sweet natured teen rom-com anime where a shy boy who writes haikus meets a girl who's embarrassed about her braces and so wears a facemask all the time, and they hit it off as they try and track down a long lost record for an elderly friend. Not an awful lot happens but it's a bright and gently appealing movie that at about 86 minutes is the perfect length for this sort of thing. 7.3/10

zomgmouse

Quote from: phantom_power on December 24, 2021, 11:07:53 AMPresumably the one on Amazon Prime is some edited version?

Yeah - the ~2.5hr theatrical release was a condensed version from the two parts which in total run to ~3.5hrs

sevendaughters

did Seven Samurai yesterday. what a majestic piece of work. I think it has entered the Film Bro canon ie. well-made films of earnest masculinity that appeal to certain lovers of craftsmanship that are simultaneously oppressive to a certain slice of the contemporary audience (see also There Will Be Blood, nearly any Tarkovsky or Malick). anyway, like most things this century, just ignore the discourse and revel in everything here.

Small Man Big Horse

French Cancan (1955) - This was highly placed in a best ever musicals list but whatever shit wrote it is one of those irritating twats who thinks that a musical is anything where someone briefly sings a song, even if it's just once or twice. That's pretty much the case here, there's about five minutes of singing at the very most in this Moulin Rouge origin story about how the famous titular dance became popular once again, but it's got very little going for it, the script is rarely even vaguely interesting, the romances are dull, and I've no idea why some rate this. 4.5/10

rjd2

#1834
Rewatched The Great Beauty, its erm still gorgeous and absolutely captivating and as before plenty to take away and digest even if though I don't have many things in common with wealthy 65-year-old Italian playboys.



Light Sleeper -1990 (4/5_)

Wrote by Paul Schrader and starring Defoe who plays a chap who sells drugs to the relatively wealthy and is also a recovering addict and having a midlife crisis which is not helped by the love of his life rocking up. Oh my.

Susan Sarandon aka the women who according to idiots online gave us Trump's presidency is his boss who is also considering life after dealing.

It's a little melodramatic at times but I enjoyed it immensely and the soundtrack which at times is clumsy overall added plenty to it.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: rjd2 on December 27, 2021, 06:08:09 PMLight Sleeper -1990 (4/5_)

Wrote by Paul Schrader and starring Defoe who is deals to the relatively wealthy who is clean but having a midlife crisis which is not helped by the love of his life rocking up. Susan Sarandon aka the women who according to idiots online gave us Trump's presidency is his boss who is also considering life after dealing.
It's a little melodramatic at times but I enjoyed it immensely and soundtrack while at times clumsy overall added plenty to it.


I remember liking that at the time, and bought the soundtrack so must have been impressed by that a fair bit too.

Famous Mortimer

Mondo Elvis

Short film (shade under half an hour), made in the 80s, about people who really, really like Elvis. One woman leaves her family and moves to Memphis to be close to him, one impersonator who wants his infant son to continue on the family business, and a couple of twins who think they're Elvis's daughters are the highlights.

Absolutely brilliant, and is available on Youtube if you've got the time.

Crenners

@zomgmouse I finally got round to Two-Lane Blacktop. Wonderful meditative film, really enjoyed the cinematography and minimalism and fuck me what an ending! One of the best I can remember. Like nothing else I've seen, to be honest. Couldn't have been a more perfect conclusion.

zomgmouse

Quote from: Crenners on December 27, 2021, 09:50:55 PM@zomgmouse I finally got round to Two-Lane Blacktop. Wonderful meditative film, really enjoyed the cinematography and minimalism and fuck me what an ending! One of the best I can remember. Like nothing else I've seen, to be honest. Couldn't have been a more perfect conclusion.

Very glad you dug it! I should really rewatch it one of these days. What an existential drop.

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on December 27, 2021, 05:54:20 PMFrench Cancan (1955) - This was highly placed in a best ever musicals list but whatever shit wrote it is one of those irritating twats who thinks that a musical is anything where someone briefly sings a song, even if it's just once or twice. That's pretty much the case here, there's about five minutes of singing at the very most in this Moulin Rouge origin story about how the famous titular dance became popular once again, but it's got very little going for it, the script is rarely even vaguely interesting, the romances are dull, and I've no idea why some rate this. 4.5/10

Ah well I think the mistake there is classing it as a musical. It's really not and more as you say a broad-strokes depiction of the early days of the Moulin Rouge. I found it deeply enjoyable and tinged with a melancholy, the showbiz dust was all over it. Gabin was spectacular I thought and the colours and sets and everything elevated it for me.

mattyc

Watched Scrooge, the Alastair Sim version and enjoyed it. I usually struggle with films that old because I find the acting so hammy, but this one was good. Mild weeping occurred towards the end. 8/10

Small Man Big Horse

Millennium Actress (2001) - A reclusive actress gives an interview where her life story and the films she made are mixed together, with her life long pursuit of a soldier she once helped as a teenager being a major aspect. Satoshi Kon directed this affecting animated drama which I really liked, but I was in an odd mood today and struggling with a self-imposed lockdown due to the high infection rate, so it failed to captivate me and I've a feeling I'd have liked it even more if I'd watched it at a different time. 7.3/10

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: zomgmouse on December 28, 2021, 12:14:51 AMAh well I think the mistake there is classing it as a musical. It's really not and more as you say a broad-strokes depiction of the early days of the Moulin Rouge. I found it deeply enjoyable and tinged with a melancholy, the showbiz dust was all over it. Gabin was spectacular I thought and the colours and sets and everything elevated it for me.

I think you're definitely right (though it really is odd how there are two songs in the first hour, both only lasting about 30 seconds), hopefully I'll revisit it in a few years knowing what it is and what it isn't and will then enjoy it more.

The Evil Dead (1981) - I watched this for the first time in thirty odd years after reading Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill, which made it even more fun as his tales of the making of it point out how a lot of effects were pulled off and how when certain actors quit the production they were replaced by someone else in a dodgy wig. It's a pretty great horror film even despite that of course, there's the odd bit that hasn't aged well (
Spoiler alert
the tree rape, despite Cheryl floating around screaming in a possessed manner no one's that bothered after about three minutes
[close]
) but otherwise it's a tight, lean movie and Campbell is majestic in it. 7.7/10

Pink Gregory

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on December 28, 2021, 07:47:02 PMMillennium Actress (2001) - A reclusive actress gives an interview where her life story and the films she made are mixed together, with her life long pursuit of a soldier she once helped as a teenager being a major aspect. Satoshi Kon directed this affecting animated drama which I really liked, but I was in an odd mood today and struggling with a self-imposed lockdown due to the high infection rate, so it failed to captivate me and I've a feeling I'd have liked it even more if I'd watched it at a different time. 7.3/10


Irrelevant personal anecdote ahoy; someone I worked with brought a box of dvds in, and I, knowing nothing about it, picked out Millenium Actress.  Biggest bonehead in the place who I couldn't stand being in the same room as declared loudly 'uhhh apparently that's awful'.  Pretty much a guarantee of quality.


Sebastian Cobb

Caught the CH5 afternoon airing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and boy, you don't want to know what they did to the rental car scene.

mattyc

Watched a Norwegian film called Kong Curling (2011). The main themes of the film are curling and mental health. It was a bit like a Norwegian version of Dodgeball and parts of it were absolutely hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Has anyone else seen it?

zomgmouse

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on December 29, 2021, 07:15:05 PMI think you're definitely right (though it really is odd how there are two songs in the first hour, both only lasting about 30 seconds), hopefully I'll revisit it in a few years knowing what it is and what it isn't and will then enjoy it more.

For sure! Although I won't hold it against you if you never do. There are simply too many films!

Famous Mortimer

Fatal Conflict

Splendidly generic title. Kari Wuhrer is a kind of Snake Plissken character, but on a rogue spaceship. Sort of. It's really not worth any more thinking about.

Small Man Big Horse

Dead Sushi (2012) - From the director of The Machine Girl and Robo Geisha comes yet another gory slice of madness, and it might be my favourite yet as a mad scientist invents a serum that brings things back to life, uses it on some sushi, and blood is soon pouring from many an orifice. Sometimes the sushi flies around, laughs maniacally, sings little songs
Spoiler alert
and there's even a sushi on sushi sex scene, while the mad scientist turns himself in to a giant tuna and the heroine has a piece of sentient egg sushi on hand to help her out / make things even more ridiculous.
[close]
Gloriously silly. 8.1/10

Sebastian Cobb

Watched a couple of Netflix movies yesterday

The Bad Batch - film about people exiled outside texas who form a community, post-apocalyptic vibes, a woman is torn between being part of a cult or joining a bunch of cannibals, felt like it was missing something. Was done by the same writer/director that did A Girl Walks Home Alone at night.

Mute - near-future Noir set in Berlin about an Amish guy with a missing voicebox (due to parents refusing surgery when he was a boy) looking for his missing girlfriend in a seedy underworld. Was quite good but missing something.

Small Man Big Horse

Rubin and Ed (1991) - Rubin (Crispin Glover) all but kidnaps Ed (Howard Hesseman) and drives him in to the desert to bury Rubin's dead cat Simon (Simon). An odd couple buddy movie, this is the definition of quirky as the two argue and bicker for the whole film, but it's something that made me laugh a good few times. 7.4/10

The Wizard Of Speed And Time (1988) - High energy satire where effects specialist Mike Jittlov (Mike Jittlov) struggles to make a short film due to the mad bureaucracy and egotistical idiots that Hollywood comprises of. Packed full of stop motion animation and visual playfulness in general, there's plenty of puns and silly gags and it's enormously fun throughout, and it's an awful shame that this is the one and only film Jittlov ever made, 8.0/10

Small Man Big Horse

Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) - Hong Kong martial arts comedy horror film directed, co-written and starring Sammo Hung, it has a fairly simple plot as Bold Cheung's wife is having an affair with his boss, and when Bold Cheung realises something is going his boss pays a witch to kill him. That leads to lots of very silly nonsense involving supernatural creatures including a vampire, a zombie and a ghost, lots of physical comedy and violence, and it's really fun from start to finish,
Spoiler alert
with a fantastic final scene that made me love it all the more.
[close]
7.7/10

peanutbutter

That Summer of Soul doc people have been raving about
I dunno, if it was on BBC4 I'd've thought it was very good but as something that's topped a bunch of year end lists it definitely isn't all that.

that Tilda Swinton anthology thing about John Berger
Had I known it was gonna be 4 separate pieces rather than a feature length doc about Berger I doubt I'd've even considered watching it. Asides from the first one it wasn't great, didn't seem to focus much on Berger himself and his thoughts/opinions at all oddly.

Starman
Ehhh I dunno, it never clicked for me and never came close to, but I feel like other people might absolutely love it.

greenman

#1852
Quote from: rjd2 on December 27, 2021, 06:08:09 PMLight Sleeper -1990 (4/5_)

Wrote by Paul Schrader and starring Defoe who plays a chap who sells drugs to the relatively wealthy and is also a recovering addict and having a midlife crisis which is not helped by the love of his life rocking up. Oh my.

Susan Sarandon aka the women who according to idiots online gave us Trump's presidency is his boss who is also considering life after dealing.

It's a little melodramatic at times but I enjoyed it immensely and the soundtrack which at times is clumsy overall added plenty to it.

I think it does have the Schrader feeling that the reach exceeds the grasp a little but less so that some of his stuff given the general focus on more low key introspective drama.

He supposedly wanted contemporary Bob Dylan for the soundtrack so I think relative to what we got seems more appropriate, a bit more low key and in keeping with the film.

Quote from: sevendaughters on December 27, 2021, 07:11:43 AMdid Seven Samurai yesterday. what a majestic piece of work. I think it has entered the Film Bro canon ie. well-made films of earnest masculinity that appeal to certain lovers of craftsmanship that are simultaneously oppressive to a certain slice of the contemporary audience (see also There Will Be Blood, nearly any Tarkovsky or Malick). anyway, like most things this century, just ignore the discourse and revel in everything here.

I tend to think really the art bro cinema divide depends a lot on the nature of the drama, introspective masculinity is acceptable if its focused on honour/violence like  Seven Samurai, Taxi Driver or There Will be Blood but less so if its considered too intellectual or effeminate. So with Malick for example Badlands is much more acceptable than The New World.

zomgmouse

last film of 2021 for me: Ernst Lubitsch's 1921 comedy The Wild Cat. entertaining and madcap, quite a straightforward star-crossed lovers narrative of a lieutenant who falls in love with the daughter of the head of a band of thieves but it's all played with such ridiculous fervour and the shots are all beautiful and so it's a delight to watch

Fambo Number Mive

Watched Scream 4. It was ok and the killer wasn't who I thought it would be, but all the characters were so obnoxious and loved arguing with each other. I know the films have a satirical streak but it didn't really work for me, especially the bits with the Stab films.

I only really watched it because there wasn't much else to watch.

Ray Travez

The Cop, The Gangster, The Devil

Enjoyable Korean thriller about a cop teaming up with a gang boss to catch a serial killer. Watched on iplayer. The killer is a real cunt, perhaps almost too perfect a villain, but it does keep you invested in seeing him hopefully get caught or stabbed or something. Based on a true story apparently, which I found out afterwards; not sure if that changes anything.

Sonny_Jim

#1856
Biggles:  Adventures through time  Watched this on a whim as it's free on Tubi and I hadn't seen it in 30 years.  The stunts definitely still hold up and Peter Cushing is great, but that isn't enough to make up for the out-of-place soundtrack and piss-weak script.

It's a shame really, as a lot of the elements are good.  The guy who plays Biggles absolutely nails it, along with the actors who play his chums.  Also it has a really bizarre amount of gore in one scene, where a Nazi gets melted by a 'sound weapon' and for some reason the love interest walks up to the charred corpse and removes an eye?

https://tubitv.com/movies/631893/biggles-adventures-in-time?start=true

(Skip to 57 minutes)

It's bizarre but not quite bizarre enough for it to warrant a rewatch.  2/5

Quote from: Sonny_Jim on January 17, 2022, 04:31:42 AMBiggles:  Adventures through time  Watched this on a whim as it's free on Tubi and I hadn't seen it in 30 years.  The stunts definitely still hold up and Peter Cushing is great, but that isn't enough to make up for the out-of-place soundtrack and piss-weak script.

It's a shame really, as a lot of the elements are good.  The guy who plays Biggles absolutely nails it, along with the actors who play his chums.  Also it has a really bizarre amount of gore in one scene, where a Nazi gets melted by a 'sound weapon' and for some reason the love interest walks up to the charred corpse and removes an eye?

https://tubitv.com/movies/631893/biggles-adventures-in-time?start=true

(Skip to 57 minutes)

It's bizarre but not quite bizarre enough for it to warrant a rewatch.  2/5

It was on one of the more 'higher numbered' movie channels of Freeview last week.

It's a really enjoyable B-movie.  Biggles is, as said, spot on, von Stahlheim hams it up but it is perhaps more notable for being Pam St Clement's final movie before moving to Eastenders full time.

Agreed on the stunts, especially in the home straight. 

Sonny_Jim

Just watched Southland Tales, by yer man Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame.  All I'd heard about it was that it was hated and did terribly at the box office.  I can definitely see why, there were quite a lot of scenes were I was thinking 'is this supposed to be funny?' but laughed anyway.  Can't work out if Dwayne Johnson was horribly miscast or perfect for the role.

At the very least it's an interesting watch just to see where it's going to veer off to next, but it's about an hour too long.  It did remind me a *lot* of 'Don't Look Up' and I can totally see people not realising it's supposed to have comedic elements.  I'd be hard pushed to recommend it to anybody though.  I mean, if you like confusing films and playing 'hey it's that guy', then it's perfect.  Where else are you going to see Amy Poehler and Avon Barksdale fucking around with fake noses on?

Memorex MP3

Quote from: Sonny_Jim on March 14, 2022, 11:27:54 AMJust watched Southland Tales, by yer man Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame.  All I'd heard about it was that it was hated and did terribly at the box office.  I can definitely see why, there were quite a lot of scenes were I was thinking 'is this supposed to be funny?' but laughed anyway.  Can't work out if Dwayne Johnson was horribly miscast or perfect for the role.
I think he was probably both? Felt like there's parts that are meant to be comedic and he's fantastic with them but there's points where he's seemingly meant to have some resonance and he's also just very funny in those parts too.

Thought it was very fun myself, but after seeing the Box I can't think anything other than it being a bit of a fluke rather than deliberate. Like, it's fun and dumb and the casting oddly works with the whole mess of it all, but I don't think any of it congeals remotely like it was meant to.


One thing that maybe gets a bit lost now is how odd its near future (2008) setting was on release. It was supposed to be shot in 2004 and out in 2005, due to the plot they couldn't change the future date very easily so they were stuck with it. Between all the delays it came out at the end of 2007 instead but very much feels like a product of the early stages of the Iraq war.