Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

VorZakone said:
I was just wondering, do made-for-TV movies still get made? I remember watching 1 a while ago and it was actually good. It was an HBO original actually: Path to War (2002).
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Depends on what you mean. But pretty much no. At least not the kind it looks like you mean. The market died out around 2010 and then really went away when Netflix started hoovering up any and every project, sight-unseen.

There's still a healthy-ish market for Hallmark-type romances which about three channels in the US still churn out fairly regularly, with Hallmark making the most.

EDIT: SyFy do some (those Sharknado types), probably the closest thing to what you mean is the ones AMC still do (some under their "IFC Films" banner)

EDIT x2: It doesn't look like AMC still do them at all apart from whatever they acquire to release theatrically via IFC Films. They're pretty much the only 'big' name who still go here, so I assumed they chucked in the odd feature once in a while.
 
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USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage
During World War II, an American navy ship is sunk by a Japanese submarine leaving 890 crewmen stranded in shark infested waters. Looked cheap, especially the sets and cgi. The story wasn't very compelling and afterreading the real story behind it, it makes you wonder how this could have turned out in the hands of a better creative team. Will give some points though as it had the great Nic Cage in it and some scenes in the second half of the film had a fair bit on suspense. A film that is Titanic meets Jaws should have been better! 5/10

School Of Rock
For some reason, I had never seen this. Really enjoyed it. Jack Black was great in it 8/10
 
Dirty Schwein said:
School Of Rock
For some reason, I had never seen this. Really enjoyed it. Jack Black was great in it 8/10
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Yeah, Jack Black is great in that one.

I love how
an amateur rock band competition is being held around 8 or 9 in the morning on a weekday and they still manage to pull in a crowd of over 1000 people :lol:
 
Dirty Schwein said:
USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage
During World War II, an American navy ship is sunk by a Japanese submarine leaving 890 crewmen stranded in shark infested waters. Looked cheap, especially the sets and cgi. The story wasn't very compelling and afterreading the real story behind it, it makes you wonder how this could have turned out in the hands of a better creative team. Will give some points though as it had the great Nic Cage in it and some scenes in the second half of the film had a fair bit on suspense. A film that is Titanic meets Jaws should have been better! 5/10

School Of Rock
For some reason, I had never seen this. Really enjoyed it. Jack Black was great in it 8/10
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That story about the USS Indianapolis is fascinating, I remember reading about it a while ago. It's a story that really deserves a great movie.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage
During World War II, an American navy ship is sunk by a Japanese submarine leaving 890 crewmen stranded in shark infested waters. Looked cheap, especially the sets and cgi. The story wasn't very compelling and afterreading the real story behind it, it makes you wonder how this could have turned out in the hands of a better creative team. Will give some points though as it had the great Nic Cage in it and some scenes in the second half of the film had a fair bit on suspense. A film that is Titanic meets Jaws should have been better! 5/10

School Of Rock
For some reason, I had never seen this. Really enjoyed it. Jack Black was great in it 8/10
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School of Rock is very good seen it many times, kids love it.
I always thought the Indianapolis was made up for Jaws :nervous: till I read about it, I will watch it.
 
Supersize Me - a little dated, but still a shocking walk through the fast food industry. Now making my way through Supersize Me 2.
 
Ready or Not - A bride, on the night of her wedding, finds herself being hunted through her new family's old mansion. Enjoyed it a lot. Great combination of humor and violence. Samara Weaving was fantastic. 7/10

Mayhem - Glen from the Walking Dead and Samara Weaving from Ready or Not nailgun their way through an office tower whose employees are infected with a virus that removes inhibitions and makes victims act out on their wildest impulses. Also a fun, violent film. I feel like it didn't quite live up to all it could have been, but definitely worth a watch and had some great lines. 6/10
 
The Conversation:
Saw Eyes Wide Shut a few months ago, and rewatched Chinatown recently. These three make a nice trio of movies with protagonists out of their depth, fighting powerful institutions they barely fathom.
At the start, there are other characters with personalities, by the end he's the only person in the world, surely being hunted down.

9/10
 
berbatrick said:
The Conversation:
Saw Eyes Wide Shut a few months ago, and rewatched Chinatown recently. These three make a nice trio of movies with protagonists out of their depth, fighting powerful institutions they barely fathom.
At the start, there are other characters with personalities, by the end he's the only person in the world, surely being hunted down.

9/10
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I watched this a few years ago and found it super dull. Need to revisit it I think.
 
Supersize Me 2: Holy Chicken - not as engaging as the first but still a great documentary. The power of the lobbies, and big [whatever] in the US is shocking. There’s some difficult scenes in this, especially when the chicks are being reared.
 
TheReligion said:
Anyone got something to recommend tonight? Sky or Netflix?

Thank you x
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In case you have it on your Netflix and you're in for an artistic drama (with touches of comedy): I'm halfway through The Last Black Man In San Francisco and it's absolutely amazing so far.
 
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Sweet Square said:
Scorsese Shutter Island is a great thriller and on netflix.
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Cheimoon said:
In case you have it on your Netflix and you're in for a artistic drama (with touches of comedy): I'm halfway through The Last Black Man In San Francisco and it's absolutely amazing so far.
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Thanks gents. Shutter Island is definitely one I need to get around to. I love Leo and completely missed it when it came out.

I'll check the other suggestion!
 
berbatrick said:
The Conversation:
Saw Eyes Wide Shut a few months ago, and rewatched Chinatown recently. These three make a nice trio of movies with protagonists out of their depth, fighting powerful institutions they barely fathom.
At the start, there are other characters with personalities, by the end he's the only person in the world, surely being hunted down.

9/10
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The Lives of Others, which I suppose I already mentioned a few pages back, would be a fantastic bookend to that trio.
 
Primal Fear - excellent legal thriller. A 19 year old choir boy is accused of killing the respected and loved archbishop. Martin Vail (played by Richard Gere) who loves being in the spotlight takes the case pro bono. There's some excellent actors / actresses and recognisable faces in here early in their careers such as Frances McDormand, Terry O'Quinn, Alfre Woodard, and Andre Braugher. The star of the show is Edward Norton though, who puts in an amazing performance as the 19 year old choir boy. A very very good movie. 8/10.
 
The Corinthian said:
Primal Fear - excellent legal thriller. A 19 year old choir boy is accused of killing the respected and loved archbishop. Martin Vail (played by Richard Gere) who loves being in the spotlight takes the case pro bono. There's some excellent actors / actresses and recognisable faces in here early in their careers such as Frances McDormand, Terry O'Quinn, Alfre Woodard, and Andre Braugher. The star of the show is Edward Norton though, who puts in an amazing performance as the 19 year old choir boy. A very very good movie. 8/10.
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Is this the film where:
the boy is found innocent but it is later discovered he played dumb all along and did kill the priest?

I watched The Tomorrow War. Good action but the story gets progressively weaker and of course it does have some plot holes. For example, initially the aliens are difficult to kill but as the movie progresses, they suddenly seem "easier".
 
0le said:
Is this the film where:
the boy is found innocent but it is later discovered he played dumb all along and did kill the priest?
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So, he is given a psychiatric evaluation where he is deemed to have multiple personality disorder. The case is thrown out by the judge and he's asked to go to a hospital for 30 days (after which it's implied he'll go scot free). It then transpires he was acting like he had a different personality the whole time and 'played' the system.
 
The Corinthian said:
Primal Fear - excellent legal thriller. A 19 year old choir boy is accused of killing the respected and loved archbishop. Martin Vail (played by Richard Gere) who loves being in the spotlight takes the case pro bono. There's some excellent actors / actresses and recognisable faces in here early in their careers such as Frances McDormand, Terry O'Quinn, Alfre Woodard, and Andre Braugher. The star of the show is Edward Norton though, who puts in an amazing performance as the 19 year old choir boy. A very very good movie. 8/10.
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Such a good movie, end really makes it. Believe it was Nortons first role too.
 
The Corinthian said:
Supersize Me - a little dated, but still a shocking walk through the fast food industry. Now making my way through Supersize Me 2.
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Have you seen Fast Food Nation ?

I think it's quite an underrated gem in Richard Linklater's filmography. Wasn't really well received when it came out, as it's got a strange, fleeting structure because although it's a fictional dramatic film, it's based off a Eric Schlosser non-fiction book about the fast food industry. I suppose it's similar to Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat
 
I Am A Girls (on Netflix). A South African thriller about a detective trying to dismantle a girl trafficking and pedophile ring, who is then 'helped' by an assassin who starts killing the leaders of the ring.

It's a mess really. From some of the messaging in and around the film, it seems that it's meant to raise awareness and/or anger for the issue at hand, but the plot does nothing for that. The detective constantly ignores rules, risking getting her cases dismissed and being fired, and the assassin's work is underused (it could have driven the plot better) - I'm not sure what that's supposed to tell us morally. Also, side characters are underdeveloped, and in general the acting and cinematography are meh. I didn't really hate it while watching (as you might think reading this), but I wouldn't recommend this.
 
Black Widow

As far as Marvel movies go, this was complete and utter dung. This really didn’t focus on her, going through experiments or training to become Black Widow. Instead it focussed on introducing new characters, turned the Red Guardian into a bit of a joke, seriously miscast Ray Winston into his role and had a plot where seriously reprogrammed brains could be turned normal again with 2 seconds of sniffing the red powder. The worst Marvel movie yet.

3/10. the 3 is only because I like Scarlet J
 
TheReligion said:
Thanks gents. Shutter Island is definitely one I need to get around to. I love Leo and completely missed it when it came out.

I'll check the other suggestion!
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Imo apart from Gangs Of New York, Leo might do his best work with Scorsese. He really is great in this although the film is packed with acting talent - Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer and Max von Sydow .
 
The Last Black Man in San Francisco. An absolutely amazing film about a Black man's life San Francisco, who is living in a poor section near the water and is trying to reclaim his family's old house in a now-gentrified neighbourhood that's well beyond his financial means. It's hard for me to describe the film in a way that does it justice. It's a drama, but it's also funny and hilarious and mostly not really all that dramatic; it's got touches of surrealism, but it is at its core a very down-to-earth film. It's beautifully and very creatively shot; all through the film, they keep coming up with great scenes and angles. The story is gripping and weird and interesting, as are the characters; and the acting is great. I was a little disappointed near the end: I wondered how they could bring all this to a satisfying end, and they don't entirely (I wasn't a big fan of the play that's staged); but then the final scenes are amazing again. If you are in for something artistics, calm, touching, beautiful, funny, and clever - highly recommended.

There is also a great description of the film here btw: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco-2019. But watch out - it basically explains the entire film.
 
Stillwater - I liked it, I could see why some might say it drags on a bit and the ending can be interpretated in different ways, I actually liked that aspect of it. Some very good performances in it, solid 7/10
 
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Finally got around to seeing this in one sitting last night and while I'll have to watch Jackie Brown again as it's been years since I've watched it, I think Once Upon A Time In Hollywood might be Tarantino masterpiece.

The film easily deserved the now nearly 3 hour running time all his recent work have and Tarantino nerd obsession with old movie references/culture works perfectly here. Like every Tarantino film the writing and performances are brilliant. It might be the funniest of his film, any scene with DiCaprio as the cowboy villain is pure gold, from him almost bursting into tears because a small child told him his performance was the greatest they've ever seen to him forgetting his lines. Pitt plays the good looking stunt guy/wife killer role with ease and while he is a unstoppable fighting machine, there are still times where you are expecting it to all go wrong for him(Spahn Ranch section almost gave me a heart attack). They make a great duo. Margot Robbie puts across a very human portray of Sharon Tate, the best scene in the film(Imo Tarantino best scene of all time) is her watching The Wrecking Crew in the cinema. It's such a sweet scene as it's firstly a fitting tribute to Tate as an actor and really captures the feeling of seeing the end result of you're artistic expression, even if it's just a silly comedy with Dean Martin. The Mason Family is handled well, they are less of a main vocal point and more a disturbing undercurrent running throughout the film.

Considering the current state of cinema, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood might be the last great original hollywood film people went to see on mass. It wasn't a comic book film, it wasn't a
nostalgic remake/reboot/sequel from sci fi decades ago. Once Upon A In Hollywood main selling point was the story, the director and a cast full of great talent. So if that's the case then the almost celebratory and melancholic violent ending is a worthy way for Hollywood to go out.
 
I think you are going over the top there, but I kind of agree. In the sea of comic shite, movies like this, The nice guys(it has the similar aura to it), etc., should be praised to heaven even if they aren't the best movie you'll see.
 
Boss level

it’s like Groundhog Day but the loop starts immediately and with a ton of action and a bit of comedy, it’s a good action movie.
It’s on Amazon prime in the UK
 
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Beckett - Denzel’s son runs around Greece with the cops chasing him for an hour and a half

it’s alright if you have feckall else to do, I suppose
 
Free Guy

Ryan Reynolds vehicle. Good concept with a few minor chuckles but an underwhelming execution. Would’ve been much, much better as an R rated film. Wish I had waited to stream it. Not worth the ticket price. RR as always charming.

Meh/10
 
Jungle Cruise.

Its basically a mix of the mummy and pirates of the carribean.
But the good mummy movie with Brendan fraser , which was fun. As was this movie. A nice 'feel good' movie with some funny jokes (the dadjokes type from the rock)
 
The Report

The Mauritanian

Both good films, exploring the legality of how terrorist suspects were detained and questioned.

21 Bridges

I thought the film was meh. Very obvious plot lines and none of the reveals were surprising.
 
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