Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Tonight I watched one of my favorite films: Half Baked

It is about 3 stoners who get stoned and send one bloke out on a munchies mission. On the way he sees a horse which he thinks looks hungry and feeds it most of the munchies he has just bought ... horse drops dead.
Turns out the horse is a diabetic Police horse and bloke gets put away for killing a cop. His mates then need to raise bail money to get him out of jail, they decide to become dealers to make some money and much hilarity ensues.

This film easily qualifies for the thread about films with a stupid plot but it still cracks me up everytimes I watch it

8/10
 
CLK_FPC said:
I went and saw the day the world stood still last night. First thing, dont expect an action film the trailer is slightly misleading, if you can get past that then you have a pretty decent film that i think has been unfairly judged at being 2 stars by a few media outlets. Its a slow burner but it is definately worth watching with a good social message
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I'd have given it one star.

With a remake, it natural to compare it with the original and for me this doesn't compare favourably.

It was never an action film, perhaps, more of a thriller with a strong message. The remake blinds the message in CGI and the relationship between the female heroine and her adopted kid. That doesn't add to the story except to turn it into a kitchen sink drama in an attempt to show the compassionate side of humankind.

I thought that the film could have been longer, exploiting the relationship of nations; how politics of greed works to endanger both nature and humans alike.

And why the film was named 'The day the earth stood still' as they made nothing of that as that was crucial to the original film to convey the power of the aliens.
 
Had a pleasant suprise from a class of students on Friday who really rated 'Psycho'...feared the worst at the start - black and white, no real horror (in terms of the contemporary stuff which they are used to), a slow burner of a story etc...but incredibly this is what appealed to them.

Wait til I show them 'Blood Feast' by the manic genius which is Hershall Gordon Lewis, after the Christmas break!
 
Hammer Michael said:
Had a pleasant suprise from a class of students on Friday who really rated 'Psycho'...feared the worst at the start - black and white, no real horror (in terms of the contemporary stuff which they are used to), a slow burner of a story etc...but incredibly this is what appealed to them.

Wait til I show them 'Blood Feast' by the manic genius which is Hershall Gordon Lewis, after the Christmas break!
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I think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who couldnt apprectiate Hitchcocks finer works.

I myself am relatively youthful and adore films like psycho. The true test is if people can appreciate the original 'Night of the Living Dead.'
 
In Bruges:

Thought the dialogue was very good, pleasently surprised by Colin Farrell's performance, particularly his impressive eyebrows.

Was turned off a bit by the ending though.
 
FortBoyard said:
I think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who couldnt apprectiate Hitchcocks finer works.

I myself am relatively youthful and adore films like psycho. The true test is if people can appreciate the original 'Night of the Living Dead.'
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Which is what they will be seeing towards the end of January. In my opinion THE greatest horror film ever made.

It does depend how I try to put these films in context for them, as to what they get out of them. Just showing them cold, as it were, never works. They are studying the development of the horror film from 1930s to present with regards to social, historical, political and economic reasons. So with Psycho it was the birth of the Slasher and a radical change for the 1960s; once I get to NOTLD they would have had the JFK, RFK and MLK assasinations, the escalation of the Civil Rights Movement, the massacre at My Lai and the gradual breakdown of society.

Sorry...went all lecturer-like there!;)
 
Hammer Michael said:
Which is what they will be seeing towards the end of January. In my opinion THE greatest horror film ever made.

It does depend how I try to put these films in context for them, as to what they get out of them. Just showing them cold, as it were, never works. They are studying the development of the horror film from 1930s to present with regards to social, historical, political and economic reasons. So with Psycho it was the birth of the Slasher and a radical change for the 1960s; once I get to NOTLD they would have had the JFK, RFK and MLK assasinations, the escalation of the Civil Rights Movement, the massacre at My Lai and the gradual breakdown of society.

Sorry...went all lecturer-like there!;)
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No that's very interesting out of interest what do you teach in and at what level?
 
FortBoyard said:
No that's very interesting out of interest what do you teach in and at what level?
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I mainly teach at Advanced National Diploma level for Media, A level for Film and at Degree level for both.

I get to teach the horror film for a whole year...what a great job I have!:D

Might interest you to know that the BFI has just published a great book on NOTLD as part of their classic film catalogue...got it the other day and goes into real depth.
 
Hammer Michael said:
I mainly teach at Advanced National Diploma level for Media, A level for Film and at Degree level for both.

I get to teach the horror film for a whole year...what a great job I have!:D

Might interest you to know that the BFI has just published a great book on NOTLD as part of their classic film catalogue...got it the other day and goes into real depth.
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What was your path into this great job?
 
Spammy said:
What was your path into this great job?
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I did my degree at the age of 31 in Film Production and Theory in London. Got an assistant lecturing post at the end of the three years at the same uni, doing theory (never quite had the film-making skills I thought I possessed, but turned out to be a natural on the academic side!). Worked as a full lecturer a year after that at UEL, before moving down to Bournemouth. Been here for nine years now, senior lecturer at the local College and freelance at Bournemouth Uni.

If it wasn't for the students, it would be the best job in the world!:D
 
Lizard King said:
Watched Airplane again the other night, never fails to make me piss myself laughing. Love the autopilot and the guy who always says "looks like I picked the wrong week to quite smoking/drinking/amphetamines" :D
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The whole 'Saturday Night Fever' sequence is a gem...good call Lizard!
 
Airplane is brilliant.

Captain Oveur (to little kid): "Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

"I am serious...and don't call me Shirley,"
 
Watched Seven for the first time last night. Can't believe I put off watching it for so long, what a fecking great movie. I had no idea Kevin Spacey was in it either, which just made it better as he's one of my favourite actors.
 
Wibble said:
It wasn't a good movie. It was a great movie. And is was also very representative, within a dramatic setting of course, of the UK at that time in Northern England. patriotism doesn't come in to it and in fact i can't see how anyone would be patriotic about that film because it doesn't show England in a good light.
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The patriotism I am talking about is the push to have people look at england instead of UK. Then the whole immigrants issue. I mean, I understand that it my be representive of that period, but it only shows once class of people. Would have been nice to show the other character's families a bit.


It is interesting to see in how much shit england was 20 years ago, and that it has advanced. There is hope for the poor nations as well, I hope.
 
Mongol

Disappointment for me. I am not very studied in this part of history but "Mongol" made a bad impression on me. Lets make it a complete fiction or stick by the facts (of course even there is a need for some dramatization). But I don't like something in the middle of it. It's like hot beer (no offence :D). However I enjoyed the sceneries and beauty of Temujin's wife.

Street Kings

Very good. A little brother of Harsh Times. Nice to see Whitaker on the other side too. (Kavanagh - Wander)

Dark Knight

Rewatched. Yep, it's brilliant. (I am not wearing hockey pads :D). How comes Heath Ledger is missing on the Golden Globe nomination list? :confused:
 
Alek M said:
The patriotism I am talking about is the push to have people look at england instead of UK. Then the whole immigrants issue. I mean, I understand that it my be representive of that period, but it only shows once class of people. Would have been nice to show the other character's families a bit.

It is interesting to see in how much shit england was 20 years ago, and that it has advanced. There is hope for the poor nations as well, I hope.
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You missed the point of the film I think Alex. The skinhead movement originally had its origins in black music (ska and reggae) and as well as being an autobiographical tale to some degree from the director, the film plotted the change from these origins towards the white supremacist movement they became. That this isn't overtly stated probably shows that the director wasn't really aiming for an international audience. Which makes it not surprising that most of the nuance is lost for you. Having said that I think the target audience is actually 40 year old Northerners which narrows the demographic to the point that I'm half amazed that the film did so well.
 
Infernal Affairs II was excellent. In a way I enjoyed it more than the original as I could move past the Departed association (see previous post on this point a couple of weeks ago if you give a shit).

Is III as good?
 
Alek M said:
It is interesting to see in how much shit england was 20 years ago, and that it has advanced. There is hope for the poor nations as well, I hope.
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I don't think we've advanced too far. I think the film is still relevant to young people today. The question of identity and the loss of it is still very prescient.
 
I watched 8 Mile last night, t'was on the box.

I think Id be good at battle rhyming.

Other than the fact I am a witless feck with no interesting observations to make about society of life as a whole, I am timid in front of large groups of people, I have no sense of rhythm and I already have a job and a family life that already uses up a large amount of my time, so I wouldnt have anything left over for battling.

As for the film: I have to "confess" I enjoyed it (saw it at the cinema when it first came out) though I know it does not have much artistic merrit. It's a chewing gum film. I enjoy the banter, i think the rapping in it is good and seeing those poor fecks in Detroit makes me feel better about my own life.

In terms of the very obvious plot development, the one-dimensional characters, the ridiculous self-congratulation of Eminem's (I understand it is semi autobiographical?) character, this film is pretty much worthless.
 
Mallrats: saw it again the other night. Hadn't seen this in years so was wondering if my view on it had changed. It hadn't! It's still good fun with some cracking looking girls in it.

Ben Affleck was good as the asshole store manager.
 
Wibble said:
You missed the point of the film I think Alex. The skinhead movement originally had its origins in black music (ska and reggae) and as well as being an autobiographical tale to some degree from the director, the film plotted the change from these origins towards the white supremacist movement they became. That this isn't overtly stated probably shows that the director wasn't really aiming for an international audience. Which makes it not surprising that most of the nuance is lost for you. Having said that I think the target audience is actually 40 year old Northerners which narrows the demographic to the point that I'm half amazed that the film did so well.
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That was probably one of the best things about the film - Great insight into the skinhead movement.
 
utdalltheway said:
Mallrats: saw it again the other night. Hadn't seen this in years so was wondering if my view on it had changed. It hadn't! It's still good fun with some cracking looking girls in it.

Ben Affleck was good as the asshole store manager.
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Always had a thing for Joey Lauren Adams (I think thats her name anyway).

Have to confess though, I thought Mallrats was a pile of turd.
 
no confession required. I like it, you don't = no bid deal.

anyway, which girl are you talking about?

I like the blondie one with the unusual voice. she got her tits out too.
 
utdalltheway said:
no confession required. I like it, you don't = no bid deal.

anyway, which girl are you talking about?

I like the blondie one with the unusual voice. she got her tits out too.
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Yeah, the squeaky voiced one. I don't recall seeing breasts though. That automatically improves my rating of the film.
 
Watched Big Stan last night, wasn't the worst 90 mins ever spent, basically the whole film is about him being terrified of getting his arse shagged in prison so he enlists the help of a super warrior who makes him double hard so he can be the main man in prison, and he then goes about eradicating arse-rape in prison, some funny moments mainly about arse-shagging, so if anal's a hot topic in your brain, this is for you...
 
utdalltheway said:
Mallrats: saw it again the other night. Hadn't seen this in years so was wondering if my view on it had changed. It hadn't! It's still good fun with some cracking looking girls in it.

Ben Affleck was good as the asshole store manager.
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A quality film - Ive still got that on video, liked clerks and chasing amy as well - not sure about the films after that though
 
Hammer Michael said:
Had a pleasant suprise from a class of students on Friday who really rated 'Psycho'...feared the worst at the start - black and white, no real horror (in terms of the contemporary stuff which they are used to), a slow burner of a story etc...but incredibly this is what appealed to them.

Wait til I show them 'Blood Feast' by the manic genius which is Hershall Gordon Lewis, after the Christmas break!
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Talking of Hitchcock, I saw Rear Window for the first time last night and thought it was a great film, Grace Kelly and James Stewart were captivating actors and next to this Disturbia just looks a bit silly.
 
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