films you've seen recently and would NOT recommend

craner

Beast of Burden
The most painful one I watched was Anything Else, mainly because the Christina Ricci character was exactly like an ex-girlfriend of mine, to the point where I was almost climbing under the cinema seat in discomfort.
 

STN

sou'wester
Private Road. I’ve got a lot of time for Bronco Bullfrog, and I like Susan Penhaligon, but PR was pretty tedious. It did pick up a bit towards the end.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
The most painful one I watched was Anything Else, mainly because the Christina Ricci character was exactly like an ex-girlfriend of mine, to the point where I was almost climbing under the cinema seat in discomfort.
Yeah that's not one of the best... the guy from American Pie is Woody's avatar in that one right? Although WA Is in it himself to supply some light relief as a kind of comedy maniac.
 

version

Well-known member
We have been working our way through the late Woody Allen films inspired by one being on telly quite recently and us both enjoying it. Allen is a director I've never really loved, I feel his masterpieces are overrated.... but having got into his later stuff I feel a lot of that is underrated. In short my thesis is that far from being a guy who had a period of genius followed by a much weaker second half to his career, I'd argue that he really made films that were pretty much of the same standard all the way through his career (as a rule, I mean there are obvious minor ups and downs but the overall trend is not so clear) and the reviews were better when he was more in favour.
Either way we watched his latest film yesterday A Rainy Day in New York - and it was fucking rubbish. This one really was guilty of all the stuff his last thirty years of films have been accused of, a disjointed rehashing of his old ideas with no guiding arc and some terrible lines (when arguing about whether someone is an escort or a hooker his mum says "let's not split pubic hairs") and sentimental music and shots of NY trying desperately to make up for deficiencies in plot and dialogue and cheat the viewer into feeling some emotion. Don't bother.
Ended up watching Manhattan Murder Mystery last night. It was basically Annie Hall, but they're middle-aged and settled down then he chucks in a murder. Anjelica Huston's pretty good in it and it's the first I've ever seen of Alan Alda.

Dunno if it counts as a later film - 1993? - but it did feel a bit cheap, as Craner says, but I enjoyed it for the most part. It felt like a slight variation on what you've seen over and over from him and the fact he was starring opposite Keaton once again really hammered it home. It even starts with a string of shots of Manhattan and a jazz soundtrack...

One thing I liked was that it was surprisingly suspenseful. There's a scene where they get stuck in an elevator then end up in a basement in total darkness after a body falls through the roof that's genuinely unsettling. There's another nerve-wracking bit where Keaton's
in the suspect's apartment and ends up having to sneak around and hide under the bed when he comes back.

There's a set-piece at the end where they end up behind a cinema screen surrounded by mirrors whilst the famous mirror scene from The Lady from Shanghai's showing. It's clever, but a bit naff.

 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I suppose that I think that there is less difference between Allen's peaks and troughs than is commonly agreed to be the case.
Coen Brothers are similar, I remember watching Burn After Reading and A Serious Man in fairly quick succession, the former was fairly universally panned and the latter lavished with praise (though I doubt many remember it now) yet I was struck by how they were really much of a muchness in terms of quality, there really seemed to have been a kind of agreement between the critics on how to deal with those two films and i don't think the reviews at the time particularly reflected what was actually going on in the films.
 

version

Well-known member
I suppose that I think that there is less difference between Allen's peaks and troughs than is commonly agreed to be the case.
Coen Brothers are similar, I remember watching Burn After Reading and A Serious Man in fairly quick succession, the former was fairly universally panned and the latter lavished with praise (though I doubt many remember it now) yet I was struck by how they were really much of a muchness in terms of quality, there really seemed to have been a kind of agreement between the critics on how to deal with those two films and i don't think the reviews at the time particularly reflected what was actually going on in the films.
I like both, but there's more depth to A Serious Man, imo. Burn After Reading's just a screwball comedy. There's the whole Job thing and grappling with Jewishness in 60s America in A Serious Man. It feels like a much more personal film for the Coens and much richer for it.
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
i dont know if it was because i was in a bad mood and tired, but idk if i could recommend altman's 3 women.
i sort of blame it for ari aster i think. and that kind of pompous, needlessly enigmatic, somewhat repetitive, symbolic (to no real end) artsy horror you see in films like midsommar.
good performances and i do really like those 70s colours, esp when a skirt and car are both matching so perfectly, but it really seemed too in love with its own obliqueness to the point of irritation.
could ofc be utterly wrong about it and love it if i saw it again.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I like both, but there's more depth to A Serious Man, imo. Burn After Reading's just a screwball comedy. There's the whole Job thing and grappling with Jewishness in 60s America in A Serious Man. It feels like a much more personal film for the Coens and much richer for it.
That has an element of truth to it, but I feel that both are squeezed so much through the tight lens of their style that they end up being much closer together - in feel, quality, everything really - than that description you gave would seem to imply. Not that I'm disagreeing with the description, I just think that Coen's (maybe anyone really but them more so) are limited in how varied they can get by the fact of who they are.
I mean they can do totally different styles altogether I guess, but with both of these films I more remember the style than the content.
 

version

Well-known member
That has an element of truth to it, but I feel that both are squeezed so much through the tight lens of their style that they end up being much closer together - in feel, quality, everything really - than that description you gave would seem to imply. Not that I'm disagreeing with the description, I just think that Coen's (maybe anyone really but them more so) are limited in how varied they can get by the fact of who they are.
I mean they can do totally different styles altogether I guess, but with both of these films I more remember the style than the content.
It's the humour, imo. A lot of their stuff has this offbeat wackiness to it that can feel quite samey. They break out of it from time to time though; No Country for Old Men, True Grit and Inside Llewyn Davis don't feel as Coen-y to me as something like Burn After Reading or A Serious Man.
 

version

Well-known member
Have to say, I've gradually gone off them over the years. I haven't gone back and rewatched everything though, so I don't know whether I actually have or whether it's just the idea of them that irritates me - the thought of sitting through Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing again doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
It's the humour, imo. A lot of their stuff has this offbeat wackiness to it that can feel quite samey. They break out of it from time to time though; No Country for Old Men, True Grit and Inside Llewyn Davis don't feel as Coen-y to me as something like Burn After Reading or A Serious Man.
That's what I mean with saying they can escape by doing totally different styles such as Cruel Intentions or whatever, but when they stay in their comfort zone they can't help but seem samey.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Have to say, I've gradually gone off them over the years. I haven't gone back and rewatched everything though, so I don't know whether I actually have or whether it's just the idea of them that irritates me - the thought of sitting through Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing again doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm.
I really enjoyed Hail Caesar, much in the same way as I enjoy later WA, I love films in old Hollywood, I love the sets, the feel... the film itself seems as though they just stopped halfway through which is a shame cos I coulda watched it for ages.
 

woops

is not like other people
After seeing a cliip on here I tried and failed to watch Die Another Day last night, just unbelievably bad from the Madonna theme onwards, the innuendoes are shameful beyond belief, the action scenes are ridiculous, can't believe this got made
 

version

Well-known member
After seeing a cliip on here I tried and failed to watch Die Another Day last night, just unbelievably bad from the Madonna theme onwards, the innuendoes are shameful beyond belief, the action scenes are ridiculous, can't believe this got made
Did you get to the fencing scene?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Is that the one with the invisible car? Why does he never keep any gadgets for the next mission, that one was pretty useful?
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
After seeing a cliip on here I tried and failed to watch Die Another Day last night, just unbelievably bad from the Madonna theme onwards, the innuendoes are shameful beyond belief, the action scenes are ridiculous, can't believe this got made
Cocaine
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
Carol Reed's The Man Between. It's not a bad film per se but I wouldn't recommend it. I don't have much taste for old British films though, and this one has an annoying child actor. A very difficult thing to get right in films I think. I've mentioned it before but a film I would recommend is Over The Edge (1979) that has convincing child actors, should be a cult classic if it's not already, though a totally different kettle of fish to The Man Between.
 
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