Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

It was released last week in France. We got a lot of the major releases later than the US or UK (Birdman isn't out yet for example), but for smaller films, the distribution channels are quite good and we tend to get them quite soon. IMDB indicates it's released on February 27th in the UK apparently.

I think you'll like it, it's an intelligent horror film.
Cant wait and its released the day after my birthday so great!
 
Boyhood

Cool idea and Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette were both great. Also thought the kids were great, when they were still kids. First hour or so was really engrossing and watching them grow up on screen felt like a genuinely novel experience.

Once the kids hit puberty, though, the fatal flaw in the whole premise was revealed. Child actors don't often make good adult actors. Last hour was spent in the company of a bland and charmless teenager who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Doing not much. Which was exactly as dull as that sounds. Disappointing.

5/10.

I didn't think the lead character was that bad to be honest, although Hawke and Arquette often did carry it to be fair. His sister was terrible though.
 
Boyhood

Cool idea and Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette were both great. Also thought the kids were great, when they were still kids. First hour or so was really engrossing and watching them grow up on screen felt like a genuinely novel experience.

Once the kids hit puberty, though, the fatal flaw in the whole premise was revealed. Child actors don't often make good adult actors. Last hour was spent in the company of a bland and charmless teenager who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Doing not much. Which was exactly as dull as that sounds. Disappointing.

5/10.

Pretty much how I felt about it. He get progressively worse at acting and more boring as he gets older(I think some of this is down to the direction he is being given) which is a shame as he was much more interesting as a character when he was younger. Half a really good film and the other half of a boring one.
 
Pretty much how I felt about it. He get progressively worse at acting and more boring as he gets older(I think some of this is down to the direction he is being given) which is a shame as he was much more interesting as a character when he was younger. Half a really good film and the other half of a boring one.

A friend of mine whose opinion I really trust loved the movie and completely disagrees with me. He admits he's not a great actor but doesn't think that spoils it. I dunno. He's asked to carry the movie for almost and hour and blatantly hasn't the chops to do it. Which is as disappointing as it annoying because he's got great screen presence as a child actor. Puberty was his kryptonite.

Also, the script. Was most of it improvised? The cod-philosophical rambling from him and his bird was really fecking tedious. Pretty much every scene involving exclusively teen actors was close to unwatchable IMO. Which made for a seriously lame closing act from a move which promised so much.
 
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Nah that kind of dialogue is one of the Linklater signatures. Personally I find the dorky sincerity of the language rather charming and it tends to undercut some of the more pretentious stuff.

I thought Boyhood was the director's best film. I really enjoyed it.
 
A friend of mine whose opinion I really trust loved the movie and completely disagrees with me. He admits he's not a great actor but doesn't think that spoils it. I dunno. He's asked to carry the movie for almost and hour and blatantly hasn't the chops to do it. Which is as disappointing as it annoying because he's got great screen presence as a child actor. Puberty was his kryptonite.

Also, the script. Was most of it improvised? The cod-philosophical rambling from him and his bird was really fecking tedious. Pretty much every scene involving exclusively teen actors was close to unwatchable IMO. Which made for a seriously lame closing act from a move which promised so much.
It was supposed to be pretentious, they even laughed at how silly they were at one point. Many teenagers are like that so I quite liked that scene, especially that laugh.

I liked the film but the Before trilogy remains Linklater's masterpiece for me.
 
I agree the dialogue in the teenager years was pretty bad, but I'm not sure it wasn't entirely meant to be. The film tries to be as authentic and real as possible, and the way the kid turns out is a pretty pretentious and dorky teen who, in real life, would probably say those type of things. The whole Facebook and living your life through a screen rant when they're driving to Austin or wherever was a bit shit but totally sounded like something a dickhead teenager could say.
 
I agree the dialogue in the teenager years was pretty bad, but I'm not sure it wasn't entirely meant to be. The film tries to be as authentic and real as possible, and the way the kid turns out is a pretty pretentious and dorky teen who, in real life, would probably say those type of things. The whole Facebook and living your life through a screen rant when they're driving to Austin or wherever was a bit shit but totally sounded like something a dickhead teenager could say.

Yeah that's what I was thinking about. Hard to know how much was down to the lame dialogue and how much down to lame acting but it made toe-curling viewing regardless. I know it was supposed to be just the way teens talk but I've seen similar scenes in other movies that felt far more authentic and naturalistic.

Also, their
break up
discussion was woeful. I put it mainly down to him being a shit actor but the script didn't help.

Oh and the very last scene in the film. Ugh. Was such an underwhelming way to close.
 
The politics was also pretty weak, and even the dual drunk step-dads was a bit OTT. If it had been several actors playing the kids over the years, it may have even veered close to being a bad film.

My opinion of it is closer to yours than Bafta or the Academy tbf. I admired it, but I didn't really like it.
 
What was bad about the politics? I think that went over my head.

Good point about how it might be perceived without the central conceit. A long, dull soap opera. With bad actors (although casting different actors to play the different ages would probably solve that particular issue).
 
I think it's a bit unfair to judge it on 'what it would have been with a different approach', the approach Linklater opted for made it what it was. Sure the dialogue wasn't great, the story itself had nothing special about it, and some of the acting was dreadful (Lorelei Linklater mainly). But it's not like it aimed at excelling in these aspects, and focusing on them kind of miss the point of the film. Someone said it above, it was all about capturing the little moments and, in the greater scheme of things, the journey of his childhood. If you didn't connect or didn't feel anything on an emotional level, then the film failed at what it set out to do.
 
I didn't like it either, don't see what all the hype was all about. Just like those 'Before' dialogues people call films. Almost as bad as Hardy's cement monologue.

The only film that pulled off something like this was Phone Booth imo.
 
I didn't like it either, don't see what all the hype was all about. Just like those 'Before' dialogues people call films. Almost as bad as Hardy's cement monologue.

The only film that pulled off something like this was Phone Booth imo.

See I liked that! Dialogue heavy films can work with a charismatics and compelling central performance. Take that away and it risks becoming a tedious yawnfest.

In this movie, every scene with Ethan Hawke or Patricia Arquette in it was thoroughly enjoyable (providing they did most of the talking!). Which shows the importance of good acting in getting you to engage.
 
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See I liked that! Dialogue heavy films can work with a charismatics and compelling central performance. Take that away and it risks becoming a tedious yawnfest.
:lol: That's because if you take the talking away in a film like that, you'd just be filming a guy's face for 2 hours.
In this movie, every scene with Ethan Hawke or Patricia Arquette in it was thoroughly enjoyable (providing they did most of the talking!). Which shows the importance of good acting in getting you to engage.
I agree with you on this. This films lasts 14 hours and they made Hawke and Arquette interact for like 1 minute, which I though was ridiculous.
 
:lol: That's because if you take the talking away in a film like that, you'd just be filming a guy's face for 2 hours.

I meant if you had (almost) anyone other than Tom Hardy in the role it would have been a total ball ache. There are some actors you just want to spend time with, so you'll forgive them a lot of waffle.
 
I meant if you had (almost) anyone other than Tom Hardy in the role it would have been a total ball ache. There are some actors you just want to spend time with, so you'll forgive them a lot of waffle.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had that in Boyhood with Ethan Hawke, all the others just didn't do it for me.
 
A friend of mine whose opinion I really trust loved the movie and completely disagrees with me. He admits he's not a great actor but doesn't think that spoils it. I dunno. He's asked to carry the movie for almost and hour and blatantly hasn't the chops to do it. Which is as disappointing as it annoying because he's got great screen presence as a child actor. Puberty was his kryptonite.

Also, the script. Was most of it improvised? The cod-philosophical rambling from him and his bird was really fecking tedious. Pretty much every scene involving exclusively teen actors was close to unwatchable IMO. Which made for a seriously lame closing act from a move which promised so much.

A lot of friends of mine think its pretty special too. I have to concede that it works for some people a lot more than it does for me although i'd question whether some are actually more blown away by the scope of the idea rather than the actual finished product. I completely agree it feels in the second half like a daytime soap and most of my time was spent wishing Hawke would turn up on screen again just to lift things a notch of two. I think it is part improvised but mostly written as with most of Linklater's work so he basically has the script written but allows a lot of wiggle room for the actors to change things around should they see fit.

On a different note just finished watching We Need to Talk About Kevin again for the first time in about 2 years (saw it when it was originally released and had it on HDD for a while). Still an amazing film and I'd forgotten just how amazing, with brilliant performances from Ezra Miller and Tilda Swinton especially, brilliant direction too and just about the most chillingly dysfunctional screen relationship I can remember seeing.

8.5/10
 
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Not enough people have seen Kingsman. Go see it people.
 
Not enough people have seen Kingsman. Go see it people.

I thought it looked like a shite action movie at first, but heard some good things. Almost seems like a mix of Bond and Tarantino.
 
Patrick: Evil Awakens
Considering they had Tywin Lannister and the hot girl from You're Next, they really wasted the talent with this non-sensicle cliche ridden piece of garbage. Yawned throughout (well after an okay first 30 mins). Basically, once they show the main villain doing villanous stuff, its turns completely stupid 3/10

Thicker Than Blood

I love good old underdog ethnic school child being driven to do better by middle class white dude type of films and that's what this was. A guilty pleasure of mine. Decent film too 6/10
 
I thought it looked like a shite action movie at first, but heard some good things. Almost seems like a mix of Bond and Tarantino.

Aye I didn't think the trailer looked much either but it's generally great. It's by the director who did Kick-Ass. Similar sort of thing but feels very British. Definitely feels like a Tarantino take on Bond somewhat.
 
The Purge - Anarchy 4/10

in a movie featuring lots of graphic violence it can be difficult for the film to be boring and forgettable but the makers of this movie have achieved just that...

like the first movie but less original and interesting and one to avoid
 
The Purge - Anarchy 4/10

in a movie featuring lots of graphic violence it can be difficult for the film to be boring and forgettable but the makers of this movie have achieved just that...

like the first movie but less original and interesting and one to avoid
On the contrary I found it to be better than the first. The first wasn't original at all, it was a classic home invasion film. Here, the premise had much more purpose because we were out on the streets, seeing what it actually meant to the world.

6/10
 
On the contrary I found it to be better than the first. The first wasn't original at all, it was a classic home invasion film. Here, the premise had much more purpose because we were out on the streets, seeing what it actually meant to the world.

6/10

yeah that was the one aspect I liked - the social/economic control aspect

It lacked excitement for me though which is what you'd expect as a mimimum - I think it was because I didn't care about any of the characters who were a bit plastic for me
 
yeah that was the one aspect I liked - the social/economic control aspect

It lacked excitement for me though which is what you'd expect as a mimimum - I think it was because I didn't care about any of the characters who were a bit plastic for me
Agree about the characters, only Frank Grillo was interesting, the rest were awful. It's not a very good movie, I just found it more interesting than the first.
 
Kill the messenger

Movie itself is not that great (I mean in a visual, artistic way.), but the story is about the journalist who broke the story about the CIA helping the Nicaraugans to fund their war by selling drugs in the USA. The war ended and ten years later the journo discovers the link by chance.
It's a true story but it sounds like science-fiction or a bad conspiracy thriller. Now the movie revolves not around these doings but more on the consequences the journalist had to deal with once he broke the story. Hence kill the messenger.
The CIA denies every involvement and he has to face a public witch hunt.

So it's really gripping and important.

(Now they should make a movie about how the CIA sold the plans how to build an atomic bomb to Iran.)
 
Birdman

Fantastic film, loved it from start to finish. A great ride that lingers in the mind long after it's finished. Don't understand people complaining about the camera work when it was actually one of its strong points, imo at least. It's filmed like one long Broadway play and does the job brilliantly until the curtain closes near the end. Truly the best film I've seen in a very long time.

9/10
 
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Whiplash

To be honest, the premises of the story is crap, but the whole movie is about Steven Fletcher, what a marvelous acting on that part.
Tempted to make a poll whether we think he's good or just plain evil.

Great acting, meh story 8/10
 
Whiplash

To be honest, the premises of the story is crap, but the whole movie is about Steven Fletcher, what a marvelous acting on that part.
Tempted to make a poll whether we think he's good or just plain evil.

Great acting, meh story 8/10

I can see why a film about Sunderland would seem crap on the surface.
 
Kingsman - What an amazing movie. It's a spy movie in the mold of old Bond, not the new super serious Skyfall style. Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth are both outstanding. It's tons of fun. Roxy and the Princess of Sweden (or wherever) are :drool:. Also, the fight scenes are incredible. There's one scene that could have been improved with a different song playing in the background but overall the soundtrack was also fantastic. "Free Bird" :lol:

9/10
 
Kingsman Superb fun. Early Bond with the comic touch of True Lies and modern ultra-violent fight scenes. There were people applauding at the end. 9/10
 
Birdman (2014)

Finally get to watch it and I'm not that impressed. Certainly a good movie but over hyped. Whiplash is a much better experience imo.

7/10
 
Birdman

Just watched this for the first time. Enjoyed it, but I think it might have been a bit clever for me. I suspect half of the allegories and hidden meanings went sailing over my head.