Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Whiplash: Simmons has always been a really solid actor and he's great here as the abusive jazz teacher. It would be easy to just chew the scenery to bits but he stops just shy of that, he reminded me of some of my college lecturers in the moments when he wasn't effing and blinding. Miles Teller surprised me with his performance too. The writing isn't always up to snuff, their interactions are great, but there's a lot of short cuts taken with the story
He just happens to come across a jazz club Simmons is playing in wandering around New York after he's given up jazz, gotten kicked out of school and gotten Simmons fired for example

But the acting and that fantastic music made it a great watch.

8/10
 
R.N7 said:
btw.

Click to expand...


I'm told by the Youtube comments beneath that this might be a joke based on the film itself although the director himself has refused to confirm that.

Archie Leach said:
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.
Click to expand...

It certainly deals with them in an interesting way based on the "incident" but not interestingly enough for me to sustain consistent interest over just under 2 hours. Also I'm not sure there is that much of a build up needed before the "man based incident". However I can't fault the films purpose and intent, it just needed a good editor IMHO.
 
Whiplash

Fantastic film. Incredibly tense throughout. Miles Teller is excellent in the lead role, allowing you to sympathise with him through his determination, successes and failures, but JK Simmons steals the show and will probably win the supporting actor Oscar. He's fecking terrifying. There are moments in the film when you think, "He's actually not too bad a guy and just quite strict", before he then does something that reminds you how scary he can be. Very rare a character can almost manage to intimidate you from the other side of the screen, but he does it. The interactions between the two main characters are superb too, with it giving a sinister outlook on the typical student and master thing.

It does well to keep up that tension, especially when the often long practice/performance sequences could've easily fallen flat had everything not worked so well. There's often a sort of claustrophobic feel to it, and the directing is brilliant throughout.

Probably my favourite film of the current Oscar bunch. Some of the others are perhaps more ambitious or significant in what they attempt to do, but this simply gripped me from start to finish and had some superb sequences with an incredibly memorable villain.

9/10
 
BAMSOLA said:
I'm told by the Youtube comments beneath that this might be a joke based on the film itself although the director himself has refused to confirm that.



It certainly deals with them in an interesting way based on the "incident" but not interestingly enough for me to sustain consistent interest over just under 2 hours. Also I'm not sure there is that much of a build up needed before the "man based incident". However I can't fault the films purpose and intent, it just needed a good editor IMHO.
Click to expand...

Build up in regards to the conflict between husband and wife, not the avalanche. They way it unfolded slowly made it extremely uncomfortable.
 
Oh my god does the Amazing Spider Man 2 seem terrible. I'm 15 minutes in. Do I keep watching?
 
Wonder Pigeon said:
Whiplash: Simmons has always been a really solid actor and he's great here as the abusive jazz teacher. It would be easy to just chew the scenery to bits but he stops just shy of that, he reminded me of some of my college lecturers in the moments when he wasn't effing and blinding. Miles Teller surprised me with his performance too. The writing isn't always up to snuff, their interactions are great, but there's a lot of short cuts taken with the story
He just happens to come across a jazz club Simmons is playing in wandering around New York after he's given up jazz, gotten kicked out of school and gotten Simmons fired for example

But the acting and that fantastic music made it a great watch.

8/10
Click to expand...

Yeah, the random meeting seemed a tad contrived and coincidental, since they were basically using that scene in order to pull the story from the middle to the end. Although it was executed well enough so that it didn't really bother me too much.
 
Imitation Game - very good film, great role from Cumberbatch and good job by Knightley as well. It manages to tell the story without boring audience for even a second and the atmosphere of the whole movie is fantastic. 8.5/10

Whiplash - amazing, great movie, one of the best I've seen in years, very tense. Simmons was incredible, cannot look past him for Academy Awards. 9.5/10
 
I was forced to watch Gone Girl again with someone over the weekend and it's not good. You can deduct at least 3 points from the score I didn't give it before.

What's happened to Fincher anyway? He's made 3 great movies but nothing really good since Zodiac.
 
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.
Click to expand...
I read a small theory based on the ending of Birdman and I have to agree that it's the best explanation for the ending. I've adapted it a bit more with things I noticed, but here are the key points:

Riggan is dead after shooting himself on stage and the final scene is actually his funeral. Riggan's wife & Jake are only talking to each other during the final scene, Jake has become obsessed with how much of a hit the show will now be running forever and the studios will want to make contact again. Before Jake leaves he rants at Riggan stating "This is what you wanted!" before angrily ushering away the paparazzi guy who tries to grab a picture shouting "This is a hospital you motherfecker" - replace hospital with funeral, why would the press have access inside the hospital!? Sylvia, dressed all in black, just looks at Riggan questions whether it was an accident, Riggan never responds, Sylvia just kisses him on the head and then leaves. Sam then enters the room bringing the alchemillas Riggan really wanted earlier on in the film and places these directly on his chest! Now Sam is the only other person in the film who shows any signs of mental issues and it may have snapped once Riggan dies, the key sign being that she is the only one in this whole scene who holds a conversation with Riggan. Sam tells Riggan how he looks hideous after taking a picture of him for his twitter page, now the interesting line comes with the quote "You already have 80 thousand followers in less than a day. And I'm about to scare the shit out of them." why would a picture of Riggan recovering in hospital scare the shit out of them. More like a picture of a hideous looking dead Riggan in his casket is something that would no doubt scare his followers. The very final scene of Sam looking out of the window looking for her dad she firstly hesitates to look downwards at the ground (hell) but see's nothing. Instead she looks up, smiles and see's him "flying" quite possibly representing him ascending to heaven.
 
CassiusClaymore said:
I was forced to watch Gone Girl again with someone over the weekend and it's not good. You can deduct at least 3 points from the score I didn't give it before.

What's happened to Fincher anyway? He's made 3 great movies but nothing really good since Zodiac.
Click to expand...
Social Network was terrific. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was aggressively pointless.
 
Just watched Whiplash again. I would love to know...

Who stole the folder from that chair in the 4 or 5 seconds that it was there :lol:
 
CassiusClaymore said:
Didn't
Simmons
take it? Or at least that was the implication.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I got from it.

He knew Andrew could play Whiplash, so worked up an excuse to test him on it. And he wanted to be a dick, of course.
 
The Anomaly - Not good

Storage 24 - Worse

Credit to Noel Clarke for trying to write/direct british films and what not... but I'm not convinced he's very good at it.
 
American Sniper
Was well excited for this but it was a let down. Pro-america propaganda. Cooper was good in the role but I couldn't give two shits about his character and it just felt like it went from one shoot out to another. Should have concentrated more on the psychological effects of his job, which is what the trailer made it to look like. The stakes never seemed high enough. Disappointed 5/10

Foxcatcher
Decent performances all around, especially from Tatum but the film was oddly paced and just didn't feel seamless as a film should do. I kept expecting Carrell to break out in full force comedy mode but I guess that's more my problem rather than his. Once they bought Ruffalo in and concentrated less on Tatum, I completely lost interest in the film 5.5/10

Secrets In The Walls
I like a slow brooding horror flick and this is how it began. Cliched storyline but a decent build up nonetheless. However, it never really got going and before you know it, it just finished. If the second half of the film had enough scares to match the tension of the first half, this could have been half decent 5/10
 
The Unborn.

Wish I had taken heed of the other review on here, it was dreadful, even the jumpy scary bit were not scary, but the lead actress was very tasty so made it just bearable.

3/10

100 Bloody Acres.

An Australian Comic Horror film, that was just bloody terrible.

1/10
 
pauldyson1uk said:
The Unborn.

Wish I had taken heed of the other review on here, it was dreadful, even the jumpy scary bit were not scary, but the lead actress was very tasty so made it just bearable.

3/10

100 Bloody Acres.

An Australian Comic Horror film, that was just bloody terrible.

1/10
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've enjoyed your free time lately :D
 
It wasn't a dig by the way, just made me laugh how little you enjoyed the films.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
American Sniper
Was well excited for this but it was a let down. Pro-america propaganda. Cooper was good in the role but I couldn't give two shits about his character and it just felt like it went from one shoot out to another. Should have concentrated more on the psychological effects of his job, which is what the trailer made it to look like. The stakes never seemed high enough. Disappointed 5/10
Click to expand...
Agreed, this seems to be a common complaint too.
 
Ida

Fantastic film. Haunting and emotive, with great performances from the two lead characters. Thought the aunt/niece relationship was done very well, and the characters were superbly developed over the course of the film.

9/10
 
American Sniper - (Some minor spoilers ahead about the themes of the film) It was fine, and I sort of enjoyed it - but I still have no clue what the film was trying to say - or even what the point of it was. Was it about the psychological affects of War? No - because, whilst it fannies around the topic, it never really even attempts to dig into it - and just when you think the film is going that way, there's a resolution almost imminently. So is it just a simple character piece? Sort of, but then, for a bloke who's killed so many people - why do we learn so little about him as the film progresses? Everything you need to know about the character, you learn in the first 20 minutes, and nothing changes.... so if it is a character piece, it's a hugely under-realized one.

Bradley Cooper was good in it - not Oscar great or anything, but good... the direction was pretty uninspired from Eastwood - you've seen this film several times before, nothing really new in it... in fact, the trailer is probably the best bit about this film.
 
The Phoenix Project.

Very disappointing with this, the trailer was very promising but never produced for me.
I was expecting something completely different to what I watched, no I did not like this at all.

3/10
 
Last edited:
The Terminator
Still love it. Not as good as the second but still a great film. Needed to watch a classic after lots of shit films that I have watched recently 8/10
 
You must log in or register to reply here.