Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

peterstorey said:
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.
Click to expand...
Completely agree and I'd say it's even more true for Malick films that really require intellectual investment on the spectator's part.
 
peterstorey said:
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.
Click to expand...

Very true.

Watched them in that same order as well, tempted to revisit Badlands and Days of Heaven and see if they make a different impression. Not seen To the Wonder either, but haven't heard great things about it.

Looking forward to his next two films as well; Bale, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchette are starring in both!
 
Unlikely lad said:
Very true.

Watched them in that same order as well, tempted to revisit Badlands and Days of Heaven and see if they make a different impression. Not seen To the Wonder either, but haven't heard great things about it.

Looking forward to his next two films as well; Bale, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchette are starring in both!
Click to expand...
I'm gonna watch them properly, Riverside at Hammersmith does double bills but I can't watch more than one film a day.
 
Sounds fun, but two Malick films in a day does sound like one of Dante's nine circles though.

Might look for a job in an art house cinema in London over the summer, nothing beats free classic films on the big screen.
 
Just watched Only God Forgives. For the second time mind. I'm probably the only person in the history of cinema who has watched it twice voluntarily. Underwhelmed last time but was persuaded by someone allegedly more knowledgeable than me about all the hidden meanings about consumerism, rape of other cultures by the US, yada yada. So thought I'd give it a second chance. Whatever the square root of underwhelmed is, that pretty much sums up my second viewing. I think I gave it a 5/10 last time. It gets a 3/10 this time. And this coming from someone who loved Drive. And would bone Gosling. Although not sure the wife and kids would approve. But this was as bad as Pacific Rim. And that's bad.
 
Prophet_of_Doom said:
Just watched Only God Forgives. For the second time mind. I'm probably the only person in the history of cinema who has watched it twice voluntarily. Underwhelmed last time but was persuaded by someone allegedly more knowledgeable than me about all the hidden meanings about consumerism, rape of other cultures by the US, yada yada. So thought I'd give it a second chance. Whatever the square root of underwhelmed is, that pretty much sums up my second viewing. I think I gave it a 5/10 last time. It gets a 3/10 this time. And this coming from someone who loved Drive. And would bone Gosling. Although not sure the wife and kids would approve. But this was as bad as Pacific Rim. And that's bad.
Click to expand...

Loved Refn's previous films as well, so I was incredibly disappointed with Only God Forgives.

The lack of subtlety is jarring;

Man with an obvious Oedipus complex sticks his 'katana' into his dead mother's 'loins'? Really?
 
I never reviewed these in here.

Alice in the Cities - A New York to Rhine road movie, an alienated journalist and an abandoned girl trying to find home, the black and white cinematography really suited the landscapes and the soundtrack by Can was nice. The scenario could never have happened today so it's sort of a window to another time. Road films doesn't come better.

Kings of the Road - I like the literal German title "In the Course of Time" more. You could tell that much of it was improvised as it's not as focused as Alice in the Cities and it was quite ponderous at times, but from the time to time there were some really inspired scenes and dialogues that really made the film.

Rüdiger Vogler might just be the most German man of all time.
 
Last edited:
Scooby Doo: WrestleMania Mystery

Typical Scooby Doo cartoon with a WWE theme. You get to see animated superstars helping out in solving the mystery. Most kids nowadays like cartoons and/or WWE, so will be a hit with them. Loose plot with all typicsl cliches make this one up too. Ends with sandard 'meddling kids' dialogue. Kane is awesome badass and AJ Lee still is :drool:


Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Run of the mill action movie. Interesting plot, but lack of depth makes the storyline too obvious. Jack Ryan starts off as a marine and transfers as CIA analyst buth then transforms into a analytical Sherlock minded Jason Bourne. It is vaguely interesting but never keeps you engrossed.

Rating: 6/10
 
Last edited:
peterstorey said:
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.
Click to expand...

I think films should be evaluated on both big and small screen. Too often I find films poorly rated by film critics due to the film not being worthy of taking up 2 hours of your life in a cinema. But play that same film at home without the expectancy and it'll probably be more appreciated.

I dislike the majority of film critics, is what Im trying to say.
 
The Butler - Based loosely on a true story, the film covers the life of an African American man from growing up in the south in the cotton fields to serving consecutive presidents at the white house. I didnt feel the characters really came to life, but the story did well to show the black rights movement from the eyes of one normal man. 7.5/10

 
Lucky Them Toni Collette, Thomas Hayden Church, Oliver Platt and some other bloke in a film about finding a rock star who disappeared a decade earlier. Seemed interesting and you wanted to like it, possibly like it a great deal, but it just meandered around and in the end it all felt a little underwhelming and pointless. Shame. maybe just 6/10
 
Edge of Tomorrow - Thoroughly enjoyable Sci-Fi Blockbuster romp. The action scenes/set-peices are nothing to write home about – especially coming off the back of something like X-Men (though there’s still a couple of nice shots in there) – but the premise and two strong leads (As an aside, Tom Cruise pulls of playing a coward quite well at the beginning of this film – which is a nice turn, even if it was brief) are more than enough to carry this film through. It won’t make a Tom Cruise top 5 (Some order of Rain Man, A Few Good Men, Minority Report, Collateral, and yes... Last Samurai) but it’s still worth a night at the cinema.

Still needed a cameo from Bill Murray though.
 
Europa Report
Decent low budget sci-fi film. Feels very claustrophobic and doesn't really confuse the viewer with over the top science lingo. Decent performances, nice lighting and shot composition and it really feels like report footage, adding to it's believability. Quite enjoyed it 6.5/10
 
AkaAkuma said:
The Butler - Based loosely on a true story, the film covers the life of an African American man from growing up in the south in the cotton fields to serving consecutive presidents at the white house. I didnt feel the characters really came to life, but the story did well to show the black rights movement from the eyes of one normal man. 7.5/10

Click to expand...


Good movie, completely agree with you about the characters... I never felt that invested in them, with some of the content in the movie (black rights) you'd think you should be more sympathetic.

All an all a decent watch though :)
 
A Clockwork Orange

Watched this a few days back since I'd already read the book. Don't know how to rate it since it's a really weird film. Well directed, acted with a memorable soundtrack and it's arguably easier to watch than to read since trying to follow all the slang could be a drag at times. Too weird for me to truly enjoy as such, but still a good watch and the guy that played Alex was excellent. Should probably go and watch some more Kubrick films now as well.
 
Win Win (2011)

Just finished watching this superb movie this morning, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Plot: A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he's double-crossed comes into his life.

Win Win provides us with Paul Giamatti in the lead role as the struggling Lawyer and stressed out father who volunteers at the local high school's wrestling team. His law practice is failing and he struggles to pay the bills to keep food on the table, in a ruse he double crosses his client to get some income to provide his own family. Out of nowhere his clients grandson shows up and feeling guilt ridden and in an attempt to hide his con he takes teenager Kyle (Alex Shaffer is fantastic here also as the confused angst ridden teen) into his own home, unbeknownst to him Kyle is a wrestling prodigy and turns the fortunes around of the high schools failing wrestling squad.

While wrestling might not be on many peoples hobbies list this movie is superbly made and you really feel for Giamatti and his bad luck and the impending battles he faces as he struggles to hid his double cross from Kyle and his grandfather.

I'd highly recommend this movie for all on here, it has a fantastic cast with wonderful script and for all its heart felt content it is filled with some fantastic comedy moments from Giamatti, Amy Ryan & Geoffery Tambor (Arrested Development, There's Something About Mary) to keep things light through out.

8.5/10


 
I watched Win Win last night too. A little contrived and Sideways light but it's an enjoyable feel good drama. Quite similar in tone to the director's previous work The Station Agent. The cast help lift it.
 
Safe (1995) - Pretty haunting low-key film. The illness remained ambiguous but I couldn't help but feel that it was all a metaphor for AIDS. Todd Haynes must be one of the most underrated American directors of the last 20 years.
 
Last edited:
R.N7 said:
Safe (1995) - Pretty haunting low-key film. The illness remained ambiguous but I couldn't help but feel that it was all a metaphor for AIDS. Todd Haynes must be one of the most underrated American directors of the last 20 years.
Click to expand...

Would it make for a good double feature alongside Jason Statham's Safe...?
 
Palo Alto - a facsimile of better films about teenagers, too much in the mould of Gia Coppola's sister's films. Was well made in a ho hum way, I don't know why films about teens need to make everyone so hateable. The redeeming characters are too limp and disaffected to get on with too.
 
It was recently discussed in the top 50 films thread I think, it ranked quite high which I'm quite surprised about. I think it kinda still holds up as a decent action film, but I find the story laughable now I'm not 13 anymore. It thinks it's so clever and metaphysical and philosophical and whatnot, but it's just a mess of loads of different re-hashed stuff. The acting is pretty awful for most parts, and it already looks dated.

My heart is sad when it's talked about as one of the best sci-fi films ever.

And the less said about the following 2 films, the better.
 
I tried to rewatch Matrix last week when @Revan called it arguably the best scifi film of all time, but the first 30minutes were totally unbearable, so I gave up. The acting is wooden, the effects look ridiculous and the 'real' scenes aged horribly. The dialogues are cringeworthy and mostly stupid.

I then went back and watched World on a Wire again, which was my first intelligent sci-fi film, wanted to know if it aged badly as well.

Thought the restored version was excellent, even though the story doesn't work as well as it probably did in '73. Film noir meets cyber punk, told at a slow pace but with some brilliant segments.
 
I still get a kick out of the Matrix - despite how badly it has dated (and it has dated very, very badly) - and you can't deny it's influence within the genre/action films... but, it's nowhere near the best Sci-Fi film of all time.
 
I don't actually think it's had that big of an influence, except for the bullet time thing. Most of it is just re-hashed stuff from Asian cinema and manga, and different ideas from various philosophies and religions. Not to mention the borderline plagiarism from other media.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I don't actually think it's had that big of an influence, except for the bullet time thing. Most of it is just re-hashed stuff from Asian cinema and manga, and different ideas from various philosophies and religions. Not to mention the borderline plagiarism from other media.
Click to expand...

Which is big in of itself no?

It took a lot from Manga, but ultimately - someone has to take the step to put that stuff on a mainstream screen before it becomes part of modern culture - and that's what the Matrix did to an extent.
 
Yeah I guess the bullet time has been re-used quite extensively, but what I meant was that if that's its only influence, it's not much to write home about. But I probably say this cos I think it's a bit of a shit 'special effect'.
 
Since you guys are film buffs, how good is The Birds?

I really enjoyed Rear Window, North By Northwest and Strangers On A Train. I am still not sure about Vertigo.

Should I get it on the blind assumption that being a Hitchcock movie it should be good?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.