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What non-new films have you seen? (2022 edition)

Started by Famous Mortimer, January 01, 2022, 02:18:34 PM

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Famous Mortimer

New year, new jealousy at the people whose brains allow them to watch something other than trash!

The Last Boy Scout

One of those holes in my film watching past. Damon Wayans isn't very good, but everyone else is. Great Shane Black script, top direction from Tony Scott, but not quite at the level of the other action-masterpieces of the era.

Small Man Big Horse

Evil Dead II (1987) - Another Sam Raimi movie I hadn't watched for a good couple of decades, and I'd forgotten just how delightfully weird it is in places as poor Ash is relentlessly tortured throughout the film. It does slow down a little when Annie, Bobby Jo and co turn up in the cabin about forty minutes in, but that's the only very small complaint that I have and this is deserving of its classic status. 8.4/10

Rizla

Broadcast News (1987) and Working Girl (1988)

These two make a pretty good double bill, beautifully made, highly entertaining late 80's boomerbait full of lofty self-importance, with principles and ideals that seem  frankly quaint and adorable from the year 2022. In the former, it's  William Hurt's anchor-to-be using some crafty editing to add some humanity to a piece on daterape that scandalises his colleagues and teaches him a valuable lesson in THE NEWS; in the latter, Sigs Weaver's young businesswoman has her career destroyed when some low-level corporate plagiarism finds her out - I'd like to see the same film from her character's point of view. Interesting final shot, Melanie Griffiths in her much-deserved office, the camera pulling out from the building to show her as one of a thousand worker drones as Carly's soulful theme stirs one last time. Can't help but wonder if this was meant to have a Raiders effect or if we're meant to be thinking "hurray, working girl, you have won". Anyway, highly entertaining, and in both films Joan Cusack is great as whacky side character, which in the case of WG won her a well deserved oscar nomination. 8/10

HAIR (1979)
Having rewatched Cuckoo's Nest a few nights before, decided I'd go through the Forman films I haven't seen, which I'm ashamed to say includes all of his pre-Hollywood work. But first, this mental shit. Bears almost no relation plot-wise to the stage show, and the songs are pretty much randomly inserted with no bearing on the action, but fuck it, it is so watchable. Treat Williams lights up the screen. My god he is beautiful. John Savage looks so like Conan O'Brien it's really distracting. The rest of the cast are fine. The choreography is pretty darn spiffy. The music doesn't exactly blow me away, but the final sequence (the Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In) makes it all alright. 8/10
Similarly insightful review of Ragtime (1981) to follow...

monkfromhavana

I watched the Porridge film on TV for the umpteenth time this evening. The best of the sitcom-to-film attempts IMHO. Yes, it retreads old ground, yes it feels like a few episodes stuck together, but I can't help but love it. A big ole comfort blanket of a film, and only ever feels right watching it in autumn/winter.

sevendaughters

Seagulls Die in the Harbour - 1955 Flemish noir-adjacent piece that is on British Netflix (under its Flemish title Meeuwen Sternen in der Haven). Interesting if imperfect film about a penniless drifter in Antwerp asked to kidnap an orphan. He's not exactly a stranger to the dark side, so what does he do? Kind of an ur-new wave here, some consciously artsy touches, light recommend.

zomgmouse

Quote from: Rizla on January 01, 2022, 06:17:34 PMBroadcast News (1987) and Working Girl (1988)

These two make a pretty good double bill, beautifully made, highly entertaining late 80's boomerbait full of lofty self-importance, with principles and ideals that seem  frankly quaint and adorable from the year 2022. In the former, it's  William Hurt's anchor-to-be using some crafty editing to add some humanity to a piece on daterape that scandalises his colleagues and teaches him a valuable lesson in THE NEWS; in the latter, Sigs Weaver's young businesswoman has her career destroyed when some low-level corporate plagiarism finds her out - I'd like to see the same film from her character's point of view. Interesting final shot, Melanie Griffiths in her much-deserved office, the camera pulling out from the building to show her as one of a thousand worker drones as Carly's soulful theme stirs one last time. Can't help but wonder if this was meant to have a Raiders effect or if we're meant to be thinking "hurray, working girl, you have won". Anyway, highly entertaining, and in both films Joan Cusack is great as whacky side character, which in the case of WG won her a well deserved oscar nomination. 8/10

Haven't seen the latter yet but I really love Broadcast News. If nothing else it introduced me to Albert Brooks.

Small Man Big Horse

Helldriver (2010) - Another gory comedy from Yoshihiro Nishimura (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, etc), this is the most ridiculous film I've seen in years and the amount of inventive horror on display is constantly laugh out loud funny. Plot wise it sees Kika's mother and Uncle become zombies, with the former sort of possessed by an alien, and responsible for six million people becoming a variation on the undead too, and soon Kika (sans heart, which her mother nicked) is out for revenge. It features zombies being decapitated and their heads being launched as (hungry) missiles, a mother zombie using her zombie baby as a weapon despite still being attached to her umbelica cord, and a car completely made out of undead body parts, and about twenty other completely mad things, all of which made me love it enormously. 8.6/10

Sebastian Cobb

Watched the 70's B-Movie Terminal Island yesterday, was sick although seems to have been panned at the time. Early role for Tom Selleck.

zomgmouse

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 02, 2022, 09:13:08 PMWatched the 70's B-Movie Terminal Island yesterday, was sick although seems to have been panned at the time. Early role for Tom Selleck.

oh yeah i remember this. not bad for a prison exploitation film particularly because it was set outdoors. directed by stephanie rothman, one of the few female roger corman alumni

Egyptian Feast

Ninotchka (1939) I've never seen a Greta Garbo film before and though I was aware this was a late career departure for her, I was unprepared for how funny she is in this film, at least up to the point where 'Garbo Laughs' and she completely drops the robotic, humourless demeanour. She's delightful afterwards, but her delivery of practically every line in the first half had me hooting.
 
I was amused to read Schwarzenegger studied her performance in preparation for Red Heat, which makes perfect sense. Garbo was much luckier with her co-star, as Melvyn Douglas is charming, suave and doesn't make you wish the Russian would bury him in a shallow grave and wipe his image from every existing photograph & frame of celluloid within five seconds of opening his mouth.

I've seen and enjoyed a few earlier Lubitsch films but this is the first one I loved.

zomgmouse

Carry On Regardless. Continuing going through this series in chronological order in a vague amount of time. These certainly are becoming a guilty pleasure.

Funny Bones. Been meaning to see this for a very long time. What a confusing mess of a film. This feels like it's trying to be a Bill Forsyth film but it has not nearly as much of the charm or competence. Not without its moments I suppose (the audition sequence in particular, and the two old brothers) and gets a bit more likable as it goes on, definitely growing on me a bit, but it just doesn't pull its thirty-five plotlines together by the time it gets to its shaky ending.

Russ Meyer's Up!. My third Russ Meyer after Faster, Pussycat! (instant classic 5/5) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (a fascinating oddity). This one is sensationally outrageous. So gleefully horny and silly. Sags in sections (the final third or so in particular goes rapidly downhill) but overall it's a blast. "Greek chorus" lady an especial highlight.

Quote from: Egyptian Feast on January 03, 2022, 12:55:13 AMI've seen and enjoyed a few earlier Lubitsch films but this is the first one I loved.

This one had a Brackett-Wilder script which probably didn't hurt. Have you seen Trouble in Paradise? That's probably my favourite of his.

Charles Lindberg Jr

Cruising (1980). Not sure why, but had it in my head that this was considered a masterpiece and found myself in that disgusting territory of trying to enjoy something because of its perceived reputation. Was relieved to see it has stinker ratings and that I wasn't alone in not enjoying. Thought the first 3rd was great, but then it seemed to never really go anywhere, and Pacino's hair seemed to get fluffier and fluffier as the story progressed which I found deeply unsettling. 

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: zomgmouse on January 03, 2022, 06:31:39 AMHave you seen Trouble in Paradise? That's probably my favourite of his.

I've only seen A Design For Living, which I enjoyed a lot, and Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, which I liked up to a point but found quite mean-spirited by the ending. I did look for Trouble In Paradise when I was 'acquiring' a bunch of his movies but it wasn't available anywhere (this has reminded me of the period early in the pandemic when I could only handle the most escapist entertainment possible, which sent me down a very enjoyable pre-code/classic Hollywood rabbithole for a while).

I still have The Shop Around The Corner and To Be Or Not To Be (which I have seen, but decades ago) to watch and I'll be definitely seeking out more.

I'm intrigued by Garbo's next and final film Two-Faced Woman since it went down so badly with the public (and the pesky Catholic Legion of Decency) she bought out her contract went into self-imposed retirement. That's got to be worth a watch.

sevendaughters

Netflix has The Death of Mr Lazarescu on so I gave it a go. Aside from some 2005-vogue wobbblycam and a slightly bloated length I thought this was a good even-handed look at the capitalist health system in crisis with some low level humours.

Sebastian Cobb

Yesterday I watched North by Northwest which was obviously great.

Then I watched Red Road (2008), pretty good, set around the now gone Red Road flats in Glasgow, it's about a CCTV operator who spots someone she clearly knows from her traumatic past and the unpacking of it. It's pretty well done, all shot with natural light and on handheld (Dogme 95 style), you get drip fed what happened as it goes along and there's a real sense of brooding menace about it. The main actress was Kate Dickie who was excellent, I think she's pretty big these days after GoT and that.

It's directed by Andrea Arnold who's got that Cow documentary film coming out, I've also seen Fish Tank of hers which was pretty good and bleak as well. It was also supposed to be part of a trilogy which sounds like a really interesting concept:

QuoteAdvance Party is the name given to a concept of three films which are all to follow a set of rules proposed by executive producers Gillian Berrie, Lone Scherfig and Anders Thomas Jensen. The concept came out of discussion between Lars von Trier, Berrie, Scherfig and Jensen.[1] Each film is to be made by different first-time directors and producers. The production companies Sigma Films (Glasgow) and Zentropa (Denmark) are behind the concept.[2]

Scherfig and Jensen created a list of characters and gave them back stories, which the three directors could then use to build their story.

Casting for all three films was to be done at the same time by the three different directors, due to the intended shared cast.

Unfortunately it looks like the second film (Donkeys, 2010) got panned and the third is stuck in 'development limbo'.

notjosh

Quote from: Egyptian Feast on January 03, 2022, 01:13:48 PMI'm intrigued by Garbo's next and final film Two-Faced Woman since it went down so badly with the public (and the pesky Catholic Legion of Decency) she bought out her contract went into self-imposed retirement. That's got to be worth a watch.

If you want to check out any of her peak-era silent work, then Flesh and the Devil is a really entertaining melodrama.

Egyptian Feast

I couldn't pass up on a title like that, so definitely adding that to my list.

peanutbutter

TwentyFourSeven
Surprised this has only got 35% on rotten tomatoes, seems to have gotten judged harshly compared to 60s/70s Play for Today stuff for not being gritty enough and contemporary shite like Brassed Off for being too grim? A certain amount of "Bob Hoskins carries it" reviews too which seems a little bit unfair to me.
 
Does one narrative leap that seems a bit too abrupt but on the whole it seems like Shane Meadows pretty much arrived on the scene fully formed?


Rat Film
Felt like a weird hybrid of some of the artsy documentary things you'd find in the Tate Modern droning on and on and a highly niche obsessive's Youtube channel just laying out historical details. Suspect it'll age quite poorly but the format alone carried it quite well for me.
Not at all surprised to see one of the best reviewed documentaries of last year (All Light Everywhere) is apparently by the same guy; was already on my watchlist with a bit of suspicion but it's shooting right near the top now.

zomgmouse

#18
Quote from: Egyptian Feast on January 03, 2022, 01:13:48 PMI've only seen A Design For Living, which I enjoyed a lot, and Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, which I liked up to a point but found quite mean-spirited by the ending. I did look for Trouble In Paradise when I was 'acquiring' a bunch of his movies but it wasn't available anywhere (this has reminded me of the period early in the pandemic when I could only handle the most escapist entertainment possible, which sent me down a very enjoyable pre-code/classic Hollywood rabbithole for a while).

I still have The Shop Around The Corner and To Be Or Not To Be (which I have seen, but decades ago) to watch and I'll be definitely seeking out more.


Haven't seen Design for Living yet but all those others are great! Trouble in Paradise has now I believe been released on bluray so you should be quite easily "acquire" it. Heaven Can Wait is another really good Lubitsch.

Quote from: peanutbutter on January 03, 2022, 07:45:12 PMRat Film
Felt like a weird hybrid of some of the artsy documentary things you'd find in the Tate Modern droning on and on and a highly niche obsessive's Youtube channel just laying out historical details. Suspect it'll age quite poorly but the format alone carried it quite well for me.
Not at all surprised to see one of the best reviewed documentaries of last year (All Light Everywhere) is apparently by the same guy; was already on my watchlist with a bit of suspicion but it's shooting right near the top now.

I thought this was on my list but turns out it's a different documentary called Pig Film which unfortunately doesn't seem to have ever been released outside of two festivals.

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: zomgmouse on January 04, 2022, 12:16:10 AMHeaven Can Wait is another really good Lubitsch.

Yes it is! Completely forgot that was one of his. Another one to add to the rewatch list.

zomgmouse

A Slightly Pregnant Man. Daft light comedy by Jacques Demy in which Marcello Mastroianni gets pregnant and everyone treats it like it's no big thing. Quite a frolic.

Finally getting around to the infamous Skidoo. At once not as bad and much worse than its reputation. Totally bizarre almost simulacrum of the 60s while being made in the 60s. It's a trip (they take LSD in the film)!!!!!!!!

sevendaughters

WATERSHIP DOWN - love the English melancholia and the earnestness of it all, never seen before so I didn't have that wounded kid at Christmas feeling that many of its fans carry around, but I did like it a lot.

THE SHOOTING - companion piece to Ride in the Whirlwind featuring many of the same players/same director, this time less elliptical and indirect and just another good minimal western featuring Jack Nicholson as a total asshat and Warren Oates as a surly prospector stuck in the shit.

Small Man Big Horse

The Silent Partner (1978) - Recommended in the alternative Christmas films thread, this sees Bank teller Elliot Gould discover that a mall Santa Claus (Christopher Plummer) is planning to rob the bank he works at, so on that day he steals a big chunk of money beforehand, but soon Plummer is on to him and a game of cat and mouse ensues. This is a sharp little thriller with some nice twists and turns, and it benefits from great performances from Gould and Plummer (and features an early role for John Candy, though he doesn't get much to do), though Susannah York as the love interest is a bit bland. 7.4/10

phantom_power

Rashomon (1950)- Kurosawa, story from different perspectives, you know the score. It was alright

Does anyone else think Apocalypse now is a bit ... shit?
It was the "Final Cut" version I watched a few months before christmas, if that makes any difference.
I think I quite liked the bit at the end with the mad colonel, but it was such a slog getting there and most of the characters were pretty annoying.
Not sure why it's held in such high regard. It's a bit of a loose mess and not in a good way.
I just thought, well it'll just be me, but it's been bugging me and I wondered if anyone else didn't really rate it.

jfjnpxmy

#25
Since my uncle was aghast at my not having seen it, I watched Saving Private Ryan.

Technically impressive, and I could see how that absolutely horrific Omaha beach opening would shock the shit out of audiences - the bit where the landing craft opens and the MG42 instantly fucks everyone before they can even move got a flinch from me.

But then after that the film went on, and the way it's trying to have its cake and eat it started to get on my tits. War is bad, you guys, never forget the sacrifices of these brave young m-Hahaha lookit that sniper hit right through his fucking scope, badass! Okay but war is actually bad and ultimately a huge wast-OORAH, OUR MILITARY HEROES FIGHT A BRAVE AS FUCK STAND AGAINST HORDES OF FACELESS KRAUTS [who obligingly run into ambushes], AND PRIVATE HUMMEL LEARNS THAT HE SHOULDN'T BE A PUSSY AND SHOULD GUN DOWN PRISONERS, YEAHHHHH BOI btw never forget their sacrifices earn this.

Like, I get that real war probably had moments of levity and enjoyability amongst the horror, but the tonal whiplash was getting on my nerves by the end. Kinda felt a similar irritation with Fury, that was spectacularly bleak and unflinching about war being shite, right until the end when it became Brad Pritt Is A Really Pretty Hero With A Nice Haircut.

Small Man Big Horse

I'm absolutely with you on Saving Private Ryan, and I also have issues with Schindler's List (I know it's almost a cliché to rant about it, but I really don't like the whole thing with the girl in the red coat and oh my god you thought the holocaust was bad before, now look, a fucking child was killed too!!!!) but in general I don't like Spielberg when he's not making action films, and think he's an enormously overrated director.

sevendaughters

I do find it interesting that Spielberg hasn't yet been usurped as the directorial touchstone for Big Hollywood Storytelling and used as the avatar for the system working re: producing films of interest and commercial performance. I don't think he's shit and he deserves a pass for his 70s work alone and some selected films (Hook, The Terminal) since. That said I was on youtube watching Dick Cavett interview Godard and there was someone in the comments doing the 'Spielberg is better than Godard bcs stories' and it brought out the old prejudices I have against 'movie magic'. Politically he's a Pelosi, a Biden, a banal imperialist mediocrity who will take the most obvious route to sentimentality. Occasionally his general humaneness will compel him to make an Amistad, a Color Purple, a Schindler, a Lincoln, but he'll always make it clumsy.

anyway just watched 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER. talky Godard essay film about capital, colonialism, and sex. wouldn't recommend as a Godard first watch but just impressed by how razor sharp he is at his best.
 

Blumf

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on January 04, 2022, 07:23:22 PMDoes anyone else think Apocalypse now is a bit ... shit?
It was the "Final Cut" version I watched a few months before christmas, if that makes any difference.

Can't speak for The Final Cut, but the Redux version added a load of bloat that should have stayed on the cutting room floor. Dragged whole film down and ruined the pacing.

Original theatrical cut for me.

sevendaughters


Watched Day for Night. Winner of Best Foreign Film then nominated for Best Director the year after (for the same film) it is easy to see why American audiences fell for this meta-film about Truffaut making a film starring Truffaut making a film. It's insider-ish but it doesn't use its device to poke at the audience or the system. It's just a look behind the scenes, cleverly done.

It kind of reminds me of a feature-length and mildly philosophical episode of Larry Sanders, all clashing egos and public faces covering private crises. Light and watchable like a good Woody Allen film but without the issues of Allen!