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

[zomgmouse]

Here we go!

My first film watched for the year is He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. Australian comedy chronicling sharehouse hell. I'm wondering how much of a chord this would strike with anyone not from Australia - obviously sharehouses are fairly ubiquitous but these odd folk seem quintessentially Australian to me. Anyway - funny in many moments, and Noah Taylor is great.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse (2016) - Diani & Devine are a couple who perform comedy sketches together (and pretty good ones too, I'd happily pay to see them in real life) but aren't really getting anywhere with their careers when the apocalypse takes place. It's a low budget film but that doesn't prevent it from being playful, there's some decent running gags and the central duo have great chemistry, and though it's the gentlest post apocalypse movie I've ever seen it's also one of the funniest. 7.8/10

[Egyptian Feast]

I wanted something colourful for New Year's Eve and picked Speed Racer (2008) out of the unwatched pile. It was certainly colourful - at certain points it had consumed too many E numbers and got a bit too Barbie Girl/Lazy Town, but the racing sequences were often trippy as fuck, so I chose well. I can understand why it bombed as it is guaranteed to get on a lot of people's tits, but it's the third best Wachowskis film for me (after The Matrix and Bound).

Loved Roger Allam channelling Nigel Farage as the bellowing pinstripe corporate cunt baddie. He looked like he was having a great time.

[Easy_To_Assemble]

Saw Bad News Bears (the original version). Pretty funny, and cool in that 70's movie way, where most of the cast are unknowns, and LA always looks slightly rough around the edges. Though an alcoholic coach giving the kids beer, whilst his 13 year old daughter talks about her friend being on the pill probably won't wash today. I haven't seen the remake, but it's safe to assume it left those bits out.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I wanted something colourful for New Year's Eve and picked Speed Racer (2008) out of the unwatched pile. It was certainly colourful - at certain points it had consumed too many E numbers and got a bit too Barbie Girl/Lazy Town, but the racing sequences were often trippy as fuck, so I chose well. I can understand why it bombed as it is guaranteed to get on a lot of people's tits, but it's the third best Wachowskis film for me (after The Matrix and Bound).

Loved Roger Allam channelling Nigel Farage as the bellowing pinstripe corporate cunt baddie. He looked like he was having a great time.

I really loved speed Racer as well, I guess like you I can understand why it wasn't successful but I really wish it hadn't bombed and we were given at least two more sequels.

The Last Unicorn (1982) - Often bizarre animation that can't decide if it's a serious romantic drama, a daft kids flick, an essay on melancholy and regret or a musical, and tries to be all of those and about ten other genres too. It's mostly enjoyable if only because the Unicorn is such a snobby tit a lot of the time, and there are some genuinely weird moments like when the magician Schmendrick brings a tree to life and she suddenly has enormous boobs that he's trapped between, except it looks more like a penis and two testicles half the time. The cast are all great too, with Christopher Lee and Angela Landsbury turning in memorable roles, but this is a little too inconsistent to be something I'll cherish forever more. 7.4/10

[Egyptian Feast]

I really loved speed Racer as well, I guess like you I can understand why it wasn't successful but I really wish it hadn't bombed and we were given at least two more sequels.

I'd rather they had let someone with better ideas take over the Matrix franchise and had done a Speed Racer trilogy instead. I'd even take a Jupiter Ascending trilogy over their Matrix sequels (though I am curious about the latest due to hearing many differing opinions on it - always a sign I need to check a film out for myself).

[Gob Shine Algorithm]

Back in the day, severely drunk, went in shop and was depressed that there was nothing I wanted to buy -- ended up randomly buying an issue of Total Film; got home, there was a photo of Christina Ricci in Speed Racer, hands-on-hips, primary-coloured go-go skirt and sleek puddin hairstyle. And I just thought, 'yup, that's going to be some kinda movie'.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'd rather they had let someone with better ideas take over the Matrix franchise and had done a Speed Racer trilogy instead. I'd even take a Jupiter Ascending trilogy over their Matrix sequels (though I am curious about the latest due to hearing many differing opinions on it - always a sign I need to check a film out for myself).

I'm with you there, and all I can say about the latest one is that I know I've watched it, and I think it was a right old mess, but apart from that I can't really remember much about it.

[Egyptian Feast]

I'm expecting a mess, but I'm hoping for an interesting mess at the least. I wish their previous films had done better so they could avoid this sort of work and indulge their best or/and most bollocks ideas instead. I'd happily watch either.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Beverly Hills Cop

Seen it before, obviously, but when I was really young, so all I really remembered was "banana in the tailpipe". It was good, albeit incredibly slight. Relies heavily on the charm of the cast.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Purple Noon - Good 60's French version of The Talented Mr Ripley.

[Mobius]

I watched Sorry To Bother You last night

It was weird. But weird in a good way

[SteveDave]

I Love My Dad

Patton Oswalt catfishes his son. With some  hilarious results. Based on the star/writer/directors real life apparently.

[Egyptian Feast]

Daisies (1966) Two cheeky girls run riot in a spoiled world, taking advantage of old nonces, breaking the rules of cinema and laughing infectiously at everything. I found their anarchic antics absolutely delightful and laughed with them all the way, even when I wasn't exactly sure why. I could imagine them laughing along with me at a couple of the outraged 1/10 imdb reviews I read afterwards. Fucking love it.

[zomgmouse]

Daisies (1966) Two cheeky girls run riot in a spoiled world, taking advantage of old nonces, breaking the rules of cinema and laughing infectiously at everything. I found their anarchic antics absolutely delightful and laughed with them all the way, even when I wasn't exactly sure why. I could imagine them laughing along with me at a couple of the outraged 1/10 imdb reviews I read afterwards. Fucking love it.

this is an all-timer!!!!!!!!!

[zomgmouse]

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

Quite an interesting little film isn't it? I loved the form of acting, the theatricality of it, and I loved the pointy, bendy, surreal set design. It feels more like a stage production that was filmed than a conventional film. I also enjoyed the costume and make up, especially the menacing Caligari, his hair is exceptional. Slightly brought out of it when one of the characters name was Alan. I can't take an Alan seriously.

But the showstealer for me was the music. The music accompaniment for this is exceptional, at least to me. Just dark as fuck piano being used in all different ways with the occasional sharp violin strings. Could have just listened to that.

The only issue for me was, and probably for all silent films, is, despite the action and plot being minimal, sometimes there is a lot of 'dialogue' that is not transcribed during the scene.

I rewatched this yesterday to discuss on a friend's podcast. Hadn't seen it in about 15 years. Was wondering if it held up. It did! Striking visuals bear the brunt of the impactfulness of it all, such a singular atmosphere that immediately concocts intrigue and heightened reality to the extent that you don't lose interest down the track. Beginning with the titles in that angular font and all the way to the iconic set design but also the look of the characters - plus Conrad Veidt absolutely owning that somnambulist role. Such an exciting plot towards the end as well with its twists and turns. It's a classic for a reason.

Filmed entirely in a studio which adds to that theatricality you mention, but also the otherworldly, contained nature of it all which ties in with the

Spoiler alert

it's all in his head!!!!!!!!!!!! or is it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[close]

ness of it all.

The thing for me about the "untranscribed" dialogue in silent films is that pretty much all of the time you don't really need to know what is being said. It's just the action that's important. You have the signifiers of what they're saying so you don't need the words. Do you get what they're saying when they're calling someone over or pointing at a criminal in a police station? Yes. Do you need to know exactly what words they've used to say that? Not really. Any relevant narrative/character information is revealed in the intertitles. So to me at least it makes sense not to have to display every single word of dialogue that's produced.

[Herbert Ashe]

Been slow on watching Another Screen's Films From Iran For Iran series, experimental/non-fiction/non-narrative films by women & non-binary filmmakers, which ends on Wednesday 4th. Had to download a bunch with jdownloader to catch up on later.

Anyway shout out for Irani Bag (Maryam Tafakory, 2021) which is only 8 minutes, a great video essay on bags in Iranian cinema which does something so simple by taking a few dozen clips in isolation, as someone whose watched quite a lot of Iranian cinema but probably not with a really close eye for things like this, it was a real scales dropping moment for me.

Other highlight so far was Mothers Apricot Compote (Nia Fekri, 2020), which if not anything hugely revolutionary has a great feel of how to combine images, words, and sound; great vibes.

[Sebastian Cobb]

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.

[Egyptian Feast]

Young And Innocent (1937) Hitchcock thriller where a man falsely accused of murder escapes into the English countryside with a woman initially unconvinced of his innocence, only much less entertainingly than in The 39 Steps. Pleasant enough regardless and I enjoyed the late appearance of unlikely hero Old Will The China Mender (Edward Wright).

Clear highlight was an excellent 'pig'/policemen gag thirty years before the Yippies brought the term into the mainstream (I always thought it was a 1960s expression for the filth but it appears in a London slang dictionary from 1874).

[dissolute ocelot]

Deerskin (2019, Quentin Dupieux*) - very brief comedy/horror/midlife crisis movie, that's lots of fun once it gets going, then it stops. Definitely one of the most insanely brilliant ideas for a film in recent years, but could have been fleshed out a bit more. As it stands, could probably have been a 30 minute short film, but then nobody would have watched it. (All4)

Inside Out (2015, Pixar dude) - does the imperial phase Pixar thing of being both emotionally complex and full of iconic characters. Amy Poehler's voice is a delight too. As with the Toy Stories, sometimes it's a bit schematic/manipulative in the emotional beats, but it really works. Shame John Lasseter was an awful human being, really: Pixar have continued to make interesting stories that stray from the cliched plots, but they're not quite as good any more. (BBC iPlayer)

*Dupieux's Wikipedia page says "He currently lives with his partner Joan Le Boru, who is the chief decorator and artistic director of his films. They have several children together." At what level do you stop counting individual children?

[Inspector Norse]

The Captain (2017) Young German deserts the army during the dying weeks of WW2 and, on the run, finds an abandoned car with a boxfresh captain's uniform in the back seat. He tries it on and finds that people are very willing to accept his authority.
No merry farce, this, based as it is on the true story of war criminal Willi Herold: it's slow, tense and grim, carried by a superb lead performance from Swiss actor Max Hubacher and handsome B&W direction from Robert Schwentke, otherwise best-known for churning out Hollywood action product. It becomes difficult to watch towards the end as Herold and his band, at first just taking advantage of the uniform in order to survive and evade detection - the film makes it clear that many of those Herold encounters see through his ruse but find it easier just to go along with it - slip further into corruption, debauchery and evil in the lawless chaos of the collapsing Reich.
Though the film doesn't always get the tone right, and at times seems to prioritise looking stylish over searching for depth, it works because of the performances and because it mainly lets the events speak for themselves and provoke a lot of challenging questions about authority, independence and morality.
The end credits sequence, in which Herold and co go round a modern-day town harassing citizens in some kind of sick candid camera affair, seems very badly misjudged, whatever point it's trying to make.

[Sebastian Cobb]

turns out they're having a Lynch season at the cinema so saw Wild at Heart and Lost Highway over the past couple of nights. Both great.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Deerskin (2019, Quentin Dupieux*) - very brief comedy/horror/midlife crisis movie, that's lots of fun once it gets going, then it stops. Definitely one of the most insanely brilliant ideas for a film in recent years, but could have been fleshed out a bit more. As it stands, could probably have been a 30 minute short film, but then nobody would have watched it. (All4)

I watched this a while back just because Adèle Haenel is in it. Pretty good but yeah it did feel more like a short film concept. Also just enjoy explaining the bonkers plot to people "it's about a guy who is on a mission to be the only person on earth to own a coat"

[Small Man Big Horse]

Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998) - Lordy was I not prepared for the amount of nudity in this film, but ignoring that it's a gentle, quite appealing film as Kirikou is born and can walk and talk and possibly defeat evil on his first day out of his mother's womb. The animation is largely simplistic but also bright and colourful, and the morals are delivered with a quiet sense of humour, and while not anything amazing it does make me want to check out the sequels. 7.4/10

[Famous Mortimer]

Oh, Heavenly Dog (1980)

Chevy Chase dies and has to solve his own murder while in the body of Benji, the famous dog from them days. Oh, and romance Jane Seymour.

It might, just might, have worked if anyone involved had bothered to put the least energy into it. Chase's voiceover sounds tired, like he just woke up to record his lines, and there's an almost complete absence of incidental music (we get a downbeat Wings song a few times, I suppose). There aren't really any jokes, leaving it feeling like a Benji movie that happens to have his inner monologue narrated.

It's almost entirely set and filmed in London, so it's just nice seeing the old city in the background. That this is the nicest thing I could say about it tells you all you might need to know about how good it is. Given I was unaware of its existence before yesterday, I imagine you'd be unlikely to run into it in the wild, but be warned.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Oh, Heavenly Dog (1980)

Chevy Chase dies and has to solve his own murder while in the body of Benji, the famous dog from them days. Oh, and romance Jane Seymour.

It might, just might, have worked if anyone involved had bothered to put the least energy into it. Chase's voiceover sounds tired, like he just woke up to record his lines, and there's an almost complete absence of incidental music (we get a downbeat Wings song a few times, I suppose). There aren't really any jokes, leaving it feeling like a Benji movie that happens to have his inner monologue narrated.

It's almost entirely set and filmed in London, so it's just nice seeing the old city in the background. That this is the nicest thing I could say about it tells you all you might need to know about how good it is. Given I was unaware of its existence before yesterday, I imagine you'd be unlikely to run into it in the wild, but be warned.

Oh man, I'm so tempted to watch that, I sat through (and bizarrely enjoyed) The Karate Dog which Chase also provided the voice for, so it'll probably happen sooner rather than later even despite your warning!

[Famous Mortimer]

Well, I did my best. It's such a lifeless movie, like I can't believe it came out of the edit bay and was signed off on. Also, released two weeks before "Caddyshack", which I suppose at least set peoples' expectations nice and low for one of the best comedies of the era.

[Inspector Norse]

A Bittersweet Life Earlier pairing of I Saw the Devil director Kim Jee-Won and star Lee Byung-Hun: here, Lee is a hotshot young gang enforcer who is entrusted with keeping tabs on his boss's young sweetheart; after he gets involved in a feud with a rival gang, things spiral out of control.
Slower and more thoughtful than the gonzo 'Devil', anchored by a magnetic performance from Lee and all in all a smart, graceful and, when the action starts, thrilling take on gangster noir.

[The Crumb]

Wake In Fright Outback beer chugging psychological horror. An awesomely visceral film. I lovedd the constant simmering threat temporarily defused and longer term escalated every time John accepts yet another beer. Certainly made me reflect on the boozy, blokey mateyness of my 20s.

Those poor kangaroos.

A fitting start to a dry January.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Blue Velvet - seen before but had forgotten a lot. Still great. Glad cinema stuck on a Lynch retrospective while things were quiet.

Got Jeanne Dielman to see down there tomorrow. Might need to smuggle in provisions.