Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

RoboCop (2014) - the old film from 1987 was a master class & one of my favourite films of all time so I was pretty excited when I heard about the remake/reboot. Was left very disappointed by this - poor acting, apart from Samuel L. Jackson, no real cutting edge towards the end & a plot that lacked any sort of proper action.
3/10
 
Suppose this is as good a place as any to post this video. It's a lovely little tribute to Irish cinema over the last 20 years.



Many of those films are well worth seeing.
 
dumbo said:
Stoker. Ponderous, style over substance chanel advert. Displays the director's suspect penchant for fetishising women, garments and violence. Typically vacuous film making from Park Chan-wook.
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I watched this the other night. I actually loved the vengeance trilogy (er, yet to see sympathy for Mr. vengeance, mind), so I think your blunt assessment of his directing is unfair. I can't quite make my mid up about this film though- it did kind of disappear up its own arse, but was atmospheric, watchable and mercifully short.
 
Jippy said:
I watched this the other night. I actually loved the vengeance trilogy (er, yet to see sympathy for Mr. vengeance, mind), so I think your blunt assessment of his directing is unfair. I can't quite make my mid up about this film though- it did kind of disappear up its own arse, but was atmospheric, watchable and mercifully short.
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I like Mr Vengeance, Old Boy has a brilliant energy and madness that compensates for it's lack of substance and Thirst is half of an interesting film. Lady Vengeance is the major problem for me and Stoker follows in a similar vein. Don't care for the 3 Extremes short either.
 
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Tarrou said:
I enjoyed it, but I expected better from Spike Lee in terms of the direction. I thought the hammer scene was awful, just didn't work at all.

He was always onto a hiding to nothing remaking this film, as the original is a masterpiece of cinema. And if nothing else, it can never have the same impact as you know all the twists already.
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I liked that he dropped the whole hypnotism bit, one of the weakest elements of the original.

dumbo said:
Stoker. Ponderous, style over substance chanel advert. Displays the director's suspect penchant for fetishising women, garments and violence. Typically vacuous film making from Park Chan-wook.
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You're going on like it's a bad thing. I find his visual perversity strangely affecting.
 
30 Days Of Night
I wonder what happened to Josh Hartnett? He seemed destined for big things. Anyway, I remember hating this film the first time I saw it but quite enjoyed it this time around. Loved the setting, the acting was ok for what it is and the story was paced well and kept intrigue quite well. Not a bad effort 6/10

Sorcerer and the White Snake
Don't know how the feck they got Jet Li to be in this. It's a fantasy love story about a 3000 year old snake demon who falls in love with a human and it's up to Jet Li to put an end to it. Some good effects but I think the effects team were pushed past their limit as some of the snake effects looked horrible. Weird tone also, didnt know if it wanted to be comedic or serious 4/10

Painted Skin: Resurrection
Decent story, pretty good acting and visually, it looked superb. The relationships in the film were solid and it was technically done brilliantly. Really enjoyed it and definitely one to watch with the other half 7.5/10

The Host
Korean monster movie and it ranks amongst the best monster flicks. Had the right amount of comedy drama and action to never feel dull. The acting was a little hammy but that I think helped the film. The monster looked cool and the family the film focused on had real chemistry. I have been searching for a sub-titled version of this film for years but failed, thank god it was on Netflix! Also, it has the best seated drop-kick I have ever seen! 8/10

The Guillotines
Film about a bunch of hidden assassins that do the dirty work for the Chinese government, until the government wants to get rid of them as they are a stain on the emperors reign. I expected a fantasy thriller (from the trailer) but was more of a drama. Would have been nice to have more scenes with the assassins suited in action. Still, a decent film for a Sunday night 7/10

Out Of The Furnace
Shame it didn't make the most of the impressive cast. The structure seemed a bit clunky and took a long while to get going. The motivations for the characters were unbelievable and to be honest, I expected much better judging by the trailer. Kept me going until the end thanks to a great performance by Christian Bale, but definitely a missed opportunity 5/10
 
Nebraska - Charming. Really enjoyed this, it was funny and heartfelt and at times quite sad. Found the black and white a nice touch and the soundtrack fitted perfectly.

Dallas Buyers Club - Very good although I thought it dragged on a little bit. McConaughey and Leto are great.
 
Hukkle - Gyorgy Palfi (2002)

Naturalistic folkloric Hungarian film about the goings on of a nondescript village in Hungary. But below the surface there is some evil happening and some cop with a ponytail is sniffing around. I don't think the film even had any dialogue. Turns out the story is based on some event that actually did happen in some Hungarian village nearly a hundred years ago. Absolutely masterful photography and a very unique work. Brilliant film.

9 cocks up
 
Jack Reacharound

Oh c'mon nobody seriously buys Tom Cruise as a hard man do they? Whether you do or not will have a huge say on how much you enjoy this. Bourne light. With some stupid fight scenes where he elbows people in their knee joints because it looks like something that might actually work to people who don't know how to fight.
 
I like the Jack Reacher character and books but casting Tom Cruise in that role made zero sense, they might as well of cast Ricky Tomlinson given he has about as much in common with Reacher as Cruise.
 
I find Cruise a really off putting presence. Especially in action or romance. I can't really understand his appeal in them. He's all robotic running and dead behind the eyes dialogue he doesn't look entirely plausible saying. The only roles I've ever liked or believed him in are shysters and killers.
 
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CassiusClaymore said:
Jack Reacharound

Oh c'mon nobody seriously buys Tom Cruise as a hard man do they? Whether you do or not will have a huge say on how much you enjoy this. Bourne light. With some stupid fight scenes where he elbows people in their knee joints because it looks like something that might actually work to people who don't know how to fight.
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I have not seen this yet, I don't like or dislike Cruise, but I do like a few of his films, Top Gun and Cocktail. Mission Impossible films are watch able.
 
Yesterday I watched Robocop (1987). Still one hell of a movie, and apart from Ed-209 it aged very well, I am not sure if I will watch the remake as I don't see the point in one for this movie. 9/10
 
Mockney said:
I find Cruise a really off putting presence. Especially in action or romance. I can't really understand his appeal in them. He's all robotic running and dead behind the eyes dialogue he doesn't look entirely plausible saying. The only roles I've ever liked or believed him in are shysters and killers.
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Yeah he's great in Collateral. Actually his character in that is kind of like a flip side of the coin to the role Matthew McConaughey plays in True Detective.
 
The Eye 2
Pointless sequel, has absolutely nothing to do with the original and doesn't really even tie in the name of the film to the premise. Very forgettable mediocre film. Had one or two nice touches but overall it's slow boring and dull 3/10
 
Archie Leach said:
Cruise is just incredibly one note. So are most of the stars of his calibre.
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Except

nic-cage-gi.jpg
 
You're right.. Cage has a huge scale of how shit his films can be.
 
Only Lovers Left Alive - Love, drugs, rock & (d)roll...and jaded vampires. I usually feel a bit ambivalent towards Jarmusch's films but I thought this was a good one. Mia Wasikowska is seriously cute and the soundtrack was excellent.
 
I thought that it was recognized worldwide that Cage is pretty shit and so are most of his films. Guess I was wrong.
 
Alock1 said:
I thought that it was recognized worldwide that Cage is pretty shit and so are most of his films. Guess I was wrong.
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I think it's the internet funny to pretend he is good. I don't think anyone actually thinks he's a good actor. He's basically the Bebe of the acting world.
 
CassiusClaymore said:
Jack Reacharound

Oh c'mon nobody seriously buys Tom Cruise as a hard man do they? Whether you do or not will have a huge say on how much you enjoy this. Bourne light. With some stupid fight scenes where he elbows people in their knee joints because it looks like something that might actually work to people who don't know how to fight.
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It really is a terrible movie. So bad that Cage should have been in it.

I haven't read the books but apparently it is a really terrible bit of casting as Cruise is almost the opposite of the print character.
 
Cage isn't a bad actor at all. He's a great actor in fact when he puts his mind to it. There's plenty of evidence of that (Leaving Last Vegas (best actor Oscar), Adaptation, Matchstick Men, Raising Arizona). He just makes a lot of crappy films these days. He just doesn't seem to give a flying feck what role he takes as long as he gets paid it seems, which is a shame. Hollywood has tonnes of good actors doing shitty work though, look at the pish McConaughy was churning out until recently.
 
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Nick Cage has awesome acting power. It just needs to be harnessed properly.
 
That's basically it. It's not talent that's the problem, it's the choice of films. It's become an 'internet funny' to say he's incredible, the almighty Cage and so on, he's a bit of an internet meme, and that's mostly because of all his shitty stuff, but a lot of film fans recognize that given the right material/director, he's capable of being excellent.
 
Nic Cage is one of those actors that on his day he can perform to levels that most others can't. He makes a lot of poor film choices but I guess that's what a huge tax debt does to you...

February 29
Decent horror film. Not very original in plot but some of the scares were awesome and I think thats largely due to the selection of camera shots and pacing. Quite enjoyed it 6.5/10
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Nic Cage is one of those actors that on his day he can perform to levels that most others can't. He makes a lot of poor film choices but I guess that's what a huge tax debt does to you...

February 29
Decent horror film. Not very original in plot but some of the scares were awesome and I think thats largely due to the selection of camera shots and pacing. Quite enjoyed it 6.5/10
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I am a big Cage fan, yes he has made some dreadful films but also some crackers.
 
Tarrou said:
Cage isn't a bad actor at all. He's a great actor in fact when he puts his mind to it. There's plenty of evidence of that (Leaving Last Vegas (best actor Oscar), Adaptation, Matchstick Men, Raising Arizona).
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Leaving Las Vegas - Meh
Adaptation - Rubbish
Matchstick Men - Meh - and I love Ridley Scott
Raising Arizona - Hate
 
Deep End - A naive teenager obsesses over an older temptress co-worker. A pretty good, disturbing psychosexual coming-of-age film that delved into quite dark territories. Skolimowski worked with Polanski on Knife in the Water and you could see some similarities with Polanski's work from that era.
 
Tornado Warning

A terrible film,
A weather disaster film with a plot about an alien invasion, but only in one American city.
Aliens controlling the weather to invade and I though Rafa Benitez being mentioned in thread about possible next United manager was bad
Many plot holes, bad acting.

1/10
 
OK, so I've had these three films for a while now and never got round to watching them - Adaptation, Amores Perros and Gomorrah. Which should I watch?
 
Wibble said:
Leaving Las Vegas - Meh
Adaptation - Rubbish
Matchstick Men - Meh - and I love Ridley Scott
Raising Arizona - Hate
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Are you talking about Cage's performance or the movie in general? I was referring to his performance which I believed to be very good in all those movies. If you think otherwise, I'm not saying that is wrong at all, but I'm not talking about whether I liked the film or not here.
 
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