My favourite ever film. "Put. The. Bunny. Back. In. The. Box."
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
Just saw Distant Voices, Still Lives. Beautiful and incredibly melancholic movie.
Parasite. Great, thematically rich, fairytale. Darkly absurd, yet grounded in a sympathetic depiction of human peculiarity. It's energetic, smart and poetic.
Jackass Number 2. Great, thematically rich, fairytale. But for really, sure why not. I laughed some, and there is definitely a degree of wit and charm to certain segments. Anaconda in a ball pit is imaginatively dark and it's hard not to find likeable the cheery dispositions, as they hunt for ever more creative ways to hurt themselves. The Keaton reference late on is earned.
Jackass Number 2. Great, thematically rich, fairytale. But for really, sure why not. I laughed some, and there is definitely a degree of wit and charm to certain segments. Anaconda in a ball pit is imaginatively dark and it's hard not to find likeable the cheery dispositions, as they hunt for ever more creative ways to hurt themselves. The Keaton reference late on is earned.
I thought the Rob Zombie Halloween films were quite good. Especially the first one. I liked the David Gordon Green one too.
The English Patient & Atonement
Oscar-bait x 2.
6.5/10
Oscar-bait x 2.
6.5/10
I remember thinking the whole buildup part in the first Zombie one was very well done, then the final third is just a basic slasher (well executed, though). But overall quite good. Can't remember if I've watched the second one.
I think I'll check out that Halloween later then. Devil's Rejects and 1000 Corpses hit their mark perfectly.
Yeah this is great. Didn't resort to making the rich family cartoon-like either which you can imagine Hollywood doing. I did enjoy the escalating wtf moments and bittersweet ending.
I wanted to rewatch them later, but my girlfriend doesn't like horror films so I'm gonna show her Get Out instead, easier gateway into the genre than 1000 corpses especially.
Superb film all in all. First half plays like a dark comedy and the second goes more serious and tragic.
Also, South Korean people are beautiful!
Oh yeah forgot I watched Dolemite is my Name earlier in the week too. Funny and feelgood if you're in the mood. Best Murphy has been since Bowfinger which was like 20 years ago 
. Had to explain to the missus that this was based on a true story half way through so was glad they showed some of the original clips at the end to prove I wasn't bullshitting.
. Had to explain to the missus that this was based on a true story half way through so was glad they showed some of the original clips at the end to prove I wasn't bullshitting.My favourite film of the year so far. Doubt it'll be beaten to be honest. Thought the rich man's wife and the main family's sister were both stunning.
The Swimmer (1968) Burt Lancaster
Outstanding classic film about a man from Los Angeles who decides to travel 8 miles home from his well to do friend's house by swimming through all the swimming pools of in people's backyards - whether he knows the people or not.
Based on a classic John Cheever short story and with a great commentary on Southern California culture and commodification culture in general.
Outstanding classic film about a man from Los Angeles who decides to travel 8 miles home from his well to do friend's house by swimming through all the swimming pools of in people's backyards - whether he knows the people or not.
Based on a classic John Cheever short story and with a great commentary on Southern California culture and commodification culture in general.
Halloween 1 and 2
Two classic Halloween slasher films , seen them many times , but still love them , the music is scary, yeah some of the acting is dodgy, but its what you expect in 70/80's slasher films.
For me these films are the elite of slasher films.
can split them both get 8/10
Halloween 3 The Season of the Witch
A dreadful film , a Halloween film in name only, using the iconic music a few time but thats it.
The the plot in itself is completely stupid. An evil toy company, bent on destruction hypnotise people into wearing their masks, that on Halloween night will kill them? With the help of a stolen boulder from Stonehenge. What kind of idiotic plot is that? Moreover, with the exception of Tom Atkins, there isn't a single decent actor.
2/10
Two classic Halloween slasher films , seen them many times , but still love them , the music is scary, yeah some of the acting is dodgy, but its what you expect in 70/80's slasher films.
For me these films are the elite of slasher films.
can split them both get 8/10
Halloween 3 The Season of the Witch
A dreadful film , a Halloween film in name only, using the iconic music a few time but thats it.
The the plot in itself is completely stupid. An evil toy company, bent on destruction hypnotise people into wearing their masks, that on Halloween night will kill them? With the help of a stolen boulder from Stonehenge. What kind of idiotic plot is that? Moreover, with the exception of Tom Atkins, there isn't a single decent actor.
2/10
Halloween is the Terminator of horror franchises. In that they’re all shit after the first two, but they keep fecking making them for next to no reason. Then rebooting them, re-rebooting them, then ignoring all the reboots just to re-re-make the same remake of the second one again!... even though there’s not really an audience clamouring for any of it in the first place!
The real hero of Halloween isn’t Carpenter anyway (though his quasi Casio keyboard score is unironically fecking epic, fo sho!) as much as it’s Dean Cundey. The guy who shot it and subsequently went on to shoot the Back to The Future trilogy, Apollo 13, Roger Rabbit, and Jurassic fecking Park!
The real hero of Halloween isn’t Carpenter anyway (though his quasi Casio keyboard score is unironically fecking epic, fo sho!) as much as it’s Dean Cundey. The guy who shot it and subsequently went on to shoot the Back to The Future trilogy, Apollo 13, Roger Rabbit, and Jurassic fecking Park!
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Definitely not the case. The David Gordon Green one is genuinely amusing with some terrific staging, and the Rob Zombie films are imbued with a nastier nihilistic dread than the originals, though definitely not superior. I even have a soft spot for H20 (O?) although I won't defend it as an objectively good film. I think of the long running horror series from that era, it has got the best mileage.
You say that, and sure, it’s reasonable in a quirky B move cinefile kinda way.... but in terms of cinematic legacy, what scene from any latter Halloween sequel is remotely memorable? Or iconic enough to form part of even the nichest horror genre lexicon?
The one where the little kid was evil? The one where they ret-conned that immediately? The one where Paul Rudd is kinda of a weirdo but also the good guy somehow? Or the one where Busta Rhymes drop kicks Michael Myers out of a window on an Internet livestream?
I mean, of course it’s one of the best horror franchises, by default. It’s not exactly a deep field! The Scream sequels are largely not terrible, and occasionally interesting.... and the Saw films are actually quite inventive now and then....but still, all complete fluff in the long run.
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I somewhat fond of Halloween 3 in an odd way. I mean, I find it a bit annoying and weird, understand your negatives and am very unlikely to decide to watch it out of the blue, but there's a kind of unique creepy vibe to it that I quite like.
I like 4 and 5. Especially 4. They have the Halloween feel of the first 2 IMO. I probably wouldn't watch 5 unless it was part of a binge watch or something, but I could happily stick on 4 whenever to watch like I would with the first two.
The most recent one I've seen is H2O. I'm annoyed and confused with all the reboots/remakes, I haven't got a clue what's going on.
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That's quite a different conversation. Other than its firstiness, I'm not sure I'd even make such bold claims about the original.
The only saving grace for me was Tom Atkins, he was the best out of a pretty bad bunch , some gore in it.
I also dont mind Halloween 4 and 5, H2O was just about watchable.
Scream is garbage jump scares and Saw has to be the worst psuedo-intellectual rubbish I have ever seen in a movie. Those two franchise are literally the bottom of the horror barrel. The classics of Elm Street, 13th and Hellraiser shit all over Scream and Saw
Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining. I really enjoyed the book and I was sceptical of how it would translate to film. Especially considering how King was not a fan of Kubricks film version of The Shining.
Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House, Oculus, Gerald's Game) does a decent job of representing both King's novel and Kubrick's film which I think is a masterpiece. Although the parts where it sticks closer to the book definitely flow a lot better.
The performances are all solid but I thought Rebecca Ferguson really stood out as the main antagonist. Zahn McLarnon from Westworld was also really good.
I definitely noticed the two and a half hours and they prob could have shaved a bit of time off that as the 3rd act does drag a little bit.
If you haven't read the book, the basic gist is that young Danny from the original book/film is grown up and dealing with his own demons. There's this group who hunt down people like him so they can feed on their power. He has to protect a little girl who also "Shines" from getting caught and killed by the group.
I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend seeing The Shining first if you haven't already. But to he fair, who hasn't seen it.
Looks great, good score, well acted and close to the source material
A solid 7/10 from me.
Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining. I really enjoyed the book and I was sceptical of how it would translate to film. Especially considering how King was not a fan of Kubricks film version of The Shining.
Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House, Oculus, Gerald's Game) does a decent job of representing both King's novel and Kubrick's film which I think is a masterpiece. Although the parts where it sticks closer to the book definitely flow a lot better.
The performances are all solid but I thought Rebecca Ferguson really stood out as the main antagonist. Zahn McLarnon from Westworld was also really good.
I definitely noticed the two and a half hours and they prob could have shaved a bit of time off that as the 3rd act does drag a little bit.
If you haven't read the book, the basic gist is that young Danny from the original book/film is grown up and dealing with his own demons. There's this group who hunt down people like him so they can feed on their power. He has to protect a little girl who also "Shines" from getting caught and killed by the group.
I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend seeing The Shining first if you haven't already. But to he fair, who hasn't seen it.
Looks great, good score, well acted and close to the source material
A solid 7/10 from me.
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch was never intended to be a sequel. Just the studio doing the usual and trying to con people to make money. As a standalone film I love it.
I thought the original Halloween was kinda dull and tame. The score is just a simple knock-off of Goblin's Suspiria score.
All those films are at the exact same level for me. None of them are really high art.
True but I'd say the first two Hellraiser qualify as cinema much more than anything like Saw or Scream.
Hellraiser is so good now we're talking.
I’d agree Hellraiser is the best of that bunch. At least on a creative auteur level (though personally I prefer Candyman as far as Barker adaptations go!)
The first couple are excellent, the rest are still OK ,still watchable but not up to the first 2.
The first is one of my favourites, second is good, but tbh I haven't seen the others.
The appeal of Scream was never really the actual scares themselves though, was it? It was the self-aware undermining/embracing of horror cliches. I'm not sure dismissing it as garbage jump scares works when it is deliberately playing with the idea of garbage jump scares.
Scream was the inevitable post-modern consequence of a preceding decade of ubiquitous trashy slasher flicks.... in the same way that the found footage phenomena that followed was a consequence of that, and the Lo-Fi gore and jump scares were a further consequence of that...
Now we’re seeing quite a few high brow psychological horrors again, much like in the 70s, as the genre has come full circle from auteur arthouse, to ubiquitous schlock, to blockbuster, to schlock to arthouse auteur again...
It’s why Marty & Franny’s excellent anti-comic book movie adventure is ultimately a bogus journey...because every genre has the potential to produce some of the very best, and very worst examples of cinema. It just depends on what part of the cycle they’re at, what they’re reacting to, and which director is doing the reacting.
The Shining and the Exorcist are considered amongst the greatest films of all time. Period. Despite being in a genre that has produced far more objectionable excrement than the Superhero school.
Now we’re seeing quite a few high brow psychological horrors again, much like in the 70s, as the genre has come full circle from auteur arthouse, to ubiquitous schlock, to blockbuster, to schlock to arthouse auteur again...
It’s why Marty & Franny’s excellent anti-comic book movie adventure is ultimately a bogus journey...because every genre has the potential to produce some of the very best, and very worst examples of cinema. It just depends on what part of the cycle they’re at, what they’re reacting to, and which director is doing the reacting.
The Shining and the Exorcist are considered amongst the greatest films of all time. Period. Despite being in a genre that has produced far more objectionable excrement than the Superhero school.
Office Space (1999)
Yes, fecking yes. Loved every minute of this movie.
Did you get the memo?
Yes, fecking yes. Loved every minute of this movie.
Did you get the memo?Doctor Sleep. 9/10
Well damn, a great sequel to a legendary movie. Never thought this could be as good as the original, but it's pretty close. Some shots feel like Kubrick himself shot it. The actors are brilliant and the plot was surprising. Never thought of an idea where other people had special powers. It's almost like Glass but done waaaay better. The entire 2 and a half hours kept me engaged the whole way, None of it felt too long or boring. The movie has some really nice nostalgia moments and callbacks to The Shining.
Not sure if it's a spoiler but just in case.
Well damn, a great sequel to a legendary movie. Never thought this could be as good as the original, but it's pretty close. Some shots feel like Kubrick himself shot it. The actors are brilliant and the plot was surprising. Never thought of an idea where other people had special powers. It's almost like Glass but done waaaay better. The entire 2 and a half hours kept me engaged the whole way, None of it felt too long or boring. The movie has some really nice nostalgia moments and callbacks to The Shining.
Not sure if it's a spoiler but just in case.
Only had one BIG gripe about it, is that they kinda erased Jack Nicholson, but not his character.
Give me Terence over Terrence for that sweet elegiac.
Distant Voices is one of thee greatest British films.
It takes ages to get going but that's how they did horror back then. The final act is worth the wait though. You have to remember he was on a very limited budget too.
I find the first to be much superior to the second, it's my favourite horror film. The second is a bit like Predator 2, it's good but compared to the first it looks a lot worse than it is. I never liked the sister twist though.
I think I prefer 4 to 2. After those three it's like choosing between a kick in the balls and a punch in the face. Although I thought the reboot/sequel was excellent. If they haf left it at one film it would have been grand, but I fear committing to two more sequels is going to lead us back to the same diminishing returns.
Gravity (2013)
Meh.
6/10
Meh.
6/10
Rumble Fish. A drama school production of some suburban gangland schism. Maybe like a Max Fischer play or a particularly flouncy rendition of West Side Story. Certainly not what I expected from a Coppola film from that era, and that's kind of good.
I enjoyed the theatrics and the fairytale hyperreality. Perhaps because it was oddly reminiscent of Night of the Hunter. The sliding down drainpipes, the dove, the silly names, the wife beater, that cadence. Yep.
But it's supposed to be Expressionist fun and silly right? It's not Coppola doing Kazan, surely. I can't tell irony from incompetence any longer.
I enjoyed the theatrics and the fairytale hyperreality. Perhaps because it was oddly reminiscent of Night of the Hunter. The sliding down drainpipes, the dove, the silly names, the wife beater, that cadence. Yep.
But it's supposed to be Expressionist fun and silly right? It's not Coppola doing Kazan, surely. I can't tell irony from incompetence any longer.