The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Dogg Thang]

Last night I watched The Half of It on Netflix. A small, charming little movie about a school kid who does homework for everyone and then a guy asks her to write a love letter for him. She ends up writing letters to a girl for him but she’s in love with her too. Yes, it’s that story but it was nicely done and it has a whole lot of heart and an ending that managed not to be predictable or twee, once it got past a speech scene that didn’t quite land. I liked it.

Today, I finally got to see Bill and Ted Face the Music. I feel like I’ve been waiting to see this for a ridiculous amount of time and it really didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved it. The story is all over the place and yet they managed to keep it thoroughly entertaining throughout. And it was seriously funny in places - that robot was so, so funny and I did not expect it, I grinned through the entire movie. Loved it.

[Neon Ignition]

The New Mutants
After two decades I finally completed watching every XCU movie after finally getting around to watching this final film. I mean, it's naff, that's no secret and the film contains nothing good about itself. It fails as an XCU related film and also as a horror, the fact the kids have powers is largely irrelevant for the most part and even to the extent that it is it adds little to nothing. The horror aspect is almost completely absent too, given Dark Phoenix was terrible it's a shocking indicator as to where the XCU was headed had Disney not cut off its head.

Home Alone 4
So, onto the curiosity entry into the franchise. This direct to dvd sequel is one I've seen before and thought it was awful and that's still the case. There are plot holes left, right and centre but in effect this is the one entry that loosely follows on from the Culkin duo with Kevin returning as he stays with his Dad and his Dad's new girlfriend during his parents separation. Marv and Harry have split ways and Marv is now married to a dopey con-woman as both plan to rob the house learning early on that Kevin is staying there too. The film is beyond cheap and with every single role incredibly poorly recast it fails to capture even a fraction of the charm. Possibly the worst of the franchise which brings me on to...

Home Alone 5
The one I'd never seen, this one is like the third in that it has nothing at all to do with the original two films. Three baddies plan to rob the house etc blah blah. The main interesting thing at play here is seeing Malcolm McDowell allow himself to be in the film as the main villain. It's also terrible... not quite HA4 level of bad but still low. I think, they'll never come close to the Culkin entries for many reasons but the three that each of the sequels post-Culkin utterly fail at is 1-The casting of the main kid and 2-The casting of the robbers. You can't just cast anyone or a generic actor, Culkin showed the level of performance the kid needs to carry the film and sell both the sarcastic wit and kid innocence rather than a bland kid reading bland lines. Same with the bad guys. 3 - The set up, it'll always be the same set up but when it comes to the traps etc it quickly descends into getting covered in gunk or falling down the stairs. There needs to be some ingenuity and masochism or its redundant. I mostly say all this because of the knowledge Home Alone 6 is in the works.

[Atticus]

Hard Eight - His later films pulled off far more grand things in terms of plot and scope but there's something about this intimate story with four characters that I love. Philip Baker Hall makes the film. He plays Sydney, a father figure who wants to help a couple of lost souls. It's a performance that could only have been written with the actor in mind, it's so perfectly in tune. Reno adds a real authenticity to it too. Not quite Vegas-League, but just the right blend of gaudy lights and maroon. It really is something special. And Paul Thomas Anderson was only in his early 20s when he made this. That's proper genius.

Saint Maud - Not a go-to should you be in the mood to have your spirits lifted, but this is British horror at its most bleak and original. It's about a young palliative care nurse whose recent embrace of religion drives her behaviour into disturbing new places. It's uncomfortable viewing at times but there's compassion too. And shocks And for any fellow north-east of England folk I clocked a scene in a seaside cafe with the Pacitto's logo on the wall (an old-school NE family chain) ... turns out a chunk of it was filmed in Scarborough.

[Atticus]

Watched Hard Eight again with one of the commentaries (PT Anderson and Philip Baker Hall). Fantastic listen if you love the film and films in general. Some great insight into the acting process.

[wheelaa]

Robocop (1987)

Was on TV the other night. Somewhat shamefully I had not seen this for over a decade, nor do I have it on anything newer than VHS. Genuinely do not remember enjoying it more on any previous viewing, even that first rental.

[fallenangle]

Just finished watching on Film4+1 The Lovely Bones based on Alice Sebold's novel

Seen it once before some time ago and thought it really refreshingly different and imaginative. Still stands up and holds your interest on second viewing and that's good enough for me. An under-appreciated film by some critics many of whom just seem to want to have a go at Peter Jackson.

What it has without question is some outstanding performances, not least from Saiorse Ronan who was only fourteen at the time.

Worth watching if you've not seen it before.

[JazzFunk]

I watched BUGSY tonite. Been doing the rounds on Sony Movies. Only seen once, at the flicks in '91, when I was 16.

I *adored* it back then. It was one of the best films I'd ever seen. This was just before GOODFELLAS, for me. It even made me well up at the end.

So, thirty years later, having seen it once at a very young, immature age...I was expecting it to be cack as nothing can really beat CASINO.

But this is not like CASINO. It is about the crazy, vain, gentlemanly, capricious, jealous beast that is Bugsy Siegel.

It started off being a bit dated but then I noticed how many jokes Warren Beatty seemed to be having at his own expense, the rumours about his narcissistic vanity. It's really clever and it makes Beatty look even cooler and cleverer.

I've never really paid much attention to Beatty since seeing this back in the day, when I'm sure he was over 50-odd and very old in intensity, compared to Joe Pesci.

But now...it's an amazing, epic swansong for Beatty as a star. It feels like it's his last film, he's amazing in it, he IS Bugsy.

And he's always slagging off himself throughout.

Watching this made me realise why many considered him a Legend back in the day. He's an absolute STAR of a man.

THAT's who I wanna be!!!!

We should all aim for the Legendary. ALL.

[JazzFunk]

PS: it *still* made me well up a tad, at the end.

He's noble, he doesn't run away from his destiny. Classy as fuc, tbh, that's how I do it.

[JazzFunk]

Robocop (1987)

Was on TV the other night. Somewhat shamefully I had not seen this for over a decade, nor do I have it on anything newer than VHS. Genuinely do not remember enjoying it more on any previous viewing, even that first rental.

I think they show it in HD now and tend to show the ultraviolent version, nowadays.

Oh, god, that made the film, for me. The censored old VHS always made me feel like it was too wimpy.

PS: don't forget the YT vid where he's blasting loads of rapists' knobs off, it really is a brilliant and mesmerising experience!!!!

[wheelaa]

Being honest I didn't notice any difference to what I remembered, gore and all. And my old VHS must be very close to snapping at the Emil head splat scene haha. Likely me though, what a film!

Edit

Anyway, watched Inferno last night. Ok, not great.

[Golgo]

Watched 'A Whisker Away' (2020) on Netflix last night. Japanese anime, was due for cinema release but licensed to Netflix due to pandemic. A mash-up of The Cat Returns, Spirited Away and Your Name, yet failing to capture even an ounce of the charm, beauty or characterization of those films. I found it really terrible and even quite annoying to watch, although it did improve in the last quarter.

[JazzFunk]

Being honest I didn't notice any difference to what I remembered, gore and all. And my old VHS must be very close to snapping at the Emil head splat scene haha. Likely me though, what a film!

Edit

Anyway, watched Inferno last night. Ok, not great.

You'll notice it more in the first ED-209 bit when it goes haywire in the office, plus the bit where Murphy gets shot to bits, it's even more nasty...though I find it makes you root for Robo even more.

What a great bad guy Clarence Boddicker was. It was very strange seeing Kurtwood Smith in DEAD POETS SOCIETY at the flicks mere weeks after first seeing Robo back in like 1989!!!

[wakka]

Robocop is simply one of the best films ever.

The ending is so bloody cool I get chills every time I think about it.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Robocop is simply one of the best films ever.

The ending is so bloody cool I get chills every time I think about it.

In my top 10 easy.
My wife watched it with me for the first time and when it ended she said 'it's such a sad film'. Never occurred to me but it probably is.

[wakka]

It is quite sad, and on the other hand completely badass.

A bit like the ending of First Blood - I can never decide whether that’s genuinely moving or totally hilarious.