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March 28, 2024, 07:59:51 PM

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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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Small Man Big Horse

The Nutty Professor (1963) - Well I did not get on with this at all, which surprises as I've been fond of Lewis elsewhere and it starts well with some daft gags as Jerry's Professor Julius Kelp goes to the gym in an attempt to become manly. But once he creates a formula that transforms him in to the supposedly suave Buddy Love it becomes almost bizarrely unfunny, Love is an arrogant, egotistical twat, and the film calls him out on it, with love interest Stella repeatedly pissed off with what a shit he is, yet weirdly she can't resist him at the same time. Even weirder is that all of the other students love the man, with one calling him "one of the truly great swingers of all time", yet every scene he's in is painfully unamusing, he's just a creepy fucking turd and most of the film relies on us either finding Buddy's behaviour funny, or when he suddenly starts to change back and his voice goes squeaky, but for me it was completely laughter free affair and I kept on checking how long I had left as I wasn't enjoying it one iota. 3.3/10

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on May 01, 2022, 10:21:03 PMRewatched Braindead, after reading the BBFC report on them loving it. It was actually more gruesome than I recalled, but great fun. They must've spent nearly all the budget on effects and prosthetics, as for a smallish film there's shitloads of them.
Noticeably so. I rewatched it last Halloween and I'd forgotten quite how amateurish it is early on. The sound mixing is straight up student level. Once the gore starts gushing, though, it's brilliant.
 
"Your mother ate my dog!!!"

zomgmouse

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on May 05, 2022, 02:28:01 PMThe US made-as-a-TV-pilot version of "Once A Thief" is also, surprisingly, quite good.

Do you mean the TV movie directed by Woo or the subsequent TV series? (They were both Canadian)

zomgmouse

An Inlet of Muddy Water. This came up in one of the Japanese Film Watch threads tangentially. A collection of three stories (all filmed by the same director) about three different women. The first - a wife trying to leave her abusive husband; the second - a maid who needs to borrow money from her mean boss; the third - a sex worker whom a former client clings to. The third story didn't grab me as much as the others (except at the very end), but the first two were marvellous affecting little dramas.

Gate of Hell. Another Japanese film from the same year - the first Japanese colour film to be shown internationally. And it's pretty startling in its colour as well. A tale of samurai obsession - beginning with battle but turning into more of a melodrama.

The Phantom Stockman aka Cattle Station aka Return of the Plainsman. Australian Western featuring Chips Rafferty - fairly standard stuff really but as always nice to see the Australian landscape on film.

One Girl's Confession. Pulpy B-noir from/with Czech émigré Hugo Haas with twists and turns at every corner. Not hugely well-made but there's some nice performances.

And a few shorts:

"Joe's Apt.". The precursor to feature film Joe's Apartment (which I found out about today) about a man who lives in an apartment filled with singing cockroaches, it's delightfully silly and I would love to see the full film at some point.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" - an animated version narrated by James Mason - the animation style doesn't always hit but I loved Mason's voice over the top of this chilling Poe tale.

"Small Deaths" - Lynne Ramsay's very first short. Already a poignant, arresting and personal vision.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 05, 2022, 08:39:14 PMThe Nutty Professor (1963) - Well I did not get on with this at all, which surprises as I've been fond of Lewis elsewhere and it starts well with some daft gags as Jerry's Professor Julius Kelp goes to the gym in an attempt to become manly. But once he creates a formula that transforms him in to the supposedly suave Buddy Love it becomes almost bizarrely unfunny, Love is an arrogant, egotistical twat, and the film calls him out on it, with love interest Stella repeatedly pissed off with what a shit he is, yet weirdly she can't resist him at the same time. Even weirder is that all of the other students love the man, with one calling him "one of the truly great swingers of all time", yet every scene he's in is painfully unamusing, he's just a creepy fucking turd and most of the film relies on us either finding Buddy's behaviour funny, or when he suddenly starts to change back and his voice goes squeaky, but for me it was completely laughter free affair and I kept on checking how long I had left as I wasn't enjoying it one iota. 3.3/10

That's a shame, but fair enough. As I'm sure you know, it's widely regarded as Lewis' masterpiece. It's certainly his most 'sophisticated' film in terms of having a traditional three act structure, actual character development and some thematic depth (most of his self-directed films are basically a plotless series of surreal gags). But I totally understand that if you find Buddy Love tiresome, then the film must be a right old slog! I personally find his relentless bastardry amusing, especially when you factor in that it's Lewis playing an only slightly exaggerated version of himself.

I also love the art direction, all those bright primary colours. It's almost proto-psychedelic at times.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 06, 2022, 12:46:35 AMDo you mean the TV movie directed by Woo or the subsequent TV series? (They were both Canadian)
The TV movie (didn't realise it had made it to being a series, although it was obviously a pilot).

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on May 06, 2022, 05:04:23 PMThat's a shame, but fair enough. As I'm sure you know, it's widely regarded as Lewis' masterpiece. It's certainly his most 'sophisticated' film in terms of having a traditional three act structure, actual character development and some thematic depth (most of his self-directed films are basically a plotless series of surreal gags). But I totally understand that if you find Buddy Love tiresome, then the film must be a right old slog! I personally find his relentless bastardry amusing, especially when you factor in that it's Lewis playing an only slightly exaggerated version of himself.

I also love the art direction, all those bright primary colours. It's almost proto-psychedelic at times.

I realise I'm in the minority, and the first twenty minutes was essentially as you describe his other films as there wasn't much of a plot and the gags were surreal, and that aspect I really enjoyed (the long hands gag being stretched out to not only when it happens in the gym, but him scratching his feet in bed too, for example). But yeah, I just did not get on with Buddy Love at all and found him beyond irritating, I rarely quit a film when I'm over half way in but the scene when he's trying to get the principal to perform Hamlet but keeps on stopping him almost led me to doing so. It's a shame as I wanted to like it, and as you said, the art direction is really great, but it was just one of those times I didn't gel with a film.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Yeah, it happens sometimes. Things don't click for various reasons. As I say, there's just no way of enjoying that film if you can't be arsed with Buddy Love! He more or less dominates proceedings from his first appearance onwards.

Btw I've never liked the ending.

Spoiler alert
Kelp makes a touching speech about the importance of just being yourself. Don't try to be something you're not, especially if that something is a bullying sexist arsehole (a bit rich coming from Jerry Lewis, but fine, it's a nice message).

And how does the film end after all that seemingly sincere talk of being a good, kind person? Stella, with a couple of flasks of Kelp's formula in her back pockets, giving a knowing look to the audience. The implication being that she can always have some sexy time with Buddy Love, a total prick, whenever she inexplicably fancies it. Which totally goes against everything Kelp said during his emotional breakdown. Weird.
[close]

rjd2

Mr Majestyk   3/5

Charles Bronson is a man who wants to grow his beloved melons. He falls out with the local redneck who would rather he hired he and fellow whites instead of Latinos one of which Charles falls for,,,and their is a hitman who won't share his sausage with Charles who also complicates matters. Its good fun but its slight, the lead villain has little depth and the love angle is absurd. I know its not real, but nonetheless its utterly absurd that the sexy heart of gold latina would fancy old Charles sadly.

The Train   4/5

Burt Lancaster playing a French chap (I know) has to ensure that art the Nazi's are stealing as the allies reaches Germany,,,he has other intentions. Its pretty good, the premise which is "how many lives are worth sacrificing for great art" is an interesting one, and the cast especially Burt are all very good.

Its mainly on a train thus the title.


zomgmouse

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on May 06, 2022, 05:26:12 PMThe TV movie (didn't realise it had made it to being a series, although it was obviously a pilot).

ah gotcha! i might check it out when i get to the tail end of Woo

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on May 06, 2022, 05:04:23 PMI also love the art direction, all those bright primary colours. It's almost proto-psychedelic at times.

my top pick for this aspect is The Ladies Man i think

Memorex MP3

Sexy Beast

Kind of terrible? I can kind of get what Glazer was probably doing (gutting a fairly typical script of the moment to its core, turning the most interesting character up to 11 and using the time he freed up to squeeze in some Guinness ads) and the two leads are great but it never amounts to anything very captivating.

Birth is such a massive step forward that it's hard to believe he didn't do any films inbetween.

dissolute ocelot

Leon Morin, Pretre (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961) - sexy priest drama set in Nazi-Occupied France. Jean-Paul Belmondo is super-cool in a cassock; Emmanuelle Riva is as compelling as in Hiroshima, Mon Amour, playing a communist who unexpectedly finds an interest in God. It's full of detail about the experience of Italian and German occupation, much of which goes on in the background as theological debate, sexual tension, and office politics predominate (it must be Melville's talkiest film by miles). I'm not entirely sure what it's saying about religion but it's open-minded.

Bullet In The Head (John Woo, 1991) - epic gangster/war movie. Hong Kong in 1967 is a shitty place for three young men trying to make money, so they go to South Vietnam. There is however a war on. The love of guns and gold competes against friendship, and the Viet Cong and South Vietnamese army are not very nice either. Echoes of Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now: it successfully lets you experience that war is hell, and there are a lot of bullets in heads. Some very brutal and harrowing scenes alternate with spectacular action sequences. Strong cast with Tony Leung the sensible one of the three friends, and Simon Yam very cool as a killer they meet along the way.

Metal Lords (Peter Sollett, 2022) - amusing but disposable Netflix teen comedy about a heavy metal band. A good portrayal of male friendship, but some of it is so lazy (manic pixie dream girl ahoy!). You're better off listening to "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" by Mountain Goats.

Small Man Big Horse

Tonight At The Movies (aka Color Me True, 2018) - Another movie from Hideki Takeuchi (Fly Me to the Saitama, Thermae Romae), an old man is dying in hospital when a nurse notices he has a film script, though the film was never made. So as she reads it we get to see it, and it involves a young assistant director who is obsessed with an old black and white film, only for the movie's heroine to suddenly appear in real life. Cue a culture clash fish out of water rom-com kind of thing, but the twist is if she ever touches anyone she'll disappear - so will they be able to resist? Or is it okay as long she wears gloves while tossing him off? I won't say anything more but I did really like this, it's a little overlong but the ending really got me, and it's a quietly sweet and beautiful to look at movie. 7.7/10

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 07, 2022, 04:54:47 AMmy top pick for this aspect is The Ladies Man i think

Yeah, that's a gorgeous-looking film. I like the surrealist white room sequence in particular.




Blumf

The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down (1994)
That one about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty, and if its speed dropped, the bus would explode!

Actually never seen it until now. Keanu Reeves is very 90s, Sandra Bullock is very 90s, Dennis Hopper is chewing the scenery like a champ. Pretty good over all, runs out of puff towards the end, but it delivers.


The Humanity Bureau (2017)
Nic Cage paying off those tax bills. Future blah, environmental collapse blah, government shipping the poor off to a not-at-all sinister 'Eden Valley' blah.

There's nothing wrong with the basic concept, but the execution really lets it down. The world building doesn't really work, too many contradictions and other details breaking the setting. Tonally off with the bad guys dropping into comedy whilst also trying to be full-on grim. Also, the main kid reminds me of that character in the "Night of the Nearly Dead" episode of Father Ted, Eoin McLove.



Cage, to his credit, holds things together as well as he can. A subdued performance that does suit the story and conveys the right amount of pathos. Co-star Sarah Lind isn't bad either. Really can't help feeling let down by the film though, wouldn't have taken much to tie it together as a good post-apocalypse B-movie. The stuff that does work, works very well, just not enough of it. Seeing small town/rural Americans trying and failing to keep hope in the concept of the all but collapsed USA could have been a very powerful vision.

Small Man Big Horse

Sons of the Desert (1933) - Stan and Ollie want to go to a freemason-esque conference but their wives are against it, so the duo lie to them and naturally things don't work out well. This has a decent opening twenty minutes but the conference and their return home only had me occasionally smiling, and I much preferred Way Out West. 6.0/10

zomgmouse

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 08, 2022, 07:59:19 PMSons of the Desert (1933) - Stan and Ollie want to go to a freemason-esque conference but their wives are against it, so the duo lie to them and naturally things don't work out well. This has a decent opening twenty minutes but the conference and their return home only had me occasionally smiling, and I much preferred Way Out West. 6.0/10


glad to know i wasn't the only one, this was my first exposure to l&h which left me disappointed and i was worried i wouldn't get on with them in future but luckily way out west i found a great deal funnier and more charming

SteveDave

National Treasure

Nic Cage loves America and wants to find the treasure of the Masons. He does! But Sean Bean cosplaying as Owen Wilson almost pips him to it.

zomgmouse

Anatahan. Josef von Sternberg's final film (by shooting schedule), in which a group of Japanese sailors survive on a Pacific island without realising WWII was over. It's a real curiosity as von Sternberg provides the narration and there are no subtitles for the Japanese dialogue - though this is a Japanese production - so this robs many of the scenes of their emotional impact. But it looks really good and there's a certain yearning that pervades every frame which manages to penetrate the impenetrability.

The Street of Hope. Only the second film I've seen by Dino Risi, who made the excellent Il sorpasso. Also an earlyish role for Marcello Mastroianni. Fast-paced farce about the filmmaking industry in Italy.

Where Chimneys Are Seen. Post-war Japanese melodrama, perhaps the first I've seen that so explicity addresses the post-war socioeconomic hardships for so many people. Seems like a simple enough story but there's lovely bits of poetic imagery interwoven and the characters have some nice flourishes to their depiction.

Artie Fufkin

Colin Firth IS Donald Crowhurst in The Mercy - 2018

Hmmmmm. Disjointed, but interesting dramatisation of Crowhurst's attempt at the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race; to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping.

Spoiler alert
It doesn't go well. It hints at him having a mental breakdown. I guess over 7 months on your own in a tiny boat would do that.
[close]

Some nice casting.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: Blumf on May 08, 2022, 01:49:50 AMThe Bus That Couldn't Slow Down (1994)
That one about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty, and if its speed dropped, the bus would explode!

Actually never seen it until now. Keanu Reeves is very 90s, Sandra Bullock is very 90s, Dennis Hopper is chewing the scenery like a champ. Pretty good over all, runs out of puff towards the end, but it delivers.
I recently watched this as part of a vehicle-based 90s action movie double bill, along with Con Air. Speed may slightly run out of puff towards the end, but, by gum, it hits the ground running. The bus section is among the most iconic action stuff of the decade - and it's impressive how much mileage they get out of it* - but the opening section with the lift is also very tense (no doubt helped by my having a phobia of that sort of situation).

Con Air felt strangely sluggish in comparison. Nicolas Cage adds a few memes to his collection, but is surprisingly subdued. The titular convicts rely more on colourful names and a cast full of reliable character actors than any particularly memorable traits. Other than a brawl in the cramped confines of the cargo hold, it doesn't really use the plane setting in any interesting way. Once it gets to the fireworks factory, it's pretty darn good fun, but director Simon West is a bit of a Poundstretcher version of Tony Scott or Michael Bay.



*Pun as intended as it is hilarious

SteveDave

Quote from: Artie Fufkin on May 09, 2022, 12:52:26 PM
Spoiler alert
It doesn't go well. It hints at him having a mental breakdown. I guess over 7 months on your own in a tiny boat would do that.
[close]


Spoiler alert
I once spent six months in a leaky boat. Nothing to it leaky boat.
[close]

I'm sorry.

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: SteveDave on May 09, 2022, 03:29:27 PM
Spoiler alert
I once spent six months in a leaky boat. Nothing to it leaky boat.
[close]

I'm sorry.

Spoiler alert
Awesome! I couldn't do it. Far too manly and rugged for me.
[close]

Blumf

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on May 09, 2022, 01:22:32 PMCon Air felt strangely sluggish in comparison

They're different beasts, I'd say. Speed being a pure action flick, where Con Air is focused more on the tension.


Quotebut director Simon West is a bit of a Poundstretcher version of Tony Scott or Michael Bay.

He will never top his 1987 peak

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 08, 2022, 11:38:21 PMglad to know i wasn't the only one, this was my first exposure to l&h which left me disappointed and i was worried i wouldn't get on with them in future but luckily way out west i found a great deal funnier and more charming

Likewise, I think having high expectations after Way Out West definitely didn't help me, and though I'm still going to check out some of their other films I won't be rushing to do so.

Mobius

Rewatched the very funny Wain & Showalter movie "They Came Together" last night.

One of my favourites, just silly nonsense pisstakey parody of romance movies, full of funny people.

zomgmouse

I Vitelloni. Early Fellini. Follows some deadbeats whom I found less charming as the film goes on but there's a beautiful melancholic stagnation enveloping it all that managed to win me over.

Angel Face. Noir from Otto Preminger with Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. Solid stuff with Mitchum's cynical disengagement managing to be dragged slowly down by Simmons' scheming.

Welcome Mr. Marshall. Spanish farce from Luis García Berlanga - my first by this director. A small Spanish town gets ready to welcome a group of American benefactors. Amusing although I suspect maybe some cultural differences got in the way of a full appreciation.

The Terrorizers. There's a 2021 film also called Terrorizers that seems to be heavily influenced by this one so I wanted to watch this prior. Edward Yang delivers another brilliantly observed multi-character drama - this time with a more shocking element. I loved this a lot, had to watch it in two sittings but it lost none of its meditative potency.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Mobius on May 10, 2022, 01:59:30 AMRewatched the very funny Wain & Showalter movie "They Came Together" last night.

One of my favourites, just silly nonsense pisstakey parody of romance movies, full of funny people.
I really didn't like this. Beating a joke into the ground doesn't become any more funny because you're aware you're beating a joke into the ground, and tell the audience you're beating it into the ground, ad nauseam; and it doesn't say anything interesting about rom-coms. There are some good bits in it (I remember liking Christopher Meloni's cameo) but to me, it's a very good example of a movie which thinks it's a lot funnier and cleverer than it is.

zomgmouse

The Lady Without Camellias. Early Antonioni. Existential actress who has recently been thrust into the limelight from obscurity grows increasingly discontent with her situation. Particularly good lead performance.

Memorex MP3

Far preferred the Baxter to They Came Together; similarly heavy handed but the main duo worked a lot better for me and (I think) the lower production values helped make it more charming in general.

Not sure why but Amy Poehler doesn't work at all for that kind of thickly layered comedy; she should be perfect for it but just annoys the hell out of me.

Quote from: zomgmouse on May 10, 2022, 10:44:23 AMThe Terrorizers. There's a 2021 film also called Terrorizers that seems to be heavily influenced by this one so I wanted to watch this prior. Edward Yang delivers another brilliantly observed multi-character drama - this time with a more shocking element. I loved this a lot, had to watch it in two sittings but it lost none of its meditative potency.
Is this available in HD these days? Was on my watchlist for years but could only find SD versions so it fell off.