Given that Bill Murray and Sigur Ros are two of my favourite ever things, I'd absolutely love to.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
- Thread starter golden_blunder
- Start date
I haven't written here in a while - let's see what interesting films I've been watching lately.
Let's start with a bit of controvery. I rewatched Scorsese's Casino (1995) and I didn't much like it. Basically I thought it was pretty stale. I wonder if that may be partly due to Scorsese having more or less set the standard for these films through Goodfellas and Casino, and those films therefore feeling too typical of the genre ('of course they are, they defined what we consider typical now!'), but I don't think that's all of it. In particular, I am not a big fan of voiceover, since it makes scenes feel transitory: 'here's a bit of story that's not worth portraying in full, so we'll skip over it quickly with a bit of explanatory voiceover' (almost like a montage). And Casino is full of voiceover - and then some. The story also isn't really for me (anymore? I once used to love this gangster stuff), and the ending feels like a quick wrap-up (voiceover! although also finally an interesting use, when Pesci's cuts off when he's being hit by a spade), followed by an uninteresting outro. So as whole, it doesn't work for me - 2/5
I also watched a couple of films by Youssef Chahine, a famous Egyptian director (as I found out), that appeared on my Netflix. The Blazing Sun (1954) tells of a wealthy land owner who hatches an evil plot to destroy the crop of villagers in his area that has surpassed his (which will therefore make him less money), and then cover up his plans - which some complications due to a few people belonging to both worlds. It's a strong drama, well played (Omar Sharif stars in his second role), well directed, and doesn't feel dated at all - 4/5.
Cairo Station (1958) appears to be more highly rated, but didn't work as well for me. It's a story of several workers at Cairo's main station and things happening in their personal and work lives. I feel the plot was a little far-fetched and somehow the direction and acting did feel quite dated here. It's not bad though, and very lively as a whole, especially for films from this era. For someone like me, who knows next to nothing about modern Egypt, it was interesting also (in all these films) to get a glimpse of Egyptian life and preoccupations. 3/5
The third one was Alexandria... Why?, which is an autobiographical film focusing on Chanine's life (or more specifically: on his family and friends), growing up in Alexandria during WW2, and all their concerns, activities, and the interactions with war events happening around them. It's again interesting to me to see this, but as a film, it didn't work for me. Many scenes seem to cut off too early or too late, narrative jumps are jarring, and so on - 2/5
Staying in the Middle East but moving away from Chanine, Egypt, and the 40s/50s, I saw Beirut Oh Beirut, a 1975 Lebanese film following a couple of young middle class people through their daily life and preoccupations as Beirut and Lebanon are facing changes and uncertainties in society following Lebanon's 1967 defeat to Israel. I suppose this is fascinating if you know Beirut and Lebanon well, and apparently it really shows why Lebanon erupted into a civil war soon after (even before the film came out), but I didn't have that background. For me, while there was again some interest in an anthropological/historical sense in seeing what was going on for these people at that time, the film fell flat in basically the same way as Alexandria... Why? Narrative management was just really poor, with lots of jarring cuts and jumps - 1/5 this time.
I also saw The Swimmers (2022). Because I appear to like segues today, I'll say this is again connected conceptually, cause this film is the (mostly) true story about two teenage girls, competitive swimmers, who need to flee Syria when its civil war becomes too dangerous. We follow them as they make their way to Istanbul, Lesbos, and subsequently to Berlin - as well as through what happened after (which I won't spoil). I thought it's a wonderful movie, being both a hard-hitting, realistic, dark, heavy drama (how inhuman are we as a species in how we treat migrants and refugees!) and ultimately a feelgood story. A bit of a weird combination, but there you go. 4/5
On the Hollywood side, I saw a whole bunch of less interesting stuff. The Last Sumarai (2003), with Tom Cruise as a US veteran joining one of Japan's last samuarais in the 1870s. It's pretty alright, a decent Hollywood epic that apparently even does some (but not more than some) justice to Japanese history and culture - 3/5. Good Will Hunting is still the feelgood fairytale it always was. A lot of things make no sense, and I actually think Robin Williams overplays his part (or maybe the part just wasn't written that well ); but it's just so easy to keep watching and like the film - 3/5. Ridley's Scott Robin Hood (2010) was also quite watcheable. A total historical abomination, sure, but then who watches any Robin Hood story for that aspect? Plus I like Russell Crowe and there's a nice strong role for Cate Blanchett here as well. So another fun Hollywood epic - 3/5.
On the lower scale, I'll give Cutthroat Island a 2/5. It's a pirate film from 1995 that was completely panned when it came out. It's not that bad, but it is quite poor. It starts out fun with a lot of good action and humour, but it gets too serious along the way, and the story feels like it's dragging on while making little sense - 2/5. Enola Holmes 2 I'll give a 2/5 as well. It misses some of the liveliness of pt 1, and it's unforunate that Sherlock Holmes is brought into things so much, to the point where Enola is really obviously the lesser sibling. How's that for female empowerment. Still dumb fun, but not enough. And then The Gray Man (2022), a big action blockbuster which I'll chuck into this group also. I had more fun with it than I expected actually: some good action and decent interactions between Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. But it's irritating how the film keeps missing opportunities: nice shots being ruined by immediately switching away. In particular, there is a great shot at the start of the final fight with both characters portrayed against the rising sun - which the film immediately switches away from and subsequently only brings back a few times as it more or less randomly cycles between viewpoints of the fight. Action blockbusters don't have to be high art for me, but actively refusing nice shots is another extreme - 2/5.
Also, Failure to Launch (2006) is fairly a poor romcom (it's hard for me to like anything with Matthew McConaughey and/or Sarah Jessica Parker - let alone both), that only just remains watcheable - 2/5. But I Give It A Year (2013) is an awful sort of reverse-romcom, where few jokes work, most characters are irritating, and the outcome isn't very likeable - 1/5.
Let's start with a bit of controvery. I rewatched Scorsese's Casino (1995) and I didn't much like it. Basically I thought it was pretty stale. I wonder if that may be partly due to Scorsese having more or less set the standard for these films through Goodfellas and Casino, and those films therefore feeling too typical of the genre ('of course they are, they defined what we consider typical now!'), but I don't think that's all of it. In particular, I am not a big fan of voiceover, since it makes scenes feel transitory: 'here's a bit of story that's not worth portraying in full, so we'll skip over it quickly with a bit of explanatory voiceover' (almost like a montage). And Casino is full of voiceover - and then some. The story also isn't really for me (anymore? I once used to love this gangster stuff), and the ending feels like a quick wrap-up (voiceover! although also finally an interesting use, when Pesci's cuts off when he's being hit by a spade), followed by an uninteresting outro. So as whole, it doesn't work for me - 2/5
I also watched a couple of films by Youssef Chahine, a famous Egyptian director (as I found out), that appeared on my Netflix. The Blazing Sun (1954) tells of a wealthy land owner who hatches an evil plot to destroy the crop of villagers in his area that has surpassed his (which will therefore make him less money), and then cover up his plans - which some complications due to a few people belonging to both worlds. It's a strong drama, well played (Omar Sharif stars in his second role), well directed, and doesn't feel dated at all - 4/5.
Cairo Station (1958) appears to be more highly rated, but didn't work as well for me. It's a story of several workers at Cairo's main station and things happening in their personal and work lives. I feel the plot was a little far-fetched and somehow the direction and acting did feel quite dated here. It's not bad though, and very lively as a whole, especially for films from this era. For someone like me, who knows next to nothing about modern Egypt, it was interesting also (in all these films) to get a glimpse of Egyptian life and preoccupations. 3/5
The third one was Alexandria... Why?, which is an autobiographical film focusing on Chanine's life (or more specifically: on his family and friends), growing up in Alexandria during WW2, and all their concerns, activities, and the interactions with war events happening around them. It's again interesting to me to see this, but as a film, it didn't work for me. Many scenes seem to cut off too early or too late, narrative jumps are jarring, and so on - 2/5
Staying in the Middle East but moving away from Chanine, Egypt, and the 40s/50s, I saw Beirut Oh Beirut, a 1975 Lebanese film following a couple of young middle class people through their daily life and preoccupations as Beirut and Lebanon are facing changes and uncertainties in society following Lebanon's 1967 defeat to Israel. I suppose this is fascinating if you know Beirut and Lebanon well, and apparently it really shows why Lebanon erupted into a civil war soon after (even before the film came out), but I didn't have that background. For me, while there was again some interest in an anthropological/historical sense in seeing what was going on for these people at that time, the film fell flat in basically the same way as Alexandria... Why? Narrative management was just really poor, with lots of jarring cuts and jumps - 1/5 this time.
I also saw The Swimmers (2022). Because I appear to like segues today, I'll say this is again connected conceptually, cause this film is the (mostly) true story about two teenage girls, competitive swimmers, who need to flee Syria when its civil war becomes too dangerous. We follow them as they make their way to Istanbul, Lesbos, and subsequently to Berlin - as well as through what happened after (which I won't spoil). I thought it's a wonderful movie, being both a hard-hitting, realistic, dark, heavy drama (how inhuman are we as a species in how we treat migrants and refugees!) and ultimately a feelgood story. A bit of a weird combination, but there you go. 4/5
On the Hollywood side, I saw a whole bunch of less interesting stuff. The Last Sumarai (2003), with Tom Cruise as a US veteran joining one of Japan's last samuarais in the 1870s. It's pretty alright, a decent Hollywood epic that apparently even does some (but not more than some) justice to Japanese history and culture - 3/5. Good Will Hunting is still the feelgood fairytale it always was. A lot of things make no sense, and I actually think Robin Williams overplays his part (or maybe the part just wasn't written that well ); but it's just so easy to keep watching and like the film - 3/5. Ridley's Scott Robin Hood (2010) was also quite watcheable. A total historical abomination, sure, but then who watches any Robin Hood story for that aspect? Plus I like Russell Crowe and there's a nice strong role for Cate Blanchett here as well. So another fun Hollywood epic - 3/5.
On the lower scale, I'll give Cutthroat Island a 2/5. It's a pirate film from 1995 that was completely panned when it came out. It's not that bad, but it is quite poor. It starts out fun with a lot of good action and humour, but it gets too serious along the way, and the story feels like it's dragging on while making little sense - 2/5. Enola Holmes 2 I'll give a 2/5 as well. It misses some of the liveliness of pt 1, and it's unforunate that Sherlock Holmes is brought into things so much, to the point where Enola is really obviously the lesser sibling. How's that for female empowerment. Still dumb fun, but not enough. And then The Gray Man (2022), a big action blockbuster which I'll chuck into this group also. I had more fun with it than I expected actually: some good action and decent interactions between Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. But it's irritating how the film keeps missing opportunities: nice shots being ruined by immediately switching away. In particular, there is a great shot at the start of the final fight with both characters portrayed against the rising sun - which the film immediately switches away from and subsequently only brings back a few times as it more or less randomly cycles between viewpoints of the fight. Action blockbusters don't have to be high art for me, but actively refusing nice shots is another extreme - 2/5.
Also, Failure to Launch (2006) is fairly a poor romcom (it's hard for me to like anything with Matthew McConaughey and/or Sarah Jessica Parker - let alone both), that only just remains watcheable - 2/5. But I Give It A Year (2013) is an awful sort of reverse-romcom, where few jokes work, most characters are irritating, and the outcome isn't very likeable - 1/5.
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Oh, to finish the Netflix action comedy blockbuster series, I also watched Red Notice now. Yeah, I like Ryan Reynolds - so sue him! He's also the fun part of this movie, I don't care too much for the rest, and the whole thing definitely takes a turn for the worse when first turns into Indiana Jones after the Valencia sequence, and subsequently ends the movie through a quick wrap-up + setup for sequals. The part up to an including the Valencia sequence was fun though, and they definitely try to make more out of it than in The Gray Man. 2.5/5 then, I suppose.
Dang Chahine is a master, I've only ever been able to find a handful of his films, usually in bad quality. Cairo Station is sublime. Maybe I'll try to blag a netflux log in.
Looks like it could be OK, the trailer has me interested.
Decent cast, yeah I will definitely watch this.
Creed III
The Creed series is a bit weird in that all the films are fine but there's always something stopping them from being great. This is the same, although my favourite of the 3 so far.
Majors really brought his character to life, excellent performance and I found the character really intriguing... But needed more time to develop. The battle with Adonis at the end also felt rushed.
I think the setup here was really good but the film just felt rushed... Can't put my finger on why. I think maybe it being so predictable didn't help.
Also sad that no Rocky in this film 7/10
The Creed series is a bit weird in that all the films are fine but there's always something stopping them from being great. This is the same, although my favourite of the 3 so far.
Majors really brought his character to life, excellent performance and I found the character really intriguing... But needed more time to develop. The battle with Adonis at the end also felt rushed.
I think the setup here was really good but the film just felt rushed... Can't put my finger on why. I think maybe it being so predictable didn't help.
Also sad that no Rocky in this film 7/10
It Follows
Another film that I never watched when it came out, despite all the hype surrounding it at the time. So decided to finally give it a watch. Got to say, I don't get it. Could be a classic case of expectations being too high, but I don't think so. I love the soundtrack. I like the almost dreamy atmosphere that permeates the film, and I think it has one or two moments where it is creepy, and one good jump scare in particular.
But, this is ANOTHER example of a movie fecking up the ending. I'm not just talking about the very end, but also their cockamamie plan to actually deal with this thing. Won't say it here just in case people haven't seen it, but it was as dumb as shit. Also, the acting felt weird. Everyone seemed bored off their tits. I don't know if this was on purpose and contributed to the "dreamy" aspect of it, or if it was just bad. Either way, the film ended, and I just sort of shrugged my shoulders at it. And isn't that the worst criticism you could have of a movie? Didn't really inspire any other emotion other than apathy.
Another film that I never watched when it came out, despite all the hype surrounding it at the time. So decided to finally give it a watch. Got to say, I don't get it. Could be a classic case of expectations being too high, but I don't think so. I love the soundtrack. I like the almost dreamy atmosphere that permeates the film, and I think it has one or two moments where it is creepy, and one good jump scare in particular.
But, this is ANOTHER example of a movie fecking up the ending. I'm not just talking about the very end, but also their cockamamie plan to actually deal with this thing. Won't say it here just in case people haven't seen it, but it was as dumb as shit. Also, the acting felt weird. Everyone seemed bored off their tits. I don't know if this was on purpose and contributed to the "dreamy" aspect of it, or if it was just bad. Either way, the film ended, and I just sort of shrugged my shoulders at it. And isn't that the worst criticism you could have of a movie? Didn't really inspire any other emotion other than apathy.
Just found out that Netflix actually has another 9 films by him (12 in total; here in Canada, anyway). I'll slowly make my way through them!
What makes you say Cairo Station is sublime btw? I liked how lovely and alive it was, and I thought that was quite special for a film from 1958 (or even today); but then I felt the whole thing also felt rather dated, too theatrical I guess. Not sure how to explain that properly and I realize it sounds contradictory!
Which is fecking great you heathen.
I love that it's so vivid and bustling, it has the seedy villainy of a classic noir and the neorealist trappings of someone like Giuseppe De Santis. It can be placed within the context of what the Indians and Italians were making at the time and yet stand on it's own as distinctive and original.
Or painfully unfunny?
Yeah, I get that! Well, the vivid and bustling and noir parts, I'm not going to pretend I know the rest.
I do think it's a film whose qualities are now a little lost if you can't place it in its cinema history context, although I suppose that's fairly common for old films.Please Baby Please
Grease + Blue Velvet. Great film about the roles of masculinity and sexuality. Andrea Riseborough puts in a brilliant performance
Funny, camp and a ton of fun.
8/10
Grease + Blue Velvet. Great film about the roles of masculinity and sexuality. Andrea Riseborough puts in a brilliant performance
Funny, camp and a ton of fun.
8/10
I absolutely love that movie. Everyone hated that movie when it came out, but if you go watch it again, it really opens up. Not kidding.
Asteroid City looks overly stuffed with whimsy. The problem with Hotel Budapest and The French Dispatch was that both seemed contractually obligated to give a bunch of random stars a few lines of dialogue, and it was just over and over and over, just a pummeling of cuteness. I still love Wes Anderson but he's kind of disappearing up in his own ass.
Admittedly I haven't watched in years - so may need to revisit.
Disagree on Grand Budapest - thought that's one of his better ones. French Dispatch wasn't great. What did you think of Darjeeling Limited? I really liked it but I know I'm in the minority with that.
I have a soft spot for Darjeeling too even though everyone seems to rate it as one of his worst. Probably partly because it was my gateway Wes Anderson movie but I've also always found myself more charmed with the atmosphere and setting and more moved by the story than most seem to be. Really loved the soundtrack too.
My ranking would be something like:
1. Tenenbaums
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Grand Budapest
4. Isle of Dogs
5. Darjeeling
6. Rushmore
7. Moonrise Kingdom
8. Bottle Rocket
9. Life Aquatic
10. French Dispatch
I was working in a video shop when darjeeling was out. Was a good movie to throw on. Pretty setting, good soundtrack. Used to throw it on pretty regularly.
Yea, it’s why I have a soft spot for it for all the reasons you mentioned.
I also think about how Owen Wilson is playing someone that attempted suicide in the movie, something he attempted in real life just a few months later, and what he would be going through mentally at the time. Just makes the film a bit more poignant for me.
His best by some distance, but in my book that is an incredibly low bar as I generally can't stand his films.
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Moonrise Kingdom is up there with his best for me.
I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch wasn't all that.
I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch wasn't all that.
1. Tenenbaums
2. Isle of dogs
3. Grand Budapest
4. Fantastic Mr Fox.
5. Darjeeling
6. French Dispatch
7. Moonrise/Rushmore
8. Bottle Rocket
9. Life Aquatic.
I also really liked French Dispatch but the others before are just extremely good.
Didn't know that.
For me, Grand Budapest was the best and I really enjoyed French Dispatch. Mr Fox and Darjeeling were also excellent. Tenenbaums was only meh for me so it'd be in the middle to bottom of my list.
The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
Excellent movie. Recommend it to everyone. House of Games might be better though.
Fall (2022)
Not the greatest movie overall but some of the cinematography was really well done. Some scenes made my stomach clench with that fear of heights feeling.
Excellent movie. Recommend it to everyone. House of Games might be better though.
Fall (2022)
Not the greatest movie overall but some of the cinematography was really well done. Some scenes made my stomach clench with that fear of heights feeling.
I thought Darjeeling Limited was maybe the only film of his with any real emotion, and I really liked it because of it.
1. Rushmore
1. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. The Darjeeling Limited
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. The French Dispatch
6. Bottle Rocket
7. Isle of Dogs
1. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. The Darjeeling Limited
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. The French Dispatch
6. Bottle Rocket
7. Isle of Dogs
Saw the Mario movie, not great. Actually annoying how people are doing this critics vs audience score nonsense. If you've never seen or played a Mario game how else can you review the movie. Even people who love say the story is weak, so if you have no nostalgia its a basic kids movie.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
Incredible documentary about a incredible artist.
10/10
10/10
All Quiet On The Western Front
Very depressing and quite graphic account of The First World War.
The depression isn’t limited to what you see on the battlefield, and that is horrible in particular the tank and flamethrower scenes, but stretches to what you see away from it.
Generals who care more about pride, ego and self preservation, than the horrors unfolding and the thousands of wasted lives. Negotiators and delegates who don’t want peace but simply want total suffering and destruction on their opposite number. No humanity, no mercy.
Those who make all the decisions living like Kings, eating grandly and complaining about overcooked pastries, whilst those a few miles away are drinking muddy water and eating stale bread. The comparisons to todays governments in the current climate can be made although that would downplay the horrors and suffering felt on the battlefield.
Very thought provoking film that you should certainly watch but not one that I have any interest in ever seeing again.
8/10
Very depressing and quite graphic account of The First World War.
The depression isn’t limited to what you see on the battlefield, and that is horrible in particular the tank and flamethrower scenes, but stretches to what you see away from it.
Generals who care more about pride, ego and self preservation, than the horrors unfolding and the thousands of wasted lives. Negotiators and delegates who don’t want peace but simply want total suffering and destruction on their opposite number. No humanity, no mercy.
Those who make all the decisions living like Kings, eating grandly and complaining about overcooked pastries, whilst those a few miles away are drinking muddy water and eating stale bread. The comparisons to todays governments in the current climate can be made although that would downplay the horrors and suffering felt on the battlefield.
Very thought provoking film that you should certainly watch but not one that I have any interest in ever seeing again.
8/10
The Reading
Follows Emma as she writes a book in order to cope with a deadly home invasion and how a new terror will be unleashed, after a reading performed in her home,.
Started off good and the twist was revealed early, and it suffered for it, went from Thiller / Horror to a bit of a comedy, still watch about but could have been better, the ending was pretty predictable.
5/10
Follows Emma as she writes a book in order to cope with a deadly home invasion and how a new terror will be unleashed, after a reading performed in her home,.
Started off good and the twist was revealed early, and it suffered for it, went from Thiller / Horror to a bit of a comedy, still watch about but could have been better, the ending was pretty predictable.
5/10
The Menu Not terrible but a bit silly and unbelievable. Worth watching if there isn't much else to occupy you. 6/10
Avatar 2 What you might expect from a sequal. The middle section is too long and slow and oddly some plot lines that are developed here disappear later. The biggest criticism is that the action is smaller in scale than the first film, but still fun enough if your expectations aren't to high. A possibly generous 7/10
Avatar 2 What you might expect from a sequal. The middle section is too long and slow and oddly some plot lines that are developed here disappear later. The biggest criticism is that the action is smaller in scale than the first film, but still fun enough if your expectations aren't to high. A possibly generous 7/10
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Glad you liked it.
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From the reviews I thought it would be a car crash so I was pleasantly surprised. Just as forgettable as the first one of course.
I feel like you're a hard nut to crack though so Cameron has done his job.
Also I've just started Mr in-between. First season properly feels like an indie production. Love the humour though.
Plane The fact that the best name that a dozen coke snorting creatives could come up with for this film was "Plane" should have been a give away. It is really hard to overstate just how terrible this film is. The illogicality of the entire plot from beginning to end is truly stunning. More a series of plot holes as an alternative to a plot. A barnacle with a learning disability could have done a better job writing a script. Avoid. -2/10
Finally got round to watching The Banshees of Inisherin last night, what a lovely little film. The writing is glorious, all the performances are great, it's beautiful to watch, and it mixes wit and despair like very few films are capable of doing. Really dark and sad in the end, but a glorious watch altogether.
Got around to watching Tar and I thought it was a very strong film. Personally, thought it was better than All Quiet and Banshees. It covers a lot of ground and dips into some interesting issues. One thing I thought was relevant was Tar's argument against the entire dismissal of the classic canon. I've heard some people from literature make arguments similar to the Max character about ignoring art/music/books from the classic canon (in his case it was Bach) and wanting a new canon not based on old white men that might have been misogynistic. Tar's rebuttal to that view I thought was compelling. Essentially, if classic canon art can be reduced and dismissed solely because of the creator's race, gender, age, sexual preferences, then that opens the door to people dismissing your art based on the same (not relevant to the art itself) factors. There is a lot more to unpack in the movie and it covers a lot of issues. Overall though Blanchett was spectacular and the movie was excellent.
I remember watching the trailer to this and when the title came up at the end I nearly burst out laughing, I thought it was a parody.