Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

2cents said:
I enjoyed The Irishman better on a second viewing once I understood that it's a movie about getting old/old age, and that this is the entire point of casting really old men in the leading roles (at least that's my interpretation).
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I agree on the aging thing, although that only became obvious to me in the final third or so, when the old age scenes seemed too long - until I figured that getting there had been the point all along.

My issue with The Irishman is rather that Scorsese landed about halfway between a miniseries and a film. I think he should have either cut out some of the relatively underdeveloped storylines completely (a couple of which I found a little jarring in their briefness) and make a shorter and more focused film that treats fewer themes better; or expand upon those stories/themes properly as well and make a miniseries of some five or six episodes.
Goodfellas is just extremely entertaining, but yeah it doesn't have much interesting to say about anything.
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And also entertaining often in the 'haha, the guy in the trunk isn't dead yet' or 'haha, he just shot the guy in the foot out of nowhere' sense. I liked that as a teenager and 20s (see also Pulp Fiction), but I'm mostly turned off by it now.
Casino is a great story, but I find De Niro so dour and wooden in it, one of his weakest roles before he gave up on serious acting completely. But in fairness, the character he portrayed, Lefty Rosenthal, wasn't particularly charismatic or fun it seems:

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I totally have to rewatch it after what you and @Sweet Square have been saying about it. I don't remember it too fondly, but then I don't actually remember any specifics about it. The main thing that comes to mind is De Niro bashing someone's head in with a baseball bat, which is actually from The Untouchables! I see I have it on DVD even, let's see when I can make the time. :)
 
Casino is available for pre-order on UK iTunes, 27th Feb release, for anyone that gives a shit (anyone know why not before?). Only HD though, for some reason, according to its page.

The 4K disc is a good'un (native, not an upscale), but I'm not in any way trying to/or suggesting that you should buy it. Just in case there's anyone worrying about that. :)
 
Drawfull said:
Casino is available for pre-order on UK iTunes, 27th Feb release, for anyone that gives a shit (anyone know why not before?). Only HD though, for some reason, according to its page.

The 4K disc is a good'un (native, not an upscale), but I'm not in any way trying to/or suggesting that you should buy it. Just in case there's anyone worrying about that. :)
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Casino is one of my favorite Crime films, I though De Niro was excellent in it, the beating Joe Pesci took was brutal.
 
CassiusClaymore said:
I mean there's this...

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Maybe I’m reading it wrong but to me this scene is attempting to show the real world effects of the gangster character as opposed to the fantasy of Goodfellas.



Here it’s faced paced, Liotta played the knight in shinning armour(With his Elvis like haircut). It’s a male power fantasy, where as in The Irishman it’s almost filmed to look bad(In the same way when you see people fight in the streets, it looks incredibly shit). There’s nothing cool about, it’s just an old man hitting another old man while his daughter looks on.

Which isn’t saying one is better than the other(Although clearly goodfellas is more entertaining).

CassiusClaymore said:
It's just quite a long and pretty boring film in my opinion.
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Agree with that it’s far too long. Tbh unless it’s a giant epic, I struggle with any film that goes beyond the 3 hour mark.


2cents said:
I enjoyed The Irishman better on a second viewing once I understood that it's a movie about getting old/old age, and that this is the entire point of casting really old men in the leading roles (at least that's my interpretation).
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Yeah thats the way I saw it as well.
2cents said:
Casino is a great story, but I find De Niro so dour and wooden in it, one of his weakest roles before he gave up on serious acting completely. But in fairness, the character he portrayed, Lefty Rosenthal, wasn't particularly charismatic or fun it seems:

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I’ve always liked De Niro reserved role(My favourite De Niro performance is from Heat). For me, his performance is fine enough. The film has other great performances from the likes of Pesci and Stone to do the heavy work. Also as you say the real life guy is hardly charismatic.


Cheimoon said:
I agree on the aging thing, although that only became obvious to me in the final third or so, when the old age scenes seemed too long - until I figured that getting there had been the point all along.

My issue with The Irishman is rather that Scorsese landed about halfway between a miniseries and a film. I think he should have either cut out some of the relatively underdeveloped storylines completely (a couple of which I found a little jarring in their briefness) and make a shorter and more focused film that treats fewer themes better; or expand upon those stories/themes properly as well and make a miniseries of some five or six episodes.

And also entertaining often in the 'haha, the guy in the trunk isn't dead yet' or 'haha, he just shot the guy in the foot out of nowhere' sense. I liked that as a teenager and 20s (see also Pulp Fiction), but I'm mostly turned off by it now.

I totally have to rewatch it after what you and

@Sweet Square have been saying about it. I don't remember it too fondly, but then I don't actually remember any specifics about it. The main thing that comes to mind is De Niro bashing someone's head in with a baseball bat, which is actually from The Untouchables! I see I have it on DVD even, let's see when I can make the time. :)
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Oh it’s well worth a watch again. Also some of the cinematography is up there with Scorsese best

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The Whale was good. Brendan Fraser is exceptional and makes the entire movie compelling to watch, but I found the other characters a bit one dimensional and poorly acted, especially the actress who plays his daughter.

This obviously works a lot better as a play. 7/10

Would be surprised if Brendan doesn't win best actor, hollywood loves a good comeback story
 
Tarrou said:
The Whale was good. Brendan Fraser is exceptional and makes the entire movie compelling to watch, but I found the other characters a bit one dimensional and poorly acted, especially the actress who plays his daughter.

This obviously works a lot better as a play. 7/10

Would be surprised if Brendan doesn't win best actor, hollywood loves a good comeback story
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Are you referring to Sadie Sink? I always thought she was awful in Stranger Things, never understood the hype.
 
You Are Not My Mother
A girl realises the radical change in her mother's personality after the mother returns from a brief stint where she goes missing and this reveals some dark family secrets. Irish film by a first time director, was decent folklore tale mixed with family drama. The acting was generally believeable and a couple of moments made me jump. Not too long either so that was a good choice. Just wish it went an extra 10% as the final act felt a bit... too clean 6/10
 
Tarrou said:
The Whale was good. Brendan Fraser is exceptional and makes the entire movie compelling to watch, but I found the other characters a bit one dimensional and poorly acted, especially the actress who plays his daughter.

This obviously works a lot better as a play. 7/10

Would be surprised if Brendan doesn't win best actor, hollywood loves a good comeback story
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Wing Attack Plan R said:
Are you referring to Sadie Sink? I always thought she was awful in Stranger Things, never understood the hype.
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She was the worse thing about the film, which wasn't that great to begin with. Agree that Brendan Fraser deserves all the plaudits he's getting, but I actually preferred Paul Mescal's performance in Aftersun. Both great though, and Fraser seems like a lovely guy so it'd be a nice story.
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
No disrespect to your view, RiP, -[I’m not saying this just to argue, and I’m not saying you care what my opinion is] but I had an almost polar opposite reaction to this film than you did. The shaggiest of shaggy dog stories. Did not fulfill the promise shown in his first film It Follows. UTSL played like a musical that they went back in at the last minute and excised all the songs. The acting and staging were silly. As a resident of LA, UTSL played like a tourist's version of the hipster guide to the city, like the director came out here for a summer and someone showed him around. Many problems with this film, starting with a run time that was almost 2 1/2 hours. I thought Andrew Garfield was about as wrong for this part as could be. He had no edge, no hard surfaces, just grinning, milquetoast, and boring. The story itself went nowhere, it descended into farce, and ended up being an unresolved question. Masturbatory. Like a 2 1/2 hour guitar solo by someone who isn't very good at guitar. It was a $10,000,000 student film. 2/10
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I've never even been to LA, let alone the US, but it felt so shallow and disingenuous. Glad to hear it confirmed by a local. Awful movie.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
She was the worse thing about the film, which wasn't that great to begin with. Agree that Brendan Fraser deserves all the plaudits he's getting, but I actually preferred Paul Mescal's performance in Aftersun. Both great though, and Fraser seems like a lovely guy so it'd be a nice story.
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The performances in The Whale from everyone bar Brendan Fraser are atrocious.

As @Tarrou says it almost feels like it was an instruction, so as to make Fraser's performance seem even better.
 
ChrisNelson said:
The performances in The Whale from everyone bar Brendan Fraser are atrocious.

As @Tarrou says it almost feels like it was an instruction, so as to make Fraser's performance seem even better.
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I thought his friend, Hong Chau, was fine, though she wasn't given much to work with. But yeah, big gulf in quality with the others (ex-wife, annoying missionary boy, and especially the daughter who was dreadful)
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
No disrespect to your view, RiP, -[I’m not saying this just to argue, and I’m not saying you care what my opinion is] but I had an almost polar opposite reaction to this film than you did. The shaggiest of shaggy dog stories. Did not fulfill the promise shown in his first film It Follows. UTSL played like a musical that they went back in at the last minute and excised all the songs. The acting and staging were silly. As a resident of LA, UTSL played like a tourist's version of the hipster guide to the city, like the director came out here for a summer and someone showed him around. Many problems with this film, starting with a run time that was almost 2 1/2 hours. I thought Andrew Garfield was about as wrong for this part as could be. He had no edge, no hard surfaces, just grinning, milquetoast, and boring. The story itself went nowhere, it descended into farce, and ended up being an unresolved question. Masturbatory. Like a 2 1/2 hour guitar solo by someone who isn't very good at guitar. It was a $10,000,000 student film. 2/10
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No worries, and I'm always curious about other people's opinions on films, especially when I've enjoyed them, and interested to understand why they might differ. I agree with a lot of the things you've said there (apart for the Garfield part, he was absolutely perfect as this lanky, lost and loser kid who has no idea what he's doing) but I think it's kind of the point of the film - especially the hipster guide part. But I respect that you felt differently!
pierrethesnack said:
I've never even been to LA, let alone the US, but it felt so shallow and disingenuous. Glad to hear it confirmed by a local. Awful movie.
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Kind of the point, I think? I don't think it should be read into too much from a scenario perspective, it's more of a vibe-trip that worked pretty well for me.
Massive Spanner said:
Triangle of Sadness… enjoyed the first two acts a lot but the whole thing fell apart in the third act for me. Wished they had kept it going as it was instead. Worth a watch, though.

was shocked to learn after that the main actress died recently, what a shame. She was great.
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Suv666 said:
Triangle of Sadness was nice. Although a bit too long and not subtle enough. If it was 20-30 minutes shorter, would have been a massively better film.

7/10
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Drawfull said:
Triangle of Sadness

Another Hollywood movie trying to be funny* and edgy and failing. The second part was just about OK, until the captain's dinner which felt massively forced. The rest is a mish-mash of role-reversal and societal-hierarchy switching. God knows how it won Palme D'Or, or indeed how it's nominated for Best Picture.

Some of the cast were great (the lead, sadly passed now and Woody were stand-outs; the Russian guy (from 2012?) was good). The rest, not so much.

*If you find people projectile vomiting and/or shitting, people in semi-vegatative states, people falling over at sea (there's honestly not much more to it) funny, then your mileage may vary.

2/10
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I saw this the other night, thought it was mostly poor and got this disagreeable impression as I was watching it that the director and writer probably thought it was a lot cleverer than it was. It lacked any form of subtlety, and while there are some very good moments in it (the tension that builds up towards the end of the second part was quite good), it overstays its welcome by at least 30mns and doesn't really say anything remotely interesting that hasn't been said 100 times before (often better than in here). Kind of masturbatory, not entirely without merits, but a bit of a damp squib in the end.
 
Corsage

A reimagining of the life Elisabeth of Bavaria.
Vicky Krieps puts in another brilliant performance(Best actor around atm) as Elisabeth in her late 30’s/early 40’s struggle to deal with her role in the monarchy and the patriarchal oppression she faces, along with increasing suicidal tendencies.

The film is beautiful shot, in that sense that it captures both the loneliness and intense stress of Elisabeth, who is at the same time realising her oppression and also continuing to be an arsehole because well royalty(There’s two scenes back to back which perfectly captures how class effects patriarchy)

Also enjoyed the use of a modern soundtrack. Worth watching

8/10
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I thought his friend, Hong Chau, was fine, though she wasn't given much to work with. But yeah, big gulf in quality with the others (ex-wife, annoying missionary boy, and especially the daughter who was dreadful)
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Yeah actually I will give you that she was decent enough!

It just felt like everything around him was lazy - don't get me wrong they were in a way right to focus on him because his performance is insane but still, a little more support would have helped.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Kind of the point, I think? I don't think it should be read into too much from a scenario perspective, it's more of a vibe-trip that worked pretty well for me.
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I read your comments on Triangle of Sadness and I felt the same about it (though I thought The Square was absolutely brilliant), so I actually tried to think a bit about what turned me off with UTSL. I did actually watch it while going through nicotine withdrawal, so I'm wondering whether that just prevented me from getting into the vibe-trip.
 
pierrethesnack said:
I read your comments on Triangle of Sadness and I felt the same about it (though I thought The Square was absolutely brilliant), so I actually tried to think a bit about what turned me off with UTSL. I did actually watch it while going through nicotine withdrawal, so I'm wondering whether that just prevented me from getting into the vibe-trip.
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I still have to watch The Square - it's one of those I have on my watchlist since forever, but just never seem to get around to. Having seen Triangle of Sadness hasn't exactly motivated me, I have to say. The more I think about it, the angrier I am, cos it really feels like a waste of a film. There's clearly someone with talent and ideas behind the camera, and there was a lot of potential... but it just feels very lazy and self indulgent.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I still have to watch The Square - it's one of those I have on my watchlist since forever, but just never seem to get around to. Having seen Triangle of Sadness hasn't exactly motivated me, I have to say. The more I think about it, the angrier I am, cos it really feels like a waste of a film. There's clearly someone with talent and ideas behind the camera, and there was a lot of potential... but it just feels very lazy and self indulgent.
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I like all his films to some degree, so I admit I'm quite biased, but I do think The Square stands out as the best one, and Triangle of Sadness as the weakest one. It just goes way too far for me, to the point where it ruines the immersion, though I did find it funny. The Square is much more restrained and realistic, so the fecked up stuff hits harder. I agree his talent was a bit wasted on Triangle of Sadness.

It's his first film in English, though, so maybe he felt he had to appeal to a wider audience or something. No idea, but I hope he goes back to basics next time.
 
pierrethesnack said:
I like all his films to some degree, so I admit I'm quite biased, but I do think The Square stands out as the best one, and Triangle of Sadness as the weakest one. It just goes way too far for me, to the point where it ruines the immersion, though I did find it funny. The Square is much more restrained and realistic, so the fecked up stuff hits harder. I agree his talent was a bit wasted on Triangle of Sadness.

It's his first film in English, though, so maybe he felt he had to appeal to a wider audience or something. No idea, but I hope he goes back to basics next time.
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Cheers, sounds good - I'll definitely have to give it a watch soon. Sounds more encouraging than Triangle of Sadness.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I still have to watch The Square - it's one of those I have on my watchlist since forever, but just never seem to get around to. Having seen Triangle of Sadness hasn't exactly motivated me, I have to say. The more I think about it, the angrier I am, cos it really feels like a waste of a film. There's clearly someone with talent and ideas behind the camera, and there was a lot of potential... but it just feels very lazy and self indulgent.
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Have you watched Force Majeure? It’s quality. That’s the only one of his films I’ve seen but I loved it.
 
Knock at the Cabin

Just watched this film this morning and I quite enjoyed it. Not your usual home invasion film and quite thought provoking. Would you sacrifice a loved ones life to save the rest of humanity?

Dave Bautista puts in a good performance as the leader of the 4 horseman of the apocalypse/cult. He looks truly menacing due to his size but you can also see the sadness in his eyes delivering the news about what he thinks is happening. Would have been nice to have a little more of the background story of the 4 invaders and their visions

The gay couple had a good chemistry on screen but couldn’t see too much in their ‘backstory’ to be included in the film.

It did seem a bit 90’s to me but it was ok I guess

6/10
 
Three colours: 8,7,9

Father: 9

Everything everywhere...: 0/10 stopped at 30mins mark, unfunny, tedious and too hectic

Prisoners: 8
Jackman drives there with his car and it doesn't get moved, right, so they should find him quicker, or did I miss that
 
massi83 said:
Prisoners: 8
Jackman drives there with his car and it doesn't get moved, right, so they should find him quicker, or did I miss that
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Doesn't that woman take his keys and drive his pick-up away after hiding him in that hole?
 
Triangle of Sadness, brilliant Boschian ballet of shit and vomit. Pasolini, Bunuel in tone and quality.

With fraudulent dreck like White Lotus and Always Everything being held in the highest esteem, I was beginning to think that it was all over, the idiots had claimed everything and nothing good would ever come again but this renewed my faith.

The wretching shots were so disgusting you could taste it. It was delicious.
 
dumbo said:
Triangle of Sadness, brilliant Boschian ballet of shit and vomit. Pasolini, Bunuel in tone and quality.

With fraudulent dreck like White Lotus and Always Everything being held in the highest esteem, I was beginning to think that it was all over, the idiots had claimed everything and nothing good would ever come again but this renewed my faith.

The wretching shots were so disgusting you could taste it. It was delicious.
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I thought the third act was utterly weak and a massive let down. I get that Ostlund is happy with himself and his one note approach (EAT THE RICH) and kudos to him for what he's done so far, but i dunno. He gets lost in his own point making exercise. That scene didn't hit me as much as it did you, so there's that. I might rewatch it again tonight with fresh eyes.
 
Cheimoon said:
Doesn't that woman take his keys and drive his pick-up away after hiding him in that hole?
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Thanks! I guess I wasn't paying attention. Still not totally convinced the timeline checks out, but it is hardly that important anyway.
 
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