Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Nomadland

I know some found it dull, but I thought it was a great film, beautifully shot and acted. The unflinching and unsentimental portrayal of the nomads and the use of documentary style brief pieces to camera work so well. Despite the minimalist plot, it's a moving film -bleak, yet interspersed with acts of kindness, particularly with the community supporting each other- obviously elevated by Frances McDormand's excellent performance.

8/10
I've been afraid to watch this because it sounded like it would be poverty porn. McDormand is an underrated actress, so maybe this recommendation will motivate me to watch it. Do you offer a money-back guarantee?
 
I've been afraid to watch this because it sounded like it would be poverty porn. McDormand is an underrated actress, so maybe this recommendation will motivate me to watch it. Do you offer a money-back guarantee?
The film doesn't glamourise or pity the nomads. It shows the awful jobs they do, the hardships and struggles, but also the warmth of their friendships and community and the variety of reasons people are drawn to or forced into that lifestyle. The landscapes are stunning too.
McDormand is arguably more underrecognised, not being the household name she probably should be, rather than than underrated, given her three best actress Oscars, to be pedantic. Would be surprised if any fan of hers doesn't enjoy it.
 
The film doesn't glamourise or pity the nomads. It shows the awful jobs they do, the hardships and struggles, but also the warmth of their friendships and community and the variety of reasons people are drawn to or forced into that lifestyle. The landscapes are stunning too.
McDormand is arguably more underrecognised, not being the household name she probably should be, rather than than underrated, given her three best actress Oscars, to be pedantic. Would be surprised if any fan of hers doesn't enjoy it.
That’s what I meant. When people list great actresses she’s not usually high up but she does have 3 statuettes.
 
The film doesn't glamourise or pity the nomads. It shows the awful jobs they do, the hardships and struggles, but also the warmth of their friendships and community and the variety of reasons people are drawn to or forced into that lifestyle. The landscapes are stunning too.
McDormand is arguably more underrecognised, not being the household name she probably should be, rather than than underrated, given her three best actress Oscars, to be pedantic. Would be surprised if any fan of hers doesn't enjoy it.

I agree with this. It certainly didn't have me searching to buy a camper van as a life choice.
 
The Holdovers Calling it a comedy drama is stretching things. The word drama is doing all the heavy lifting. It seemed to be going for a Good Will Hunting vibe but it wasn't as dramatic, funny, well acted or entertaining by some distance. The ending was also low key and a tad depressing, which made you wonder if it had been worth the effort of watching it. Better than I'm making it sound though and worth a watch. 6.5/10

Is it just me or did they miss an opportunity to use the cook's story to stop the main character getting sent to military school?
 
Asteroid City

Well this has to be one of the strangest films I have seen in a long time, not a clue what was going on, the whole thing was bonkers, but it kept me watching right to the end, even watched the end credits and I enjoyed it.
The cast was good, very good.
I have seen good and bad reviews, I liked it, why ? honestly I have no idea :lol:

7/10
 
Bullet Proof

After stealing millions in cash from the drug hiding place of the sadistic mafia boss Temple, a thief finds a stowaway passenger in his getaway car.
Vinny Jones is the best part of the film and even he is not great.

3/10
 
Cryo

In an underground facility, five scientists wake from cryosleep with no memory of who they are or how long they've been asleep. They soon make a shocking realization: a killer is hunting them down there, and may even be hiding among them.
It was OK , but it could've been so much better.
Clearly done on a small budget, but they did well , acting was good all-round.
The story plays out like a social deduction board game: a lot of the scenes are people in a room screaming "No you're the traitor!" at each other.

5/10
 
Infinity Pool

James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort's perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence and surreal horrors.
This for me definably a film of 2 half's, the first hour was good, the the second hour went all Twin Peaks and it was another WTF am I watching.
The story was decent, I wanted more of the how they could make the double, but that was washed over and you really have no idea, I did not find it disturbing, found some of it, very soft porn like.
The acting was OK, seen a few films with Mia Goth now and I have liked them all, Alexander Skarsgard was the stand out for me, played his part very well.

6/10
 
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Infinity Pool

James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort's perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence and surreal horrors.
This for me definably a film of 2 half's, the first hour was good, the the second hours went all Twin Peaks and it was another WTF am I watching.
The story was decent, I wanted more of the how they could make the double, but that was washed over and you really have no idea, I did not find it disturbing, found some of it, very soft porn like.
The acting was OK, seen a few films with Mia Goth now and I have liked them all, Alexander Skarsgard was the stand out for me, played his part very well.

6/10
JAAAAMMMEESSSS! :lol:
 
The Ice Road

After a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, a 'big-rig' ice road driver must lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen lake to save the trapped miners.
Now this was not bad, yeah its typical Liam Neeson stuff but he does it so well.
Worth a watch, apparently Netflix paid US $18m for the rights to show this

6/10
 
Godzilla minus One

If Nolan made a Godzilla movie. It was fantastic. Very gripping. Absolutely loved it.

9.5/10.
 
Godzilla minus One

If Nolan made a Godzilla movie. It was fantastic. Very gripping. Absolutely loved it.

9.5/10.

Yes, man! What a film. Saw this in the cinema and loved every fecking second. Can't wait to watch it a second time. Is it streaming now?
 
Godzilla minus One

If Nolan made a Godzilla movie. It was fantastic. Very gripping. Absolutely loved it.

9.5/10.

Watched this the other day. It was brilliant.

Cost a fraction of the Hollwood ones to make and is better in every way possible. Different class.
 
Asteroid City

Well this has to be one of the strangest films I have seen in a long time, not a clue what was going on, the whole thing was bonkers, but it kept me watching right to the end, even watched the end credits and I enjoyed it.
The cast was good, very good.
I have seen good and bad reviews, I liked it, why ? honestly I have no idea :lol:

7/10
That sounds about right. There are some Anderson films I like and some I don't like - but I'm not sure I could always put into words what the difference really is!
 
The Holdovers Calling it a comedy drama is stretching things. The word drama is doing all the heavy lifting. It seemed to be going for a Good Will Hunting vibe but it wasn't as dramatic, funny, well acted or entertaining by some distance. The ending was also low key and a tad depressing, which made you wonder if it had been worth the effort of watching it. Better than I'm making it sound though and worth a watch. 6.5/10

Is it just me or did they miss an opportunity to use the cook's story to stop the main character getting sent to military school?
I like and agree with your review. Film felt really derivative to me, and that type of film had been done better many times before. Plus, Giamatti's roving eye prosthetic made no sense and had no pay off.
 
That sounds about right. There are some Anderson films I like and some I don't like - but I'm not sure I could always put into words what the difference really is!
I am not a huge Anderson fan, despite not having a clue what was really going on, it was still a decent watch and wanted to keep watching.
I was a huge fan of Anderson's work, but with each subsequent film I find myself getting less and less involved, and unable to care about the characters. The Grand Budapest Hotel was the high watermark, though, and he's been on glide ever since. I think his films are bloated with celebrity cameos now and it's become distracting. Budapest was also crammed full of cameos but you were able to care about Zero and Gustave. One of his shorts he did that were on Netflix recently, The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar was really good though. I think I can't take the full 100 minutes of Anderson's Fabergé egg style dioramas, with breaking the 4th wall, symmetrical sets, meta narratives, and artificial acting.
 
Rebel Moon 2: Scargiver
I was one of the few that didn't hate the first one. This one was abysmal. Some of the laziest writing and there is literally a scene where each character talks about their motivation complete with flashbacks. The whole thing was pointless. Thankfully, the second half was one big action sequence, where Zack Snyder at least feels somewhat comfortable 3/10
 
Kong X Godzilla whatever the feck it’s called (2/10).

I LOVE monster movies. Expectations are always low. Just give me silly fun. But don’t give me a long film with shithouse effects. Just make the movie 15-30 minutes shorter and spend more time and money on effects.

Good lord they’re terrible. The opening scene is a disaster. It looked like an homage to old Godzilla movies. But shit. Really really shit.

Also… Godzilla curling up inside the Colusseum. So, he’s… small now? Ok. He can change size movie to movie. But… if he’s small enough to fit in that tiny space, how the feck did he get in there without knocking any walls down? Especially when he knocks them down when he leaves. Staggeringly stupid. My pedant meter exploded.

Bizarre & disjointed mess. Its saving grace is a few exceptionally well lit scenes.

Oh, and Kongs trip to the dentist was fecking bizarre. Sexy Jess Phillips taking a child into certain danger another. Total mess.

Will watch the next one I’m sure.
 
My wife is a huge piker and often goes to bed early on Saturday night due to going to the gym early on Sunday morning (nothing to do with wine - honest). So I often end up watching whatever film is on terrestrial tv.

27/4/2024

The Eagle Has Landed

I loved this film as a kid. I was obviously a stupid child. Idiotic plot with some of the most hilariously bad casting of "Germans". Michael Caine didn't even bother to try to put on a comedy German accent. 1/10

4/5/2024

2012

It was fairly terrible when it came out and the plot, the script, the acting and the cgi have not aged well. How did they think there was enough water in the world for a "super-tsunami" to raise a whole ocean to the height of Everest? So terrible it almost circles round to ironically stupidly good. Almost. -4/10

Friday night but the principle remains the same.

Sliding Doors I seem to remember enjoying this when it came out but it hasn't aged at all well. Plainly going for a 4 Weddings and a Funeral vibe but it fails to do so badly, coming across as contrived and not a little silly. 3/10
 
Challengers

Who doesn’t love eating a banana while sitting next to your sweaty best bud!

Some great directing moments which makes a film about tour tennis romance far more interesting than it should be. Trent Reznor hits incredibly hard on the synths making the soundtrack a potential classic.

Ultimately the love triangle doesn’t really click and the film never does anything that could be testing to the audience. It’s too safe and proves Veroheven is correct in that American cinema is uncomfortable with female nudity.

Overall a decent watch

7/10
 
Rebel Moon 2: Scargiver
I was one of the few that didn't hate the first one. This one was abysmal. Some of the laziest writing and there is literally a scene where each character talks about their motivation complete with flashbacks. The whole thing was pointless. Thankfully, the second half was one big action sequence, where Zack Snyder at least feels somewhat comfortable 3/10

So I gave in to my curiosity and am watching this now. I’ve watched a lot of stupid shit in my life but this is the first time I’ve spent most of the movie wondering what the actors were thinking while they were making it? I’m only a third of the way in and there’s been at least three scenes which are so preposterously stupid they must have been a nightmare to shoot with a straight face. The harvest scene, the needlepoint gifts and the bit where they sit round a table doing flashbacks. What do you think was going through the actors minds when they were filming those scenes?! Surely they must have been tempted to say something?

Having said all that, it’s way more watchable than the first, if only for this reason. It’s actually kind of fun to wait and see what’s going to happen next. How much more ludicrous can it get? Reckon I’ll definitely watch all of it to find out.
 
all the rebel moon reviews make me want to watch...does it reach so-bad-its-good levels?
 
So I gave in to my curiosity and am watching this now. I’ve watched a lot of stupid shit in my life but this is the first time I’ve spent most of the movie wondering what the actors were thinking while they were making it? I’m only a third of the way in and there’s been at least three scenes which are so preposterously stupid they must have been a nightmare to shoot with a straight face. The harvest scene, the needlepoint gifts and the bit where they sit round a table doing flashbacks. What do you think was going through the actors minds when they were filming those scenes?! Surely they must have been tempted to say something?

Having said all that, it’s way more watchable than the first, if only for this reason. It’s actually kind of fun to wait and see what’s going to happen next. How much more ludicrous can it get? Reckon I’ll definitely watch all of it to find out.
The actors were thinking about how they'll spend the millions they're making.

Zack Snyder was thinking he's making the new Star Wars.
 
The Idea of You

Somehow I got roped into watching this cringe fest. Boy meets woman, boy falls in love with woman, woman has been cheated on by shitty ex-husband, woman has trust issues, woman falls in love with boy, woman breaks up with boy, boy and woman get back together, teenage daughter is difficult, the interwebs says mean things about woman, woman breaks up with boy again, boy sings song about woman, woman gets back together with boy again, teenage daughter comes around.

It’s every shit rom-com ever made, but without the comedy. It’s just Anne Hathaway crying for an hour and fifty seven minutes. Somehow this got 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, which basically invalidates any shred of credibility the infamous tomatometer ever had.

If your other-half tries to make you watch it, just walk away from the relationship. You’ll thank me later. Plus, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can always sing her a song and it’ll be back on like donkey kong. And with the added benefit that by avoiding this enormous bag of micro-dicks, you’ll have retained the will to live.

1/10
 
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Best Godzilla film I can remember seeing. It makes Kong X Godzilla look even shitter.
I loved Kong vs Godzilla and Kong X Godzilla too. Felt different to those two. Godzilla minus one was a serious movie showing the situation if this happened in real life. The monsterverse movies were a lot of fun.
 
The Idea of You

Somehow I got roped into watching this cringe fest. Boy meets woman, boy falls in love with woman, woman has been cheated on by shitty ex-husband, woman has trust issues, woman falls in love with boy, woman breaks up with boy, boy and woman get back together, teenage daughter is difficult, the interwebs says mean things about woman, woman breaks up with boy again, boy sings song about woman, woman gets back together with boy again, teenage daughter comes around.

It’s every shit rom-com ever made, but without the comedy. It’s just Anne Hathaway crying for an hour and fifty seven minutes. Somehow this got 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, which basically invalidates any shred of credibility the infamous tomatometer ever had.

If your other-half tries to make you watch it, just walk away from the relationship. You’ll thank me later. Plus, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can always sing her a song and it’ll be back on like donkey kong. And with the added benefit that by avoiding this enormous bag of micro-dicks, you’ll have retained the will to live.

1/10
Oh man this was my Thursday night. Like you’ve read my mind.

We watched Top Gun Maverick last night as my choice.

I’m a lot nicer. I almost forced her to watch the 99 documentary as a reaction to Thursday’s movie.
 
I Saw The TV Glow

New A24 indie about a couple of 90s kids who bond over a TV show - that may or may not be more than fiction - called The Pink Opaque.

This was a unique watch. Pure, unfiltered A24. Filled with striking visuals and a perfectly chosen score and soundtrack, it knows how to sear certain moments into your brain.

It straddles the line between fantasy and horror, around 75/25, but when it wants to be scary it is fecking terrifying. The TV show's antagonist, Mr. Melancholy, and his demon henchmen Marco and Polo are superbly designed to look like sinister villains from a 90s young adult TV programme. But the most terrifying scare is the most simple of all, and involves one man: Fred Durst, who portrays the father one of the main characters.

He, alongside the rest of the cast, is excellent. I have issues with the two main characters themselves, as I grow tired of the stilted delivery of socially awkward teenagers in movies quite quickly, but there's at least a good reason for it in this.

I'm going to mention the music again. It's the best combination of score and soundtrack I've seen on screen for a long time and I'd recommend to anyone for that alone.

Just be ready for things to get real weird with it.

8/10


Also a shoutout to the Gateway Film Center in Columbus Ohio, a non-profit multiplex dedicated to showing only independent cinema, funded in part by the Ohio and Greater Columbus Arts Councils. I'd kill to have somewhere like this to visit near where I live.
 
The Fall Guy
Struggled to get into this at first. It wasn't as funny as I was expecting. By the end, I was enjoying it a lot more, especially the big action set pieces. I felt Emily Blunt wasn't very good in this and I'm usually a big fan of hers. The performance from her wasn't up to her usual standards and the character she was playing was awful and so clichéd. Gosling really carries this movie and I can see why he's such a big Hollywood star. Worth a watch overall for sure 7/10
 
How the hell are there always so many Godzilla films? My eyes just cast over them like they’re adverts or something.