Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Annihilate Now! said:
Foxcatcher - Not sure how I feel about this one. It's a very slow, cold, methodical movie - that really doesn't give much away... and asks the viwer to read as much into every scene as you possible can, because it's not going to spoon-feed you anything (which I could say is almost to its detrement, but it feels odd complaining about a film that doesn't spell everything out for the audience) - and yet I feel like chunks of the story and character breakdowns are either underplayed, not explored enough or ommitted entirely... as if there was a lote more going on here that we didn't get to see. Ultiamtely though, it is an actors film for actors - and everyone in it is very good... and its weird that Tatum hasn't got as much praise as the other two, as he's every bit as good in my view.
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I agree with you here. I could kind of appreciate that a lot of it was good, and that it was well made and subtle, but it kind of felt like there was more there to explore.

On Tatum, I agree he was very good, all three main actors were. I kind of find it strange though that Carell's up for the lead actor awards, since to me Tatum's character seemed like the main lead for most of the movie. It's largely his story we follow, his progress and failures that mark the movie, his character that changes throughout, and his relationship with his brother Du Pont which is explored, who seemed much more like the supporting mysterious character. Still, Carell probably does deserve a nomination nevertheless.
 
TooBias said:
You're obviously looking for problems. The camera work added to the idiosyncrasy of the spectacle, and considering it was executed by Lubezki, I'm not sure if you're in a position to call it 'daft'.

And you obviously haven't seen Diana.
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Well what puts anyone in a position to comment on it then? The camerawork was needlessly self conscious, not the first time from this director either, Babels cinematography was similarly laboured.

And fair point, I'd forgotten Diana happened.
 
The Interview - A forgettable film. Doubt I, or many other people, would watch it if not for the controversy with the hacking and cinemas refusing to show it. I wonder if Sony honey-potted everyone to go watch this shit - 2/10.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Whiplash
When I saw the short for this a few years back I was praying for a feature and I'm glad it's happened. Brilliantly acted, great characters, great story and more tension than you can shake a drumstick at. Felt like the jazz version of Black Swan. I was left wanting more and J.K. Simmons has best supporting actor Oscar in the bag 9/10
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Much worse than Black Swan (some achievement). Hours of tedious MOR jazz practice, larded with a shit cliched nasty-to-be-nice narrative. 1/10.
 
Whiplash - Thoroughly enjoyed it. Just a fantastic movie. Both lead performances were brilliant. 9/10

American Sniper - I liked the movie I just came away thinking it was slightly lacklustre in some way which I can't put my finger on. The end shocked me too as I had not read anything about it other than seeing one trailer.
I literally had no Idea that Chris had died as I assumed he was alive cause the movie was based on his book.
6.9/10
 
House Of Bodies
Why do I keep doing this to myself? Tonally all over the place. No redeeming features at all. One of the worst films I have seen 1/10
 
Man of Tai Chai 5/10

It's on Sky Prem at the moment. The plot is risible, but that seems par for the course in most martial arts movies which are basically vehicles to showcase the protagonists' skills. I don't know if Keanu Reeves, as director, is trying to make it more credible my making it predominantly a Chinese language movie, but it boils down to fairly basic fight to save the temple fare with fairly dull criminal underworld/Fight Club sub-plots. Some of the martial arts scenes are pretty cool tbf, which is why it gets a 5. On a plot alone basis, it gets 1 or 2. Passable entertainment on a Saturday night after a few beers, but nowhere near as good The Raid fight scene-wise and Keanu wooden as ever. Not over-long though at around 1hr40.
 
So, the Birdman ending......

He dies when he shoots himself on stage, right? On the basis that:

A) At that point we see a scene cut for the first time (I think)
B) It flashes back to the comet we saw at the start of the film.
C) After that point he seems to get everything he wanted. Standing ovation, great review from the critic who hated him, best friend happy, relationship with both wife and daughter looking good.
D) Stone acts as if he has flown from the window, which we know is only possible in his head.
 
sullydnl said:
So, the Birdman ending......

He dies when he shoots himself on stage, right? On the basis that:

A) At that point we see a scene cut for the first time (I think)
B) It flashes back to the comet we saw at the start of the film.
C) After that point he seems to get everything he wanted. Standing ovation, great review from the critic who hated him, best friend happy, relationship with both wife and daughter looking good.
D) Stone acts as if he has flown from the window, which we know is only possible in his head.
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Probably yeah.
 
sullydnl said:
So, the Birdman ending......

He dies when he shoots himself on stage, right? On the basis that:

A) At that point we see a scene cut for the first time (I think)
B) It flashes back to the comet we saw at the start of the film.
C) After that point he seems to get everything he wanted. Standing ovation, great review from the critic who hated him, best friend happy, relationship with both wife and daughter looking good.
D) Stone acts as if he has flown from the window, which we know is only possible in his head.
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He really is the Birdman!

But i agree i took it as though he had killed himself and what happened after was some sort of afterlife
 
Cained loads of films with dry January and all the screeners out...

Whiplash: 8/10
Not a film I'd usually watch, not a fan of the generic music/ dance competition films but clearly this was very different. JK Simmons was awesome.

Birdman: 9.5/10
Original filming, great acting all over the place, laugh out loud moments throughout.

The Interview: 7/10
A lot of fun. Easy watching, a lot of silly/ laugh out loud scenes.

Foxcatcher: 7.5/10
Great acting throughout. Changing Tatum was excellent and should have a nomination ahead of Carrell in my opinion. Slow film though. Changes in story felt random at times.

Imitation Games: 8.5/10
Nostalgia feeling for myself as my Maths building at the University of Manchester was called the Alan Turing Building. Cumberbutch was fantastic. Excellent story.

John Wick: 9/10
Pure action. No plot. So good. The only one of this list that I texted all my mates telling them they had to watch haha.
 
Andy_Cole said:
Cained loads of films with dry January and all the screeners out...

Whiplash: 8/10
Not a film I'd usually watch, not a fan of the generic music/ dance competition films but clearly this was very different. JK Simmons was awesome.

Birdman: 9.5/10
Original filming, great acting all over the place, laugh out loud moments throughout.

The Interview: 7/10
A lot of fun. Easy watching, a lot of silly/ laugh out loud scenes.

Foxcatcher: 7.5/10
Great acting throughout. Changing Tatum was excellent and should have a nomination ahead of Carrell in my opinion. Slow film though. Changes in story felt random at times.

Imitation Games: 8.5/10
Nostalgia feeling for myself as my Maths building at the University of Manchester was called the Alan Turing Building. Cumberbutch was fantastic. Excellent story.

John Wick: 9/10
Pure action. No plot. So good. The only one of this list that I texted all my mates telling them they had to watch haha.
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You do know it was a true story right?
 
Berbaclass said:
You do know it was a true story right?
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Yes but I felt the movie perhaps didn't develop some things as it should have. I have now read the store having watched the movie and found out some situations were happening over months, years even. Watching the movie you'd have no idea.
 
Force Majeure: An at times interesting, although slightly limited and overly long film. It could have stood to lose about 30 minutes off its just under 2 hour run time as it runs out of steam in parts and feels a little like it is filling time; despite the beautiful scenery with which it chooses to fill a lot of that time with. It is certainly beautifully shot, well observed and as I mentioned a lot of the time interesting however it feel a lot like an intriguing scenario stretched over more time than that scenario could possibly hope to sustain interest. Decent film that is well written with some funny moments, it is also well-acted but sadly a little lacking in places to go ideas wise over the just under 2 hour running time.


6.5/10
 
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Great wee film. Oddly funny at times, looked superb and lavish, with an excellent cast and superb lead performance from Ralph Fiennes. Wasn't as sold on the performance of the young kid, although Fiennes managed to carry him through the film with their interactions most of the time.

Quite a sad ending too, considering it seemed like everything would work out okay.

8/10
 
Berbaclass said:
American Sniper - I liked the movie I just came away thinking it was slightly lacklustre in some way which I can't put my finger on. The end shocked me too as I had not read anything about it other than seeing one trailer.
I literally had no Idea that Chris had died as I assumed he was alive cause the movie was based on his book.
6.9/10
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That is a fair score for this film. I though Cooper did quite well portraying Kyle but by no means is this Eastwoods best or this is an Oscar worthy film as a whole. I thought Eastwood went out of his way to make Kyle infallible or maybe that was Kyles own doing from his book. Some parts just seemed overly hokey.


It seemed like he was being referred to as "Legend" in every other scene. It was way OTT. And calling his wife in the middle of operations? Was that for dramatic purposes or did Kyle really do that?
 
Rooney in Dublin said:
Do you like Malick's other stuff usually?
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My first ever Malick. Admittedly, I'm probably not in the front row of its target audience.

I imagine this film was aimed at the serious film fan - the kind of enthusiast who eagerly anticipates the latest black and white animation short from Bulgaria, with its heartrending story of the hopeless love of a lavatory attendant for the man in a charcoal grey suit who comes in every Thursday and pees in urinal no. 2.

From what I saw, I did think I got what the film was saying - be we dinosaur or human, we're all children of the cosmos, infused with the same spiritual essence (for want of better language). The style is, I would guess, the author's way of making the audience feel that pantheistic idea, instead of merely intellectually sympathizing with it.

But is that a movie? A matter of taste, I suppose. But if it found an audience who appreciated it, there's no more to be said.
 
Will Absolute said:
I imagine this film was aimed at the serious film fan - the kind of enthusiast who eagerly anticipates the latest black and white animation short from Bulgaria, with its heartrending story of the hopeless love of a lavatory attendant for the man in a charcoal grey suit who comes in every Thursday and pees in urinal no. 2.
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:lol:
 
Will Absolute said:
My first ever Malick. Admittedly, I'm probably not in the front row of its target audience.

I imagine this film was aimed at the serious film fan - the kind of enthusiast who eagerly anticipates the latest black and white animation short from Bulgaria, with its heartrending story of the hopeless love of a lavatory attendant for the man in a charcoal grey suit who comes in every Thursday and pees in urinal no. 2.

From what I saw, I did think I got what the film was saying - be we dinosaur or human, we're all children of the cosmos, infused with the same spiritual essence (for want of better language). The style is, I would guess, the author's way of making the audience feel that pantheistic idea, instead of merely intellectually sympathizing with it.

But is that a movie? A matter of taste, I suppose. But if it found an audience who appreciated it, there's no more to be said.
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Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey does that infinite times better.

Tree of life is just garbage
 
I'd rather watch the man in the charcoal great suit piss in urinal no.2 on repeat than finishing Tree of Life.
 
Pscholes18 said:
It seemed like he was being referred to as "Legend" in every other scene. It was way OTT. And calling his wife in the middle of operations? Was that for dramatic purposes or did Kyle really do that?
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I kept thinking this too...

I don't get how she didn't think she could be putting him in more danger than he already is by phoning him and distracting him. Thought it was a bit of a daft thing to do.
 
R.N7 said:
Force Majeure was decent but I don't really get all the gaga praise. Östlund's earlier films are better imo.
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BAMSOLA said:
Definitely, I can't say I've ever knowingly watched any of Östlund's other films before this. But this felt decent but no more and could really have been told over 90 mins or possibly under.
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I thought it dealt with gender roles in a really interesting way, better than any film I can think of. It possibly could've lost a few minutes but I don't know how that would've affected the build up of tension.
 
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