Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Wibble said:
It was based on real events rather than being a historical documentary and most changes were about simplifying the story and adding tension that didn't exist as we saw it in the film. Canada's role was only slightly downplayed mainly in so far as the film skipped the bit between their escape from the embassy and their extraction. A few other countries did help as much as they could but were portrayed as uncaring in the movie, so they might be a bit miffed. Hardly propaganda though except in the sense that it was told from a US viewpoint for a US audience and everyone knows that it is a story and not history.
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Yeah, sorry but that just sounds like spin to me. If it's a historical event how can you alter the actual events? Particularly to make one country look like the hero while demonizing the current flavor of the month in terms of ramping for war?

And I don't agree that everyone separates fact from fiction when telling a tale about an actual event in history - especially one as emotionally charged as that one.
 
FCBarca said:
Yeah, sorry but that just sounds like spin to me. If it's a historical event how can you alter the actual events? Particularly to make one country look like the hero while demonizing the current flavor of the month in terms of ramping for war?

And I don't agree that everyone separates fact from fiction when telling a tale about an actual event in history - especially one as emotionally charged as that one.
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Spin of what? And most "based on real events" films have some things changed to make the story more suitable for film. Even "All The President's Men" wasn't universally agreed to be entirely factual. Other acclaimed stuff like The Tudors took huge sweeping liberties with the facts, time-lines and even wardrobe and architecture. The difference I suspect due to people wanting to be anti-American and thus see propaganda under every rock.

As for the "emotionally charged" bit I don't see the relevance. There was some tension but so should all good thrillers. You can know what lead up to the revolution without supporting the loony religious government that followed. Likewise you don't have to think the US was blameless in creating the circumstances that lead to the Embassy being stormed and regime change, to want those 6 people to escape. This was an embarrassing time for the US so at the time I'm sure it did serve some propaganda purposes but now it is just a good story that has been told well. Anyone who takes it as jingoistic propaganda won't have been persuaded to that view by this film and everyone else won't suddenly become a card carrying gun wielding NRA and Republican party member.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
However, the timing of the film leaves a sour taste in the mouth... They delayed Lil Wayne music video straight after the Batman cinema shooting, they delayed Spiderman (I think it was) after 9/11 but have no sympathy towards Iran in the release of this...
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Huh? Why would it need to be delayed?
 
Dont think it was delayed but they had to change advertising posters which had Spiderman swinging around the WTC
 
Mockney said:
Therefore I've got no choice but to conclude it's deliberately made this bad, by witty and self aware people, and is thus brilliant...Or at least slightly less shit.
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No. It's just awful. No one goes out their way to make a bad feature length film.

I watched a few months ago and I still can't get over how fecking bad it is.
 
Dead Man's Shoes - It's taking me fecking ages to get round to watching this, as people have been recommending it to me on and off several years now. No idea why I've never got round to it before now, and alas it took an unfortunate incident for me to actually seek it out and watch it, but I'd say it was well worth the wait and hype. Ultimately, it's a very simple revenge story, but it's told and shot in a wonderfully dark (and sometimes humerous) way... and the acting is all absolutely top notch. I think I may actually like it more then This is England (though they are two fairly different movies), but I think I have to give TIE a rewatch before making a call on that as it's been a few years.

The Warriors - Another film I'd never seen before that people have constantly suggest I watched. It was fairly enjoyable, but it's very much a product of it's time, which is probably why it's so popular with a certain audience.
 
Randall Flagg said:
Dont think it was delayed but they had to change advertising posters which had Spiderman swinging around the WTC
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I seem to recall stories at the time about them reshooting the ending because the finale centred around the WTC. I'm not sure if it was true or not though.
 
Lincoln - Daniel Day Lewis fantastic - felt the story could have been a bit more powerful - seemed to lack a personal touch considering the issue of slavery - brushed over his assassination too

7.5/10

Django Unchained - Christophe Waltz superb again, DiCaprio very good, Samuel L Jackson very funny - very very entertaining movie - typical Tarantino - tongue in cheek comedy, over the top violence and sharp dialogue, good soundtrack - really enjoyed this

9/10
 
Couldn't get into TBL at all for some reason. Love the Coen brothers but it's one of a couple of their films that just does nothing for me. Watched an hour of it and still haven't finished.
 
Brwned said:
Couldn't get into TBL at all for some reason. Love the Coen brothers but it's one of a couple of their films that just does nothing for me. Watched an hour of it and still haven't finished.
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The Coen's humour was at it's idiosyncratic best in it, though it probably appeals more to those who also enjoy stoner films. I found it really riveting.
 
Forgot I watched Looper a couple of weeks ago. Thought it was pretty shit to be honest. No real reasons, I just didn't like it. :lol:
 
Star Trek 7/10 - This is the first Star Trek thing I ever watch (the J.J.Abrams 2009 movie) and I thought it was decent (as long as you can completely ignore the scientific aspects of it which are totally nonsense).
 
Revan said:
Star Trek 7/10 - This is the first Star Trek thing I ever watch (the J.J.Abrams 2009 movie) and I thought it was decent (as long as you can completely ignore the scientific aspects of it which are totally nonsense).
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Chris pine wasn't half bad either
 
Argo & Zero Dark Thirty - Decent thrillers with Argo being the slightly better one. I was a little bothered at some of the inaccuracies in Argo that I could spot right away and even more when I read up on the others later. Zero Dark Thirty, of course it's hard to say what really the truth is, especially the torture part that has been slammed so much but again, who knows what the truth is there. I havent seen Lincoln so cant comment on it but it I think a large part why Argo and Zero Dark Thirty have been nominated has got to be down to the whole 'Go America!' patriotic thingamy.

Looper - I actually feel bad that this movie was not good because I think it had real potential to be a pretty decent sci-fi flick. Decent actors, not the worst idea in the world but after the first 30 mins it went downhill fast.

Want to watch Amour and Silver Linings Playbook next.
 
mehro said:
Argo & Zero Dark Thirty - Decent thrillers with Argo being the slightly better one. I was a little bothered at some of the inaccuracies in Argo that I could spot right away and even more when I read up on the others later. Zero Dark Thirty, of course it's hard to say what really the truth is, especially the torture part that has been slammed so much but again, who knows what the truth is there. I havent seen Lincoln so cant comment on it but it I think a large part why Argo and Zero Dark Thirty have been nominated has got to be down to the whole 'Go America!' patriotic thingamy.

Looper - I actually feel bad that this movie was not good because I think it had real potential to be a pretty decent sci-fi flick. Decent actors, not the worst idea in the world but after the first 30 mins it went downhill fast.

Want to watch Amour and Silver Linings Playbook next.
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Agree about Argo, well made caper flick with historical inaccuracies. I don't think it is anywhere near good enough to be best movie of the year material though.

Silver Dark thirty is an interesting one. I think movie would have benefited with a more coherent take on torture. As it is, it does justifies torture in some sense since the movie main heroine is seen to be approving of it without questioning the moral ramifications of the same. It is the same Jack Bauer treatment except worse in this case since that was totally fictional and this is supposed to be based on real events. I think the movie should have explored the question as to if it is acceptable to torture to avenge 9/11 and left it for the viewers to make up their mind. I also was not taken to the lead character, I don't think they fleshed her out as well as they should have. Compared to someone like Carrie in Homeland whose motivations are very much clear and believable. Granted they have much less time in movies but they fluffed a lot of that on pointless stuff in first half.

I am gonna see Amour soon too. Probably today itself
 
R.N7 said:
I just watched The Big Lebowski for the first time in years and I had forgotten how hilarious it was. Great film.
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I'm going to watch this again this weekend. Found it hilarious.
 
I watched XMen first class yesterday and was a bit disappointed. It was enjoyable in places but I felt it never really got going and came up a bit short of my expectations.
 
With the thread on the Coen's... I watched True Grit for the first time last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and that for the main part was down to the excellent writing and acting. The story is neither here nor there really, but the dialogue is sharp enough that it kept me interest throughout. It's also a pretty short film, so the whole thing moves along quite nicely and never overstays its welcome.

Having said that, I could have done without the tacked on eplilogue at the end of the movie... I thought that was pretty awful.

Revan said:
Star Trek 7/10 - This is the first Star Trek thing I ever watch (the J.J.Abrams 2009 movie) and I thought it was decent (as long as you can completely ignore the scientific aspects of it which are totally nonsense).
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How scientifically accurate do you expect a Sci-Fi film to be?
 
How many of you guys use MUBI? If you don't, I'd recommend taking a quick look at it, it's only £2-£3 per month depending on which package you choose and it's always got a few good art house films worth watching. It's only ever got 30 films on it at any time, but a new one gets added every day (with the oldest being removed). The free trial, at the very least it probably worth getting.
 
Silva said:
How many of you guys use MUBI? If you don't, I'd recommend taking a quick look at it, it's only £2-£3 per month depending on which package you choose and it's always got a few good art house films worth watching. It's only ever got 30 films on it at any time, but a new one gets added every day (with the oldest being removed). The free trial, at the very least it probably worth getting.
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Doesn't take debit cards, that's annoying.
 
Silva said:
How many of you guys use MUBI? If you don't, I'd recommend taking a quick look at it, it's only £2-£3 per month depending on which package you choose and it's always got a few good art house films worth watching. It's only ever got 30 films on it at any time, but a new one gets added every day (with the oldest being removed). The free trial, at the very least it probably worth getting.
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Just checked the website and today's film is Waltz with bashir. I'd recommend that you watch it!
 
Silva said:
How many of you guys use MUBI? If you don't, I'd recommend taking a quick look at it, it's only £2-£3 per month depending on which package you choose and it's always got a few good art house films worth watching. It's only ever got 30 films on it at any time, but a new one gets added every day (with the oldest being removed). The free trial, at the very least it probably worth getting.
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I have it but I don't use it for, like, anything except looking for recommendations.

http://mubi.com/users/224642
 
Almost Famous, another one that was due a rewatch. A fabulous film except for a really cringe-worthy scene about 110 minutes into the film (director's cut) that was so shoddily acted that it took me right out of the film.
 
I've always thought of Cameron Crowe as someone who's stolen a living, but maybe that's some bizarre hidden jealousy.
 
R.N7 said:
AF was good and Vanilla Sky was alright, haven't seen any of his other films.
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He seems to me like someone who's been afforded amazing exposure to great music & experiences, yet his reproduction of what he's seen & heard for film seems devoid of any real feeling, it's disneyfied.
 
LoveInTheAsylum said:
He seems to me like someone who's been afforded amazing exposure to great music & experiences, yet his reproduction of what he's seen & heard for film seems devoid of any real feeling, it's disneyfied.
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It's possible, those films have got some great soundtracks though!

Eboue said:
You haven't seen Say Anything Nilsson? You should drop whatever you are doing and watch it.
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That imdb cover is really awful, just look at the state of Cusack. Did Arrested Development reference it in the scene where Oscar is holding up a stereo playing Big Yellow Joint? I'll give it a shot.
 
R.N7 said:
That imdb cover is really awful, just look at the state of Cusack. Did Arrested Development reference it in the scene where Oscar is holding up a stereo playing Big Yellow Joint? I'll give it a shot.
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I like you so I'm going to ignore what you just said about John Cusack. Everyone has referenced the jukebox scene.
 
Eboue said:
You haven't seen Say Anything Nilsson? You should drop whatever you are doing and watch it.
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say+anything+real+1.jpg
 
Say Anything is a good film and Almost Famous is an excellent film.
 
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