I can't see the replies on this, but is he playing a character in that photo on the right, where he's sporting a McDonald's emblem on a gold chain? The whole thing seems like a meta shtick. I already find him insufferable, maybe this shitty art bolsters that feeling.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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I can't see the replies on this, but is he playing a character in that photo on the right, where he's sporting a McDonald's emblem on a gold chain? The whole thing seems like a meta shtick. I already find him insufferable, maybe this shitty art bolsters that feeling.
SISU is on Netflix.
Heard a lot about this one. Will definitely give it a go asap!
Heard a lot about this one. Will definitely give it a go asap!
True. Lack of commitment by her, clearly.
Yeah it's a decent film
The Brutalist:
Flow
Respect the indie industriousness and some of the animation is pretty but it's so pandering a twee and relies on overused cultural stock. Because ICO and Journey/Abzu were doing this stuff 15 years ago. Not to mention the million imitators that they spawned.
And I use those cultural markers deliberately because this always looks like a video game (lighting, textures, angles, models) and not a film.
Respect the indie industriousness and some of the animation is pretty but it's so pandering a twee and relies on overused cultural stock. Because ICO and Journey/Abzu were doing this stuff 15 years ago. Not to mention the million imitators that they spawned.
And I use those cultural markers deliberately because this always looks like a video game (lighting, textures, angles, models) and not a film.
I think the video game look is because it was all done in a program called blender. I haven’t seen the film but it does give off the vibes of more technically impressive than artistically good.
Yep, it's clearly been rendered and engined in familiar software but beyond that the editing, art design, camera work, resemble a particular, clichéd video-game cut scene aesthetic in a way that say Pixar doesn't. (All those swooping fecking camera pans, Jesus Christ)
I guess it's success is ultimately a good thing, even if the fawning critical concensus reaffirms the ever declining expectations amongst our modern slack-jawed cultural shepherds.
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Have you seen that horror film that
I have this on my watchlist but can't ever bring myself to watch it. Any good?
Heretic (2024) - Two Mormon missionaries get more than what they bargained for.
Hugh Grant plays an affable villian. One of his best performances (up there with the one he did with Nicole Kidman).
In a year that was barren for top-tier horror films, this is one that stands out from the crowd.
Hugh Grant plays an affable villian. One of his best performances (up there with the one he did with Nicole Kidman).
In a year that was barren for top-tier horror films, this is one that stands out from the crowd.
Well, this is not true at all.
Seriously weak year. I'll give you Longlegs and The Substance.
Any year without Ari Aster or Brandon Cronenberg is WEAK.
Prove me wrong (I'm sure you will).
He's gonna list you 10 films, all of them starring Nicolas Cage. That'll teach you.
Haha, well he's gonna have to make that nine, because I already included a Nic Cage film. He was fecking awesome in it, mind you!
It has been such a strong year for good films, but I thought Hugh Grant should have been in with an Oscar shout for Heretic. Sophie Thatcher too, for Heretic and Companion - a superb film. And Demi Moore for The Substance.
Demi Moore not winning for The Substance was laughable. Absolutely brilliant performance. Who would have thought the lady best known for Striptease could pull that off!?
Haven't seen Companion but I will check it out.
And yes, overall it was a fantastic year for cinema, just not for horror in my opinion.
Nosferatu:
I thought Nosferatu was dreadful!
Pretty much how I’ve felt about most of the Oscar nominated films over the last year.
Late Night with the Devil
MadS
Red Room
I Saw the TV Glow
Cuckoo
Milk & Serial
Oddity
Smile 2
Strange Darling
The Devils Bath
The First Omen
In A Violent Nature
Plenty of good indie horror films.
Late Night with the Devil was mediocre.
I Saw the TV Glow? What planet are you on. That was shocking.
In a Violent Nature I was very excited for but I thought was a bit underwhelming, given the hype.
The rest of your list is pretty good though. Oddity was the scariest horror I saw this year so I think that's a great shout.
I haven't seen MadS but I've heard people rave about it.
Just my two cents but my problem with last year was that I don't think any of the films that were made would be considered good enough to make a top 30-40 all-time great horror list.
The thing with indie horror is that they are not for all taste pallets. I trust @Rooney in Paris taste in horror films but he didn't like Oddity whereas you and I both enjoyed it from what it seems. I thought it had one of the greatest jump scares I've seen in a long time! MadS is a very fun horror movie and one that will blow your mind when you think about the technicalities behind the shooting of the film.
Late Night with the Devil - I really enjoyed this one. Felt like an original idea, really good performance from the lead and the story was interesting. I didn't think it landed the ending but I enjoyed the journey.
I Saw the TV Glow - I liked this but I can see why some people wouldn't. I don't even think it's truly a horror film and was massively mis-marketed. But when you think about it's handling of the themes covered, it's a decent watch, but if you're going in for a horror thrill ride, it disappoints. I thought it was decent.
In A Violent Nature - I also didn't love this but it had some of the best kills I've seen in a long time and when you consider what sub-genre it was paying homage to, it was fine.
But like I said above, indie horror films aren't made for masses so people respond differently to each film. But all in all, I think the quantity for good horror was there.
Let's compare to the biggest horror films of 2023...
When Evil Lurks
Talk To Me
M3GAN
Infinity Pool
Evil Dead Rise
No One Will Save You
Saw X
Skinamarink
The Nun 2
Knock at the Cabin
Cobweb
Insidious: The Red Door
Five Night's At Freddy's
The Exorcist: Believer
I definitely think 2024 was better than 2023 when you look at the uniqueness of the films I listed (plus Heretic, Substance & Longlegs) and that's mainly because the best horror movies of 2024 were indie and one of those indies ended up getting Oscar recognition.
I mean you make some very compelling arguments here, I won't lie.
The thing is my metric is 'does the year contain an all-time great horror film?'
Talk to Me was better than any horror film released in 2024 and I do think warrants being in a top 30-40 top horror list.
Insidious was suffering from sequelitis.
Knock at the Cabin was a huge return to form for M Night Shyamalan. Up there with Split.
Skinamarink, I don't know what the hell that was.
No One Will save you was great and very original.
And I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead franchise and that one was very good.
And finally, well, you've played into my own hands by Infinity Pool (Brandon Cronenberg)!
Let's just agree to disagree.
P.S. - I will definitely watch MadS
No idea why anyone would rave about MadS. Entirely forgettable, mediocre film.
Mars Express French cyberpunk animation. Gets great review but I was hugely underwhelmed and have already forgotten almost everything about it. 4/10
Juror #2 Legal "thriller" by the numbers. Some good performances but the plot just didn't hold together well despite some good performances. My biggest complaints were
, and I'm sure there were more issues. 4/10
Juror #2 Legal "thriller" by the numbers. Some good performances but the plot just didn't hold together well despite some good performances. My biggest complaints were
a) the defence lawyer was seemingly very competent but relied on a closing argument of "he didn't do it" and forgot to mention the concept of beyond a reasonable doubt, b) I doubt that DA's go out to investigate crimes themselves mid-trial, c) some of the rumors were mere caricatures, d) the main character seemed to totally change character at the end, e) trying to persuade a DA not to pursue something because "I'm a good guy" was idiotically unlikely
To your first point, I guess Substance would be the one. That had a big impact. Although personally for me, When Evil Lurks will be the film on many "best 50 horror films" lists in the future, especially if it's not a mainstream list.
I put Infinity Pool in there because you mentioned enjoying BC's films. I didn't like that film. Great idea, poor execution.
Assuming you're a Shudder sub? Loads of good horrors appear on that
I used to like you.
You sound like my parents
To your first point, I guess Substance would be the one. That had a big impact. Although personally for me, When Evil Lurks will be the film on many "best 50 horror films" lists in the future, especially if it's not a mainstream list.
I put Infinity Pool in there because you mentioned enjoying BC's films. I didn't like that film. Great idea, poor execution.
Assuming you're a Shudder sub? Loads of good horrors appear on that
I used to like you.
I mean it's not one of BC's best by any means, but any film by him is amazing at least in its sheer ambition and vision.
For me, Possessor is a 10/10 film. Original and incredibly terrifying. Andrea Riseborough was ridiculous. Much better than her turn in Black Mirror (which was a mediocre episode).
This might be blasphemy but I think Brandon is better than his old man.
Anyway whilst the Substance was a brilliant film in terms of execution, can you truly say it was original? It had Cronenberg all over it.
I didn't like When Evil Lurks that much. I know it's got lots of acclaim, but each to their own I suppose.
As for Shudder, yep, I've got a subscription but it's quite hit and miss. But that's indie horror for you, of course.
Substance wasn't my favourite but it seems to be by consensus the best horror of the last few years.
Fight or Flight
was enjoying the setup but it's a really silly film
quite fun though if you're up for something that doesn't take itself seriously, at all
was enjoying the setup but it's a really silly film
quite fun though if you're up for something that doesn't take itself seriously, at all
Maria Chapdelaine. A 2021 Quebec film based on a famous novel from 1913. The Chapdelaines live in the north of Quebec's colonized zone, where they are creating a farm in the forest, relatively isolated from society around them. Maria is reading adult age, and we see how she and her family live their lives and how she responds to guys from various walks of life that are looking to marry her (another farmer, and adventurer, a guy who moved to Boston).
This might sound like a romantic drama in a Jane Austin kind of way, but the romance part is very small. It's rather a portrait of the hard life at the edge of the world (ish), with its long winters, risks, and hard work. It's also a veeeery slow film, where people talk little. At least it does have a few nice shots. As such, the film is interesting but also more than a little boring: there is just too little going on (narratively, emotionally, tension buildup, descriptively - anything) to keep the attention. 6/10
This might sound like a romantic drama in a Jane Austin kind of way, but the romance part is very small. It's rather a portrait of the hard life at the edge of the world (ish), with its long winters, risks, and hard work. It's also a veeeery slow film, where people talk little. At least it does have a few nice shots. As such, the film is interesting but also more than a little boring: there is just too little going on (narratively, emotionally, tension buildup, descriptively - anything) to keep the attention. 6/10
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The further I get from this film, the more I like it. Some of the images were really good, and it was a very different kind of film. They had to market it as horror rather than LGBTQ for it to have any audience.
Yeah, I get that. I just don't like being tricked
But I feel the same as you, the more distance I get from it the more I remember it fondly.
A Complete Unknown - well, it's a good movie and Chalamet is great in the role. But at the same time, something is missing. The story doesn't have any high stakes and the movie at no point feels like there is some big struggle when it comes to Dylan decisions and choices he makes. There is no personal demons that chase him or everything that makes Walk the line from Mangold one of my favorites.. On the other hand, Dylan exquisite talent when it comes to songwriting and sense of superiority that he probably always felt was done really well and the whole atmosphere overall looks pretty much perfect for Bob Dylan movie.
So yeah, good movie and at the same time a probably missed oportunity to be a brilliant one.
So yeah, good movie and at the same time a probably missed oportunity to be a brilliant one.
I went to watch this three times, being a Dylan fan. I thought it was excellent, with the song lyrics carrying a lot of the narrative. Chalamet impressed me with his Dylan performance and his singing - very convincing. Norton's portrayal of Pete Seeger was strong, but Monica Barbaro's Joan Baez was outstanding.
I like the fact that A Complete Unknown only presents a snapshot. For narrative purposes Mangold plays about with the facts a bit - increasing Seeger's importance, for example - but it works. Now, as a Dylan fan I am obviously biased, so the second time I watched it I took three film-buff friends with me who knew hardly anything about Dylan. I wanted their opinions about how it worked as a film. They were totally positive.
As someone who is not a huge Dylan fan, but occasional listener of his songs am also quite positive about it. In fact, am struggling between the movie being 'just' good or moving more to that excellent territory..
My personal preference was always to engage/know more about the main character and motives that lead him from where the clash of some feelings about the movie come. Mangold decision here is to not do that, but by choice to somewhat distance himself from the main character (as opposed to what he did with Johnny Cash) in the same way Dylan distanced himself from others. Which is why such choice on the other hand seems fitting. There is definitely a lot to like in the movie and a lot of things which makes it a perfect Dylan movie in terms of atmosphere as I already said.
Will watch it again myself for sure.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I guess taking the title of the film from a line from "Like a Rolling Stone" gives a clue into Mangold's thinking. Dylan, despite us having all the songs, interviews, biographies, documentaries, remains elusive - a "complete unknown."
The one thing that irked me about the film is why Suze Rotolo's name was changed to Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning). Apparently this was at Dylan's request to protect her identity. Er, we know who she is! It just seems a bit pointless.
Tbf realising you’ve wasted your life repressing identity in favour of decaying nostalgic suburbanisation is pretty horrific.
My problem was it copied Lynch work(Twin Peaks The Return especially)far too much.
I agree that something was 'missing' from the film.
Gotta say I was incredibly impressed with Chamalet's musicianship in it.
Also loved that there was a bit of a rendition of Subterranean Homesick Blues (my all-time favourite Dylan song).