What Non-New Films Have You Seen? (2023 Edition)

[Sebastian Cobb]

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.

Had this downloaded but the runtime put me off so ended up seeing it 'cos it was showing at the cinema. I'm glad I saw it there as I'd almost certainly have ended up getting a bit bored and titting about on the computer instead of paying attention.

Spoiler alert

Basically nothing happens for 3 hours then she shanks a punter.

It's a real exercise in listlessness to that point, to the point some people started giggling when she ran out of things to do then started meticulously cleaning trinkets.

[close]

I'm glad I had the foresight to smuggle some tinnies in because the one on the way in would not have sufficed.

[Easy_To_Assemble]

Just watched Suburbicon last night, which was pretty entertaining, despite being fairly straightforward. Wasn't surpised to see the Coen Brothers as producers, as it does have a Coen-ish feel, especially in the violent bits.

[phantom_power]

Finally got around to watching Licorice Pizza and fuck me but PTA has done it again, making a film completely unlike what I was expecting, as he does with every film it seems. I loved it. A warm, funny, evocative hang out in 70s Encino, or wherever it is. Great acting, interesting characters and just enough plot to see it through. Interesting to see in the credits that two Spielberg kids and Leo Di Caprio's dad feature, which seems to be deliberate given Gary's skirting with acting and fame

[rjd2]

Last night I watched Red Rocket, about a skeezy porn star who returns to his texas hometown to ostensibly go back to his estranged wife but then starts trying to groom a young girl as a way to get back into the porn industry.

That makes it sound uber bleak but it was by Sean Baker so had a comedy/indie film edge. Was good.

Baker's films on paper are always a bit grim and can be a hard sell to friends but all of them are incredibly entertaining and the masses should love him more! 

I recommended Tangerine to so many people and once I explained the premise I knew instantly it wasn't going to happen.

Pandora And The Flying Dutchman   3/5

Pandora is a stunning lass who likes to break hearts in a small Spanish town. An affluent driver and very macho bull fighter compete for her attention but a yacht rocks up and she is drawn to the captain who may be the flying dutchman! Its a little long , but quite quirky, looks amazing and James Mason is a superb lead.

Beau Travail 1/5
Rhythm Of The Night is a banger fair dues.Shame about the rest. I just can't get immersed in Dennis's films whatsoever sadly.

Simple Men 2/5

2 brothers go on a road trip to track down their criminal father who has done a runner. I dunno know much about the director Hartley but does feel like something Wes Anderson or Jarmusch would knock out in a weekend. A wooden cast don't help matters either unfortunately.

Shotgun Stories 4/5

White rural Southern town where shit kicks off between 3 brothers and the kids of their estranged father after our lead Michael Shannon talks smack at the father's funeral. These aren't the nicest people to spend anytime with but if you like films about futile violent revenge then you are in luck.  Not one if you are looking for 80 minutes of escapism though.

Short Sharp Shock 3/5

Chap leaves jail to meet up with his two best friends, one of whom is climbing in the underworld and the other who has a very volatile relationship with his sister. The three of them are all immigrants (set in Germany) so it's a lovely portrayal of multicultural friendship which inevitably and tragically unwinds as all get sucked into the underworld.

[Mobius]

Well I watched Bullet Train

It was pretty crap. Everyone talked like a Marvel cunt. There was a million plot holes. One of the characters would not shut the fuck up about Thomas the Tank Engine which was interminable.

I would have put Jason Statham in it. Would have made it better.

[Blumf]

Well I watched Bullet Train

It was pretty crap

Yeah, it's not terrible, but not amazing either. One for early Guy Richie fans. I suspect people may be better rewarded by something like Bunraku (2010)

[phantom_power]

Simple Men 2/5

2 brothers go on a road trip to track down their criminal father who has done a runner. I dunno know much about the director Hartley but does feel like something Wes Anderson or Jarmusch would knock out in a weekend. A wooden cast don't help matters either unfortunately.

It probably doesn't change much if you don't like the film but I think the acting is a stylistic choice rather than wooden acting. I love Hartley and so am attuned to his ways but it I can see it is jarring if it is your first film of his

[El Unicornio, mang]

Julia (1977) - The huge success of this at the Academy Awards was largely overshadowed by the controversy surrounding its co-star Vanessa Redgrave and her support of the PLO

In March 1978 Vanessa Redgrave created turmoil just by turning up to the Oscars (things were so hot for her that she had to arrive hidden in an ambulance.) The controversy had started months earlier when Redgrave had helped to finance a TV documentary called The Palestinian (1977). The Jewish Defence League, offended by the film's pro-Palestinian Liberation Organisation stance, asked Fox to condemn Redgrave or they would picket Julia (1977), in which she co-starred with Jane Fonda and, incidentally, played an anti-Nazi. When Fox refused, the JDL took the drastic step of releasing white mice into theatres showing the movie. The fate of the mice is unknown but Julia was a success and scored Redgrave a best supporting actress Oscar. Accepting the award Redgrave's condemnation of 'Zionist hoodlums' drew gasps from the crowd – one heard around the world. Outside the ceremony the JDL burnt an effigy of Redgrave.

Her acceptance speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAcOsK9gRLk
And Paddy Chayefsky clearly furious as he spoke later in the ceremony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeV3GpUY1B4

As for the film itself, it has some moments of genuine tension and terror and Redgrave is always a joy to watch, but unfortunately her scenes are few and far between and we never really get to know much about her character. In some ways this works if you view it as a faded, unreliable recollection of memories of a person who made a big impact on our life for whatever reason. Also notable as the first film to feature Meryl Streep, although she's only in it for about 30 seconds.

[Famous Mortimer]

Nightmare City (aka City of Shadows), 1987

Has that Mad Max vibe of a society that's not quite completely broken down yet, but the people in charge are definitely struggling to rule in the old way. Only set in Vancouver, doubling for Anytown USA, not the Australian outback. A cop who looks like Rick Springfield's slightly rougher brother tracks down a murderous paedophile who's also his brother, and the various people the brother does crimes for.

The plot is extremely convoluted, and the dark streets combined with VHS fuzz means even if it weren't, you'd struggle to know what was going on. But it's fascinating in its straight-to-VHS way, and if you're in the mood, there's stuff to enjoy. Also, soundtrack by Tangerine Dream at their most mid-80s.

[Famous Mortimer]

American Angels: Baptism of Blood

Womens' wrestling based movie, from 1989.

In "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy", there's a bit where Adams says "There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." I have adapted this to bad movies - like, when I've finally seen all the bad movies, the universe wills one more into existence. How else did a cheesy wrestling-based movie from 1989 make it all the way to 2023 without me knowing about it?

It's not very good, of course. And despite a pretty much complete lack of nudity, the Twitch stream I was watching it on was banned about an hour in, so I've got no idea how it ended.

[phantom_power]

Ice Cold In Alex (1958 - well known to a certain generation from that Carling advert but so much more than that. A genuinely brilliant film, full of tension and great characterisation. It is pretty nuanced in regard to heroism and different sides in a war as well. The Germans that appear aren't just evil ciphers, and

Spoiler alert

the spy is dealt with in an interesting way, shown mercy due to his courage and help along the way

[close]

. Mills' character's alcoholism/PTSD is dealt with in a similar manner. Sorcerer with a stiff upper lip

[Small Man Big Horse]

My Name Is Dolemite (2019) - Fun biopic where Eddie Murphy stars as the seventies comedian and actor Rudy Ray Moore, beginning with how he created the character of Dolemite and ending with the success of the first movie. It's all pretty great too, the cast are excellent, the story is an endearing one, and the footage of the making of the film is really entertaining. 8.0/10

[dissolute ocelot]

I seem to be watching a lot of the same films as other people

Death Race 2000 (1975) - low-budget exploitation movie from the Roger Corman factory: good fun thanks to a cast including David Carradine being sinister and Sylvester Stallone being funny, nice design, decent photography, surprisingly interesting plot, and a strong central idea that everybody's thought of at some time in their life. Not a huge number of pedestrians are brutally mown down, but it's not boring.

I, Robot (2003) - lacklustre action movie. What's the problem? A dull story that doesn't particularly make sense? The second-rate special effects? The ever-charming Will Smith miscast as a curmugeonly robot-hater? Bridget Monaghan's character should actually be the lead? The lack of menace from the mannequin adversaries? The failed potential and general meh-ness of it all?

Red Rocket (2021) - interesting sometimes funny movie about an ex porn star turned chancer, although I found it almost physically painful to watch due to the lead character's nervous energy and constant sense that he was going to make stupid decisions. I don't mind films about total shits, but the lead was in an awkward space where I didn't sympathise but didn't want bad things to happen, I just wanted him to sit down. There are a lot of well-drawn characters in it played by good actors, it's just Simon Rex (formerly of Amanda Bynes sitcom What I Like About You) that I am opposed to.

It probably doesn't change much if you don't like the film but I think the acting is a stylistic choice rather than wooden acting. I love Hartley and so am attuned to his ways but it I can see it is jarring if it is your first film of his

(re Simple Men). I rewatched a lot of Hal Hartley maybe 3 or 4 years ago and still found a lot to enjoy but it's definitely a particular approach to filmmaking. I don't think Simple Men is his best film but it's a great story about a sort of uncommunicative brotherly relationship. Although I admit a scene that combines a Bande a Part tribute with a Sonic Youth song isn't going to excite everyone. I'd definitely start with Trust or The Unbelievable Truth though.

[Famous Mortimer]

Modern Vampires (1998)

Painfully 90s and painfully unfunny.

The dramatic bits aren't interesting, and the funny bits are really, really not funny. Richard Elfman presumably got the funding on the proviso that his much more famous / talented brother would provide the soundtrack; I can't think of another reason why he'd be given something like this.

The plot is, Caspar Van Dien comes back to LA to patch up some unspecified problem with the local Count; he meets and falls for Natasha Gregson Wagner, who's the Hollywood Ripper and is causing problems for the local vampires. Rod Steiger, presumably with some bills coming due, is Van Helsing. Oh, and Craig Ferguson, Udo Kier and Kim Cattrall are the friendly-ish local vamps. It's always nice seeing Ferguson acting, but he's not exactly stretching himself here.

It's just so dull.  It relies on you finding well-dressed, erudite vampires casually murdering people funny in itself, because it offers nothing else. Lots of video tricks that age it better than a birth certificate, too. 

I wonder why I'd never heard of it til a few days ago, though. For such a decent cast, it should have at least been well-known, but maybe it never made it to Britain and then disappeared without a trace before the digital age.

EDIT: Count Dracula was played by Robert Pastorelli, who you may remember from "Murphy Brown", or from (probably) murdering his wife in 1999 before overdosing on morphine a few years later.

[phantom_power]

(re Simple Men). I rewatched a lot of Hal Hartley maybe 3 or 4 years ago and still found a lot to enjoy but it's definitely a particular approach to filmmaking. I don't think Simple Men is his best film but it's a great story about a sort of uncommunicative brotherly relationship. Although I admit a scene that combines a Bande a Part tribute with a Sonic Youth song isn't going to excite everyone. I'd definitely start with Trust or The Unbelievable Truth though.

Can't disagree with any of that, though I would add Amateur into the mix of starting points

[Sebastian Cobb]

I like Hal and Simple Men is one of my favourites. Amateur is great but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as an entry point, Henry Fool might be better or the aforementioned Unbelievable Truth.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I like Hal and Simple Men is one of my favourites. Amateur is great but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as an entry point, Henry Fool might be better or the aforementioned Unbelievable Truth.

I'd agree with that though I think Henry Fool works best when you watch Faye Grim shortly afterwards, and then finish the trilogy with Ned Rifle, and I don't know how easy the latter is to track down.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'd agree with that though I think Henry Fool works best when you watch Faye Grim shortly afterwards, and then finish the trilogy with Ned Rifle, and I don't know how easy the latter is to track down.

Yeah the trilogy is great, It should be easier than it was, he released a bluray of the trilogy a while back. Not cheap though!
https://www.halhartley.com/shop/henry-fool-trilogy

It's a shame he has to rely on crowdfunding to get this stuff made at all really.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Breaking Glass - Kind of like The Commitments but they're a punk band built around Hazel O'Connor and Jimmy Rabbite's played by Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce playing a half-deaf smackhead saxophonist.

Was decent although it seems I watched the American cut with the wimpy ending.

Spoiler alert

The film ends with a huge concert and the debut of a new song, although already drugged Kate is forced to go on stage by Chris Campbell, who forcibly holds her down while a doctor injects her in the buttocks with more drugs. Kate goes on with the band, performing the song "Eighth Day" (the American release of the film ends the movie after the song). After the song finishes Kate flees the stage into the London Underground, where she begins hallucinating people dressed as her and her former bandmates, and has a nervous breakdown.

The final scene shows Kate catatonic at a mental hospital where Danny comes to visit her and to bring her a synthesiser.

[close]

[Inspector Norse]

Watched a few Hollywood classics this week that I had never seen before. In a Lonely Place, Touch of Evil and His Girl Friday. All great; such a shame that simple things like snappy dialogue and creative direction are so out of favour in modern Hollywood.

[Herbert Ashe]

Finished working my way through the Third Window 80's Obayashi set.

School in the Crosshairs (1981): Latent fascist tendencies in a school exploited by {spoiler}. Probably best next one for anyone into Hausu, some similar inventive lo-fi effects work. Got some of Obayashi's anti-conformist streak in this one.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1983): Apart from Hausu, the only Obayashi film I'd seen before. Nostalgia + melancholy awareness of the passing time. Strange extra resonance rewatching knowing the old couple are played by Uehara Ken and Irie Takako, who were in loads of films by Naruse & others.
Island Closest to Heaven (1984): Great holiday film, adjacent to Rohmer's Green Ray, but 2 years earlier. Seems to be a certain edge to the depiction of the Japanese tourist industry, both in terms of Obayashi's anti-conformity again and maybe again latent colonialist pacific attitudes. Features the recently dead YMO guy who pops up in a few Obayashi films.
His Motorbike, Her Island (1986): Seems highly rated among Obayashi heads. My least favourite of the 4 from this set, had more interest in it formally than the story of thematically. Maybe motorbikes bore me.

Also mixed in some of his other films of the period:

I Are You, You Am Me (1982), Lonely Heart/Miss Lonely (1985): Magical realism tinged stuff here. The first is a body-swap comedy, but what I liked about it is lack of interest in the situation as a mystery or a problem to be solved. Second is more nostalgic/melancholy teenage life. All good stuff. Think these were both filmed in Onomichi, his hometown which he liked filming in, and they have a similar sleepy, small-town, slightly out-of-time vibe like you get in some French or Italian films, or Jiri Menzel's Hrabal adaptations.
The Deserted City (1984): I think this was the hardest to parse on first watch. Guy remembers when he was a new graduate spending his summer in a small rural village (or he writing his thesis, I forget), destablising the life of the woman whose family home he lodges at. The tone is quite different to those of this period with schoolkids; I don't think it's an anti-nostalgia film, but there is I think a bit of scepticism here, although need to watch again to decide where it's directed.
Four Sisters (1985): Family melodrama mode; crams a lot of story in (maybe a bit too much), his visual sensibility is at work here and adds plenty of life.

Anyway great director, can't believe it took me so long to start watching all these.

[Easy_To_Assemble]

The Good Liar (2019) - It's been panned for it's predictable plot, but - oddly - that was the thing I didn't mind about it. Occasionally, I don't mind a potboiler with an obvious ending, if the journey to that ending is enjoyable. You know how it might end, but you enjoy watching the screw being tightened. Hurt and Mirren give performances fuelled by the evident enjoyment of playing their characters, and this helps drive the film along.

North by Northwest (1959) - It's taken me this long to actually watch the full film (the first time I watched it was on a coach). It's far more ridiculous than I anticipated it to be. It's been a while since I've watched old thrillers, so don't know if it's just because of the era, or Hitchcock's direction of the film. Overall, it's a fun film, but overegged a lot of places.  But, my main question is: how does a pilot that had the skill to divebomb / cropdust our main hero, suddenly become so inept as to crash into a truck?

[zomgmouse]

School in the Crosshairs (1981): Latent fascist tendencies in a school exploited by {spoiler}. Probably best next one for anyone into Hausu, some similar inventive lo-fi effects work. Got some of Obayashi's anti-conformist streak in this one.

Was going to ask this very question but it seems you've answered it in the first entry. Good to know!

[Famous Mortimer]

Blow Out

Fantastic stuff. All the good bits of "Blow Up" and "The Conversation", plus a shady political group accidentally hiring a serial killer to just discredit a Presidential candidate. De Palma is great.

[Blinder Data]

The Babadook. Not an aficionado but this was the best horror film I've seen since Hereditary. Surprisingly moving with great sound design, production design, performances and scares.

[phantom_power]

Blow Out

Fantastic stuff. All the good bits of "Blow Up" and "The Conversation", plus a shady political group accidentally hiring a serial killer to just discredit a Presidential candidate. De Palma is great.

Amazing film, and one of the best endings in cinema history

[samadriel]

I finally saw John Wick after noticing it on Netflix;  I thought it was pretty damn good, a solid script, great fight choreography, Keanu was quality. I hear the sequels aren't as good, but I think I'll give them a punt.

I also decided a watch of Josie and the Pussycats was in order, and it was a good laugh. Mainstream but delightfully anti-corporate with a smidge of anti- military industrial complex, and Parker Posey is particularly good as the (sympathetic) bad guy (Rachel Leigh Cook obviously attached electrodes to my genitals and zapped me circa 2001, because I still think she's apocalyptically fabulous). Cute pop soundtrack too.

[Shaxberd]

After some mentions of Rupert Pupkin in the Glinner thread I watched The King of Comedy last night. Some very strong visuals and feels quite ahead of its time with the themes of hunger for fame, the excesses of fandoms and squirming discomfort at other people's lack of self-awareness. One of my recurring nightmares is about being followed down the street by people who won't leave me alone, so I really felt the horror of it.

Only downside is that De Niro seems too handsome and well dressed for the kind of sweaty-palmed obsessive that Pupkin is, although perhaps if he was too obviously a loser the elements of ambiguity at the end wouldn't work. He does do an amazing job of flitting between being charismatic and pathetic, though.

[Dr Rock]

Originally put this in the wrong thread like a maniac


The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar 2011)

Going through some Almodovar movies I've not seen, and came across... this. It's nothing much like any of his other movies, it's a body horror/Dr Frankenstein story with at least one very unexpected development.

Antonio Banderas is a suave top surgeon working on synthetic skin to help burn victims etc. He's also got a woman imprisoned in his house, who he's experimenting on in some way. Who is she? Well, you'll find out. Along the way madness leads to flashbacks of madness, and I can confidently say you'll not have seen many movies like this. 10/10

I also saw Volver for the first time, which I also thought was great. In love with Penelope Cruz at the moment, much better in Almodovar than any Hollywood thing.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Originally put this in the wrong thread like a maniac


The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar 2011)

Going through some Almodovar movies I've not seen, and came across... this. It's nothing much like any of his other movies, it's a body horror/Dr Frankenstein story with at least one very unexpected development.

Antonio Banderas is a suave top surgeon working on synthetic skin to help burn victims etc. He's also got a woman imprisoned in his house, who he's experimenting on in some way. Who is she? Well, you'll find out. Along the way madness leads to flashbacks of madness, and I can confidently say you'll not have seen many movies like this. 10/10

I also saw Volver for the first time, which I also thought was great. In love with Penelope Cruz at the moment, much better in Almodovar than any Hollywood thing.

You should try Official Competition, with Cruz and Banderas, it's not an Almodovar film although feels like one to the point I thought it was when I first saw the trailer.