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

[Famous Mortimer]

Earth Girls Are Easy

I had the day off work yesterday and one of the free channels was showing it. I'd completely forgotten it was a musical. Also, I'd lay money on sidekick Julie Brown having written it for herself, only for the studio to say "we need someone who looks like the star of a movie to be in this" - Geena Davis does a slightly less ditzy Brown impression, and Brown's actual part feels pretty crowbarred in.

Still, lots of fun.

[Dusty Substance]

Earth Girls Are Easy

Blimey, I haven't thought about that film in decades! Not seen it since Jim Carrey became Jim Carrey (around 1992). Remember it being kind of fun, with some nice visuals and did that thing that was popular for a while in the late 80s/early 90s - Blending 50s and contemporary aesthetics with bright colours. ie: early Tim Burton Pee Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Berry Levinson's Toys... Ummm, I'm sure there are other examples, too.

[Famous Mortimer]

Not seen it since it was first released either. It had some nice supporting roles, too, like Michael McKean as a surfer-dude / pool-boy, and Charles Rocket as a great villain. Your mention of it blending 50s and contemporary aesthetics with bright colours is absolutely spot on.

I wonder if some of the musical numbers were cut, as there are only...4, I think?... in it. You get some soundtrack bangers, though, like the B-52s and Depeche Mode doing "Route 66". The IMDB trivia section about it has some interesting stuff.

[dissolute ocelot]

I love Earth Girls Are Easy too. I've not found the full story of the production, but it seems to have been massively complex and painful, with lots of disagreements, budget cuts, reshoots, re-edits, and De Laurentiis went bankrupt during production. (Wikipedia says Madonna was at one point offered the lead!) Julien Temple for a while must have seemed like a saviour of the movie musical, from dumb-but-fun The Great Rock And Roll Swindle to the unfairly-maligned Absolute Beginners and this. Absolute Beginners seems to have also faced production problems and disagreements over Temple's perfectionism and being cut to ribbons, and I'm sure its troubles and box office failure didn't help EGAE. But as a film EGAE would be a hard sell at the best of times: the star of The Fly in a sci-fi musical comedy. That's what kids want to see, something for everyone? These days with Goldblum being a god, it might have done better; he could still do a sequel.

Recent viewing:

Partie de campagne (Jean Renoir, 1936/46) - delightful short comedy; filming was never completed due to rain and other commitments, but it was assembled into a sub-40-minute film after the war. Economical telling of a simple tale - know-it-all Parisians head into the countryside for a day out, and locals attempt to exploit them, mixing great comic performances with some real poetry. A seduction scene now looks more like sexual assault, but the entire film is a portrayal of a long-gone France of rural idyll and Fragonard swing-sets. A world totally lost after World War Two, but it's even far from other 30s movies like Renoir's grimly mechanical La bete humaine. And the mustaches!

Broadcast news (James L Brooks, 1987) - fun TV newsroom workplace comedy about whether it's better to be dim but nice, or smart but screwed-up. Great cast with Holly Hunter the neurotic producer, Albert Brooks the neurotic reporter with a crush on her, and William Hurt the good-looking sportscaster-turned-anchorman. Plus Joan Cusack and Jack Nicholson! It does what good workplace comedies do (from His Girl Friday to The Devil Wears Prada): it manages to make the work seem super-exciting but also a bit dangerous - mixing a classic slightly soapy plot with lots of real-world detail, contemporary-feeling news stories, and debate about dumbing down news. Some lovely filmmaking touches, like an intro showing them all aged 10-12 which sums up the characters. The ending

Spoiler alert

shifts nicely from easy romcom solutions too.

[close]

I'm fascinated by the early career of William Hurt, an actor who always seems kind of wooden, but turns that to his advantage playing someone who's stupid, repressed, acting, faking, or lying, across Kiss of the Spider Woman, Accidental Tourist, The Big Chill, Body Heat, etc. (Disney+)

[Shit Good Nose]

Always found Broadcast News to be hugely overrated - nowhere near as funny as it perhaps should be (which is to say there isn't enough comedy in it, rather than the comedy that is there isn't funny), and it gets way too bogged down in the soapy elements (which I always hate in films that aren't domestic dramas - acknowledge that's a problem and opinion specific to me, rather than a generalisation).

That being said, Brooks doing a turn in front of the newsroom camera will always be an amazing scene.  "I'm perspiring."

[SteveDave]

Winter Kills

Jeff Bridges plays the younger brother of a US president who was assassinated and he tries to find out who did it several years later. People keep dying around him. It's pretty much a knockabout "JFK" with more death.

Also starring Anthony Perkins, John Huston (doing some excellent swearing) and a cameo from Elizabeth Taylor.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Preston Sturges – The Rise and Fall Of An American Dreamer (1989) - Documentary about the famous American writer, director and producer, it's a little guilty of hyperbole on occasion, claiming that Sturges changed Hollywood forever and that he "Introduced irony to the US", while some of the clips of his movies go on for a bit too long. But it is also filled with a lot of interesting facts, behind the scenes photos, and talking heads from a few actors who had worked with the man and who were still alive when this was made, and if you're a fan of his films it'll keep your interest. 6.9/10

[Small Man Big Horse]

The Addams Family (2019) - Animated kids film where a reality tv show host buys the land around the Addams' home, builds a small town, and then turns everyone against Gomez and co. Meanwhile Wednesday is a weirdly sulky teen who rebels against her parents, and you'll wonder why they'd care as she's such an irritating shit. The characterisation of Gomez and Morticia is fairly strong and there's the odd okay joke, but the animation style is bland and lacks anything close to invention, the patronising message concerning the importance of individuality is hammered home over and over again, and just when you might think this couldn't get any worse Lurch sings a pitch perfect rendition of REM's Everybody Hurts. As a whole it's not awful, just tepid and bland, which is the opposite of what unusual characters like these should be. 3.4/10

[zomgmouse]

A Prophet. Maybe my favourite Audiard I've seen so far. I loved the way this was shot and the slightly mystical tone as indicated by its title. The rising arc of the protagonist was really immersive and the ins and outs were well balanced with the overarching story. Wonderful acting/faces. Perhaps a little stretched out though - but I liked this very much.

Broadcast news (James L Brooks, 1987) - fun TV newsroom workplace comedy about whether it's better to be dim but nice, or smart but screwed-up. Great cast with Holly Hunter the neurotic producer, Albert Brooks the neurotic reporter with a crush on her, and William Hurt the good-looking sportscaster-turned-anchorman. Plus Joan Cusack and Jack Nicholson! It does what good workplace comedies do (from His Girl Friday to The Devil Wears Prada): it manages to make the work seem super-exciting but also a bit dangerous - mixing a classic slightly soapy plot with lots of real-world detail, contemporary-feeling news stories, and debate about dumbing down news. Some lovely filmmaking touches, like an intro showing them all aged 10-12 which sums up the characters. The ending

Spoiler alert

shifts nicely from easy romcom solutions too.

[close]

I'm fascinated by the early career of William Hurt, an actor who always seems kind of wooden, but turns that to his advantage playing someone who's stupid, repressed, acting, faking, or lying, across Kiss of the Spider Woman, Accidental Tourist, The Big Chill, Body Heat, etc. (Disney+)

I love this - I think it introduced me to Albert Brooks. It's just so beautifully earnest while at the same time being incredibly funny.

[steveh]

Absolute Beginners seems to have also faced production problems and disagreements over Temple's perfectionism and being cut to ribbons, and I'm sure its troubles and box office failure didn't help EGAE.

Albert Finney's book on Palace Pictures suggests that with Absolute Beginners Temple had managed to alienate his producers and the film's backers and has a quote from him about how people in the industry had decided afterwards he needed 'a spanking' so his only real choice at that stage was to do something in the USA where that film's production problems hadn't been so visible and the box office for it was more reasonable. It also describes Temple's film-making process as more 'intuitive', with him deciding on things as he went along, which upped the production costs as there was little forward planning on what or who would be needed for a scene until they got to it. British film budgets couldn't really accommodate that.

[rjd2]

I found Brother to be good but a little unsurprising. A Stoker is very good, much bleaker than Brother. Of Freaks and Men is my favourite so far, rather different to those, a unique vision. Definitely keen to see more.

Stoker is great. Its very minimalist as its only 80 mins and does actually take some time to get going, but its a very easy watch even if its bleakness personified. Very catchy soundtrack and excellent performance from the lead helps matters.

On the lead....I also watched Cargo where same actor pops up in , its also very grim as expected but I didn't enjoy it as much as Brother and Stoker.

I'l give Freaks and Men and The War a go in next few days.

[Dusty Substance]

Of Freaks And Men is incredible. Surprised it's not more well known. Sometimes I have to check that it was actually a real film I saw and not a weirdly beautiful dream.

[zomgmouse]

A Countess from Hong Kong. Chaplin's last film albeit one he does not star in (apart from a cameo). Romantic comedy farce with Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren - not particularly strong but it's a fine way to pass the time.

Smashing Time. Absolute chaos. Loved the lightness and era satire. Apparently Michael York told Mike Myers to watch this before making Austin Powers and it visibly made a difference - particularly Powers' main costume seems to have been directly lifted.

Fearless Frank (early Philip Kaufman). Also absolute chaos. You can tell this was made immediately in the wake of the 1966 Batman. Similar comic book campiness/wackiness but it gets tiring.

[paddy72]

A Prophet. Maybe my favourite Audiard I've seen so far. I loved the way this was shot and the slightly mystical tone as indicated by its title. The rising arc of the protagonist was really immersive and the ins and outs were well balanced with the overarching story. Wonderful acting/faces. Perhaps a little stretched out though - but I liked this very much.

Goddamn, that's a good movie, isn't it?

I need to go and watch it again now.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Escape To Witch Mountain (1975) - Tony and Tia Malone are newcomers to the local orphanage after their foster parents snuff it, and they seem completely normal apart from their telepathic and telekinetic skills and ability to talk to animals and predict the future. When they save the life of dodgy geezer Mr Deranian (Donald Pleasance) he realises that a pair of unusual kids like these is what his boss has been looking for, so fakes a bunch of documents and pretends to be their Uncle. At the boss's luxurious mansion they're given everything they could ever dream of but they know something's up, so flee with the help of their cat Winky, a horse called Thunderbolt, an old man called Jason, and a bear who cruelly doesn't get a name. It has a certain weirdness to it that you only ever find in kid's films of the seventies, whenever they're showing off their powers it's really entertaining and the only minor complaint I have is that it underuses Donald Pleasance, otherwise this is good clean, odd fun. 7.4/10

[Small Man Big Horse]

High Anxiety (1977) - Mel Brooks takes on Hitchcock as his psychiatrist Richard Harpo Thorndyke comes to run a world famous institution, and the patients might not be the only crazy ones. Brooks is strong as the lead, Madeline Kahn's mighty and majestic as the romantic interest, Cloris Leachman makes for an amusingly weird villain and Ron Carey does a fun Lou Costello impersonation, but the joke rate isn't as high as the best films Brooks produced, it's much, much better than his nineties period but not up there with his funniest movies. 6.8/10

[joaquin closet]

In the Line of Fire (1993)

Why is 63 yo Clint Eastwood trying to bang 39 yo Rene Russo?! Stop it, Clint! It's disgusting. And get some self-respect, Rene.

If the actor was a silver fox like Harrison Ford, George Clooney or Sean Connery, it could almost be believable. But surely no young woman wants cardboard Clint and his "PC gone mad" opinions grimacing his way through intercourse.

In his late career masterpiece (really) The Mule (2018), 88 yo Clint Eastwood has two threesomes.

Re:earlier Naked chat... the film's just been remastered and is being rereleased into cinemas soon so might by worth holding off on a first/rewatch

Also re: Naked... Do we think Thewlis's character is actually clever/a truth teller? I've always viewed him as a pseud, but definitely read accounts of people who watched it as students and really saw something profound in his death-prophecising.

[Blumf]

Vice Squad (1982)
On Talking Pictures, sounded interesting, if generic. Quiet disappointing. The director, Gary Sherman (of Poltergeist III fame) does a perfunctory job, but the acting really lets it down. In particular Gary Swanson, who performs the role of hard-bitten detective with a permanent look of a bored and confused 10 year old in maths class. A real shame, as a bit of flare behind the camera, and some actors who knew what they were doing could have raised this film to an engaging level. The acting especially, as there quite a large cast, and some good roles for character actors to play with.

4/10 Could do better, but the story isn't really worth a remake.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Also re: Naked... Do we think Thewlis's character is actually clever/a truth teller? I've always viewed him as a pseud, but definitely read accounts of people who watched it as students and really saw something profound in his death-prophecising.

Dunno about a truth teller, but I thought he was supposed to be painted as a naturally clever working class/non-academic bloke who had issues with authority, and can't get anywhere due to a lack of ambition/can't stop mucking about and fucking with people.

Bit like Archer in Scum.

[joaquin closet]

Yeah no, clever was definitely the wrong word for me to use. Profound is probably more what I meant.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Oh yeah, in that case I can see what you mean and thought some of the profound stuff was a bit pretentious. I only watched it a couple of years ago or so, and thought it might've just aged badly as in absence of the modern internet both the writers and readers would be less able to get at information quickly and easily, so perhaps they got away with it. Although to anyone fairly erudite it probably always seemed pseudy.

But then the best examples of it being cringe-worthy are when he's clearly showboating... I dunno.

[dissolute ocelot]

Oh yeah, in that case I can see what you mean and thought some of the profound stuff was a bit pretentious. I only watched it a couple of years ago or so, and thought it might've just aged badly as in absence of the modern internet both the writers and readers would be less able to get at information quickly and easily, so perhaps they got away with it. Although to anyone fairly erudite it probably always seemed pseudy.

But then the best examples of it being cringe-worthy are when he's clearly showboating... I dunno.

Scenes like where he's talking to a nightwatchman about the Number of the Beast - I knew people who would come out with stuff like that, but I certainly didn't consider them clever or profound. He's like the modern conspiracy theorist who has turned intelligence, imagination, and time into nonsense. There are certainly scenes where he is speaking dark, antisocial truths, and he has vast skills as a storyteller and demagogue. You could compare him with earlier self-taught working class heroes, but he's the decadent, ruined, Thatcher's Britain version, not the person who'll lead you to paradise but will lead you to death. (I love the film, by the way.)

[joaquin closet]

Scenes like where he's talking to a nightwatchman about the Number of the Beast - I knew people who would come out with stuff like that, but I certainly didn't consider them clever or profound. He's like the modern conspiracy theorist who has turned intelligence, imagination, and time into nonsense. There are certainly scenes where he is speaking dark, antisocial truths, and he has vast skills as a storyteller and demagogue. You could compare him with earlier self-taught working class heroes, but he's the decadent, ruined, Thatcher's Britain version, not the person who'll lead you to paradise but will lead you to death. (I love the film, by the way.)

Brilliantly put. I love it too!

[Dusty Substance]

A Monster Calls - Magical realism tale in which a giant tree monster visits a troubled boy whose mother is dying of terminal cancer. Sort of like a folk horror version of The Iron Giant, the boy comes to terms with his mother's mortality through a series of stories told by the tree monster. Too childish for most YA teen audiences, yet too frightening and upsetting (and boring) for younger kids, it's not clear who the target audience is. Liam Neeson voices the tree monster, Sigourney Weaver plays the boy's Grandmother (with an English accent) and Felicity Jones plays the dying Mum. Some nice visuals during the story-telling scenes, good visual effects (the tree monster is a more fluid version of the Ents from Lord Of The Rings) and decent sound design, with some visual nods to certain scenes from The Evil Dead, it's altogether a rather forgettable film. From the director of the over-rated The Orphanage.

[dissolute ocelot]

A Monster Calls - Magical realism tale in which a giant tree monster visits a troubled boy whose mother is dying of terminal cancer. Sort of like a folk horror version of The Iron Giant, the boy comes to terms with his mother's mortality through a series of stories told by the tree monster. Too childish for most YA teen audiences, yet too frightening and upsetting (and boring) for younger kids, it's not clear who the target audience is.

Yeah, this is fucking brutal. I quite enjoyed it (as a fan of grim European cinema), but I can't imagine kids watching it. Makes Bridge To Terabithia look like Elf.

Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927) - Apparently one of the best films ever made (#5 in the latest Sight and Sound critic poll). It's certainly technically brilliant, with fluid camera, superimposed images and other tricks to show characters' thoughts, striking design and editing, amazing depiction of a fairground and pleasure palace, relatively naturalistic acting, impressive special effects. But despite claims that it's a plot for all humanity and all times, it's not really that great a story - guy is seduced by evil woman to murder his wife

Spoiler alert

but doesn't

[close]

- but it works as a voyage through heaven and hell, almost. It does feel slightly like the 1920s version of Oscar bait (there are title cards at the start telling you how great and important it is). But, as a piece of cinema history, and simply as a piece of cinema, it's breathtaking. Maybe not #5 of all time, but up there somewhere.

Inseminoid (Norman J. Warren, 1980) - British science-fiction/horror resembling Alien, but not quality-wise. A team of space archaeologists are investigating traces of an alien civilisation when Judy Geeson is inseminated with green alien gloop and becomes rapidly pregnant (as in, baby in days). Geeson is quite good as the antagonist, but there is very little characterisation; the men are largely defined by how casually misogynistic they are, and the women wear less and fall over a lot, while the plot depends on people being stupid rather than duplicitous or conflicted. The main themes are (1) Pregnant women are crazy! Babies will ruin your life! and (2) some kind of fetish about lower leg injuries. But production design is good (filmed in actual caves and a step up from the likes of Blake's 7), and it moves quickly, with some nice explosions, icky gore, and cute rubber aliens. It's no match for Warren's other sci-fi/horror Prey, which has a foreboding atmosphere, more convincing violence, and a ton of gender studies class material. (Inseminoid is on Amazon Prime if you feel the need to watch British actors die embarrassingly.)

[Small Man Big Horse]

The Night Of The Hunter (1955) - Robert Mitchum stars as a psychopathic preacher who terrorises two young children as he knows that they know where their father hid ten thousand dollars, in this beautifully shot thriller from Charles Laughton that is one of the most chilling films I've seen, and Mitchum's performance is astonishingly good. It's packed with stunning imagery and it's an absolute crime that this wasn't a success on release as it meant that Laughton never directed another movie again rather tragically, and it's one of those rare times that a classic more than lives up to its reputation. 8.7/10

[Dusty Substance]

Yeah, this is fucking brutal. I quite enjoyed it (as a fan of grim European cinema), but I can't imagine kids watching it. Makes Bridge To Terabithia look like Elf.

Not seen Bridge To Terabithia - or Elf, for that matter. Already had the Will Ferrell Christmas film pencilled in for this December but is BTT worth checking out, too?

The Deep Blue Sea - Terence Davies' 2011 film based on Terence Rattigan's play from the 1950s about a woman in a loveless marriage who leaves to be with a more charismatic and better lover, only to find she can escape a marriage but she can't escape herself. Nice costumes and nice performances aren't enough to make up for the snail pace at which this film moves. So very boring. It's essentially a Radio 4 play with set to dull cinematography. Overall, probably the worst film I've seen this year.

Something's Gotta Give - Jack Nicholson, going completely against type by playing a 63 year old man who only dates women under 30, has a heart attack, has to spend time recuperating with the mother of his current young squeeze (played by Diane Keaton), one thing leads  to another and they end up falling in love. Having grown weary of superheroes and unconvincing action films, this is exactly the kind of film that gets me excited these days - Adults talking to each other about adult stuff. Nancy Meyers' 2003 film is an absolute delight, with excellent performances from Nicholson and Keaton and supporting roles from Keanu Reeves as a doctor and Frances McDormand (who I've never found especially attractive, but she was utterly gorgeous in this).
The film does run a little of steam after the first hour, but there are still plenty of laughs (and tears) to be had throughout. Diane Keaton hasn't been this good since Annie Hall and probably deserved to win the Oscar that year, if only for a full frontal nude scene in her late 50s. Really, really fucking good. I now feel the need to watch all of Nancy Meyers' other films.

[zomgmouse]

Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927) - Apparently one of the best films ever made (#5 in the latest Sight and Sound critic poll). It's certainly technically brilliant, with fluid camera, superimposed images and other tricks to show characters' thoughts, striking design and editing, amazing depiction of a fairground and pleasure palace, relatively naturalistic acting, impressive special effects. But despite claims that it's a plot for all humanity and all times, it's not really that great a story - guy is seduced by evil woman to murder his wife

Spoiler alert

but doesn't

[close]

- but it works as a voyage through heaven and hell, almost. It does feel slightly like the 1920s version of Oscar bait (there are title cards at the start telling you how great and important it is). But, as a piece of cinema history, and simply as a piece of cinema, it's breathtaking. Maybe not #5 of all time, but up there somewhere.

Inseminoid (Norman J. Warren, 1980) - British science-fiction/horror resembling Alien, but not quality-wise. A team of space archaeologists are investigating traces of an alien civilisation when Judy Geeson is inseminated with green alien gloop and becomes rapidly pregnant (as in, baby in days). Geeson is quite good as the antagonist, but there is very little characterisation; the men are largely defined by how casually misogynistic they are, and the women wear less and fall over a lot, while the plot depends on people being stupid rather than duplicitous or conflicted. The main themes are (1) Pregnant women are crazy! Babies will ruin your life! and (2) some kind of fetish about lower leg injuries. But production design is good (filmed in actual caves and a step up from the likes of Blake's 7), and it moves quickly, with some nice explosions, icky gore, and cute rubber aliens. It's no match for Warren's other sci-fi/horror Prey, which has a foreboding atmosphere, more convincing violence, and a ton of gender studies class material. (Inseminoid is on Amazon Prime if you feel the need to watch British actors die embarrassingly.)

That's it, that's cinema

[famethrowa]

Something's Gotta Give - Jack Nicholson, going completely against type by playing a 63 year old man who only dates women under 30, has a heart attack, has to spend time recuperating with the mother of his current young squeeze (played by Diane Keaton), one thing leads  to another and they end up falling in love. Having grown weary of superheroes and unconvincing action films, this is exactly the kind of film that gets me excited these days - Adults talking to each other about adult stuff. Nancy Meyers' 2003 film is an absolute delight, with excellent performances from Nicholson and Keaton and supporting roles from Keanu Reeves as a doctor and Frances McDormand (who I've never found especially attractive, but she was utterly gorgeous in this).
The film does run a little of steam after the first hour, but there are still plenty of laughs (and tears) to be had throughout. Diane Keaton hasn't been this good since Annie Hall and probably deserved to win the Oscar that year, if only for a full frontal nude scene in her late 50s. Really, really fucking good. I now feel the need to watch all of Nancy Meyers' other films.

It's a ludicrous film but fun and entertaining, the zenith of "expensive kitchen fetish" movies. Everyone's rich.

[zomgmouse]

The Big Picture, Christopher Guest's first film (and I think his only non-mockumentary?), in which Kevin Bacon plays an aspiring filmmaker who gets caught in Hollywood's web. Really quite (s)light, feels like the jokes don't fully live up to the setup, but it's got a charming quality to it.

Fittingly following this up with Who's That Knocking at My Door, Scorsese's debut feature (which feels like exactly the sort of film they didn't let Kevin Bacon make in The Big Picture). It does feel very studenty but it's really effective and Keitel gives a great perofrmance.

Magical Mystery Tour. Thought this would be a bit shit but it's actually pretty good, though I kind of hoped it would all lead to something a lot more chaotic. Nice to see Ivor Cutler and the Bonzos.

Happy End. Playful surreal stuff by SMBH favourite Oldřich Lipský - many have done the reverse narrative gimmick but none so  as here where the entire story plays backwards moment by moment, including much of the footage and some of the audio actually going backwards too (or at least the action is moving backwards) - and yet the voiceover narration being as though things are unfolding in sequence. It's all very fast-paced and fun to keep up with. I quite liked it.