Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Up on Prime, first time I have watched it in years. Just a magnificent piece of work, exceptional performances, cinematography, sound design, drips with atmosphere and total commitment to the creative vision.

9.5/10 One of the best films of the last 30 years.
 
Margin Call

Saw this a few days ago and is a very nice tidy film. Got a good cast including Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Simon Baker.

The film is over a 24 hour period at at Wall Street investment bank where the bank is responsible for starting the 2008 financial crash (i know that didn't happen in real life). All in all a good film with a good continuous story which progresses the film nicely.

7.5/10
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Margin Call

Saw this a few days ago and is a very nice tidy film. Got a good cast including Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Simon Baker.

The film is over a 24 hour period at at Wall Street investment bank where the bank is responsible for starting the 2008 financial crash (i know that didn't happen in real life). All in all a good film with a good continuous story which progresses the film nicely.

7.5/10
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Loved it.

I also remember a certain actor who apparently shall not be named having a fairly prominent role. :D
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Margin Call

Saw this a few days ago and is a very nice tidy film. Got a good cast including Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Simon Baker.

The film is over a 24 hour period at at Wall Street investment bank where the bank is responsible for starting the 2008 financial crash (i know that didn't happen in real life). All in all a good film with a good continuous story which progresses the film nicely.

7.5/10
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Very good flick.
 
Red Rocket

Big fan of Sean Baker. Really enjoyed this film. It was surprisingly more rough around the edges/lo-fi than his recent work - but it seems like it was a rushed production during covid. But this adds to its charm.

If you like Sean Baker's humanist, authentic, funny, salt-of-the-earth vibe, you'll enjoy it.

The main guy, I recognised him from "Shreik If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th" - apparently he's done these straight-to-dvd comedies his whole career and now all of a sudden he explodes with this critically acclaimed performance of a lifetime at Cannes.

It felt strange/great seeing this type of film at the multiplex. I'm guessing that because less films have been shot last year, there's more windows for films to be released wider than they would've otherwise.

A bit like that new Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum/Brad Pitt film - that looks to me like if that film was released in 2019, it would be on Netflix - not at the cinemas.

Anyway. Red Rocket. 8/10
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Margin Call

Saw this a few days ago and is a very nice tidy film. Got a good cast including Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Simon Baker.

The film is over a 24 hour period at at Wall Street investment bank where the bank is responsible for starting the 2008 financial crash (i know that didn't happen in real life). All in all a good film with a good continuous story which progresses the film nicely.

7.5/10
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I worked for an investment bank in 2008. This movie is a masterpiece. Captures the emotions around that day better than any other film has managed.
 
Power of the dog
A thoughtful, beautifully shot film. Better on reflection than in the actual viewing and possibly worth watching again due to that. It did drag on quite a bit, but made up for it in the ending and contained some really excellent performances - especially by Cumberbatch. Bonus points for being a cowboy film in which there appeared not a single gun.

7/10
 
Batman - Fecking awesome film.....may be a bad take but I put it up with the Bale films. His Wayne is a bit mopey emo, but I knew that going in. Still a good flick. Make sure you check it out at the theater while you can.

Really enjoyed how we are watching him in only his second year as the Batman as in the character. You can see he isn't peak Batman with the all the gadgets and fighting. He was still learning
 
Pscholes18 said:
Batman - Fecking awesome film.....may be a bad take but I put it up with the Bale films. His Wayne is a bit mopey emo, but I knew that going in. Still a good flick. Make sure you check it out at the theater while you can.

Really enjoyed how we are watching him in only his second year as the Batman as in the character. You can see he isn't peak Batman with the all the gadgets and fighting. He was still learning
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Gutted there were no IMAX scenes.
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Have either of you seen The Big Short? After seeing Margin Call i saw online that it's quite similar and wondered if it's worth watching.
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Its definitely worth watching. More of an ensemble story than Margin Call but a very good summary of how the housing market crash happened. I'd recommend the book too.
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Have either of you seen The Big Short? After seeing Margin Call i saw online that it's quite similar and wondered if it's worth watching.
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Agreed with the others, great film. Very different stylistically (I suppose a trailer will show you that), but it's another good perspective on the situation. It's a bit more holistic and has a stronger (or: more explicit) moral angle.
 
After watching Sorry We Missed You, got recommended:

I, Daniel Blake, and was a very moving albeit heart wrenching one. Out in 2016 and see others have reviewed it couple years back on here, but would recommend to anyone that hasn't watched it yet.
 
Cheimoon said:
Agreed with the others, great film. Very different stylistically (I suppose a trailer will show you that), but it's another good perspective on the situation. It's a bit more holistic and has a stronger (or: more explicit) moral angle.
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Too Big to Fail (2011) is a great addition to watching Margin Call and The Big Short. It also has William Hurt in it so a good moment to say again: rest in peace.
 
The Adam Project. A 2022 sci-fi time travel action film by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Free Guy, etc.). Ryan Reynolds features as a guy coming to 2022 from the future to stop a businesswoman (Catherine Keener) from setting things in motion that will allow her to take over globally, but Reynolds will have to work with his 12-year old self to make it happen.

This has been panned by two posters in this thread, but I really liked it. Yes, it's dumb, and not a story I want to think about too much; but it's often funny, the action is good (accompanied a couple of times by great music), and I liked the character interactions. It's no good if you're looking for a deep, artistic, well-crafted, or otherwise high-quality film; but great popcorn entertainment. (Well, beer and chips for us.)

I'd score it 7/10 in that category.
 
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Bigbug (2022)

I'll just keep this brief. This is probably the worst film I've seen in years. Available on Netflix, this French dubbed movie is an embarrassment to film-making. What were those commissioning people at Netflix thinking? I just don't know where to start. Set in the future where AI has taken over every aspect of human life, humanity is no longer deemed necessary and the androids decide to do a bit of spring cleaning. However, we never get to see any robopocalypse. Instead the focus is on a dysfunctional group of people kept captive in their AI controlled house by their faithful robot servants determined to keep them safe.

It is a great plot but that's about it. I can't describe just how bad this is. The dubbing, the dialogue, the acting, the story......they're all shockingly bad. I will say that the only redeeming quality was the look of the movie but that's about it. Apart from the chief android who I vaguely recognise, the other actors are probably big names in France and probably had lots of fun making it but I'm not sure what point the producers were making in signing this project off. This is probably on a par with Inspector Gadget 2 which has to be the worst film ever made...but then again it wasn't THAT bad to be fair to it.

I'm giving this a 1/10.
 
SirAnderson said:
I, Daniel Blake, and was a very moving albeit heart wrenching one. Out in 2016 and see others have reviewed it couple years back on here, but would recommend to anyone that hasn't watched it yet.
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Brilliant film but not uplifting so you need to watch it when you ae in the mood.

 
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The King's Man
Thought the first two were good fun but I'd heard this one wasn't very good so didn't really want to watch it. Got told I was watching it. Mutual decision to turn it off after about an hour. Shite. Comically poor.

2/10
 
Titane

Put Crash, Eraserhead, Pulp Fiction, Tetsuo, Maya Derren and the rest in a blender and you get an aimless mix of broken stuff in paste form.

Easy hot-take Memes, cheap garish titillation, cynical, generation-Netflix rorschaching. OK fine, this is the META formula to game the sales metrics In the age of multimedia dilittantism, but why does it have to be so tediously boring.

Less high octane auto, more Fred Flintstone's car.

Cronenbergo/10

Also Jane Campion's continued racist flippancy should see (what I assume to be) her lump of shit film, cruise to OSCAR success. Personally I can't sit through the awful writing and must therefore defer to the informed expertise of our mo-pic Academy betters.

Oh, and go and watch Taste, a Vietnamese film from 2021, it's sublime.
 
Wibble said:
Brilliant film but not uplifting so you need to watch it when you ae in the mood.

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Yeah it's not one you watch if you looking to get motivation or something.

That being said, it was probably best I didn't know how it was going to play out when I started watching it, I suspected toward the end though, but if I knew from the beginning, I probably wouldn't have watched it. :wenger:
 
SirAnderson said:
Yeah it's not one you watch if you looking to get motivation or something.

That being said, it was probably best I didn't know how it was going to play out when I started watching it, I suspected toward the end though, but if I knew from the beginning, I probably wouldn't have watched it. :wenger:
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I love Loach films. Not sure how many more we will see given he is 85 :(
 
The Big Short

Watched it last night after watching Margin Call, another very good film but i preferred Margin Call. I guess the whole 4th wall thing made me feel like i was watching Deadpool rather than a film depicting the financial collapse.

Also massive props to Christian Bale for an excellent performance playing Michael Burry, guys got impressive range considering the first time i watched a film of his was Batman.

7/10 ( It could have been the worst film in the world and i'd of still of given it a good score simply for having Margot Robbie in it).
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Boiling Point
Stephen Graham stars as a head chef that is under pressure personally and professionally. We follow him and his team on an extremely busy night in his high class restaurant. Shot as a "oner", this movie had me stressed out! The high intensity restaurant setting, characters that are emotionally on the edge, the "oner" making you feel like you're in the kitchen with them (rather than used as a gimmick), Stephen Graham on the brink of explosion (if you have seen This Is England, you'll know how scary he can be) etc.

Movies like this remind me why I love cinema and why I go through so much bullshit to find hidden gems 9/10
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Watched this last night as its now on UK Netflix. What a film and what a performance. Seriously intense viewing
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
The Big Short

Watched it last night after watching Margin Call, another very good film but i preferred Margin Call. I guess the whole 4th wall thing made me feel like i was watching Deadpool rather than a film depicting the financial collapse.

Also massive props to Christian Bale for an excellent performance playing Michael Burry, guys got impressive range considering the first time i watched a film of his was Batman.

7/10 ( It could have been the worst film in the world and i'd of still of given it a good score simply for having Margot Robbie in it).
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Does that mean this was your second film with Christian Bale? You got a lot of greatness still to discover then. :) (By which I don't mean high-profile films like American Psycho, rather stuff like The Machinist, Hostiles, or Vice.)
 
Cheimoon said:
Does that mean this was your second film with Christian Bale? You got a lot of greatness still to discover then. :) (By which I don't mean high-profile films like American Psycho, rather stuff like The Machinist, Hostiles, or Vice.)
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Yeah it's only my second Bale film, i never really watched tv shows or movies growing up but i've seen more movies than tv though both are still quite poor by most peoples standards. But making up for it now meaning i get to watch classics for the first time. Downside though is i don't have those "nostalgia" films or shows that people would have watched growing up that shaped or defined your childhood or adolescence. Hope that makes sense, but the only ones i have are christmas films that always bring back good memories growing up and never tire of seeing.

But you've given me an idea to start marathons by either actor or era rather than just randomly going from film to film. Think it would be better that way, and Bale is probably a good place to start.
 
CraftySoAndSo said:
Yeah it's only my second Bale film, i never really watched tv shows or movies growing up but i've seen more movies than tv though both are still quite poor by most peoples standards. But making up for it now meaning i get to watch classics for the first time. Downside though is i don't have those "nostalgia" films or shows that people would have watched growing up that shaped or defined your childhood or adolescence. Hope that makes sense, but the only ones i have are christmas films that always bring back good memories growing up and never tire of seeing.

But you've given me an idea to start marathons by either actor or era rather than just randomly going from film to film. Think it would be better that way, and Bale is probably a good place to start.
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I don't know, not having nostalgia films is also a good way not to spend time on old crap! ;)

Christian Bale has been in a really wide range of films stylistically - it might make more sense to get for stylistic marathons maybe?
 
Anyone know some more good (old) Australian movies? I've watched Picnic at Hanging Rock and Wake In Fright.
 
VorZakone said:
Anyone know some more good (old) Australian movies? I've watched Picnic at Hanging Rock and Wake In Fright.
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Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
Mad Max trilogy
Proof
Romper Stomper
Strictly Ballroom
The Piano
Muriel's Wedding
Pricilla Queen of the Desert
Cosi
Shine
Romeo + Juliet
The Castle
Dead Letter Office
The Boys
The Interview
Two Hands
The Dish
Chopper
Looking for Alibrandi
Lantana
Moulin Rouge
The Man Who Sued God
Rabbit Proof Fence
Harvie Crumpet
Gettin' Square
Ten Canoes
Happy Feet
Mary and Max
Animal Kingdom
SnowTown
Red Dog
The Sapphires
Mystery Road
The Dry
 
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Wibble said:
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
Mad Max trilogy
Proof
Romper Stomper
Strictly Ballroom
The Piano
Muriel's Wedding
Pricilla Queen of the Desert
Cosi
Shine
Romeo + Juliet
The Castle
Dead Letter Office
The Boys
The Interview
Two Hands
The Dish
Chopper
Looking for Alibrandi
Lantana
Moulin Rouge
The Man Who Sued God
Rabbit Proof Fence
Harvie Crumpet
Gettin' Square
Ren Canoes
Happy Feet
Mary and Max
Animal Kingdom
SnowTown
Red Dog
The Sapphires
Mystery Road
The Dry
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Thanks, that's plenty of choices!
 
Watched Hereditary for the second time. The first time I saw it was maybe three years ago. My impression then was that it was a decent/good film, but it's definitely moved up a fair bit on my second watch. It's a modern classic, in my opinion. Toni Collete is just on another level. I think the all-round acting, dialogue, writing, plot, and tension are all handled incredibly well. There are no unnecessary jumpscares or moments of 'cheapness' which devalue the atmosphere and tension. It's just...a fecking great film. Loved the ending and there are lots of things that you can spot on a rewatch that you may not quite spot first time around. Overall, it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as films like The Exorcist or The Omen.

Last night, I watched Wrong Turn (2021) as I wanted something to watch to pass the time. I've got to admit that I thought the film was a little bit better than what I had expected it to be. Charlotte Vega (plays the lead character) is just :drool: . It's daft in places and is a little silly at the end, but I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. I didn't know that this was essentially a reboot for the series, and haven't seen the other films. It ramps up the tension and mystique quite well. It's definitely your typical 'ITV2 on a weeknight' film, but it succeeds at that. Quite like the overall plot and the main ideas behind the film, but I didn't find myself taking to too many of the characters, bar the lead character and the lead villain. Quite interesting how the actual ending of the story plays out during the credits, which strangely works.
 
Wibble said:
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
Mad Max trilogy
Proof
Romper Stomper
Strictly Ballroom
The Piano
Muriel's Wedding
Pricilla Queen of the Desert
Cosi
Shine
Romeo + Juliet
The Castle
Dead Letter Office
The Boys
The Interview
Two Hands
The Dish
Chopper
Looking for Alibrandi
Lantana
Moulin Rouge
The Man Who Sued God
Rabbit Proof Fence
Harvie Crumpet
Gettin' Square
Ren Canoes
Happy Feet
Mary and Max
Animal Kingdom
SnowTown
Red Dog
The Sapphires
Mystery Road
The Dry
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Can't believe you missed out BMX Bandits.
 
Wibble said:
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
Mad Max trilogy
Proof
Romper Stomper
Strictly Ballroom
The Piano
Muriel's Wedding
Pricilla Queen of the Desert
Cosi
Shine
Romeo + Juliet
The Castle
Dead Letter Office
The Boys
The Interview
Two Hands
The Dish
Chopper
Looking for Alibrandi
Lantana
Moulin Rouge
The Man Who Sued God
Rabbit Proof Fence
Harvie Crumpet
Gettin' Square
Ren Canoes
Happy Feet
Mary and Max
Animal Kingdom
SnowTown
Red Dog
The Sapphires
Mystery Road
The Dry
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walkabout
 
Freedom Writers. A 2007 American movie in which Hillary Swank has just become a high school teacher and gets a high-school class in Long Beach, Los Angeles, full of kids from a poor gang neighbourhood. Rather than following the standard curriculum that would do nothing for these kids, she decides to make her own curriculum, paying for trips and books herself by taking extra jobs - and makes change happen.

It's a fairly predictable and soppy movie that's like lots of school movies around similar themes. It also suffers from a heavy case of white saviour syndrome. Except: most of the story of this movie actually happened almost exactly as told (except the real teacher taught some 150 kids, not one class of 25), and the teacher went on to create a foundation that has further developed her approach and spread it through classrooms across the US. (Even if I'm not sure what's the actual or relative impact.)

That provides a very different spin on a familiar story, and makes the film much more worth it. (It also makes you wonder (again) about US society. As my wife said a few time: how can a rich country let things get this bad?!) On top of that, it's well done. It's not great though: the acting is just OK, the film really is soppy, and it doesn't have a lot in turns of drama once the story gets going (at some point at least something goes horribly wrong). But it works, and I enjoyed the film. 3/5
 
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VorZakone said:
Anyone know some more good (old) Australian movies? I've watched Picnic at Hanging Rock and Wake In Fright.
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The Sundowners (1960) not so Oz cast, Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov, but wait for it - Chips Rafferty. 1920s sheep sharing life for family with money troubles. Great cinematography. Not a bad teaser for more meaningful Australian Film. Full movie on YouTube.

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Sunday too far away (1975) South Australian Film Corp, proper Sheep Shearing action, no idea why I remember these films, Jack Thompson, Max Cullen, Peter Cummins, and more.

Jack Irish x 3 films plus TV series, Guy Pearce plays ex-Lawyer, semi-private detective, best support actor - Aaron Pedersen (also in Mystery Road and Goldstone - well worth watching)
 
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