If you gave Captain America a 6, I feel you would give Spider-man 2 a 4 at most. It's an incredibly long film which is 90% soppyness and detective work, and 10% action, if that. Great CGI when used though.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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If you gave Captain America a 6, I feel you would give Spider-man 2 a 4 at most. It's an incredibly long film which is 90% soppyness and detective work, and 10% action, if that. Great CGI when used though.
Now that you mention it, I really enjoyed that one and it still holds up pretty well today I'd say. Melvyn Douglas felt a lot like a poor mans Clark Gable, who really nailed that role in 'It Happened One Night'. It was Pre-Code Hollywood though so it doesn't really feel a lot like later ones and the screwball elements weren't that prominent I thought.
Nolan and his batman film killed off all the super hero films. After the Dark Knight it seems anyone who wears anything remotely like a costume has to be now taken a 100% seriously and no one in the movie must mention at any point the fact that there's a man in a rubber suit flying in the sky also forgot to mention it must be also set in modern day New York.
These settings were ok for the Batman movies as the Batman movies before Nolan's really were bat shit crazy.(I would kill for a movie like Batman And Robin now, it might of being rubbish but it was a damn like more fun and quotable - STAY COOL BIRD BOY then last Batman film.)
But for a movie like Captain America why do I have to take him seriously,why does he have to be saying something important about today society and importantly why isn't he fighting the lizard king at the top of the statue of liberty.
Yes super hero's are social misfits/outcast and they can be used to say something important about today's world(well maybe not something important but something vaguely interesting)but a lot people forgot Lizard People are also social misfits as well.
Basically why isn't there more Lizard people in super hero movies
Also I don't know if anyone else felt like this but the last 2 Batman film I was never rooting for Batman to win at all. It seemed the longer the movies went along the more it seemed Batman was taken more himself more seriously then everyone else in the movie,to the point where your screaming at the screen "Your a man in his late 30's and your dressing as a bat!"
Love you Steve!
Triumphant post, chief. 
The Raid 2 - As a big fan of East-Asian crime films, and the first Raid... I fecking loved this movie. A brutal, beautiful, delight... the hammer girl on a train scene is probably one of the finest action set-pieces I've seen in years.
Roll on Raid 3.
Roll on Raid 3.
I've only just realised that Bogus Journey is on UK Netflix. It's been hiding from me, stuck away in the manual search section criminally unpromoted by Netflix's weird unhelpful navigation system, along with Die Hard with a Vengeance and Wayne's World. That is definitely what I'm watching when I'm inevitably hungover at some point this weekend. It's not even up for discussion.
They're silly irreverent fun, obviously, but they're smarter than they're given credit for. Freud & Socrates aren't people you include in an 80s time travelling slacker film if you're just chasing a lazy comedy buck. The second one has a Bergman homage FFS!
Interesting fact: The guy who wrote it also wrote Men In Black and is married to John Cleese & Connie Booth's daughter. Well alright that's not that interesting, but it's a fact.
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Watched the Amazing Spiderman 2 in 3D. Firstly I still can't get into this 3D lark, folk still look like cardboard cut outs. I'm not sure it'll ever work in movies that are given the 3D treatment rather than specifically made for 3D cinema. ..a la Avatar. As for the film yeah it was watchable, as per usual Peter Parker...and his trials and tribulations, call it an allegory of a child going through puberty I guess but it's always made Spiderman inheritaly more watchable than the other comic book super heroes. That said the movie was far too long and I almost ended up nodding off near the end. Why do we keep watching these flipping reboots though? all that effort yet this sequel is still not the best ever Spiderman 2. I'm waiting for the next Spiderman 2....
Good God. Have a word with yourself.
The Appearing
A woman once possessed by a mysterious entity uncovers a shocking secret about her past and must face the demon that dwells inside of her.
The acting was bad at best but mostly just terrible, this was no different a possession film than any of the other you can get, there was no real scary bits in, the plot twist you could see a mile off and even when the devil did appear, it was just bad.
It just looked like a film that had stole ideas from all the other possession film.
2.5/10 and that being kind.
A woman once possessed by a mysterious entity uncovers a shocking secret about her past and must face the demon that dwells inside of her.
The acting was bad at best but mostly just terrible, this was no different a possession film than any of the other you can get, there was no real scary bits in, the plot twist you could see a mile off and even when the devil did appear, it was just bad.
It just looked like a film that had stole ideas from all the other possession film.
2.5/10 and that being kind.
The Something
A fledgling film maker tries in vain to think up a spooky title for his new Horror movie. He knows that it's got to have 'The' in the title, because every Horror film & book does. In despair, he summons the great god Google but is doomed to receive page results about American politics.
0/10
A fledgling film maker tries in vain to think up a spooky title for his new Horror movie. He knows that it's got to have 'The' in the title, because every Horror film & book does. In despair, he summons the great god Google but is doomed to receive page results about American politics.
0/10
Oh comeon, Steve, your first screenplay wasn't that bad.
Well maybe killing is a bit strong and thinking about it a bit more Batman Returns would be a better example but I still stand by that Batman and Robin was a hell of a lot more fun then the Dark Knight Rises.
I'm just fed up with sheer amount of seriousness and realism directors are giving superhero movies. I'm not looking for more explosions or CGI but just more self awareness and overall fun. At some point someone should be saying that we'r making a film about a man in a rubber suit and not a film about George Orwell's 1984. The original Captain American used to fight Hitler,now the new one takes data from flash drivers.
Sometimes I want a bit of fun.
Personally I'd rather at some point someone said "we're making far too many films about men in rubber suits. Lets take some of those huge budgets we're pouring into them and make something else."
Also I don't think TDKR is a very good example to use. If Nolan started this trend, it's fair enough his trilogy has the same tone. It's all the other ones trying to ape it you should be annoyed at.
Also I don't think TDKR is a very good example to use. If Nolan started this trend, it's fair enough his trilogy has the same tone. It's all the other ones trying to ape it you should be annoyed at.
Ideally that would be the best thing to happen. But if that can't happen then men in rubber suits fighting Hitler or Lizards must surly be the next best option
Devils Due
After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. While recording everything for posterity, the husband begins to notice odd behavior in his wife that they initially write off to nerves, but, as the months pass, it becomes evident that the dark changes to her body and mind have a much more sinister origin.
Another crappy found footage film and coupled with another crappy possession film, that was just not scary one little bit, never really got going, the ending was just silly.
Is it too much to ask for them to make a horror film that is actually scary even more time for them to put found footage films into a big box and bury it so that nobody ever makes one again.
Horror is my favourite category of films, but there has been slim picking for decent ones of late.
2/10
After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. While recording everything for posterity, the husband begins to notice odd behavior in his wife that they initially write off to nerves, but, as the months pass, it becomes evident that the dark changes to her body and mind have a much more sinister origin.
Another crappy found footage film and coupled with another crappy possession film, that was just not scary one little bit, never really got going, the ending was just silly.
Is it too much to ask for them to make a horror film that is actually scary even more time for them to put found footage films into a big box and bury it so that nobody ever makes one again.
Horror is my favourite category of films, but there has been slim picking for decent ones of late.
2/10
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They make so much money, well they must do...so I doubt anyone will be brave enough to say 'no more!'. Till then expect more. Expect more Spiderman 2s.
A couple more John Carters should do the job.
I haven't seen this Spiderman 2, but there looks to be far too many people in it. How many people did the old Spiderman 2 have? And will the next Spiderman 2 have even more people in it? Is that the rule? How many characters does it take to make a Spiderman 2?
Aren't all the Spidermans essentially the same film anyway? To be fair to the Batmans, we've at least had several different takes on it for every conceivable sensibility. Burton's were both darkly comic with twisty Burton-trees and Danny Elfman. Nolan's were all deadly serious, with shouty Bale and Hans Zimmer, and Schumacher's were both colourful and shit.
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Yeah too many characters, that said they seemed peripheral to Parker's inner turmoil - which has been done better before...in well...the original Spiderman 2. All in all an utterly pointless reboot. Apparently were going to get a new Spiderman every year...they're just going to expand the Spidey universe.
August: Osage County: Family Drama featuring some of the most poisonous women you could ever hope not be in a room with. Good performances all around except for Meryl Streep who isn't just good but is exceptional in the role of the matriarch. Unfortunately however this is a film that leans too closely to its stage roots and so comes across as very stage-play driven in just about every area of its construction which includes most of its over-wordy dialogue that occasionally tips over into grandstanding.
Its also a film that despite its good to exceptional performances struggles to say anything profound or new about dysfunctional families that hasn't been said in many other Family Drama's before it, and so comes across as quite devoid of originality. Shame as it has a cracking cast and some beautifully shot scenery but as a whole it lacks any real purpose or intent.
6/10
Its also a film that despite its good to exceptional performances struggles to say anything profound or new about dysfunctional families that hasn't been said in many other Family Drama's before it, and so comes across as quite devoid of originality. Shame as it has a cracking cast and some beautifully shot scenery but as a whole it lacks any real purpose or intent.
6/10
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It could work. Cameron said that it's the future if the people get to see it like he sees it in the editing room. It's just not cost-effective as of now. Doesn't mean it won't happen.
As of now it's kind of meh. I'd rather have to do with not wearing the glasses. Only a couple of films have been worth it. There was this one scene that looked really good in Captain America 2 though.
Spiderman has always been a bit shit. Never liked him. My least favorite superhero after Superman.
My personal taste for acting is usually for one off "natural" actors who often play themselves to absolute perfection. But as far as "professional" acting, there is just no one who can touch Meryl Streep. I'm so blown away by her sometimes. Can't figure out why she takes roles in such cack movies so often. She appears to be the consummate artist. She must be settled financially for life many times over. I don't get it. Hopefully she donates massively to good causes.
Anyway, I digress, let's get back to superhero pap.
Completely agree as far as her acting ability goes, there really isn't a better actor/tress I can think of in the Hollywood structure male or female. I also think she deserves a little bit of slack for occasional performances in crap movies as I look at The Jack Nicholson's, Pacino's and De Niro's of the same structure and they've been phoning in performances and playing the same character for years.
Streep makes bad films because the majority of Hollywood's leading directors are men and construct their films around strong male protagonists.
If she was really that good she would be able to play a convincing strong male protagonist.
She'd do a cracking David Cameron.
That's another fair point, her age also works against her in that respect as well because its twice as hard when you can't trade on your looks and you work in an industry that's traditionally male dominated with very few leading parts for women over the age of 40.
All I thought watching her segment was "its a woman playing Bob Dylan". Cate is terrific but that performance got way more praise than it deserved.She's no Cate Blanchett, that's for sure.
She's no Terry Jones.
She did that that English iron cnut didn't she? Close enough.
Good point, Nobs, old bean.
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Any film geeks here who can recommend a good horror movie? No aliens. I like them creepy old school style.
The New Evil Dead was very creepy
Conjuring was good.
Saw a couple of Aussie films tonight.
Mystery Road (2013) - Decent enough film about an Aboriginal detective investigating a murder in his home town. Drags a bit and is very gritty but I enjoyed it. 6/10
Suing the Devil (2011) - Mildly interesting premise and it has Malcom Mcdowell, but aside from that it's absolute dog-wank. 3/10
Mystery Road (2013) - Decent enough film about an Aboriginal detective investigating a murder in his home town. Drags a bit and is very gritty but I enjoyed it. 6/10
Suing the Devil (2011) - Mildly interesting premise and it has Malcom Mcdowell, but aside from that it's absolute dog-wank. 3/10
Just googled evil dead, the old one from 1981 looks creepy enough. Might see that, thanks!
Saw a documentary yesterday called The Inside Job about the financial crisis started by people on Wall Street, very interesting stuff.
8/10
8/10