I hated the cinematography. I like Mann's movies and Public Enemy was very good but I just hated this digital crap and I wished throughout the whole movie that it was shot on film. Especially the night scenes were so grainy, it looked like more than amateurish. Obviously this was the look Mann was going for so that's fine. Also, all the shaky camera crap just gives me a headache and it adds apsolutely nothing to the feeling of being so real or whatever it's purpose is. The scene at the beginning when the camera is moving away from the woman and the child, seriously, what on earth was that supposed to mean? Realism? If Id be drunk and crawling Id have a clearer and steadier vision than that.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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I hated the cinematography. I like Mann's movies and Public Enemy was very good but I just hated this digital crap and I wished throughout the whole movie that it was shot on film. Especially the night scenes were so grainy, it looked like more than amateurish. Obviously this was the look Mann was going for so that's fine. Also, all the shaky camera crap just gives me a headache and it adds apsolutely nothing to the feeling of being so real or whatever it's purpose is. The scene at the beginning when the camera is moving away from the woman and the child, seriously, what on earth was that supposed to mean? Realism? If Id be drunk and crawling Id have a clearer and steadier vision than that.
Can't say I really noticed too much shaky cam in all honesty.
Fair point on the cinematography. I happen to love the grainy hd approach. Thought it was awesome in Collateral and really added to the night time LA look. Granted, it was probably not so necessary here.
Fair point on the cinematography. I happen to love the grainy hd approach. Thought it was awesome in Collateral and really added to the night time LA look. Granted, it was probably not so necessary here.
Agree 100%.
Just saw this myself today. Not going to bother rating it, but as usual the gunfights were pretty intense, the sound amazing. Pretty much an old school "Heat" as you've (and no doubt 90% of the viewers) said..... except the characters were dull as wood. Two magnificent actors wasted IMO, I never connected with either. Bale tried to show his emotions and did so fairly well, but there wasn't enough building for his character, you never get to see his family, his life, etc.
The ending was amazing though.
And Marion Cotillard is just
I watched it last night.
Thought it was clever and gritty, enjoyed it from a kind of if-I-was-a-film-critic perspective. But it was long and very slow - much more dialogue and portrayal of monotony and depressing slum culture than any kind of action. Also I think something was lost in translation between Italian and English that damaged it - to a greater extent than occurs when you translate from Cantonese or Japanese into English. I dont know if there is any kind of linguistic justification for this or if the style of the dialogue just reflected the slight stupidity of most of the people in it. But somehow it felt that it wasnt that. It seemed like there must be a lot of Italian expressions and mannerisms that translate strangely.
If I knew then what I know now I dont think I would have committed just over 2 hours to it, it was late and the lack of action made it hard to keep my attention levels up when it started approaching 1 am. But in different circumstances I think I would have enjoyed it a lot.
Well I do agree with the 'Cat People' scene, the song was just used to perfection there I think, but I have to say I thought the film was fantastic overall and maybe Tarantinos best alongside Fiction! In it's own way it had plenty of stand out moments (the ending in the cinema was great) and not to mention a stand out performance by Christoph Waltz, another good one from Brad Pitt and very surprisingly Eli Roth did great as the 'Bear Jew'!
Overall i'd have to say 9/10!
Films I've got to see recently:
Zombieland
Loved this film, I heard about its underground cult status, but once the trailers came about it looked great... and it was great! Didn't take itself too seriously, plenty of laughs mainly from Woody Harrelson's character and quite a decent plot! Gets brownie points for the amazing cameo aswell!!
I'd give it 8.5/10 but it may not suit everyones sense of humour!
Couples Retreat
Vaughan & Favreau teaming up once again, but probably not aswell as usual! Good cast and a few laughs, but not the type of film you'd want to watch again! Although saved by plenty of bikini scenes with Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis in them
6/10
Halloween 2
Well to be honest i'm not a fan of horrors, i find them all too similar and predictable. This one though took the piss. Seemed to have just pulled various parts from other horror movies over the years and mangled them all together. What they end up with is a horror of a horror movie. None of the characters had any substance to them and the storyline was something I could probably come up with if given ten minutes to think about it.
Shocking stuff
0/10
Well to be honest i'm not a fan of horrors, i find them all too similar and predictable. This one though took the piss. Seemed to have just pulled various parts from other horror movies over the years and mangled them all together. What they end up with is a horror of a horror movie. None of the characters had any substance to them and the storyline was something I could probably come up with if given ten minutes to think about it.
Shocking stuff
0/10
Terminator: Salvation
Much better than I expected. I suppose most of the criticism came from diehard Terminator fans, but it's actually a decent popcorn flick. Sam Worthington pretty much stole the show though, and poor Bale keeps landing these huge box office roles and ends up looking bland. Public Enemies, both Batmans, now Terminator. he looks like a shadow of his best self.
Much better than I expected. I suppose most of the criticism came from diehard Terminator fans, but it's actually a decent popcorn flick. Sam Worthington pretty much stole the show though, and poor Bale keeps landing these huge box office roles and ends up looking bland. Public Enemies, both Batmans, now Terminator. he looks like a shadow of his best self.
I think this is simply due to the type of role he plays in the films he chose. In my understanding the Batman movies are always going to be about the negative characters, the Riddler, the Joker, etc. This is where Batman's enemies come out and shine (as seen in The Dark Knight). For Batman himself there's not much left considering he spends most part of the movie wearing a mask, which means no actor in the world, no matter how good he is, will really be great as Batman. I think an actor who accepts to play Batman automatically knows his role in the movie is a bit secondary.
As for Terminator 4 I think that's also simply down to the character, John Connors is pretty frustrated and miserable throughout the whole movie but I guess that's because he has to fight monster machines who are ripping apart the human race. I dont know how else he could have played that role really. Maybe his character in Public Enemies could have been more explored but that's down to the director. I certainly think making those four movies was a lot more fun than making Recuse Dawn, The New World, or the Machinist.
Im looking forward to The Fighter, seems to be a good story. Also, he looks unrecognizably ugly and skinny in that one.
Hold on, you mean the 1981 Halloween 2 with Jamie Lee Curtis?
State of Play. The first half is actually pretty good. Better than I thought it would be. After that though, it gets a bit tedious and uninteresting.
I agree saw this the other day with the girlfriend. And i dug Rob Zombies first Halloween (not a masterpiece, but stupid fun), this however felt more like one big montage of people getting fecked up and no story at all.
BBC version is better, Ridley can't help himself from stealing from the brt channels, he's remaking Red Riding Ch4's yorkshire ripper drama for the big screen next.
utter rubbish, Batman Begins is all about the Batman and a great film for any actor to get his teeth around. The next film in Nolans trilogy will focus more on the Batman than the Dark Knight did apparently.
Paranormal activity - nice low budget horror film 8 - 10
Drag me to hell As a Sam Raimi fan i was disappointed but it was decent 6 - 10
Drag me to hell As a Sam Raimi fan i was disappointed but it was decent 6 - 10
A good year. Nice very British comedy. Well worth a few hours and on tonight on film 4. Again Ridley and Crowe.
dude are you serious? of course Batman is about Batman but the actor who plays Batman will never be able to express himself as much as his evil counterpart, it's just the nature of his role, I mean that's so obvious isnt it?
It all depends on the story and script, not the mask.
Kandahar
Made in Iran, circa 2001, based on a true story about an Afghan trying to cross the border into Kandahar to see a friend. Short, enlightening and recommended.
8/10
Made in Iran, circa 2001, based on a true story about an Afghan trying to cross the border into Kandahar to see a friend. Short, enlightening and recommended.
8/10
Star Trek 2009
Best film I have seen for a while, good story line and excellent special effects.
I enjoyed they way the crew was brought together,I also like the refs to the original series with Capt Pike.
The only think that was a bit strange was the relatsionship with Spock and Ururha ,never been mentioned before.
I have read that this crew have signed for 2 more movies ,I hope they are has good as this one.
Best film I have seen for a while, good story line and excellent special effects.
I enjoyed they way the crew was brought together,I also like the refs to the original series with Capt Pike.
The only think that was a bit strange was the relatsionship with Spock and Ururha ,never been mentioned before.
I have read that this crew have signed for 2 more movies ,I hope they are has good as this one.
Bagdad Cafe
1987 film about a German woman who has a row with her husband while on holiday in the US and gets out of the car in the Mojave desert with nothing but her suitcase. She stumbles upon a run-down cafe/motel/gas station off the beaten track and eventually decides to stay, slowly gaining acceptance from the locals. Quirky and funny.
8/10
1987 film about a German woman who has a row with her husband while on holiday in the US and gets out of the car in the Mojave desert with nothing but her suitcase. She stumbles upon a run-down cafe/motel/gas station off the beaten track and eventually decides to stay, slowly gaining acceptance from the locals. Quirky and funny.
8/10
The Invention of Lying
If you like Ricky Gervais you'll get a few laughs out of this, but it's not very good, in all honesty. The fact that it sells itself as a comedy in the trailers, and is nothing approaching that in reality is annoying, as is constant reliance on Gervais' timing to try get laughs from a pretty poor script (which he co-wrote).
One of my main problems with it was the glaring logical holes in the whole thing. It's premised on no one ever lying, so they constantly say things like 'You're fat and ugly' which is entirely different to not lying-it's actually speaking your mind unprompted-which they don't bother addressing at all.
Also, the characters seem to be surprised by the candour of people, though they know no different, which makes their surprise and hurt when someone says something about them somewhat bizarre.
It's a good idea, badly executed.
3/10
If you like Ricky Gervais you'll get a few laughs out of this, but it's not very good, in all honesty. The fact that it sells itself as a comedy in the trailers, and is nothing approaching that in reality is annoying, as is constant reliance on Gervais' timing to try get laughs from a pretty poor script (which he co-wrote).
One of my main problems with it was the glaring logical holes in the whole thing. It's premised on no one ever lying, so they constantly say things like 'You're fat and ugly' which is entirely different to not lying-it's actually speaking your mind unprompted-which they don't bother addressing at all.
Also, the characters seem to be surprised by the candour of people, though they know no different, which makes their surprise and hurt when someone says something about them somewhat bizarre.
It's a good idea, badly executed.
3/10
There was about 5 or 10 minutes that were funny. The part poking fun at Moses and the commandments. The rest was shit. You're right about lying, and just saying things. It didn't make sense.
The Proposal. Missus made me watch this one. Terrible movie. You're supposed to believe these 2 people would fall for each other, but outside of a few scenes, they never get along. Waste of time.
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.
This is even better than Star Trek , the special effects are outstanding and the battles are ,fast loud and exciting.
If you have not seen it , watch it and its got Megan Fox in it what more do you need.
This is even better than Star Trek , the special effects are outstanding and the battles are ,fast loud and exciting.
If you have not seen it , watch it and its got Megan Fox in it what more do you need.
Revenge of the Fallen was fecking awful.
Yeah it was a huge pile, I thought the original was quite entertaining yet still mixed in a bit of plot, Revenge of the Fallen was Michael Bay in a nutshell
Agreed. I enjoyed number 1 a lot. 2 was awful.
The Damned United.
Not what i was expecting at all. A love story between 2 men. Very well acted and a great insight into old big head. Great acting all around and it does make you nostalgic for the days when the Fa cup was that important. Does have a few moments though that you expect it to go BrokeBack. Thoroughly entertaining and the best football film ever made, even though you hardly ever see any. 8/10
Not what i was expecting at all. A love story between 2 men. Very well acted and a great insight into old big head. Great acting all around and it does make you nostalgic for the days when the Fa cup was that important. Does have a few moments though that you expect it to go BrokeBack. Thoroughly entertaining and the best football film ever made, even though you hardly ever see any. 8/10
The Lazarus Project. 1/10. With PAUL WALKER. Why did I even bother..
Haha, just watching The Wrong Turn 3! Mutant inbreds randomly killing hot chicks and their boyfriends. Hilarious! Here are some of the best lines so far:
"Are you fecking crazy?"
"I dont know. Maybe I am".
Or this one:
"What the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you what the hell is going on. He's gonna kill us all. That's what the hell is going on!"
"Are you fecking crazy?"
"I dont know. Maybe I am".
Or this one:
"What the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you what the hell is going on. He's gonna kill us all. That's what the hell is going on!"
The villain in the Batman movies are always come crazy weird excentric characters and obviously, if they do it right, they will have much more freedom to express their character than the guy who plays Batman. Batman has a mask on, you only see his mouth moving and the eyes are always the same, a serious stare. The other part of the movie Batman is a suit wearing person trying to conceal the fact that he's Batman. And that's what I mean with the nature of the role, Batman's character is a bit restricted while at the same time the evil enemy has the advantage of outplaying every other character in the movie.
here lots of incredible Batman Stories avialable that go into the personality of the Batman. The only problem is that every movie is an event one where the baddies needs to make an impact. As for the the rest of the movie being about a man in a suit trying to conceal the fact he's batman is very damning on the role that Bale made his own in Batman Begins. Batman is Bruce Wayne, not vice-versa and it's the character of Bruce wayne that needs exploring in the films. The dark knight was incredibly epic in it's nature and with the work done in BB, they didn't need to explore the character as much. For me the best acting in both films is Gary Oldmans very understated Gordon. He does'nt need to be grimacing every 2 seconds to deliver a great performance.
To make it worse I'd been championing Gervais to my missus all week to persuade her to come and see it.
Very bad it was. Especially the bit where his mam was dying and he cried.
Yeah, exact same for me.
I made a big show of talking it up-she wanted to go to some animation-and it was a big pile of anus.
My missus started crying during that part. I knew then it wasn't the sort of date she'd been hoping for.
Ahh feck it, if some people don't like Gervais it is most unlikely they will warm to him in the near future.
I think there is a very clever and funny Gervais and there is also a very boring and preachy Gervais.
I agree. He is clearly a funny guy but outside The Office, I find I often find him a smug twat, and when I laugh it is in spite of myelf. Extras was a huge disappointment, his standup is mediocre and the guy himself comes across as a complete weapon.
The Brothers Bloom. The first sequence is very entertaining. A very Wes Andersonesque con movie feels like its on its way. Overall I enjoyed the movie, but I did feel let down by it at times.
Agreed. I just watched it the other night, first part looked promising and Rachel Weisz was to fall in love with! But then it all started to become a little bit too much and some of the moves were just plain stupid, like why would Bloom decide to leave her, etc. I just didnt buy it and it dragged on and on..