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

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

Previous topic - Next topic

McChesney Duntz

Quote from: Egyptian Feast on October 10, 2021, 09:24:09 PM
the Warholish party where it sounds like they're listening to Broadcast

I rewatched it recently (having just read the excellent book about its making), and that was probably the best takeaway (of several) I got from it. The tune in question was "Old Man Willow," from future Jock 'n Yono backing band Elephant's Memory, and it is, as the young people say, ein banger...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z3yb88fA4U

Egyptian Feast

Ahh, so that's Elephant's Memory. I was wondering if it was them or The Groop (who sound like they play space age bachelor pad music). One takeaway from this viewing was that I definitely need to pick up the soundtrack.

Small Man Big Horse

Mad Max (1979) - Inexplicably I'd never seen this before, and oddly it wasn't quite what I was expecting either as having watched Fury Road I thought it'd be a post apocalyptic affair but instead it's set just a few years in to the future where things are a bit shitty but not a lot different to the present day. I was also surprised that for the vast majority of the film it could've been called "Quite Content Max", and he only gets all stroppy towards the end, and the world building is quite shaky, it's hard to tell quite what level of decline this society is in, for an evil murderous biker gang it feels strange that they don't have guns when old ladies do, and for a country as large as Australia they're able to track down Max and Jessie with ease, and vice versa for when Max is finally on the rampage. It starts well and there were sequences I liked but the ending didn't feel particularly satisfying, and for once I don't think I missed out in any way by not seeing it until now. 5.4/10.

Dusty Substance

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 11, 2021, 03:53:10 PMMad Max (1979) - Inexplicably I'd never seen this before,

Took me a long time to watch it too. I would constantly rewatch MM2/MM:BT over and over again on VHS but for some reason the original one eluded me. Pretty sure I'd caught part of the American dubbed version on TV one night and it looked so boring compared to two and three that it put me off for years. Same thing with the Alien films - Watched Aliens/Alien 3 endlessly but didn't watch the original until the late 90s - After Alien:Resurrection - and when I did it was on a panned and scanned VHS on a portable TV just as Ridley Scott had envisioned it.

Didn't immediately love the first Mad Max when I eventually saw it for the first time but have grown to fully appreciate and love it and it seems to get better and better with every re-watch.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 11, 2021, 06:12:14 PM
Took me a long time to watch it too. I would constantly rewatch MM2/MM:BT over and over again on VHS but for some reason the original one eluded me. Pretty sure I'd caught part of the American dubbed version on TV one night and it looked so boring compared to two and three that it put me off for years. Same thing with the Alien films - Watched Aliens/Alien 3 endlessly but didn't watch the original until the late 90s - After Alien:Resurrection - and when I did it was on a panned and scanned VHS on a portable TV just as Ridley Scott had envisioned it.

Didn't immediately love the first Mad Max when I eventually saw it for the first time but have grown to fully appreciate and love it and it seems to get better and better with every re-watch.

I think my high expectations were definitely an issue, I'm a big fan of George Miller (Babe: Pig In The City especially being gorgeous insanity) and given it's reputation I thought it'd be a more unusual film than it is. That's interesting to hear about the second one though, I wasn't certain about bothering with it but will give it a go now.

Artie Fufkin


sevendaughters

love that Mad Max is co-written by the dad in the first series of Heartbreak High. says here there's going to be a Furiosa film.

NoSleep

All I can remember of Mad Max is that Lizzie from Prisoner: Cell Block H is in it.

Dusty Substance


Mystery Train (1989) - Jim Jarmusch's fourth feature is a hyperlink film surrounding various guests staying at an Elvis themed hotel in Memphis. Super-cool rock-a-billy Japanese tourists, two women brought together after a chance happening, Joe Strummer, Steve Buscemi and Willy Lopez from Ghost as a troublesome and featuring Screamin' Jay Hawkins (who has one of the most fascinating faces ever seen on film) and Spike Lee's brother as the hotel's Porter and Bellboy respectively. Like most of Jarmusch's films the plot takes a back seat to a gallery of colourful characters and off-beat dialogue. It's beautifully shot, each scene is gorgeously composed, especially considering the low budget, and Jarmusch makes use of the eerie empty streets of Memphis. A terrific film which now makes me want to go back through the director's filmography and watch all the ones I've missed.

Small Man Big Horse

Toys In The Attic (2009) - There's no denying that this doesn't exactly have an original central concept as it features toys who come to life when no one is present to see them, but it takes that idea and weaves some gloriously imaginative insanity out of it, and is a joy to watch from the very first frame. Unlike those sentient bastards from the Pixar movies nobody here gives a toss about humanity, a grandmother and granddaughter make a brief appearance but only serve to show how these toys have been forgotten about over the years but truly don't care as they've constructed their own fairly complex society, and if anything it diminishes the Toy Story series as while the first three were lovable now I wish they'd contained some of the inspired madness found here. 8.5/10

zomgmouse

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 12, 2021, 07:26:48 PM
Toys In The Attic (2009) - There's no denying that this doesn't exactly have an original central concept as it features toys who come to life when no one is present to see them, but it takes that idea and weaves some gloriously imaginative insanity out of it, and is a joy to watch from the very first frame. Unlike those sentient bastards from the Pixar movies nobody here gives a toss about humanity, a grandmother and granddaughter make a brief appearance but only serve to show how these toys have been forgotten about over the years but truly don't care as they've constructed their own fairly complex society, and if anything it diminishes the Toy Story series as while the first three were lovable now I wish they'd contained some of the inspired madness found here. 8.5/10

Been meaning to see this after watching his version of The Pied Piper earlier this year which I thought was rather incredible! You ought to check it out!

SteveDave

Dark Encounter

Set in America, filmed NYC (North Yorkshire County) with a (I think) totally British cast. A young girl goes missing and then on the anniversary of her disappearance, lights appear in the sky and weird stuff happens. I thought it was going to shit the bed in the final 3rd but (apart from some dodgy CGI) it doesn't.

Fambo Number Mive

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 11, 2021, 03:53:10 PM
Mad Max (1979) - Inexplicably I'd never seen this before, and oddly it wasn't quite what I was expecting either as having watched Fury Road I thought it'd be a post apocalyptic affair but instead it's set just a few years in to the future where things are a bit shitty but not a lot different to the present day. I was also surprised that for the vast majority of the film it could've been called "Quite Content Max", and he only gets all stroppy towards the end, and the world building is quite shaky, it's hard to tell quite what level of decline this society is in, for an evil murderous biker gang it feels strange that they don't have guns when old ladies do, and for a country as large as Australia they're able to track down Max and Jessie with ease, and vice versa for when Max is finally on the rampage. It starts well and there were sequences I liked but the ending didn't feel particularly satisfying, and for once I don't think I missed out in any way by not seeing it until now. 5.4/10.

I agree about the worldbuilding, I find the MFP fascinating but it's unclear whether they are the only police force or if they are just the highway police. There is clearly at least one other MFP station and some kind of rural law officer.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: zomgmouse on October 12, 2021, 10:51:46 PM
Been meaning to see this after watching his version of The Pied Piper earlier this year which I thought was rather incredible! You ought to check it out!

Yeah, I was reading about that last night after I discovered it was the only other non-short that he'd made (and even then it's not really a full length movie) but will definitely watch it soon as it's up on youtube, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much.

Quote from: Fambo Number Mive on October 13, 2021, 10:33:02 AM
I agree about the worldbuilding, I find the MFP fascinating but it's unclear whether they are the only police force or if they are just the highway police. There is clearly at least one other MFP station and some kind of rural law officer.

Having read up a bit more about it I get the feeling it's down to them being first time filmmakers who were making the film on a very low budget, so I guess that's a partial explanation. If the second film doesn't make things a little clearer than I shall be less forgiving though.

Famous Mortimer

The Inspector Wears Skirts

Got a big collection of Cynthia Rothrock movies, so plucked this off the top of the "pile".

It's described by several reviewers as "Police Academy meets Police Story", but it's not as good as either. She appears at the beginning, doing some fun cop things in Hong Kong, so you think "this might be good". But then she disappears from the movie for an hour, and it turns into a sort-of Police Academy about some female cops getting trained to be commandos. But they're all desperate for male attention and the men are absolute fucking scumbags, and they don't really get trained to do anything. When Cynthia pops back up at the end for the big set-piece (defending a jewellery show from thieves) it's too little, too late.

It does have one of those amazing abrupt endings, though, so beloved of HK cinema at the time, so it leaves you puzzled rather than fully annoyed. It seems to be relatively popular, which leads me to believe those people who like it have never seen any other movies.

Small Man Big Horse

9 To 5 (1980) - The joys of institutionalised sexism in the corporate world are attacked by a fed up Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, who take revenge on all too believably cunty Dabney Coleman. Their individual stoned fantasies as to how to get revenge upon him are the highlight but though then it becomes increasingly farcical in some ways I wish it was a more vicious attack on this sexist shit rather than an over the top comedy of errors, plus the ending
Spoiler alert
with the big boss turning up just in time is more than a little convenient
[close]
. Still most of the time this is a pretty funny romp, and the three leads are on cracking form. 7.4/10

sevendaughters

decided out of the blue to do a Godard double bill yesterday. For the force of his ideas and influence alone I have a lot of respect for Godard but in truth I never really liked A bout de souffle or Week-end and thought Alphaville was fine at best. Grabbed Pierrot le fou and Tout va bien out of the library and whaddya know I really liked both. In the former you can see the spirit germ that runs through Badlands and Walkabout and though the latter is probably quite near a cinematic dead end in terms of putting praxis on screen, I really got on with it quite famously. The penultimate scene in the supermarket is an all-timer.

Famous Mortimer

Righting Wrongs

Another Rothrock movie, but this time with Yuen Biao and directed by Corey Yuen. Easily her best HK film, and every bit as good as "Police Story".

Spoiler alert
But everyone dies, pretty much, which leaves a pretty weird taste in the mouth. Like, the kid (played by the chap who'd go on to be Riki in Riki-Oh), the friendly grandpa, Rothrock herself, and probably Biao - seen floating in the ocean surrounded by blood as the credits roll.
[close]

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on October 14, 2021, 02:37:47 PM
Righting Wrongs

Another Rothrock movie, but this time with Yuen Biao and directed by Corey Yuen. Easily her best HK film, and every bit as good as "Police Story".

Spoiler alert
But everyone dies, pretty much, which leaves a pretty weird taste in the mouth. Like, the kid (played by the chap who'd go on to be Riki in Riki-Oh), the friendly grandpa, Rothrock herself, and probably Biao - seen floating in the ocean surrounded by blood as the credits roll.
[close]

The mainland China release (which was also the one sent out to some international territories) has a different ending -
Spoiler alert
Rothrock and Biao survive
[close]
.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on October 14, 2021, 03:28:41 PM
The mainland China release (which was also the one sent out to some international territories) has a different ending -
Spoiler alert
Rothrock and Biao survive
[close]
.
The one supplied did feel a little...odd? Like...
Spoiler alert
you're just going to ram a massive drillbit through Rothrock's neck five minutes before the end?
[close]

Shit Good Nose

Well, HK action and drama films rarely had/have happy endings.  They save them all up for the stupid comedies.

Mate came up when I first moved to Brum and she wanted to see Fury Road for your Tom Hardys.

So we ended up watching all four.

First two are legitimately great, for different reasons. Fourth is a classic cinema film - love the sound, big images. Third is ... weak and not quite as mental?

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on October 14, 2021, 03:40:55 PM
Well, HK action and drama films rarely had/have happy endings.  They save them all up for the stupid comedies.
I don't know if it's intentional, but your tone is rather "bored expert lecturing the plebs" when you post stuff like this (this isn't the first time). I've seen just as many of those sorts of movies as you have, thanks, and there aren't a lot of them where
Spoiler alert
every remotely sympathetic character is dead by the closing credits.
[close]

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: A Hat Like That on October 14, 2021, 04:33:28 PM
Mate came up when I first moved to Brum and she wanted to see Fury Road for your Tom Hardys.

So we ended up watching all four.

First two are legitimately great, for different reasons. Fourth is a classic cinema film - love the sound, big images. Third is ... weak and not quite as mental?

Thunderdome is FINE.  As in okay.  It's an absolutely moderately acceptable 80s action film.  Opening 20 minutes or so is genuinely good.  BUT...well, let's just say Tina Turner should stick to the singing.  She's arguably the very worst thing about it.  With a better actress I think the film would be at least 25% better.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on October 14, 2021, 04:37:38 PM
I don't know if it's intentional, but your tone is rather "bored expert lecturing the plebs" when you post stuff like this (this isn't the first time). I've seen just as many of those sorts of movies as you have, thanks, and there aren't a lot of them where every remotely sympathetic character is dead by the closing credits.

You've COMPLETELY misread that/misunderstood me - it was a deliberate poking fun of HK comedies (my relationship with which is well documented round these parts).

Small Man Big Horse

King of the Ants (2003) - A piss poor piece of dog shit, this is a low budget adaptation of Charlie Higson's novel with George Wendt playing against type as a violent bastard and Daniel Baldwin proving why his time in the sun didn't last that long. To be vaguely fair the first half isn't too awful, mainly as Wendt's pretty decent as a thuggish arsehole,
Spoiler alert
but once he's killed off it becomes worse and worse until it's almost unwatchable. The set up is that a drifter called Sean (Chris McKenna) is hired to kill an accountant but after he does so the shitty businessman (Baldwin) who hired him refuses to pay him, instead choosing to repeatedly torture him until he's left "a vegetable", but of course he gets his revenge in the end, though not before sleeping with and then accidentally killing the wife of the man he murdered earlier on in this
[close]
turgid cuntiness. It's packed full of contrivances, the script (by Higson, depressingly) is clunky and some of the dialogue is embarrassing to hear, and I presumed by the end that it was made by someone fresh out of film school as some of the shots are so poorly constructed, and so was really surprised it was directed by Stuart Gordon, a man whose low budget horror films I've enjoyed in the past. An ugly, depressing film, and one that should be avoided like all of the plagues combined. 1.8/10

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 14, 2021, 04:51:00 PM
King of the Ants (2003) - A piss poor piece of dog shit, this is a low budget adaptation of Charlie Higson's novel with George Wendt playing against type as a violent bastard and Daniel Baldwin proving why his time in the sun didn't last that long. To be vaguely fair the first half isn't too awful, mainly as Wendt's pretty decent as a thuggish arsehole,
Spoiler alert
but once he's killed off it becomes worse and worse until it's almost unwatchable. The set up is that a drifter called Sean (Chris McKenna) is hired to kill an accountant but after he does so the shitty businessman (Baldwin) who hired him refuses to pay him, instead choosing to repeatedly torture him until he's left "a vegetable", but of course he gets his revenge in the end, though not before sleeping with and then accidentally killing the wife of the man he murdered earlier on in this
[close]
turgid cuntiness. It's packed full of contrivances, the script (by Higson, depressingly) is clunky and some of the dialogue is embarrassing to hear, and I presumed by the end that it was made by someone fresh out of film school as some of the shots are so poorly constructed, and so was really surprised it was directed by Stuart Gordon, a man whose low budget horror films I've enjoyed in the past. An ugly, depressing film, and one that should be avoided like all of the plagues combined. 1.8/10

Probs The Asylum's best film by some stretch though.  Which I know isn't saying much.

I didn't hate it as much as you (although your criticisms ARE spot on), but then I haven't seen it since not long after it came out (purely out of curiosity about what the combination of Charlie Higson and Stuart Gordon would come up with).

In fairness to Higson and the cast, Gordon wasn't the best director, he just happened to bottle lightning a couple of times earlier in his career.  Look at most of the rest of his films (after the obvious ones) and it's perhaps more surprising that Ants isn't even worse.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on October 14, 2021, 05:19:49 PM
Probs The Asylum's best film by some stretch though.  Which I know isn't saying much.

I didn't hate it as much as you (although your criticisms ARE spot on), but then I haven't seen it since not long after it came out (purely out of curiosity about what the combination of Charlie Higson and Stuart Gordon would come up with).

In fairness to Higson and the cast, Gordon wasn't the best director, he just happened to bottle lightning a couple of times earlier in his career.  Look at most of the rest of his films (after the obvious ones) and it's perhaps more surprising that Ants isn't even worse.

I didn't know that about Gordon, it's odd, as the first half is competently made but there were so many times in the second half where I couldn't understand why he placed the camera where he did, hence thinking it must be someone without any experience. I think I also rated it so poorly as I knew it was by Higson and presumed the second half would pick up, become more interesting and original, but if anything the opposite applies as it's one cliché after another with really awful dialogue.

Inspector Norse

Casa Grande Brazilian effort from 2014 about a pampered rich teen in the gated Rio suburbs trying to broaden his experience while his family's wealth and lifestyle starts to crumble. I enjoyed this a lot - it's well-acted and manages to combine a crisp, pastel-coloured austerity in its look and pacing with charm and humour in the characters (I noted afterwards that it's the same cinematographer as Neighbouring Sounds, one of my favourite recent films, and it does share a lot with that stylistically). It's perhaps a bit too blunt on the racial and social divides in Brazil and doesn't offer a hell of a lot new, but it's simply a smart and well-made film. A few snippets of cool forro music that I wish they'd developed more.

Afternoon Angela Schanelec film from 2006 about a couple of days in the life of a dysfunctional family. Deliberately-paced and minimal, the kind of film that neither shows nor tells but allows you the viewer to draw your own conclusions about the characters and their relations to one another (it was only with about 15 minutes left that I figured out the actual structure of the family, who was whose parent etc). Good if you like slow, awkward bourgeois auteur cinema; that kind of thing is hit and miss with me but I was intrigued enough to stick with and like this one.

SteveDave

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 14, 2021, 04:51:00 PM
King of the Ants (2003) - A piss poor piece of dog shit, this is a low budget adaptation of Charlie Higson's novel with George Wendt playing against type as a violent bastard and Daniel Baldwin proving why his time in the sun didn't last that long. To be vaguely fair the first half isn't too awful, mainly as Wendt's pretty decent as a thuggish arsehole,
Spoiler alert
but once he's killed off it becomes worse and worse until it's almost unwatchable. The set up is that a drifter called Sean (Chris McKenna) is hired to kill an accountant but after he does so the shitty businessman (Baldwin) who hired him refuses to pay him, instead choosing to repeatedly torture him until he's left "a vegetable", but of course he gets his revenge in the end, though not before sleeping with and then accidentally killing the wife of the man he murdered earlier on in this
[close]
turgid cuntiness. It's packed full of contrivances, the script (by Higson, depressingly) is clunky and some of the dialogue is embarrassing to hear, and I presumed by the end that it was made by someone fresh out of film school as some of the shots are so poorly constructed, and so was really surprised it was directed by Stuart Gordon, a man whose low budget horror films I've enjoyed in the past. An ugly, depressing film, and one that should be avoided like all of the plagues combined. 1.8/10

The book is great (as all of Charlie Higson's "adult" books are...apart from "Happy Now"...having said that "The Enemy" YA series are amazing too) but I remember from an interview with Higson that he said he saw the script as an opportunity to write a different version of the book and not being so precious about it. Or sutin.