Slim Pickings On The New Films Front

[showgirl]

Am I the only keen cinemagoer frustrated by the lack of choice lately?  I know summer is never a good time (unless you like blockbusters, "franchises" (what happened to series?), horror or cartoons and it's understandable that 2 major releases such as Barbie and Oppenheimer should dominate multiple screens for some time, but there's almost nothing else out there if you've seen or don't want to see either of those two.

Coming up, L'Immensita, Afire and Scrapper sound worth a look if not exactly compelling, but surely there must be other decent films waiting in the wings?

[jek]

showgirl Theater Camp looks fun. Previewing at Picturehouse Central on the 15th August, general release ten days later. But I know what you mean - everything looks a bit intense. Much as I love Ben Whishaw I feel like I've seen him looking sad - as he clearly does in Passages - once too often. Of the trailers I've been seeing in the cinema Past Lives is probably the one that appeals most.

[showgirl]

Good point re Theater Camp, jek; I'd forgotten that one, probably as Curzon haven't emailed about it or trailed it yet but I do recall looking it up a while back and thinking it sounded worth a try, so thank you for the reminder. I haven't seen a trailer for Past Lives, either, but recall coming across that, too. What with the ongoing wet weather and lack of anything which seems to fall between heavy and too light, I wouldn't mind something credible which doesn't stray too far either way, but Joy Ride certainly doesn't tick that box. Paris Memories seems to have had little publicity and Curzon are only showing it at a single venue, once a day only from Friday 4, which is annoying and unlikely to improve its chances, but PH are giving it a little more help, if not much.

[amp09]

As a cinema manager, there really isn’t much to choose from in August except for the ones you’ve mentioned: Paris Memories, Scrapper, Theatre Camp, Passages and Past Lives. Barbenheimer has led even smaller studios to move their films release dates/avoid August releases as it was expected to run and run and is doing just that. We’re into week 3 of it now and there’s no major drop off in either film - which is great news for the industry considering August has not much else being released. We’re bringing in Paris Memories next week on selected screenings but the majority of slots will continue to be Barbenheimer and expect this to be the case until the end of August.

[amp09]

Also expect films to start delaying their releases with the current strike action - Poor Things already moved from Sep release to Jan 24 and Dune II is the next one expected to move if there doesn’t look like any chance of a near-term resolution to the strikes in the next few weeks.

Graham Norton’s gonna have an empty couch when his show returns with no actors to promote their films.

[Jon]

Aug 4, 2023 23:17:16 GMT amp09 said:

Also expect films to start delaying their releases with the current strike action - Poor Things already moved from Sep release to Jan 24 and Dune II is the next one expected to move if there doesn’t look like any chance of a near-term resolution to the strikes in the next few weeks.

Graham Norton’s gonna have an empty couch when his show returns with no actors to promote their films.

Graham will be fine, he can use actors who are promoting TV shows in the UK as well as other celebrities. 

[showgirl]

Thought Paris Memories was excellent yesterday; well worth seeing (with some difficulty, due to ongoing train issues & limited release) & exactly the type of film which seems so scarce atm, but probably not worth me starting a thread unless others have also seen it or plan to.

[showgirl]

Also really enjoyed Afire & Lie With Me, but probably not worth me starting a thread for either as I don't think anyone else has mentioned them, let alone announced plans to see these.

[jek]

I'm going to see a preview of Passages tonight which I hadn't planned on seeing but it's free and my daughter is keen to go. One of my friends went to see The Innocent and said it was very enjoyable so I'm going to see if I can find a convenient screening of that.

[showgirl]

Am seeing The Innocent tomorrow after the matinee of The Mirror at the Almeida and planning on Theater Camp beforehand but not booking as can't see it "free" at Curzon due to lack of screenings. Shall be interested to read reports of Passages as it was also on my list but I've been deterred by the sex scenes, especially since reading a recent interview with the director about the importance he placed on these.

[jek]

I enjoyed Passages more than I expected but some of that was to do with the audience which, at the free preview at my local Picturehouse, was very much at the older end of the age scale. I'm 60 and I certainly wasn't the oldest viewer. In fact my 22 year old daughter was probably the youngest by some decades. So the very graphic sex scenes were greeted with an air of 'I couldn't possibly get into that position with my arthritis' rather than shock. The audience were quite verbal at various moments as befits a film where the central character is an almost comic book villain. The real porn in the film is of the French lifestyle variety. Beautiful flats and houses filled with art. And Ben Whishart works in the most gorgeous stone lithography workshop. There is the most beautiful blue palette used by the art director. As we were leaving two of the other customers were commenting on the very nice knitwear which was telling, I thought. I think the 4 star Guardian review from when it was on the festival circuit is quite fair. Hope that is helpful showgirl

[showgirl]

Thank you, jek; your review is indeed helpful and I'm glad you (and your daughter?) enjoyed it. I'll consider it for when Curzon adds it to the normal listings but I couldn't do their free preview dates so it'll be a week or two away for me still.

[showgirl]

Imo things are improving, which I say on the basis of having recently seen Afire, Lie With Me, Theater Camp (which has its own thread & is in another category to these more indy foreign films) and most recently, The Innocent. The last was particularly captivating & enthralling, but I enjoyed them all.

[jek]

Enjoyed the free preview of Past Lives at our (unusually packed) local Picturehouse tonight. A nice gentle film with very good central performances.

[jek]

The Transylvanian set movie F.M.N turned out to be a less gloomy watch than I had feared from the trailers/reviews. The scenery is stunning, and it is fascinating about a community in which old rituals live alongside EU funded high tech industry. Even which language to use is contested - it made me very aware of how different it is for us living on an island, rather than surrounded by borders which have shifted over decades. Completely baffled by the ending but that just gave us a lot to talk about as we walked back from our local picturehouse.

[showgirl]

Never even heard of this one, jek, but it certainly sounds intriguing so will look out for it.

[Rory]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Saltburn.

[mkb]

Brother is pretty good (four stars). Canadian film about a single mother, immigrant from Jamaica, bringing up two sons. The marketing describes the film as being about hip-hop music, but that's false. Music barely features, and most of that music is dub reggae and ska. Instead, it's a slow-paced tale, jumping back and forth over several time periods, of what happens to this family as the sons become men.  The acting is excellent.

[showgirl]

Glad you enjoyed Brother, mkb; I commented on it in the "Last Film You Saw" thread (why the US word for film? Grr!) but only thought it was OK. I can see that a lot of effort went into this and that it's well done, but for me it was a little too reminiscent of Moonlighting, albeit with - thank goodness - more dialogue, so although it made a change to see a film set in Canda rather than the US, it didn't seem that original or memorable. However, I went with my ex, who had never heard of it and was very impressed, so a result for him and I satisfied my curiosity.

[Mark]

Saw The Lesson and Dumb Money yesterday. Both very good and worth a cinema outing.