why are 'british' films shit?

yeah and for some reason thought reed himself was irish, incorrectly

"Edge of the World" should be on there then, guessing there's a bunch of inessential shit later on

No inclusion of Went the Day Well? at all is another howler, and loads of Chariots of The remains of the day type filler in the higher numbers.

Cavalcanti disqualified for Brazilianism, Marxism

I stopped clicking

UK "Man Who Knew Too Much" better than at least 2 of the Hitchs they picked

Normally I don't do this but

No My Beautiful Laundrette

hey teh beatles made it

sigh

The Torygraph's War Film list has lots of predictable stuff as well, but also it has Elem Klimov's "Come and See." which sounds great from reviews.

sorry about the confusion on chronological listing rather than ranking, that's what i get for pasting from Keyframe i guess

"Come and See" is brilliant, yes. Bet they didn't go with "Battle of Algiers" tho

- more interesting than the boring Telegraph list -

Fopp in the UK have been selling off DVDs from this enormous list of Brit film obscurities for £3 a go -

http://networkonair.com/shop/103-the-british-film

I have been buying, not so far watching very much. Among the highlights - The Cracksman (Charlie Drake comedy directed by Peter Graham Scott, who also directed Children of the Stones); French Dressing (Ken Russell's first film, additional dialogue by Johnny Speight); She'll Have to Go (Bob Monkhouse meets Anna Karina, from Hammer cinematographer Jack Asher); Slayground (Richard Stark adaptation with Mel Smith, Billie Whitelaw and Peter Coyote); Spanish Fly (Leslie Phillips and Terry-Thomas together in one extremely tawdry softcore comedy); S.P.Y.S (UK-funded M*A*S*H rip-off w/ Gould and Sutherland - made by Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner); The Terrornauts (Amicus SF cheapie w/ Charles Hawtrey, screenplay by John Brunner!)

I didn't know there was a Slayground film. That's one of the best Richard Starks.

Yeah, Network is kinda daunting, they release so much stuff and little of it has a reputation outside of very small niches.

Enjoyed All The Way Up, an early 70's social climber comedy with Warren Mitchell.

She'll Have to Go (Bob Monkhouse meets Anna Karina, from Hammer cinematographer Jack Asher)

lol what

I don't give Network as much custom as I'd like but I'm glad they're doing their thing

I wrote a thing on 'Beast' and tried to do something about what happens in British films in general, and... yeah, why does it always seem as if nothing is happening in British film? I mean, a lot of films are coming out each year, and they definitely have things in common, but it just never seems as if there's any excitement surrounding British film. Compare it to music, and it's remarkable.

I realized I could say the same thing about British literature, btw.

Dunkirk and Paddington Bear not enough for you?

Nothing wrong with Paddington.

the honest answer is that most uk filmmaking talent works in tv which, in spite of everything and regardless of what Tom D is about to say, is still pretty incredible in terms of volume and quality of output.

it's very sad that most of the younger generation of british filmmakers have shifted focus to the US. Lynn Ramsay, Andrew Haigh, Andrea Arnold. Steve McQueen is a shit filmmaker but him too, I guess.

was the last Ben Wheatley thing set in the US?

yes, but he'll be back

although iirc his next thing is also us-based

anyway there's loads of hype-worthy uk cinema

Did anyone see Apostasy? It looked excellent but only played here while I was away.

that was a debut too - so there's that and God's Own Country, Lady Macbeth and I am Not a Witch (haven't seen that one yet) all highly-regarded debuts.

I did its good in the sense that most things as made by bbc films is good. But there's also a lack. Xp

I've only seen God's Own Country and I am Not a Witch, but if that's the best new things that are happening, then I'd say it underlines my point. They're good to very good, but they aren't really exciting. There's always loads of highly-regarded debuts, and 'hype-worthy' films, but it's also never amazing. It's solid but it's hard to get excited about.

Not amazing to you maybe

I mean sure they're no Toni Erdmann but very few films are. I Am Not A Witch is an absolutely insanely brilliant debut imo

Meh. It's good but feels like something that has been done before.

always good to set a nebulously impossible bar then watch stuff not meet it.

I've got I think seven debut films on my 2017 ballot that passes that bar.

I am Not a Witch is really good but it's aesthetically fairly ordinary arthouse style without a lot of surprises.

i'm not defending any particular movie here but i srsly distrust any aesthetic with "novelty" central to its values and wondered if you could make clearer what you think "amazing" or "exciting" means

there's an irony here when you argue with imago cos i think both of you value "the new" pretty highly

spooky magic realist witchcraft tone poem meets genuinely hilarious zambian corruption farce, you bet nothing like that's been done before

although in saying that I'm reminded of Arabian Nights which was another recent favourite. maybe surreal political allegory is my thing idk

was asking Fred but yeah thanks for answering imago. one of my big problems with novelty is that "nothing like that's been done" breaks down to "i'm not aware of other things like this" at some point, in any sphere.

and that's before we get to "sure, but was it worth doing?"

what do people like about ben wheatley?

first 3 or 4 movies were nicely opaque/wyrd. he might've jumped the shark now tho.

-_-

Still rate Kill List as just about the best British horror movie of the last X years, but High Rise - so so bad - pointed to the limits of his (and Amy Jump's) abilities. Don't think making American-set films will help him, either.

high rise...madly overwrought retrofuturistic dystopian melodrama, last days of rome to portishead covering abba, feminist magick undercurrent rising to overwhelm, whole thing is basically a punk movie...the goddamn fall over the end credits...I mean sure you can call it bad or weirdly paced but it is compelling, fun, kitschy brilliance imo

Whether its good I don't know however I am not a witch sounds like a few things Sembene has done, as well a couple of African filmmakers.

(but mainly I like wheatley/jump because they made 'a field in england' which is a truly superior treatise on this little benighted nation)

xyzzzz feel free to recommend!