Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Mike Smalling said:
Civil War (2024)

This has to be one of the dumbest movies I have seen in a long time. In terms of plot and character development, it has little to nothing going for it. First of all, the central objective of the protagonists is to get an interview and a picture of the president, before the rebels wins the war. Ok, but why are we supposed to care about that? Feck knows. The movie also doesn't really have anything of value to say. We get very poor character introduction, to the point where it's hard to care about any of them, and in general there is not enough exposition about the overall situation for my liking. For instance, the "Western Forces" seem to be both a super professional army with fighter jets, and also men with rifles and Hawaii shirts. But why?

- The character arc of the protagonist is nonsense. She goes from this badass, seen-it-all war photographer into panic mode in the final sequence, which she then snaps out of immediately without explanation. I get what they were trying to do with her warming to the younger version of herself and taking her under the wing, but then she is killed when her new protege exposes herself needlessly to get a picture of an empty hallway.
- We get introduced to two new characters midway through the movie, who are then killed almost instantly in what is supposed to be really tense and emotional. But we've known these people for five minutes, so it doesn't hit home at all.
- In the final sequence Washington is invaded by a literal army of rebels, but in the end it's five soldiers and three journalists that enter the White House to get the president. Give me a break.
- When the movie ends with Joe getting his quote and Jessie getting the picture, what are we supposed to feel? It seems like it is partly triumphant because the supposed dictator is dead, but it's not really made clear.
- Casting Nick Offerman for 2 minutes of screentime was criminal. I was really hoping we'd get to see what it was all about in the end, but I guess not.

This is a bad movie masquerading as artsy, because it uses silence, black and white stills, and unconventional music. What a load of shite. A few points for decent cinematography and acting, but that's about it. 3/10.
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I think it was mis-sold (or at least I thought it was gonna be) as a post-apocalyptic movie about a civil war, but in actual fact it's simply a movie about journalism with that a civil-war backdrop. Although, I guess it's hard to get people down the cineworld for a journalism film.

The final shot is a deliberate call-back to times when military have taken photos of people they've killed. I personally thought it was a film that had a lot to say and it's a sort of parable about the wrong-turns we're taking in society. I found it almost Kubrick-esque in the directness and harshness of it all, and also the coldness of the characters. There isn't supposed to be a hero, a winner or a happy ending, and I've rarely seen a movie ending so utterly devoid of hope or promise. The sound-track was on-point though!
 
In the Land of Saints and Sinners(2023) - thriller set in the troubles in Donegal. enjoyable enough Neeson affair with a good cast and great to see Jack Gleeson again after not seeing him since Joffrey croaked it in Game of Thrones. Brilliant actor hope he does more

Time Cut (2024) - girl accidentally goes back in time and has a chance to save her sister from a serial killer who murdered her. Dumb but interesting premise and nostalgia for the early 00s (crazy that that's a thing now) was the draw here for me but it's just not a very good movie sadly. Fails as a slasher/horror and fails as a sci-fi.

Scarface - really good. Fast paced and so violent! First time seeing a Pacino movie and he's bloody amazing as Tony Montana.

Pulp Fiction - fell asleep about an hour in and don't really have a desire to give it another go. Not for me I don't think
 
MiceOnMeth said:
In the Land of Saints and Sinners(2023) - thriller set in the troubles in Donegal. enjoyable enough Neeson affair with a good cast and great to see Jack Gleeson again after not seeing him since Joffrey croaked it in Game of Thrones. Brilliant actor hope he does more

Time Cut (2024) - girl accidentally goes back in time and has a chance to save her sister from a serial killer who murdered her. Dumb but interesting premise and nostalgia for the early 00s (crazy that that's a thing now) was the draw here for me but it's just not a very good movie sadly. Fails as a slasher/horror and fails as a sci-fi.

Scarface - really good. Fast paced and so violent! First time seeing a Pacino movie and he's bloody amazing as Tony Montana.

Pulp Fiction - fell asleep about an hour in and don't really have a desire to give it another go. Not for me I don't think
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You heathen. How dare you.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Civil War (2024)

This has to be one of the dumbest movies I have seen in a long time. In terms of plot and character development, it has little to nothing going for it. First of all, the central objective of the protagonists is to get an interview and a picture of the president, before the rebels wins the war. Ok, but why are we supposed to care about that? Feck knows. The movie also doesn't really have anything of value to say. We get very poor character introduction, to the point where it's hard to care about any of them, and in general there is not enough exposition about the overall situation for my liking. For instance, the "Western Forces" seem to be both a super professional army with fighter jets, and also men with rifles and Hawaii shirts. But why?

- The character arc of the protagonist is nonsense. She goes from this badass, seen-it-all war photographer into panic mode in the final sequence, which she then snaps out of immediately without explanation. I get what they were trying to do with her warming to the younger version of herself and taking her under the wing, but then she is killed when her new protege exposes herself needlessly to get a picture of an empty hallway.
- We get introduced to two new characters midway through the movie, who are then killed almost instantly in what is supposed to be really tense and emotional. But we've known these people for five minutes, so it doesn't hit home at all.
- In the final sequence Washington is invaded by a literal army of rebels, but in the end it's five soldiers and three journalists that enter the White House to get the president. Give me a break.
- When the movie ends with Joe getting his quote and Jessie getting the picture, what are we supposed to feel? It seems like it is partly triumphant because the supposed dictator is dead, but it's not really made clear.
- Casting Nick Offerman for 2 minutes of screentime was criminal. I was really hoping we'd get to see what it was all about in the end, but I guess not.

This is a bad movie masquerading as artsy, because it uses silence, black and white stills, and unconventional music. What a load of shite. A few points for decent cinematography and acting, but that's about it. 3/10.
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Why are you so angry?
 
Tarrou said:
I think it was mis-sold (or at least I thought it was gonna be) as a post-apocalyptic movie about a civil war, but in actual fact it's simply a movie about journalism with that a civil-war backdrop. Although, I guess it's hard to get people down the cineworld for a journalism film.

The final shot is a deliberate call-back to times when military have taken photos of people they've killed. I personally thought it was a film that had a lot to say and it's a sort of parable about the wrong-turns we're taking in society. I found it almost Kubrick-esque in the directness and harshness of it all, and also the coldness of the characters. There isn't supposed to be a hero, a winner or a happy ending, and I've rarely seen a movie ending so utterly devoid of hope or promise. The sound-track was on-point though!
Click to expand...
A journalism movie would be fine, if they made it clear why this story was so important to get. But in the end it just comes across as a vanity project for three people that seemingly have a death wish.
 
Alien Romulus
Good enough to get your Alien fix but nothing special.
A slightly darker tone would have made miracles here. This had that generic 2000's "young adults rent a cabin" slasher vibe and the Rook stuff was a straight up Saw rip off.

6/10
 
Tarrou said:
Zombies are not allowed to go faster than 5 mph?
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No, they're the sprinting kind in this film.

I meant there's been an outbreak of an unknown disease/pathogen, authorities are too slow to shut down the borders, before you know it there's zombies everywhere.
 
Blitz (2024)

Very much enjoyed this.

The young lad, Elliott Heffernan who fronts it does a fantastic job leading on his own for large parts of the movie.

Saoirse Ronan is of course fantastic as his mother and there are some great supporting performances as well.

It's quite a harrowing portrayal of life in London during the Blitz and it just boggles the mind how frightening it must have been at the time with the air raid sirens going off and having to cram into tube stations with hundreds of others.

Absolutely one of my favourite films of 2024.

8.5/10
 
Joker: Folie A Deux
I think my expectations were set SO LOW that it was impossible for this film to match it. There is a kernel of a good idea or two in here but every time the film gets interesting, it halts to a stop and we go into a musical number, which doesn't really progress the plot or the character motivations, it just tells you what you already know. I don't know who this film was made for... it's bizzare. Can't deny that the acting, cinematography etc was all on point though 4/10

Strange Darling
A one night stand descends into a violent cat and mouse chase between a man and a woman. The film is told in 6 non-sequential chapters, a narrative structure that really helps the film. It plays on traditional genre tropes in a fun and engaging way and it's nice to see something original. Indie horror has never been so alive and I love it. My big issue with this film was some dumb decisions made by a few characters, which lead to major plot points, but apart from that, it was a really good movie 7/10
 
I really liked Strange Darling. Thought it was one of the better films released in recent years. Its a great looking movie. Lighting, colour and sets are all very distinctive. Good script and very good performances.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Joker: Folie A Deux
I think my expectations were set SO LOW that it was impossible for this film to match it. There is a kernel of a good idea or two in here but every time the film gets interesting, it halts to a stop and we go into a musical number, which doesn't really progress the plot or the character motivations, it just tells you what you already know. I don't know who this film was made for... it's bizzare. Can't deny that the acting, cinematography etc was all on point though 4/10
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I just can't bring myself to watch it. I dislike musicals at the best of times and this just doesn't do anything for me. Such an idiotic decision and not even in hindsight. Got a whiff of self sabotage about it like the director didn't want to make a sequel but was forced to by the studio.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Civil War (2024)

This has to be one of the dumbest movies I have seen in a long time. In terms of plot and character development, it has little to nothing going for it. First of all, the central objective of the protagonists is to get an interview and a picture of the president, before the rebels wins the war. Ok, but why are we supposed to care about that? Feck knows. The movie also doesn't really have anything of value to say. We get very poor character introduction, to the point where it's hard to care about any of them, and in general there is not enough exposition about the overall situation for my liking. For instance, the "Western Forces" seem to be both a super professional army with fighter jets, and also men with rifles and Hawaii shirts. But why?

- The character arc of the protagonist is nonsense. She goes from this badass, seen-it-all war photographer into panic mode in the final sequence, which she then snaps out of immediately without explanation. I get what they were trying to do with her warming to the younger version of herself and taking her under the wing, but then she is killed when her new protege exposes herself needlessly to get a picture of an empty hallway.
- We get introduced to two new characters midway through the movie, who are then killed almost instantly in what is supposed to be really tense and emotional. But we've known these people for five minutes, so it doesn't hit home at all.
- In the final sequence Washington is invaded by a literal army of rebels, but in the end it's five soldiers and three journalists that enter the White House to get the president. Give me a break.
- When the movie ends with Joe getting his quote and Jessie getting the picture, what are we supposed to feel? It seems like it is partly triumphant because the supposed dictator is dead, but it's not really made clear.
- Casting Nick Offerman for 2 minutes of screentime was criminal. I was really hoping we'd get to see what it was all about in the end, but I guess not.

This is a bad movie masquerading as artsy, because it uses silence, black and white stills, and unconventional music. What a load of shite. A few points for decent cinematography and acting, but that's about it. 3/10.
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Yeah I gave this a bad comment after watching it a few weeks ago but the more I think about it the more I hate it.
 
CassiusClaymore said:
I just can't bring myself to watch it. I dislike musicals at the best of times and this just doesn't do anything for me. Such an idiotic decision and not even in hindsight. Got a whiff of self sabotage about it like the director didn't want to make a sequel but was forced to by the studio.
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I think from what I read that the studio didn't interfere and this was Todd Phillips' idea and execution. This was his vision. The shame is there are great threads in the film that just aren't explored.
 
The Game (1997)

Gave this a view yesterday. Might have seen it before, but definitely couldn't remember the plot, so felt like a first-time viewing anyway. It's perhaps the least well-known of the David Fincher filmography, but it definitely has that Fincher-feel in terms of the style and themes. In short, a wealthy and egotistical banker is offered a chance to participate in a mysterious game, which gradually takes a hold of his life and becomes more and more threatening.

In terms of the plot, it's probably one you can easily find a lot of holes in, but the pacing of the movie is such that you don't stop and think too much about it. The story accelerates and builds throughout the movie, and it always keeps the audience guessing almost until the very end. With quite a limited number of characters, it is very much the Michael Douglas show, and he puts in a very good performance, that makes you root for him, even though the character is kind of a dick.

Unfortunately, the movie simply can't stick the landing, which drags down the overall experience. There were multiple ways the story could go in the end, and I think they chose the least compelling one.

7/10. Would recommend as a relatively gripping thriller.
 
Black Box Diaries

Gut-wrenching documentary about Japan's (probably) most famous MeToo case (it actually begin 2 years before the actual movement). We follow the victim from beginning to end so the documentary covers 8 years of fighting for justice.

Highly recommended, but be ready to sob.
 
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