Better than Matchstick Men?
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to celebrate rare back-to-back victories for Manchester United! They analyse the late win in the Europa League vs. Rangers and then try and find things to analyse in a pretty dour game vs. Fulham. They also chat about the latest Marcus Rashford news, and look at the latest transfer news.
Ooh. Haven't seen that one.
I certainly like Matchstick Men a lot more than Raising Arizona (I didn't really care for the latter though, which is surprising considering how much I usually like Coen's) but I would suspect Arizona would generally be higher regarded. Best Cage film is Adapation. though.
Well they're wrong
The polar opposite anecdote is when I was having lunch with some people who were friends of a friend, and somehow we got to talking about Hollywood nepotism hacks who have no business in acting. I went off Jim Belushi, what a useless sack of shit he is. And... one of the guys I didn't know had a sister who was Belushi's wife. Awkward!
I also told the bass player of Pearl Jam's brother how much I hated Pearl Jam, not knowing he was the guy's brother.
I try to keep all my wild hot takes here in the Caf now.
Oh! I had one other good one. I was at a friend's birthday party, again talking movies. We were talking about little films that didn't get enough recognition. I raved about a film called The Objective, which is a sci-fi film with modern combat stuff. I went on and on (as I do) about how riveting the images were, how much verisimilitude there was with the soldiers, and just generally was super fan on this movie. Turns out one of the guys there was the business lawyer who represented that film's director. When they told me that, I asked why he didn't stop me. He said he'd never heard anyone care about that movie and was soaking it up so he could tell the director.
The whole child endangerment in Raising Arizona isn't as funny as it used to be, but the movie is still pretty great. And Cage is great in it.
I should rewatch it at some point to get an updated opinion on it. Problem is that there are a dozen Coen brother films I'd rather rewatch.
And yet it has a lot better reviews than it should have.
Aight. Will definitely watch it. Apparently it isn't on Netflix here, though.
When does the official essential Christmas movie list thread get released?
So I can set my alarm
So I can set my alarm
Annette
Leos Carax buzzard comedy musical about a top level Hollywood shithead. Adam Driver plays the lead role and can’t sing a note to save his life(Driver is becoming the best actor of his generation).None of the tunes are good or even memorable. The film has some truly terrible Neil Breen cgi along with brilliant set pieces.
But it’s all very self aware and well french. Making it impossible to hate. A great use of $15 million from the french master.
8/10
Leos Carax buzzard comedy musical about a top level Hollywood shithead. Adam Driver plays the lead role and can’t sing a note to save his life(Driver is becoming the best actor of his generation).None of the tunes are good or even memorable. The film has some truly terrible Neil Breen cgi along with brilliant set pieces.
But it’s all very self aware and well french. Making it impossible to hate. A great use of $15 million from the french master.
8/10
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Van Helsing (2004)
A rather nonsencial plot that mixes together way too many classic monster stories. A surprisingly wooden performance from leading man Hugh Jackman. Too many action scenes in place of character development. An overreliance on CGI that has aged quite poorly.
But then again, Kate Beckinsale in a corset with a bad Romanian accent.
8/10
A rather nonsencial plot that mixes together way too many classic monster stories. A surprisingly wooden performance from leading man Hugh Jackman. Too many action scenes in place of character development. An overreliance on CGI that has aged quite poorly.
But then again, Kate Beckinsale in a corset with a bad Romanian accent.
8/10
@Sweet Square posted some remastered, black and white clips from someone who made it look like a classic 1940s monster movie which look absolutely incredible. Somewhere up-thread. Well worth a look.
Very strange autocorrect from Con Air. You should get your phone checked out.
I saw Smile 2 today. I think it was quite effective as a horror film with quite a few genuine scares. Good performances as well. Unfortunately the ending kind of left me feeling that the story wasn't wasn't worth to engage with. Unsure about this one.
Con Air certainly wins best Cage accent.
"Ohhhh... Nothin' makes me sadder, than the agent lost his bladder on the... aiiiiiirplane"
Classic movie
Smile 2 was nowhere near as good as the first one, in my opinion. But such is the case with most sequels.
I wanna re-watch The Man who Wasn't There and The Hudsucker Proxy.
I fear yet another huge disappointment from a director who has made 3 of my favorite films as his recent output has been very ordinary, to be very kind.
Small Things Like These
Cillian Murphy is great, that almost goes without saying. It's a sad story of the Magdalene Laundries, something I have to be honest I had no idea about prior to the film. He carries it but to be honest it all moves so slowly I can't be too wild about it, there's no real great support, even from Emily Watson because she's not in it for long enough.
7/10
Red One
This wasn't too offensive. I don't think it was quite as funny as Violent Night which was 2022's seasonal comedy offering. At 2h 3m it's long for a film of its genre but it's an OK way to spend part of an evening.
7/10
Gladiator 2
Excellent film, I never really got massively into the first one but I thought this was a real gripper from start to finish. Not perfect, but was very happy to see this and Blitz within a week of each other, two of my favourite films of the year. I was happy they kept it under three hours as I didn't want Oppenheimer to start a new trend of thinking films need to be really long just because the Director can't be bothered to leave stuff on the cutting room floor.
8.5/10
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
A wonderful portrayal of a man who did so much to help people during and long after his own life. The amount of home video footage the Reeve family took is staggering! It's very raw and emotional, obviously you know what's coming but still, very sad but a great story of a great man.
8/10
Venom: The Last Dance
I knew it couldn't be as bad as the previous film in the series as that was an absolute abomination. And it was a major step up with a better story and a good build-up to a solid ending. Won't be rushing to see it again but glad they (potentially) finished on this one and not Carnage.
6.5/10
Cillian Murphy is great, that almost goes without saying. It's a sad story of the Magdalene Laundries, something I have to be honest I had no idea about prior to the film. He carries it but to be honest it all moves so slowly I can't be too wild about it, there's no real great support, even from Emily Watson because she's not in it for long enough.
7/10
Red One
This wasn't too offensive. I don't think it was quite as funny as Violent Night which was 2022's seasonal comedy offering. At 2h 3m it's long for a film of its genre but it's an OK way to spend part of an evening.
7/10
Gladiator 2
Excellent film, I never really got massively into the first one but I thought this was a real gripper from start to finish. Not perfect, but was very happy to see this and Blitz within a week of each other, two of my favourite films of the year. I was happy they kept it under three hours as I didn't want Oppenheimer to start a new trend of thinking films need to be really long just because the Director can't be bothered to leave stuff on the cutting room floor.
8.5/10
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
A wonderful portrayal of a man who did so much to help people during and long after his own life. The amount of home video footage the Reeve family took is staggering! It's very raw and emotional, obviously you know what's coming but still, very sad but a great story of a great man.
8/10
Venom: The Last Dance
I knew it couldn't be as bad as the previous film in the series as that was an absolute abomination. And it was a major step up with a better story and a good build-up to a solid ending. Won't be rushing to see it again but glad they (potentially) finished on this one and not Carnage.
6.5/10
Brilliant film, definitely worth a watch. Cage is epic.
Visher
An online scammer's obsession with a woman takes a nightmarish turn when he witnesses a haunting series of events within her home. Had a few tense scenes and also super micro budget so props for getting it made but even for a 60 minute run time, the story runs out of steam with a twist you can see a mile off 4/10
An online scammer's obsession with a woman takes a nightmarish turn when he witnesses a haunting series of events within her home. Had a few tense scenes and also super micro budget so props for getting it made but even for a 60 minute run time, the story runs out of steam with a twist you can see a mile off 4/10
"Very ordinary" would be the wildest way to describe Megalopolis.
I actually meant "utter shit" for his recent films. I don't need it to be a Godfather or Apocalypse Now but ...
I'll now blame you personally if I don't like it
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You can blame yourself for not enjoying Shia LaBeouf's mullet.I actually meant "utter shit" for his recent films. I don't need it to be a Godfather or Apocalypse Now but ...
I'll mow blame you personally if I don't like it
I actually meant "utter shit" for his recent films. I don't need it to be a Godfather or Apocalypse Now but ...
I'll mow blame you personally if I don't like it
the chances of you liking it are close to zero I''d say
So, Gladiator 2
There's an interesting thing that happens in everyone's life - as you get older, you seem to give less and less shits about what people think of you, how your behaviour might be perceived, your impact on others... We witness it in the streets, in the supermarket, probably at Sunday lunches at grandparents (I wouldn't know, but I've heard) - old people just don't care that much.
This is what's happening with Ridley Scott these days, and it's rather enjoyable. Once a director that was quite focused on conventional narratives, storytelling, filmmaking, and which gave us absolute classics like Alien and Blade Runner, he's decisively entered his old man phase and it shows. I loved his interpretation of Bonaparte, focusing on the most relevant part of the guy and angering all the military and history nerds (who are usually about as bad as video game nerds), and with Gladiator 2, he basically remakes the original film, but with even less care for structure, character motivation, common sense, coherence, or all those other pesky details - the shackles are absolutely off.
I rewatched Gladiator recently, and it's a really good film. It's gotten some weird backlash over the past few years, maybe because it doesn't feel like a logical Oscar-worthy film or something, but it's genuinely very good - it's a revenge flick set in ancient Rome with solid story telling, clear character motivation, great all round performances (particularly Crowe's intense interpretation which makes it all hold up) and excellent set pieces. It's not necessarily the kind of film I'd watch over and over again, but it's objectively very well made.
This one... Well, it's well made. Scott is an amazing filmmaker. But it's super messy. He clearly knows where he wants to go with it, but he doesn't really care that the journey to get there is coherent or holds up (spoilers: it doesn't, really). The motivations for most characters are blurry at best, their interactions seem forced and fake for the most part, the emotions seem more like concepts in the script than actually fleshed out on the screen, and the set pieces are... strange. The monkey scene is strange. The boat battle in the Coliseum is strange, not because of its look, but because it's cool, seems like it should be a massive set piece in the middle of the film, and then half way through the scene, it seems like Scott got bored with it and just phoned it in. In lieu of Crowe's brooding, dark rage, we get Paul Mescal's lightest performance yet (and I'm a maaaassive Mescal fan, and everything he's done so far has shown he's capable of intense brooding), with Denzel chipping in every so often to talk about his "rage" and his "mist" to let us know that Paul Mescal is, erm, super angry. Even though he actually seems like he's having a hell of a time! His character also keeps getting these revelations that are grasping at straws, putting it kindly, and gets a payoff he's not really deserved, as an on-screen character.
The most delicious part about it all is that Ridley found the perfect vessel to channel is old-man-don't-give-a-feck energy in Denzel - everyone else is playing it so straight faced, so serious, so actors have a script and actually do their job, while he's just gangstering his way through it and having a hell of a time. It's quite the sight, and he's fecking awesome.
I don't usually do ratings, but this one is a clear we-need-to-protect-our-elders-at-all-costs-they're-national-treasures/10
Are you not entertained?
Also, I'm hoping there will be a 4h director's cut version released some time down the line with Denzel's character progressively morphing into Alonzo Harris.
There's an interesting thing that happens in everyone's life - as you get older, you seem to give less and less shits about what people think of you, how your behaviour might be perceived, your impact on others... We witness it in the streets, in the supermarket, probably at Sunday lunches at grandparents (I wouldn't know, but I've heard) - old people just don't care that much.
This is what's happening with Ridley Scott these days, and it's rather enjoyable. Once a director that was quite focused on conventional narratives, storytelling, filmmaking, and which gave us absolute classics like Alien and Blade Runner, he's decisively entered his old man phase and it shows. I loved his interpretation of Bonaparte, focusing on the most relevant part of the guy and angering all the military and history nerds (who are usually about as bad as video game nerds), and with Gladiator 2, he basically remakes the original film, but with even less care for structure, character motivation, common sense, coherence, or all those other pesky details - the shackles are absolutely off.
I rewatched Gladiator recently, and it's a really good film. It's gotten some weird backlash over the past few years, maybe because it doesn't feel like a logical Oscar-worthy film or something, but it's genuinely very good - it's a revenge flick set in ancient Rome with solid story telling, clear character motivation, great all round performances (particularly Crowe's intense interpretation which makes it all hold up) and excellent set pieces. It's not necessarily the kind of film I'd watch over and over again, but it's objectively very well made.
This one... Well, it's well made. Scott is an amazing filmmaker. But it's super messy. He clearly knows where he wants to go with it, but he doesn't really care that the journey to get there is coherent or holds up (spoilers: it doesn't, really). The motivations for most characters are blurry at best, their interactions seem forced and fake for the most part, the emotions seem more like concepts in the script than actually fleshed out on the screen, and the set pieces are... strange. The monkey scene is strange. The boat battle in the Coliseum is strange, not because of its look, but because it's cool, seems like it should be a massive set piece in the middle of the film, and then half way through the scene, it seems like Scott got bored with it and just phoned it in. In lieu of Crowe's brooding, dark rage, we get Paul Mescal's lightest performance yet (and I'm a maaaassive Mescal fan, and everything he's done so far has shown he's capable of intense brooding), with Denzel chipping in every so often to talk about his "rage" and his "mist" to let us know that Paul Mescal is, erm, super angry. Even though he actually seems like he's having a hell of a time! His character also keeps getting these revelations that are grasping at straws, putting it kindly, and gets a payoff he's not really deserved, as an on-screen character.
The most delicious part about it all is that Ridley found the perfect vessel to channel is old-man-don't-give-a-feck energy in Denzel - everyone else is playing it so straight faced, so serious, so actors have a script and actually do their job, while he's just gangstering his way through it and having a hell of a time. It's quite the sight, and he's fecking awesome.
I don't usually do ratings, but this one is a clear we-need-to-protect-our-elders-at-all-costs-they're-national-treasures/10
Are you not entertained?
Also, I'm hoping there will be a 4h director's cut version released some time down the line with Denzel's character progressively morphing into Alonzo Harris.
I thought they were roughly as good on the whole. Smile 2 was actually better until the very end for me
For all its faults it's certainly not ordinary. It's certainly also possible to enjoy it a lot and still think it's sh!t.
.
This is an even better anecdote.
Keep them coming!
P.S. - Pearl Jam definitely do suck, at least relative to Soundgarden, Nirvana and AIC.
But Stone Temple Pilots are even worse.
Yeah if we have to go back 4 decades for the last great Coppola film, then I am also gonna be sceptical about this film too...
Unless we're talking about Sofia Coppola.
I'm sold. That's one hell of a review. Roger Ebert, eat your heart out.So, Gladiator 2
There's an interesting thing that happens in everyone's life - as you get older, you seem to give less and less shits about what people think of you, how your behaviour might be perceived, your impact on others... We witness it in the streets, in the supermarket, probably at Sunday lunches at grandparents (I wouldn't know, but I've heard) - old people just don't care that much.
This is what's happening with Ridley Scott these days, and it's rather enjoyable. Once a director that was quite focused on conventional narratives, storytelling, filmmaking, and which gave us absolute classics like Alien and Blade Runner, he's decisively entered his old man phase and it shows. I loved his interpretation of Bonaparte, focusing on the most relevant part of the guy and angering all the military and history nerds (who are usually about as bad as video game nerds), and with Gladiator 2, he basically remakes the original film, but with even less care for structure, character motivation, common sense, coherence, or all those other pesky details - the shackles are absolutely off.
I rewatched Gladiator recently, and it's a really good film. It's gotten some weird backlash over the past few years, maybe because it doesn't feel like a logical Oscar-worthy film or something, but it's genuinely very good - it's a revenge flick set in ancient Rome with solid story telling, clear character motivation, great all round performances (particularly Crowe's intense interpretation which makes it all hold up) and excellent set pieces. It's not necessarily the kind of film I'd watch over and over again, but it's objectively very well made.
This one... Well, it's well made. Scott is an amazing filmmaker. But it's super messy. He clearly knows where he wants to go with it, but he doesn't really care that the journey to get there is coherent or holds up (spoilers: it doesn't, really). The motivations for most characters are blurry at best, their interactions seem forced and fake for the most part, the emotions seem more like concepts in the script than actually fleshed out on the screen, and the set pieces are... strange. The monkey scene is strange. The boat battle in the Coliseum is strange, not because of its look, but because it's cool, seems like it should be a massive set piece in the middle of the film, and then half way through the scene, it seems like Scott got bored with it and just phoned it in. In lieu of Crowe's brooding, dark rage, we get Paul Mescal's lightest performance yet (and I'm a maaaassive Mescal fan, and everything he's done so far has shown he's capable of intense brooding), with Denzel chipping in every so often to talk about his "rage" and his "mist" to let us know that Paul Mescal is, erm, super angry. Even though he actually seems like he's having a hell of a time! His character also keeps getting these revelations that are grasping at straws, putting it kindly, and gets a payoff he's not really deserved, as an on-screen character.
The most delicious part about it all is that Ridley found the perfect vessel to channel is old-man-don't-give-a-feck energy in Denzel - everyone else is playing it so straight faced, so serious, so actors have a script and actually do their job, while he's just gangstering his way through it and having a hell of a time. It's quite the sight, and he's fecking awesome.
I don't usually do ratings, but this one is a clear we-need-to-protect-our-elders-at-all-costs-they're-national-treasures/10
Are you not entertained?
Also, I'm hoping there will be a 4h director's cut version released some time down the line with Denzel's character progressively morphing into Alonzo Harris.
You sure know how to make a guy blush (assuming it's a compliment, not a big fan of Ebert's in general)
It's not necessarily a great film, but if you like Scott, and how his career has progressed, this could be for you almost from a meta perspective
It's even worse when you watch it.
And yet, even better.
Your existence entitles you to an opinion but I'm not sure how you could have possibly arrived at it. What I saw was a badly cast, poorly scripted, incoherent mess attempting to convey a level of gravitas that was completely absent. I avoided reading too much about it before watching so as not to cloud my view but most of the criticisms seem spot on to me.
We had quite extensive conversations in the thread dedicated to it when it was released, a lot of split opinions but quite a few of us on here enjoyed it
Also, thank you, I guess?
which made it unintentionally very funny, had a lot of fun watching it in a theater that was also enjoying themselves
Sorry I just wanted to use the word entitles. I'll have a read back through the thread as I'm perfectly willing to accept I might be missing something.We had quite extensive conversations in the thread dedicated to it when it was released, a lot of split opinions but quite a few of us on here enjoyed it
Also, thank you, I guess?
One of the better gangster genre films of the past couple of decades imo. Beautifully shot, directed, and acted. Also one of Depp's best performances in a career of quite a few to choose from.
We had quite extensive conversations in the thread dedicated to it when it was released, a lot of split opinions but quite a few of us on here enjoyed it
I enjoyed it, but it’s not a remotely good film.
Emilia Perez was though. Genuinely quite impressive to make any of that work as well as it did (which is about… 75%?)
Glad2ator was pretty good, but also pretty much the same film without quite as charismatic a lead. Denzil steals it with a side of ham, though it all goes a bit wonky at the end.
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Triple 9 (2016),
Dir: John Hillcoat. With Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Gal Gadget, Clifton Collins Jr. , Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams (in drag).
Never heard of this movie when it came out, and it's a ridiculously stacked cast. Basically it's a heist + crooked cops + new guy in danger, movie. Expertly directed. If Sidney Lumet directed a heist film, you'd get this. Or, if Michael Bay was as good as he thinks he is, he'd have made something like this. Some really great shots, quick cuts that actually work and help tell the story not just dislocate the viewer, solid performances all around**.
A lot of people get shot. Some great car chase / speeding cars scenes. I like that they shot it in Atlanta and it is set in Atlanta.
Gal Gadot is smokin'. Like, wow. I didn't even recognize Kate Winslet. Casey Affleck was very good as the lead or co-lead with Mackie.
The trailer sets it up as: some cops rob a bank, and the cop who just transferred in is partnered with one of the bad cops, and has a target on his back. A "999" is when a cop is shot.
**Woody Harrelson was a little over the top in this, dressed like a used car salesman in the 80s, does some funky accent that is Georgian.
8/10
Dir: John Hillcoat. With Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Gal Gadget, Clifton Collins Jr. , Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams (in drag).
Never heard of this movie when it came out, and it's a ridiculously stacked cast. Basically it's a heist + crooked cops + new guy in danger, movie. Expertly directed. If Sidney Lumet directed a heist film, you'd get this. Or, if Michael Bay was as good as he thinks he is, he'd have made something like this. Some really great shots, quick cuts that actually work and help tell the story not just dislocate the viewer, solid performances all around**.
A lot of people get shot. Some great car chase / speeding cars scenes. I like that they shot it in Atlanta and it is set in Atlanta.
Gal Gadot is smokin'. Like, wow. I didn't even recognize Kate Winslet. Casey Affleck was very good as the lead or co-lead with Mackie.
The trailer sets it up as: some cops rob a bank, and the cop who just transferred in is partnered with one of the bad cops, and has a target on his back. A "999" is when a cop is shot.
**Woody Harrelson was a little over the top in this, dressed like a used car salesman in the 80s, does some funky accent that is Georgian.
8/10