Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

MrMarcello said:
Hmm... Scorsese's roll of honors may be greater than Kubrick's.

Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Color of Money, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas (my all-time fav film), Cape Fear, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street. He also directed the pilot for Boardwalk Empire.
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Well, yeah, he might be my second favorite movie director (although there are many movies of him that I haven't watched), so by that time things may change.

What seperates Kubrick from other greats like Scorcese, Hitchkock etc is that he may be the only director ever who made great movies in practically every genre, while the others made most of the stuff in their own preferred genre.

Wibble said:
Eyes wide shut 5/10? Seriously? Can't be worth over 1.5/10 - one of the worst films ever made.

Of course I'd put The Shining first by a distance but even that I'd only give 6 or 7
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Hater! :D
 
Kubrick just leaves me cold. No heart to his films.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
The Skeptic

I had high hopes for this , had decent reviews and the first 30-40 mins were really good and then it went down hill very quickly.
The ending was plain dreadful and I was wanting more, al lot more.
There was potential for a cracking ghost film and they missed it, I was left pretty disappointed at the end.

4.5/10
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I felt the same on this one. It's a shame as it starts off really well and had so much potential.

Devil's Knot
Was really excited to see this as the story (based on true events) is really interesting but after a half decent start, it really falls flat. This story should not have been made into a film, clearly there wasn't enough evidence or narrative to make a film that feels conclusive or even complete. It seems more like a work in progress rather than a fully fledged film. Colin Firth was ok in it but Reese Witherspoon was awful and they bill Dane Dehaan as one of the lead actors but he is only in the film about 2 or 3 times, although he is good when on screen. There were many events in the film that were left unexplained (both intentionally and unintentionally) and I felt really cheated at the end. Still a very brutal story and the film has got me interested enough to read about what actually happened 5.5/10
 
pauldyson1uk said:
I dont really like him, barring The Shinning and Spartacus.
I have watched 2001 but to be honest hated it.
I not watched the rest of them.
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So you liked 2/3 you saw but don't like him? Seems a bit harsh! Give Dr. Strangelove and Lolita a shot, you might change your opinion. I like Kubrick but not a fan of 2001 either.

BTW I agree his characters are cold and emotionless, but it's very intentional of course.
 
Tarrou said:
So you liked 2/3 you saw but don't like him? Seems a bit harsh! Give Dr. Strangelove and Lolita a shot, you might change your opinion. I like Kubrick but not a fan of 2001 either.

BTW I agree his characters are cold and emotionless, but it's very intentonal of course.
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Fair point, I have watched Lolita just not his version, it was OK.
I will give them a go.
 
Revan said:
Eyes Wide Shut - Was this the idea of hieros gamos wanna be porno filled with some Illuminati grand conspiracy things that in the end was supposed to be a mindfeck Inception-like was it a dream or reality? If yes, it was bad. There were some ellements on the movie (and a lot of tits) that I enjoyed but otherwise it wasn't that good. Strange to read that Kubrick rates this movie as his best. 5/10

Now that I am a Kubrick expert (haven't watched Killer's Kiss and Fear and Desire but apparently they aren't that good) time to rate his movies from worst to best.

11) Eyes Wide Shut 5/10
10) Barry Lyndon 7/10
09) Spartacus 7/10
08) The Killing 8/10
07) Full Metal Jacket 8/10
06) Lolita 8/10
05) The Shining 8/10
04) Paths of Glory 8/10
03) 2001: A Space Oddysey 8/10
02) A Clockwork Orange 9/10
01) Dr. Strangelove or: the longest title ever 10/10

Best director ever? Perhaps. My favorite director? Definitely.
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Really? I know that film is a cult classic but thats only because its shock value as a film I thought it was rubbish.
 
I like Kubrick a lot but 2001 really left me cold (though I get that it was very technically impressive and influential) and I think Full Metal Jacket is a bit overrated too.

Don't get the anti-A Clockwork Orange sentiment though, I really liked both the book and the film. I'd have Barry Lyndon higher on the list than Revan does too.
 
Revan said:
I loved it. I understand though that it is a movie that completely divides opinions.
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The thing is I love it aswell its pure insanity and I watched it whilst high as feck so brings pretty good memories.

But I can imagine if I was to watch it completely sober I'd be left cold.
 
Barry Lyndon, The Shining & Dr Strangelove are by far my favourite Kubrick films. It's been such a long time since I saw 2001, so I have no real opinion about it.
 
R.N7 said:
Barry Lyndon, The Shining & Dr Strangelove are by far my favourite Kubrick films. It's been such a long time since I saw 2001, so I have no real opinion about it.
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This might be the first time anyone has ever said this about 2001. Ever.
 
I need to watch 2001 and Baz Lyndon again. It's been 20 feckin years and I've only seen them once.
 
Solaris - was this supposed to be the 2001 and Blade Runner Russian version merged together? Very likely not. Anyway...

The first half of it was okay although extremely slow and almost pointless. Then after he went to the station it had a good suspense with a lot of potential for what the hell is going on. Shame that it didn't last and they explained everything very fast and then went into a pointless love affair which was supposed to make you feel about characters, and to me, spectacularily failed. And then it had the most pointless ever ending - with an even cheaper than Inception final scene - which apparently will make you think about it, if the protagonist stayed there and was living his dream life without living at all (or something like that) or that he just returned at Earth but a cunami has happenede near his house and make an island there.

The music was good, the directing was really good, the idea originally was great but was so underdeveloped that it made it pointless, then acting was good, the developing of the story was shit - as it was the story itself - and the ending was the worst part. 4/10
 
"pointless love affair" You have watched too many Kubrick films in a row. I hated Solyaris when I first saw it but when I returned to it a few years later I realized that it was a masterpiece. You aren't ready for Tarkovsky yet.
 
Revan said:
Solaris - was this supposed to be the 2001 and Blade Runner Russian version merged together? Very likely not. Anyway...

The first half of it was okay although extremely slow and almost pointless. Then after he went to the station it had a good suspense with a lot of potential for what the hell is going on. Shame that it didn't last and they explained everything very fast and then went into a pointless love affair which was supposed to make you feel about characters, and to me, spectacularily failed. And then it had the most pointless ever ending - with an even cheaper than Inception final scene - which apparently will make you think about it, if the protagonist stayed there and was living his dream life without living at all (or something like that) or that he just returned at Earth but a cunami has happenede near his house and make an island there.

The music was good, the directing was really good, the idea originally was great but was so underdeveloped that it made it pointless, then acting was good, the developing of the story was shit - as it was the story itself - and the ending was the worst part. 4/10
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No one can accuse you of lacking strong, definite opinions, Revan.

What's your take on human existence?
 
Revan must be nailing like 5 classics a day now. Maybe you should intersperse it with some X-men or some or other shite, it's too much to take in!
 
R.N7 said:
"pointless love affair" You have watched too many Kubrick films in a row. I hated Solyaris when I first saw it but when I returned to it a few years later I realized that it was a masterpiece. You aren't ready for Tarkovsky yet.
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Probably. I am struggling with these classic foreign directors. The Seventh Seal was way better (and fortunately lasted shorter) but still was left disappointed with it, and I remember not liking at all Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

This one was a bit worse cause I was liking the movie very much until it went strong into personal feelings which I couldn't linke with. The story - which until then I thought will be the main topic - felt underdeveloped to me and they went full romance on a neutrino made being (which anyway they 'forgot' to explain what exactly was happening, although I understand that it wasn't the point of the movie).

If I had knew that it was supposed to be a romance movie instead of sci-fi, I made have hold a slightly higher opinion about it. I definitely hated the ending scene though, a dirty cheap trick.

Lets hope that Stalker is better.

Will Absolute said:
No one can accuse you of lacking strong, definite opinions, Revan.

What's your take on human existence?
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Product of evolution. If that asteroid wouldn't have changed it's direction millions of years ago and kill those giant lizards, we wouldn't be here now. Anyway, out of topic.
 
Tarrou said:
Revan must be nailing like 5 classics a day now. Maybe you should intersperse it with some X-men or some or other shite, it's too much to take in!
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I've lost the interest on the average new movies a couple of years ago. So now, most of the time I am watching classics. I didn't knew that I have missed so much, it looks a never-ending list.
 
Revan said:
Probably. I am struggling with these classic foreign directors. The Seventh Seal was way better (and fortunately lasted shorter) but still was left disappointed with it, and I remember not liking at all Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

This one was a bit worse cause I was liking the movie very much until it went strong into personal feelings which I couldn't linke with. The story - which until then I thought will be the main topic - felt underdeveloped to me and they went full romance on a neutrino made being (which anyway they 'forgot' to explain what exactly was happening, although I understand that it wasn't the point of the movie).

If I had knew that it was supposed to be a romance movie instead of sci-fi, I made have hold a slightly higher opinion about it. I definitely hated the ending scene though, a dirty cheap trick.

Lets hope that Stalker is better.



Product of evolution. If that asteroid wouldn't have changed it's direction millions of years ago and kill those giant lizards, we wouldn't be here now. Anyway, out of topic.
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Tarkovsky is a very spiritual and metaphysical director, it's not meant to be a romance or a sci-fi film really, and the ending is no trick. Literal and rational thinking is of no use. Terrence Malick is kinda like an amphetamine version of him.
 
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Muscle Shoals (a documentary) was added to Netflix so I watched it tonight. The first mention I ever heard, or remember, of Muscle Shoals is from "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Trying to figure out what exactly "The Swampers" were, I looked it up online and found out that it's a tiny town in Alabama where a long list of artists have recorded. It's a "who's who" list of American, and British, musicians and bands. They all came to play with a group of session musicians who had their own sound. The documentary gives a history of the FAME studio and the eventual offshoot that the Swampers made when they left to form their own studio. While George Wallace was preventing black students from attending integrated schools and most whites were openly racist in Alabama, the musicians at Muscle Shoals worked together regardless of race. Because of their sound, most people thought the Swampers were a group of black guys only to find out once they arrived that they were mostly a group of white country boys. Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Rolling Stones, Duane Allman, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and so on all played in Muscle Shoals. Interviews with many of the artists, at least those still alive, are very interesting. There had to be some reason all these people left London, New York, and LA to go record in the middle of no where. 9/10
 
R.N7 said:
Tarkovsky is a very spiritual and metaphysical director, it's not meant to be a romance or a sci-fi film really, and the ending is no trick. Literal and rational thinking is of no use. Terrence Malick is kinda like an amphetamine version of him.
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The only movie of him I have seen is The New World. I absolutely hated it.
 
Revan said:
The only movie of him I have seen is The New World. I absolutely hated it.
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I haven't seen The New World, but Badlands is brilliant and Days of Heaven truely beautiful (and short enough not to annoy me). I absolutely hated Tree of Life. Wasn't a big fan of Thin Red Line either, but I rarely like war films, so that could be my fault.
 
Balu said:
I haven't seen The New World, but Badlands is brilliant and Days of Heaven truely beautiful (and short enough not to annoy me). I absolutely hated Tree of Life. Wasn't a big fan of Thin Red Line either, but I rarely like war films, so that could be my fault.
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That tickles me; never been a fan of Badlands or Days of Heaven, but Tree of Life and Thin Red Line are some of my all time favourites! Malick's films, like Kubrick's I suppose, have got this Marmite quality to them.
 
Week End - Sort of a bourgeois apocalypse film. Very angry and political and it seemed like a big "feck it" film from Godard before he disappeared from the mainstream eye. It had it's good absurd moments, like Emily Bronte being set on fire, but it sort of lost me towards the end with all the inchorent pretentious turgidness.
 
Days of Heaven (1978) - Decided to watch this again as it's been probably 15 years since I first saw it, and loved it even more on second viewing. The score, the visuals and compelling storyline are all wrapped together nicely by the narration to give it an almost hypnotic, dream-like quality. Like an almost perfect memory of a distant time that is touched with sadness, because you know you'll never get it back. Wonderful film. 8.5/10

Edit: haha weird, didn't notice this was mentioned just two posts up!
 
Tarrou said:
Days of Heaven (1978) - Decided to watch this again as it's been probably 15 years since I first saw it, and loved it even more on second viewing. The score, the visuals and compelling storyline are all wrapped together nicely by the narration to give it an almost hypnotic, dream-like quality. Like an almost perfect memory of a distant time that is touched with sadness, because you know you'll never get it back. Wonderful film. 8.5/10

Edit: haha weird, didn't notice this was mentioned just two posts up!
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I just acquired it again seeing as I have a big screen now and also because there's a blu-ray version of it now as well. It looks magnificent.

Malick should be made to watch it whilst being subjected to the Ludovico technique from A Clockwork Orange, in order to make him realize that his lingering camera is better than his 30 different shots of a persons back during one minute camera.
 
Unlikely lad said:
That tickles me; never been a fan of Badlands or Days of Heaven, but Tree of Life and Thin Red Line are some of my all time favourites!
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It's sometimes difficult to evaluate movies if you don't go out and watch them on the big screen with proper concentration. I kind of watched Badlands and Days of Heaven on DVD with loads of other shit going on and didn't appreciate them. Then I saw Tree of Life and thought it brilliant but flawed - enough to make me go back and see Thin Red Line, which I thought was absolutely brilliant.
 
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