Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Dirty Schwein said:
Knock At The Cabin
I liked the premise and also the performance of Dave Bautista. The first half of this was decent. But then it just gets silly and the ending pretty much goes against the whole theme of the film. Shame as this could have been an excellent film but it's just mediocre 6/10
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You surely know what M Night's deal is by now? Have you not been burned yet? None of his movies hold up, all of them fall apart by about the middle. His movies range from the laughable to the risible. The Village and Signs were two of the stupidest, most illogical films I've ever seen. Watching any M Night movie at this point is like going to a restaurant and getting insane food poisoning, then shitting and vomiting yourself dry.
And then going back to that restaurant for dessert.
 
decorativeed said:
Everything Everywhere All At Once:

Had been looking forward to this one and I know reviews on here are certainly mixed, but...

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decorativeed said:
Everything Everywhere All At Once:

Had been looking forward to this one and I know reviews on here are certainly mixed, but...

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Agree with you totally.
 
Sweet Square said:
Betty Blue

Its sooo long and sooo french but it’s also very good.

8/10
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That opening scene really sets the mood. Béatrice Dalle was insanely hot in it, too. Apparently she was as insane in real life as she was in that movie. I loved** that movie, not sure why you'd dock it two points, it's the full 10/10.
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**haven't seen it in a long, long time, maybe it doesn't hold up.
 
The Whale. Yeah, think a few people said in here already that it's a decent film elevated by how brilliant Brendan Frasier is and that's about right. I do think Hong Chau was good too.

Sadie Sink was awful as the daughter, which surprised me cause she's great in Stranger Things.
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
That opening scene really sets the mood. Béatrice Dalle was insanely hot in it, too. Apparently she was as insane in real life as she was in that movie. I loved** that movie, not sure why you'd dock it two points, it's the full 10/10.
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**haven't seen it in a long, long time, maybe it doesn't hold up.
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8 out of 10 is pretty good rating tbf, it’s one point below the best mission impossible film!

I do think it’s a good film but just over 3 hours does take its toll. A million times happen all the time and the dialogue is non stop, which becomes draining after a while. I don’t want to say this is a criticism of the film because it isn’t trying to be a long epic or a meditation piece but it didn’t fully click for me(In the future I’ll have to find the original version that doesn't have the extra hour).

I agree that Dalle puts in a great performance but personally I would have found it more interesting if she was instead the main character. If anything the last 30 minutes is the strongest part of the film as it works well as a story about the struggles of a carer(Well until the end)

The film is named after her, she is the only one on the iconic poster, yet the film fundamental view is that women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. It’s a male power fantasy. The unfound writer who’s work is loved by a beautiful young woman, to the point where she will even type all it out for him(Not even James Joyce had that luxury). Oh and the butchers hot wife also wants to sleep with him! Although credit to the film that it show both male and female nudity which is something of equality.

But Betty is presented as a delicate, fragile, beautiful mannequin, we never really know anything about her. There are little moments and Dalle does amazing to get across the frustration one can feel at the world but we know more about Betty from listening to Zorg than anything Betty says. She is placed in different locations without ever getting asked and always shown as pretty even when she is clearly mentally ill. Even in her final moments the camera stays on Zorg.

Having said all of that the film has a ton of style, great moments and is still worth a watch.
 
Sweet Square said:
8 out of 10 is pretty good rating tbf, it’s one point below the best mission impossible film!

I do think it’s a good film but just over 3 hours does take its toll. A million times happen all the time and the dialogue is non stop, which becomes draining after a while. I don’t want to say this is a criticism of the film because it isn’t trying to be a long epic or a meditation piece but it didn’t fully click for me(In the future I’ll have to find the original version that doesn't have the extra hour).

I agree that Dalle puts in a great performance but personally I would have found it more interesting if she was instead the main character. If anything the last 30 minutes is the strongest part of the film as it works well as a story about the struggles of a carer(Well until the end)

The film is named after her, she is the only one on the iconic poster, yet the film fundamental view is that women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. It’s a male power fantasy. The unfound writer who’s work is loved by a beautiful young woman, to the point where she will even type all it out for him(Not even James Joyce had that luxury). Oh and the butchers hot wife also wants to sleep with him! Although credit to the film that it show both male and female nudity which is something of equality.

But Betty is presented as a delicate, fragile, beautiful mannequin, we never really know anything about her. There are little moments and Dalle does amazing to get across the frustration one can feel at the world but we know more about Betty from listening to Zorg than anything Betty says. She is placed in different locations without ever getting asked and always shown as pretty even when she is clearly mentally ill. Even in her final moments the camera stays on Zorg.

Having said all of that the film has a ton of style, great moments and is still worth a watch.
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Well said.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Sometimes I get you, sometimes I don't.
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:lol:

In coming MI2 defence…….Betty Blue is a erotic psychological drama where as MI2 is a summer action blockbuster. Imo John Woo makes a more interesting film within his genre than Beineix does with his. Although to be fair I did read this post last night - https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6694-betty-blue-the-look-of-love, arguing Betty Blue is really a critique of misogyny and the dangers of the male power fantasy.

But well I like my films vulgar. Thandie Newton in MI2 sees the male gaze and out of partly love for peak era Tom Cruse but mostly due to spite, she chooses to shoot the super covid gun into her arm. None of this let’s watch 3 hours of subtext bullshit, it’s pure action.
 
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In The Line Of Fire

Quite an old Clint Eastwood film but an absolute belter. Watched again after a few years this week for maybe the 20th time.

Generally sneaky it is a run of the mill hero/baddie guy but with previous failings involved plus a bit of romance. Over 2 hours long but there are really isn’t much ‘downtime’ during the film.

John Malcovich plays the antagonist down to a tee with his usual creepy persona and no one could have played his part any better.

9/10

If somehow you haven’t watched it then give it a whirl. Eastwood and Malcovich played a great cat and mouse game perfectly and Renee Russo gives the eye candy.
 
Port Vale Devil said:
In The Line Of Fire

Quite an old Clint Eastwood film but an absolute belter. Watched again after a few years this week for maybe the 20th time.

Generally sneaky it is a run of the mill hero/baddie guy but with previous failings involved plus a bit of romance. Over 2 hours long but there are really isn’t much ‘downtime’ during the film.

John Malcovich plays the antagonist down to a tee with his usual creepy persona and no one could have played his part any better.

9/10

If somehow you haven’t watched it then give it a whirl. Eastwood and Malcovich played a great cat and mouse game perfectly and Renee Russo gives the eye candy.
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Great flick.
 
Scream 6

Thought this was very good, easily the slickest film in the series to date.

Decent plot and continues to build the new lead characters (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega :drool:) in to the overall story arc.

In terms of the plot...

I never 100% trusted the cop but nor did I have him 100% down as one of the Ghostfaces.

Ethan (the geek) I thought was fairly obvious even though he had an alibi for one of the stabbings as there's usually multiple Ghostfaces.

As for Quinn, again didn't totally trust her but genuinely thought she was dead anyway and out of the equation.

I thought either Chad or Mindy would flip from the last film and be a Ghostface, the new boyfriend was too obvious because that's effectively what happened in the last film.

The opening scene was great and really inventive for the franchise by revealing the killer, although he only lasted another few minutes!

I'd give this a solid 8/10 and looking forward to seeing what they do next.
 
Luther: The Fallen Sun 2023 7/10

Pretty good movie from the very popular tv series. Keeps the British feel, but adds an American movie style with the villain & online element.

Got shades of Batman, one scene in particular plus the general way he works the case.

starts off very strongly. Felt it drops off a bit in the last 40 minutes / Final act.
 
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AlPistacho said:
Luther: The Fallen Sun 2023 7/10

Pretty good movie from the very popular tv series. Keeps the British feel, but adds an American movie style with the villain & online element.

Good shades of Batman, one scene in particular plus the general way he works the case.

starts off very strongly. Felt it drops off a bit in the last 40 minutes / Final act.
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Might watch this tonight. Anyone else seen it?
 
TheReligion said:
Might watch this tonight. Anyone else seen it?
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Quite a few faces I know, but not names I recall. The secondary actor is in quite a lot of Hollywood movies.

I think the film drops in the final act because the way they made the villain become almost a super villain
 
TheReligion said:
Might watch this tonight. Anyone else seen it?
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It’s good. Have you seen the tv show? It’s not as good as that but still has some of the best bits from the show but with Netflix blockbuster silliness added into some black mirror type themes. 7/10 is about right for me too.
 
AlPistacho said:
Quite a few faces I know, but not names I recall. The secondary actor is in quite a lot of Hollywood movies.

I think the film drops in the final act because the way they made the villain become almost a super villain
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SilentWitness said:
It’s good. Have you seen the tv show? It’s not as good as that but still has some of the best bits from the show but with Netflix blockbuster silliness added into some black mirror type themes. 7/10 is about right for me too.
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yeah I’ve seen the series and I’ll give this a go then! It’s pissing it down and cold so not going out :lol:
 
Sweet Square said:
Betty Blue

Its sooo long and sooo french but it’s also very good.

8/10
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Wing Attack Plan R said:
That opening scene really sets the mood. Béatrice Dalle was insanely hot in it, too. Apparently she was as insane in real life as she was in that movie. I loved** that movie, not sure why you'd dock it two points, it's the full 10/10.
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**haven't seen it in a long, long time, maybe it doesn't hold up.
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I loved that movie myself. Definitely agree with how Dalle is in the movie. I'd probably rate it an 8.5 myself because I saw right after another French film from that era that I preferred a little more, Coup de Torchon, but Coup is exactly in my wheelhouse (noir movie from a Jim Thompson novel that is one of my favorites).
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I loved that movie myself. Definitely agree with how Dalle is in the movie. I'd probably rate it an 8.5 myself because I saw right after another French film from that era that I preferred a little more, Coup de Torchon, but Coup is exactly in my wheelhouse (noir movie from a Jim Thompson novel that is one of my favorites).
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I haven't seen that one, where is it available? I had a Jim Thompson phase too.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
I loved that movie myself. Definitely agree with how Dalle is in the movie. I'd probably rate it an 8.5 myself because I saw right after another French film from that era that I preferred a little more, Coup de Torchon, but Coup is exactly in my wheelhouse (noir movie from a Jim Thompson novel that is one of my favorites).
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Cheers, didn't know about this, will have to check it out.
 
Holy Spider 2022

Crime film based on the true story about an Iranian serial killer who targeted sex workers in the early 2000's.

Pretty good thriller tbh, reminded me of Michael Mann - Manhunter but if done on a small budget. The film has a cool colour palette which uses lots of blues and greens, some great close up camera shots. The portray of everyday sexism of Iranian society done by both men and women is very interesting, as was how the film showed the difficulties sex workers face. The violence is horrific and doesn't stray away from the brutality and evilness of the murders. Plus great performances from both Zar Amir Ebrahimi as the investigating journalist and Mehdi Bajestani as the spider killer.

The only downsides were again it looked like it was filmed on a budget(I'm pretty sure it has production problems due to covid and couldn't film in Iran because of political reasons)and lack of stand out soundtrack.

7/10
 
ChrisNelson said:
Scream 6

Thought this was very good, easily the slickest film in the series to date.

Decent plot and continues to build the new lead characters (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega :drool:) in to the overall story arc.

In terms of the plot...

I never 100% trusted the cop but nor did I have him 100% down as one of the Ghostfaces.

Ethan (the geek) I thought was fairly obvious even though he had an alibi for one of the stabbings as there's usually multiple Ghostfaces.

As for Quinn, again didn't totally trust her but genuinely thought she was dead anyway and out of the equation.

I thought either Chad or Mindy would flip from the last film and be a Ghostface, the new boyfriend was too obvious because that's effectively what happened in the last film.

The opening scene was great and really inventive for the franchise by revealing the killer, although he only lasted another few minutes!

I'd give this a solid 8/10 and looking forward to seeing what they do next.
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I just can't take horror films seriously when it gets to 4th installment and above. Probably my snobbish nature but Ghostface has been done to death if you pardon the pun.

The Saw franchise exactly the same. The first one was fresh and incredible and like nothing I'd ever seen. It blew me away. Now they are on like number 8 it's just getting silly.

The Halloween franchise went on for way too long as well.
 
Vesper

Has anyone else seen this? Just finished and I reckon it’s a bit of a gem. Melancholic post apocalyptic Sci fi which looks absolutely lovely but also has some proper gruey body horror type moments. It’s set in a future where all animals and crops have been wiped out and replaced by weird parasitic fungi and bacteria. The main protagonist is a girl who’s tending her bedbound father and trying to genetically engineer a food source that will save the world.The CGI is subtle to the point you barely notice and uses stuff like stop motion to great effect. Some of the best world building I’ve seen in ages. Lovely score too.

7/10
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Vesper

Has anyone else seen this? Just finished and I reckon it’s a bit of a gem. Melancholic post apocalyptic Sci fi which looks absolutely lovely but also has some proper gruey body horror type moments. It’s set in a future where all animals and crops have been wiped out and replaced by weird parasitic fungi and bacteria. The main protagonist is a girl who’s tending her bedbound father and trying to genetically engineer a food source that will save the world.The CGI is subtle to the point you barely notice and uses stuff like stop motion to great effect. Some of the best world building I’ve seen in ages. Lovely score too.

7/10
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Yeah its a solid movie. Felt a bit Hunger Gamesey to me and i wasn't glued to the story but i enjoyed it well enough. World building was very strong.
 
Ideal Home (2018). Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, and annoying fat little ginger twat.
I was conned into watching Ideal Home a couple nights ago. It's got Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan, so how could it go wrong? I think the motive force behind this film was to show that a gay couple can be good parents, but they had so many offensive and cheap gay jokes that I would assume the gay community would be offended rather than feel championed. The film couldn't make up its mind what tone it wanted: saccharine, risqué, dramatic, etc., and it ended up being a hot mess.

2/10
 
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Good article putting forward the issues with Everything Everywhere All At Once
Could that be why “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which spends a lot of time laying out its delightfully screw-loose multiverse logic, seems to overexplain its big emotional beats and cultural specificities? Would it account for why Evelyn and Joy’s mother-daughter bond, for all its apocalyptic stakes, feels more telegraphed than fully inhabited? How to explain why the movie’s most weepily quoted line — “In another life, I would have really just liked doing laundry and taxes with you” — strikes me less as a romantic lament for the ages than as a calculated go-for-the-jugular moment, engineered for maximum retweeting? (Perhaps it takes more than an aquarium-green filter to evoke the spirit of Wong Kar-wai, a filmmaker who knows the value of saying more with less, and who is thus in little danger of ever winning an Oscar.)

I’m not accusing “Everything Everywhere All at Once” of insincerity. As this year’s most flamboyantly operatic best picture nominee not directed by Baz Luhrmann, the movie is off-the-charts sincere. That’s partly the problem: It’s so eager to bare its soul, to show you just how much its heart breaks for Evelyn and Joy and Waymond and Deirdre and everyone in the whole damn multiverse, that it practically does all your emoting for you. There’s almost no need — and no room — for a viewer to feel anything at all.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...verything-everywhere-all-at-once-best-picture
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I’d disagree that you don’t feel anything. The problem is more that you feel it for the Waymond arc, and then that ends, and they try and do it ALL again, for another 30 minutes and by then you’re like, nah, you’re alright.

Elvis gave me a headache. And not a cool one from doing as much coke as Luhrmann had.
 
Mockney said:
I’d disagree that you don’t feel anything. The problem is more that you feel it for the Waymond arc, and then that ends, and they try and do it ALL again, for another 30 minutes and by then you’re like, nah, you’re alright.
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He gets a ''cool'' fight scene but overall the character is such a fecking nerd. There's been stereotype in Hollywood of the asian man who always plays the sidekick or the one who never gets the woman and
EEAAO by accident almost plays into this. It's like the Daniels took all the bizarre shite right wing arguments about the decline of masculinity and responded by saying er...yeah it's all true and also good. By the end of the film, the Waymond character pretty much sounded like this

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''Please can we just stop fighting'' ''I know your all fighting because your scared and confused'' ''Somehow it feels like it's all my fault'' ''Please be kind''. At that point I just wanted Michelle Yeoh to unleash a drop kick into his head and unload a full uzi clip. Plus Yeoh character is a petit bourgeois immigrate struggling to keep her business afloat, there's no alternative universe where this woman embraces ''love'' and ''kindness'', it's pure brute power all the way, as it should be.

The Daniels seem like nice blokes but it's shite art.
 
Sweet Square said:
He gets a ''cool'' fight scene but overall the character is such a fecking nerd. There's been stereotype in Hollywood of the asian man who always plays the sidekick or the one who never gets the woman and
EEAAO by accident almost plays into this. It's like the Daniels took all the bizarre shite right wing arguments about the decline of masculinity and responded by saying er...yeah it's all true and also good. By the end of the film, the Waymond character pretty much sounded like this

sddefault.jpg

''Please can we just stop fighting'' ''I know your all fighting because your scared and confused'' ''Somehow it feels like it's all my fault'' ''Please be kind''. At that point I just wanted Michelle Yeoh to unleash a drop kick into his head and unload a full uzi clip. Plus Yeoh character is a petit bourgeois immigrate struggling to keep her business afloat, there's no alternative universe where this woman embraces ''love'' and ''kindness'', it's pure brute power all the way, as it should be.

The Daniels seem like nice blokes but it's shite art.
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Well, I watched it yesterday, and I really liked it (the film). I also don't agree at all with that LA Times dude's comments that you quoted above.

I think they stretch out the final part a bit too long (the film really loses its pace there), but I also think it's a good thing it's not cynical or violent.
 
Sweet Square said:
Good article putting forward the issues with Everything Everywhere All At Once
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It left me completely cold, like few other films (that are meant to have some heart or soul) have in a long time. I also thought it was quite ugly. It's one I really really didn't get the appeal for, but whatever.
 
Operation Fortune

Slick comedy thriller from Guy Richie, starring Jason Statham, Hugh Grant and Josh Hartnett. Really enjoyed it and flew through almost 2 hours.

Hugh Grant playing the shady arms dealer fitted him like a glove and Josh Hartnett was great as the Hollywood actor forced into the bait for the undercover operation. Statham was just his usual self but good nonetheless.

Just a decent easy watch film.


7/10
 
Cheimoon said:
Well, I watched it yesterday, and I really liked it (the film). I also don't agree at all with that LA Times dude's comments that you quoted above.

I think they stretch out the final part a bit too long (the film really loses its pace there), but I also think it's a good thing it's not cynical or violent.
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Rooney in Paris said:
It left me completely cold, like few other films (that are meant to have some heart or soul) have in a long time. I also thought it was quite ugly. It's one I really really didn't get the appeal for, but whatever.
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I'm with Cheimoon in that I mostly enjoyed it for what it was (brainless but largely fun time travel film) but the end was flat. That said this should have been nowhere near the Oscars, much less have won almost everything in sight.
 
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