Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Still don’t understand why the Terminator has always got to be ‘Better’. The Terminator is one of the best villains in Cinema. Just work some great stories around that.

The series is due an Indie version.

Agreed. Sequels always have to up the ante. The T800 and T1000s were as far as they needed to go. The Rev-9 in this instalment is so ridiculously enhanced it's almost laughable. The only downside to this movie.
 
Cop Land (1997)

Really great, with good acting all-round.

8.5/10
 
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TIL the George Miller who directed the Mad Max films is the same George Miller who directed the Babe & Happy Feet films. Quite the varied career.
 
Sly is great in Copland. There’s a whole other parallel reality where Stallone is a highly regarded serious writer and actor...
 
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Sly is great in Copland. There’s a whole other parallel reality where Stallone is a highly regarded serious writer and actor...
Generally speaking, I feel that Stallone is better respected than other 80s action movies stars, mainly cos of how he kickstarted his career by writing Rocky, no? Probably not "highly regarded" though.
House of Pain is alright, his 2000's period is much worse with the period sounds of Audioslave, Groove Armada, Paul Oakenfold and Moby.

Just read this review on Miami Vice:



https://film.avclub.com/1801882956
I rewatched it last night after the recent discussion on it, it's such a good film. But indeed the music choices are... interesting.
 
Generally speaking, I feel that Stallone is better respected than other 80s action movies stars, mainly cos of how he kickstarted his career by writing Rocky, no? Probably not "highly regarded" though.

I rewatched it last night after the recent discussion on it, it's such a good film. But indeed the music choices are... interesting.

Rambo is underrated. The pop culture it spreads throughout the world is something else.
 
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Wounds
Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar. Starts off really well setting up the premise. I was all in. Then it just turns more and more stupid and gets confusing because loads of critical plot points are shown via messages on a phone or laptop but the way they filmed these segments dont allow you to properly see what's going on. Then the film ends just as it begins to get interesting. Literally in the middle of a shot. It feels like a Hollywood produced indie-film. Pretty shite 3/10

In The Shadow Of The Moon
A Philadelphia police officer struggles with a lifelong obsession to track down a mysterious serial killer whose crimes defy explanation. Felt like a 90s thriller. The opening act is a long chase scene and I loved that. Kind of gets a little boring when they start explaining what's going on but there was enough action and some social commentary that's pretty interesting so I found this one enjoyable 6.5/10
 
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Fine movie, with a spellbinding Meryl Streep.

8/10
 
The Firm (1993)

Man, I love these 90s thriller flicks. This one was good too.
 
Ocean's Eleven

Still good.

8/10
 
Tell Me Who I am is a pretty interesting doco on Netflix

Its the story of identical twins, one of whom had total memory loss after an accident at 18. He relies on his twin to fill in the gaps about their child-hood, and lets just say the situation gets a bit cray cray.
 
Nightingale is some Hilary Clinton hot sauce flavoured cinema. An almost entirely shit film.
Some of the script incongruity that I felt was present in Babadook now looks less like understandable filmmaking inexperience and more the product of a poor writer. This is some rotten and regressive cardboard cinema. If you thought that the sublime Sweet Country should have been more like a cross between a Marvel movie and a Michael Winner wank then this is the pig swill for you. Feck off.

The Day Shall Come. I found this hilarious. Loved the characters, and the performances were great. The sense of the absurd is as sharp as ever, and it's this that makes the film. Because despite the subject matter becoming increasingly serious and the targets as deserving as ever, the satirical edge is far less caustic than in those early On the Hour days. And I'm not sure if it's deliberate or if Chris Morris is just going soft in his old age. I preferred it to 4 Lions.

Revisited Scorsese's Silence and I'm happy to report that I was correct the first time. This is a stone cold masterpiece.
 
The music notably, and the plot is overall a bit shit. I re-watched it last month as I had a vague memory of liking it years ago, and it was just bland, ridiculous and predictable. I intend to rewatch Pelican Brief soon too, to see how well it holds up.

Ah, I thought you were just making a general reference to 90s films. Fair enough. I've probably only seen The Firm once...twice at most anyway.
 
Ah, I thought you were just making a general reference to 90s films. Fair enough. I've probably only seen The Firm once...twice at most anyway.
I mean some of them have a very 90s look for sure, but that doesn't bother me too much if the film holds up generally speaking. In this case, the overuse of saxophone music (for any type of scene) along with the plot which is nothing special is pretty unforgivable.
 
I mean some of them have a very 90s look for sure, but that doesn't bother me too much if the film holds up generally speaking. In this case, the overuse of saxophone music (for any type of scene) along with the plot which is nothing special is pretty unforgivable.
Can't say there was a lot of sax in The Firm but the piano bits were great.

 
The Curse Of La Llorona
Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Loved the mythos of the film, one I haven't seen visited before. The ghost looked creepy as hell (well at first anyway), the camera work for the most part was great. However, soon falls into the dumb jump scare fest, shows the ghost way too much and characters start doing dumb shit to advance the plot. Tucco from Breaking Bad was in it and was the highlight 5.5/10

Hobbs and Shaw

I am a big fan of the fast and furious franchise and although some truly switch-your-brain-off stuff happens in those, I look past it as they've earned my suspension of disbelief over the course of the franchise with loveable characters and awesome car stunts. This however, takes it too far. The Rock holding down helicopters with one arm, drones that morph into motorbikes etc. Just pure stupidity. The Rock and Statham play off each other well with some funny moments between them as well as some comedic cameos but the comedy really is hit and miss. Sometimes, the film just felt like it's trying way too hard. Idris Elba was a joke, loses every bloody battle. Vanessa Kirby was great though. That's how you do "me too" without shoving it down people's throats. I probably would have enjoyed this far more if it weren't a part of the F&F franchise 5/10

Toy Story 3

Great story and makes you shed a tear. Perfect way to end the trilogy 8.5/10

Toy Story 4

Didn't need this at all. While it's fine and enjoyable enough, it isn't a patch in the original trilogy. Keanu Reeves was funny but didn't really like any of the new characters. And Forky... can't believe they put a character that seems to resemble a crack-head in a children's movie 6.5/10
 
Nightingale is some Hilary Clinton hot sauce flavoured cinema. An almost entirely shit film.
Some of the script incongruity that I felt was present in Babadook now looks less like understandable filmmaking inexperience and more the product of a poor writer. This is some rotten and regressive cardboard cinema. If you thought that the sublime Sweet Country should have been more like a cross between a Marvel movie and a Michael Winner wank then this is the pig swill for you. Feck off.

The Day Shall Come. I found this hilarious. Loved the characters, and the performances were great. The sense of the absurd is as sharp as ever, and it's this that makes the film. Because despite the subject matter becoming increasingly serious and the targets as deserving as ever, the satirical edge is far less caustic than in those early On the Hour days. And I'm not sure if it's deliberate or if Chris Morris is just going soft in his old age. I preferred it to 4 Lions.

Revisited Scorsese's Silence and I'm happy to report that I was correct the first time. This is a stone cold masterpiece.
Agree with you on Nightingale. Would have been far more interesting had Kent gone the full Ozploitation route rather than po-faced flagellation.
 
Infernal Affairs

I'd not seen this since it originally came out and it remains a great film. It's a Hong Kong spy thriller done the way only Hong Kong can, deadly serious yet slightly cheesey. The cops insert a mole into the triads, the triads insert a mole into the police force and a game of cat and mouse ensues when they come into play against each other. Any Lau and Tony Leung are great in it, which kept distracting me thinking I need to rewatch House of Flying Daggers and Hard Boiled. I've not seen Hard Boiled in around 20 years I reckon, what a film.

My only real complaints are a few editing problems, like the guy they got to play a young Tony Leung being way taller than Tony Leung himself like he just got a lot shorter over time.

Great film. I believe the Americans remade it with Marky Mark Wahlberg where he played Marky Mark Wahlberg again. Which I can't imagine improved the film. Mark's a weird name though when you think about it.

9/10
 
Infernal Affairs

I'd not seen this since it originally came out and it remains a great film. It's a Hong Kong spy thriller done the way only Hong Kong can, deadly serious yet slightly cheesey. The cops insert a mole into the triads, the triads insert a mole into the police force and a game of cat and mouse ensues when they come into play against each other. Any Lau and Tony Leung are great in it, which kept distracting me thinking I need to rewatch House of Flying Daggers and Hard Boiled. I've not seen Hard Boiled in around 20 years I reckon, what a film.

My only real complaints are a few editing problems, like the guy they got to play a young Tony Leung being way taller than Tony Leung himself like he just got a lot shorter over time.

Great film. I believe the Americans remade it with Marky Mark Wahlberg where he played Marky Mark Wahlberg again. Which I can't imagine improved the film. Mark's a weird name though when you think about it.

9/10
Hard Boiled is such a fun John Woo flick. Crazy shootouts.
 
The Score (2001)

By-the-numbers heist movie starring De Niro, Norton, Brando and Bassett. Despite Brando sitting down wheezing in each of his scenes, he's far better than all the others combined; and this was the period when he wasn't taking roles seriously.

7/10
 
And Forky... can't believe they put a character that seems to resemble a crack-head in a children's movie
It's pure genius
Con Air - I feel ashamed its taken me this long to watch this. The last 30 minutes is one of the greatest pieces of art ever created.
Envious you got to discover this one. What a film!
 
Prince of Darkness - I liked this one way more than The Thing tbh. Splendid sense of dread and the score might be Carpenter's best.

Halloween 2 (2009) (Director's cut) - A fine piece of vulgar auteurism. Grimey and miserable as feck.
 
Eli - New Netflix Horror film... decent enough first half but the second half totally fell flat for me.

Overlord - Had a really fun time with this. A nice, small WWII story with a twist... good action, good tension, good stuff.