Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Heretiks
During the 17th Century a young woman is saved from execution and led to a priory to repent her sins but discovers a greater evil lies within. Quite violent and one good scare/ Apart from that, boring, flat, bad vfx, shite. Waste of time. Avoid 2/10
 
Operation Condor (Armour of God Pt.2)

I loved Jackie Chan movies growing up and decided to watch this again last week. It really hasn't aged well. One of the films that was made for certain age group to enjoy and once you grow out of it, it's just bad. Chan's stunt sequences were still good, but the plot, characters and comedy scenes feel cringeworthy now.

Red Heat

Arnie's old time classic. Continuing my trend of rewatch movies I liked growing up, picked this. Still a fun popcorn watch. Good timepass.
 
re-wtch.

Dracula (1992) - Didn't always work but admirable that a big name director would go for a demented postmodern sex opera approach like this, would any modern directors have the balls to go all out like this? The next Dracula adaptation will probably be directed by someone like Villeneuve, with slick muted colors, abundance of shallow focus, starring a dejected Ryan Gosling/Oscar Isaac flanked by actors from Game of Thrones.

Jurassic Park - As exciting watching it as an adult as walking through a children's dinosaur theme park as an adult.

Notorious - I think I might just have come to the realization that this is my favorite Hitchcock. It's just so perfectly nuanced in every way, with probably the most nuanced romantic pairing. Ingrid Bergman's greatest performance and Cary Grant's just great as an icy homme fatale.
 
Mark Of The Devil
Karl, a man who suffers a demonic possession, together with Tomás, a priest with addiction problems, embark on a hunt for demons, finding the case of Camila, a girl who attacks her family while controlled by a demon. Awfully boring movie with horrible effects and zero scares 1/10
 
The Last Days of American Crime

On Netflix. I gave up with 50 minutes to go. It's incoherent, there's barely a plot (although the premise had potential) and it's very dark meaning it's hard to see who's who in many scenes. Waste of time.
 
R.N7 said:
re-wtch.

Dracula (1992) - Didn't always work but admirable that a big name director would go for a demented postmodern sex opera approach like this, would any modern directors have the balls to go all out like this?
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What did you think of Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria?
 
The Deeper You Dig. Psychological horror dealing with events and the subsequent grief, guilt and regret.

It focuses on fairly stock themes, using some clichéd techniques, ramshackled together, and it's not particularly scary or unsettling. Yet I really took to it for some reason.

Likeable performances and a playful willingness to experiment. Solidly constructed and well paced.

Ari Aster is the obvious comparison but this is less supercilious. Inland Empire is even closer, though this has none of the grating unwatchability of Lynch's nightmare. I preferred The Deeper You Dig over both.

There is a real homegrown feel to the filmmaking, and the shallow credit scroll of repeating names, allocated to a variety of jobs, suggests it was a pitch-in labour of love production.

I have a lot of goodwill towards the film and the filmmakers.
 
Watched The Vast of Night yesterday on Amazon Prime. It’s kind of an homage to old school sci-fi movies. Really enjoyed it. It absolutely nails the time period. A great looking film with a fantastic atmosphere. Some really inventive camera work and cinematography. One part in particular where we get an extended shot which basically takes us across town is extraordinarily and is up there with some of the best tracking/extended shots in any film. I think the pacing suffers a little towards the end which stops the film from being truly great, IMO.

But nevertheless, it’s still a very good film.
 
dumbo said:
The Deeper You Dig. Psychological horror dealing with events and the subsequent grief, guilt and regret.

It focuses on fairly stock themes, using some clichéd techniques, ramshackled together, and it's not particularly scary or unsettling. Yet I really took to it for some reason.

Likeable performances and a playful willingness to experiment. Solidly constructed and well paced.

Ari Aster is the obvious comparison but this is less supercilious. Inland Empire is even closer, though this has none of the grating unwatchability of Lynch's nightmare. I preferred The Deeper You Dig over both.

There is a real homegrown feel to the filmmaking, and the shallow credit scroll of repeating names, allocated to a variety of jobs, suggests it was a pitch-in labour of love production.

I have a lot of goodwill towards the film and the filmmakers.
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Turns out the directors Toby Poser and John Adams are partners and it was a largely family and friends production.

Great post by the way, agree with everything you say.
 
Embrace the Serpent (2015) [Prime]: How did I never hear of this before? I need better friends. Two doctors interact with the indigenous people of the Amazon as they search for rare plants. A low budget film from Colombia, it is B&W and subtitled from seemed like several languages.

It is stark throughout but somehow supremely beautiful-like an old Kurosawa film set in the Amazon at times. Will watch again.

17/20
 
Close
A female must protect a heiress from a group of assassins. Run of the mill action flick with a good performance from Noomi Rapace 5/10
 
1917
Really enjoyed this and thought it captured much of the horror of the first world war in the sense you rarely see the enemy but have the constant fear of death and lingering paranoia. Fantastic cinematography and the fact the whole thing is one single shot makes it quite unique. 8/10

Pet Cemetery (new one)
Great writing by Stephen King as the idea behind it is totally unique and interesting. With regards to the film itself sadly it's pretty average for a few reasons. Little character development in the sense you never really grow attached to anyone and when the film itself is driven by the feeling of emotion and desperation for me it makes it hard to relate to what you see. 5/10
 
The Assignment (aka Tomboy) (2016)

Available on Netflix. Interesting premise which sounds good on paper but not really transmitted well to the screen. That being said, any film with Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver is alright with me although not even these two heavyweights could save a film that was so poorly directed. It centres around that age old conundrum that we have all mulled over at some point in our lives, right? What would you do if you woke up one day and found out you're the opposite sex.

Well that's exactly what happens to tough as nails hitman Frank, played by Michelle Rodriguez. Now you have to kind of go along with the first 15-20 minutes as Rodriguez starts off as a guy complete with full body hair and prosthetics. Not very convincing I might add but necessary to the context of the film which basically chronicles his search for the doctor (Weaver) who performed the non-consensual operation on him. This is where the film really falls down as that very significant plot element is criminally glossed over and poorly characterized.

At around 90 minutes, the film feels a bit rushed and to be honest not much of any note happens. It was a criminal waste of Sigourney Weaver's talents whose bland, monotonic, one-dimensional delivery felt like she was more in a theatre production than an action thriller. And I use those terms 'action' and 'thriller' very loosely because well there wasn't really much action and the only (cheap) thrill I got was Rodriguez character exploring his/her newly acquired female body.

It may have been that the film budget was gobbled up by Weaver and Rodriguez' fees but it would have benefited from an extra 30 minutes to flesh out the characters and story a bit more. As it stands though, you're just presented with an uneventful, soulless and at times ridiculous film that you would probably only ever want to revisit just to skip to the parts at 20:40 and 23:06 (you're welcome).

I'm giving this a 5/10.
 
Just Mercy

Found this by accident looking for Brie Larson films (sue me).

It's incredibly moving, poignant and especially relevant at the moment, thought this was excellent if a bit by the numbers from a movie POV.

Definitely recommend that you watch it if you've not seen or heard about it. 9/10
 
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The Green Mile
Had never seen this before but was expecting based on its reputation a film like Shawshank however with a relationship forged between the guard and inmate. I thought it was going to be about morality, redemption, racism etc but then he starting absorbing people’s brain tumours and vomiting swarms of flies like the seven plagues of Egypt. Not the tear jerker I expected and was left quite confused by the end. Enjoyed it though. 7/10
 
Riz said:
The Green Mile
Had never seen this before but was expecting based on its reputation a film like Shawshank however with a relationship forged between the guard and inmate. I thought it was going to be about morality, redemption, racism etc but then he starting absorbing people’s brain tumours and vomiting swarms of flies like the seven plagues of Egypt. Not the tear jerker I expected and was left quite confused by the end. Enjoyed it though. 7/10
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Unpopular opinion I am very aware, but this is in my worst films of all time category along with The Soloist, The Producers, Burn After Reading and The Sixth Sense. A very exclusive list of films that make me want to throw myself out of the window to avoid them.
 
ChrisNelson said:
Unpopular opinion I am very aware, but this is in my worst films of all time category along with The Soloist, The Producers, Burn After Reading and The Sixth Sense. A very exclusive list of films that make me want to throw myself out of the window to avoid them.
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It's only your opinion that matters.
 
Pom Poko
Shapeshifting racoons must fight back against humans who are destroying their forest for property development. Funny, insane, beautifully animated. A typical Studio Ghibli movie. I enjoyed it for the most part 7.5/10

Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock movie about a man with a broken leg who thinks one of his neighbours have committed murder. A bit slow in parts but there is a nice, simple story with some great suspense 7/10
 
I finally got around to watching Prisoners, which I've had on my watchlist for the longest time. I just thought it was a really good movie. Always enjoy Jake Gyllenhaal and I thought Hugh Jackman was very good too. 8/10

Watched Midnight Run last night too and enjoyed that. Nothing special just entertaining 7/10
 
I quite liked The King of Staten Island - way too long like many Apatow films, but also really funny at times and a bit of a "feel good" movie. Also, Bill Burr.
 
The Birds
I don't mind a show build up to horror but Hitchcock's The Birds is very boring in its build up. The character actions feel unbelievable and frankly quite strange. Once the birds begin to attack, it gets better but the ending was a let down 5/10

The Cat Returns
A 17 year old girl saves a cat and unwillingly becomes his bride to be. Very weird movie. Not as good as since other Ghibli films but it was decent 5.5/10
 
From Upon Poppy Hill
A group of students fight to stop their student social house from demolition due to the Tokyo Olympics. Not your standard Ghibli film, not as fantastical but a charming movie with likeable characters 6.5/10

Vertigo
Another Hitchcock film about a detective suffering from vertigo who falls for the woman he was investigating but she thinks she's been inhabited by a dead woman. Very slow and a bit tedious. Picks up towards the end but by then I was already checked out 4/10
 
Monos

Great film. Lord of the Flies-esque story about a group of teenagers in Colombia guarding a hostage. It is compelling to watch the dynamics of the group shift as the movie progresses. The cinematography is probably the highlight with some great scenes in the mountains and jungle; probably the most impressive I have seen recently. Additionally a great score from Mica Levi who created the soundtrack for Under the Skin as well.

It's on UK Netflix and is well worth checking out.
 
Kill Bill 1 and 2:
It had both cartoonish violence (like the restaurant fight) and serious stuff (like the coffin) and both were done very well, and the music probably held all that together. In general I was suprised at how effective the constants shifts in tone were.
Would have been slightly better if the ending of 1 hadn't spoiled the last scenes of 2.
8/10
 
A long shot here but I'm looking for the earliest instances of the fighting trope that sees the warrior turn the tide of battle through some form of internal reflection or memory, that conjures up an inner strength or motivation. Think most Rocky films, or Daniel-san doing the crane. The earliest I have is Sanshiro Sugata from 1943, with our hero overcoming after remembering the image of a flower. Any earlier plays, literature or paintings that depict similar are also welcome. It's not just the general motivation for revenge (although revenge is a common component), it's more an abstract moment of revelation that I'm after.

The Iliad is perhaps something similar in macrocosm, with memories, grudges, reflections and the will of the gods dictating the ebb and flow of battle, rather than individual warrior prowess. Is Jesus's "why hast thou forsaken me" before his ascension a variation? There is often a spiritual (supernatural even), revelatory implication to it, even in the shitty superhero films that employ it. I can't help thinking that Hamlet's soliloquy is doing something similar. Perhaps it's simply that deliberate plot pause for the inner monologue that Shakespeare does a lot.

Tvtropes might have something on it but I can't stomach that miserable website. And I refuse to trawl through that kind of poorly compiled reductive criticism, designed to be read by the idiot children of idiot children.

Earliest or just good ones.

Also, I don't need the examples where Iron Man uses visions of his falling share portfolio as motivation to drone strike a Middle Eastern daycare center. Though they are applicable.
 
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Sun Tzu worrying about Corbyn perhaps winning the election, and then remembering that his watch is worth £20,000.
 
dumbo said:
A long shot here but I'm looking for the earliest instances of the fighting trope that sees the warrior turn the tide of battle through some form of internal reflection or memory, that conjures up an inner strength or motivation. Think most Rocky films, or Daniel-san doing the crane. The earliest I have is Sanshiro Sugata from 1943, with our hero overcoming after remembering the image of a flower. Any earlier plays, literature or paintings that depict similar are also welcome. It's not just the general motivation for revenge (although revenge is a common component), it's more an abstract moment of revelation that I'm after.

The Iliad is perhaps something similar in macrocosm, with memories, grudges, reflections and the will of the gods dictating the ebb and flow of battle, rather than individual warrior prowess. Is Jesus's "why hast thou forsaken me" before his ascension a variation? There is often a spiritual (supernatural even), revelatory implication to it, even in the shitty superhero films that employ it. I can't help thinking that Hamlet's soliloquy is doing something similar. Perhaps it's simply that deliberate plot pause for the inner monologue that Shakespeare does a lot.

Tvtropes might have something on it but I can't stomach that miserable website. And I refuse to trawl through that kind of poorly compiled reductive criticism, designed to be read by the idiot children of idiot children.

Earliest or just good ones.

Also, I don't need the examples where Iron Man uses visions of his falling share portfolio as motivation to drone strike a Middle Eastern daycare center. Though they are applicable.
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King of beggar
Scorpion warrior

Sorry... asian movie lovers here. Skip to final fight scene
 
Commando: How about Schwarzenegger's hilarious memory of him and his daughter feeding a deer (or some suitably cute creature)? It was even more manipulative of an audience's feelings than the Brexit campaign. Almost as funny as Bennett.

gov-arnold-schwarzenegger-in-commando.jpg
 
I read Sun Tzu and I think ancient, eastern, battles:eek: have we found the written origins of the thing I actually asked for! but alas no, it's just the usual frothing at the mouth Corbynism. Shouldn't you be out desecrating a statue with the Trot himself.
SteveJ said:
Commando: How about Schwarzenegger's hilarious memory of him and his daughter feeding a deer (or some suitably cute creature)? It was even more manipulative of an audience's feelings than the Brexit campaign. Almost as funny as Bennett.

gov-arnold-schwarzenegger-in-commando.jpg
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:lol:I can't remember this. I'm going to look it up and hope it qualifies.
 
Sky1981 said:
King of beggar
Scorpion warrior

Sorry... asian movie lovers here. Skip to final fight scene
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Not seen them but I can see Stephen Chow doing it as he likes to play with tropes, I seem to remember him satirising it in either Hustle or Soccer. Zucker Abrahams Zucker and South Park have done too.
 
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