Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

The drop off in quality of winner after Annie Hall is pretty remarkable. I don't think it gets a great deal better than Gump after 1977. Amadeus and No Country would be the obvious stand outs for me. From 1960 through to 1977 it almost seems like they knew what they were doing.
 
12 Years A Slave

My girlfriend made me watch this last night. It was a solid 6/10 in the first half despite some shocking acting, terrible casting and pretty bad writing - I wasn't bored, which is the most important thing. Second half was all those bad things, plus I was bored, which overall brings it down to about 3/10.
Are you being serious?
 
I just watched Serpico. I really like Pacino, however I have to say that the movie dragged quite a bit. 6/10 for Pacinos beard, that was probably the best thing about the movie.
 
I just watched Serpico. I really like Pacino, however I have to say that the movie dragged quite a bit. 6/10 for Pacinos beard, that was probably the best thing about the movie.
And the hats, the hats!

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Yeah, Serpico has dated considerably. I've even tried to watch it a few times to give it a proper, fair go, but no, it's just seminal period piece that's a bit ponderous now.

I've said it once and I'll keep saying it, Dog Day is Pacino's best performance, and his best film after the Godfathers.
 
12 Years A Slave

My girlfriend made me watch this last night. It was a solid 6/10 in the first half despite some shocking acting, terrible casting and pretty bad writing - I wasn't bored, which is the most important thing. Second half was all those bad things, plus I was bored, which overall brings it down to about 3/10.
WOW thats harsh, everybody I know who has watched it , says its one of the best films they have seen.
 
The Great Gatsby

Quite stylish in the Baz Luhrmann style - Tobey Maguire is annoying as usual and Leo is pretty decent

after the initial scenes when you think the plot is building up to something decent it turns into a quite boring movie where Maguire has a bit of a man crush on DiCaprio

5.5/10
 
WOW thats harsh, everybody I know who has watched it , says its one of the best films they have seen.

He's pulled the shocking acting criticism right out if his are which makes everything else questionable but I didn't think it was a great film myself. Completely agree with whoever said the Hand Zimmer score was inappropriate. It pulled me right out of the film every time it was on and the tone of the score was completely out of touch with the tone of the film.
 
He's pulled the shocking acting criticism right out if his are which makes everything else questionable but I didn't think it was a great film myself. Completely agree with whoever said the Hand Zimmer score was inappropriate. It pulled me right out of the film every time it was on and the tone of the score was completely out of touch with the tone of the film.
I knew it wasn't gonna be a masterpiece when I saw that Zimmer scored it. Has no one caught on to that he keeps recycling the same score over and over?
 
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WOW thats harsh, everybody I know who has watched it , says its one of the best films they have seen.

Yeah, a few people have said the same thing but it wasn't that great.

He's pulled the shocking acting criticism right out if his are which makes everything else questionable but I didn't think it was a great film myself. Completely agree with whoever said the Hand Zimmer score was inappropriate. It pulled me right out of the film every time it was on and the tone of the score was completely out of touch with the tone of the film.

I did think acting was bad in a lot of parts, but it was probably made to seem worse because of the writing and casting. A lot of the actors didn't suit their roles and the rhythmic way they talked just made the whole thing feel really forced and unnatural (the music didn't help either).

I'm going to stick with my previous review: it was alright and enjoyable in the first half, boring in the second.
 
I thought the acting was absolutely stellar, which is why I was surprised by your comment.

Agree that Zimmer recycles his stuff Nilsson but I thought the score worked perfectly. Honestly I thought the film was spotless, one of the most powerful films I've seen in ages.

Talking about the conversation above, I don't think Dog Day is Pacino's best performance, though it's excellent. Just seen a classic I hadn't seen before, Chinatown, it's really good. For those who have seen it though, I'm not sure whether the film ever said, but in which era is it set?
 
What would you say is?

Pacino became a ham after Scarface and decided to shout everything in a slightly latiny accent. I miss old Pacino.

I watched Big Trouble In Little China the other day, it was absolutely diabolical. I've no idea how it even got made.
 
What would you say is?

Pacino became a ham after Scarface and decided to shout everything in a slightly latiny accent. I miss old Pacino.

I watched Big Trouble In Little China the other day, it was absolutely diabolical. I've no idea how it even got made.
The one I enjoy the most is Corleone, though I'm not sure whether it'd be part 1 or 2. He's very good in Glengarry Glen Ross as well, and I enjoyed his performance in You don't know Jack recently, not his best but worthy of being mentioned cos it was finally something challenging, I felt, after two decades of him cruising through parts. I like him in a lot of his films to be honest (Carlito's way, Donnie Brasco, Insomnia...) and I have an odd fascination for two of his over the top yelling parts, Devil's Advocate and Any Given Sunday! Oh and Looking for Richard is great as well, though I don't think you can say he's actually acting in it.

Cheers Archie, I was wondering whether it was 20s or 30s and wasn't quite sure. Apparently the back story about the dams and water shortage are based on a real story, Californian Water Wars, I'm going to read into it!
 
Kill Your Darlings - Goes out all guns blazing, but is mostly just bells and whistles in the end, very unfocused narrative. It had it's moments though ans still very much worth a watch, still not so sure about Radcliff as Ginsberg but the rest of the cast was great, DeHaan is quite an actor and Ben Foster as Burroughs was uncanny. I usually get annoyed at anachronistic music use but it didn't bother me much here.
 
What would you say is?

Pacino became a ham after Scarface and decided to shout everything in a slightly latiny accent. I miss old Pacino.

I watched Big Trouble In Little China the other day, it was absolutely diabolical. I've no idea how it even got made.

That's not fair, he was good in Insomnia, Heat and Donnie Brasco
 
Heat's hugely overated, but you're right about Brasco, he's very good in that, playing against type too. It's almost a Cazale part.
 
Heat isn't that hugely rated. Like almost all Michael Mann films it's well made, entertaining, a bit bloated and falls short of being top notch.

Also in light of that TVClub article, what does everyone think is the worst Best Picture winner. Got to be Crash in my lifetime, a diabolical film.
 
Heat isn't that hugely rated. Like almost all Michael Mann films it's well made, entertaining, a bit bloated and falls short of being top notch.

Also in light of that TVClub article, what does everyone think is the worst Best Picture winner. Got to be Crash in my lifetime, a diabolical film.
I hate Ben-Hur. Of the more modern and fresh in the memory maybe The Departed.
 
Robocop 2. There is so much wrong with this movie, it's hard to believe that it would even be possible to screw it up this much on purpose. Also I still don't know if the stupid kid or the stupid mayor annoyed me more. 3/10
 
The Room - A haunting tale of love and betrayal. It's like some aliens a thousands year from now, with earth reduced solely to ashes, decided to make a film about how they thought human life and interactions was like...and somehow Tommy Wiseau managed to travel back in the time with the film. I had to wipe the laptop screen a few times as I kept spitting beer whilst laughing.
 
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Heat is bloated. Entertaining, but the feeble attempts at character development of bit part people like the black getaway driver drag it out. The ending is also weak- much prefer the original ending in LA Takedown. Mann obviously only changed it because he had two big leads the second time around.
 
The Room - A haunting tale of love and betrayal. It's like some aliens a thousands year from now, with earth reduced solely to ashes, decided to make a film about how they thought human life and interactions was like...and somehow Tommy Wiseau managed to travel back in the time with the film. I had to wipe the laptop screen a few times as I kept spitting beer whilst laughing.
I still haven't seen The Room, I feel like I'm missing something huge!
 
Non-Stop - hilariously bad, however it has Liam Neeson in it which makes it watchable. Don't drop the coin at the theater for this film, wait for Red Box/Netflix.
 
The Insider and Thief don't fall short of greatness. Michael Mann top director. Must be the only director Johnny Depp has actually put in a performance for for like 10 years...did the same with Cruise too.
 
The Insider and Thief don't fall short of greatness. Michael Mann top director. Must be the only director Johnny Depp has actually put in a performance for for like 10 years...did the same with Cruise too.
The Insider is a superb film. I thought Thief was a bit of a bore, a gritty type of film that was not unlike Serpico in a few ways.
 
The one I enjoy the most is Corleone, though I'm not sure whether it'd be part 1 or 2. He's very good in Glengarry Glen Ross as well, and I enjoyed his performance in You don't know Jack recently, not his best but worthy of being mentioned cos it was finally something challenging, I felt, after two decades of him cruising through parts. I like him in a lot of his films to be honest (Carlito's way, Donnie Brasco, Insomnia...) and I have an odd fascination for two of his over the top yelling parts, Devil's Advocate and Any Given Sunday! Oh and Looking for Richard is great as well, though I don't think you can say he's actually acting in it.

Cheers Archie, I was wondering whether it was 20s or 30s and wasn't quite sure. Apparently the back story about the dams and water shortage are based on a real story, Californian Water Wars, I'm going to read into it!


Cadillac Desert by Mark Reisner is a great book on the development of CA water policy.
 
A Band called Death was another fascinating music story like Saving Sugarman about a proto-punk band out of Detroit who predated everyone by several years but never made it. I found it fascinating and the music was incredible when you think about who was making it.
 
A Band called Death was another fascinating music story like Saving Sugarman about a proto-punk band out of Detroit who predated everyone by several years but never made it. I found it fascinating and the music was incredible when you think about who was making it.
Looks interesting. I think I'll check it out.