Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Avatar - I think I get it now. James Cameron waited so many years after writing Avatar because Peter Jackson hadn't arrived. Once LOTR was out Cameron had what he needed. Special effects where humans and weird animated creatures can interact in a realistic way.

Avatar has a weak plot, so weak in fact that its best not to go in with any expectations from it at all. But what it lacks in storyline it makes up in style. Cameron obviously let his imagination run wild (although there are certain points where he got a little lazy, or just plain tired. Six legged horses?) with all kinds of winged and many footed creatures in Pandora.

Not sure why he chose to make the Pandoran people a mutated African tribe. Probably to go along with the many greenpeace and living in harmony with nature connotations.

For those who still havent seen this movie, I would say that don't bother with 3d, especially if you're not a 3d fan like me. I wanted to go for the whole 3d in imax experience with this one like everyone suggested but imax's in ny are sold out for the next couple of days so went for plain 3d. And at no point in the movie did I feel that the 3Dness added anything to the movie. I might go for it again in IMAX next week to see if I missed out on anything.
 
Up in the Air. I liked this one. Good to see a couple of actresses I know in it(and with speaking parts). Clooney does a good job in it. That girl from Twilight should give up on Twilight and focus on serious movies.

Sherlock Holmes. Some parts are ok, most of it isn't that great.
 
olesmyhero said:
Up in the Air. I liked this one. Good to see a couple of actresses I know in it(and with speaking parts). Clooney does a good job in it. That girl from Twilight should give up on Twilight and focus on serious movies.

Sherlock Holmes. Some parts are ok, most of it isn't that great.
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YEah Anna Kendrick is good in it, I meant to ask about her not Ashley Greene, got them two mixed up as I think they are both in Twilight
 
Yeah after I sent you that message, I looked it up and I was like weird she looks a lot different haha. I'd give both of them the treatment though ahha
 
Half Life Looks great and seems to have a great deal of promise but the terminally slow (and ultimately nonsensical) plot combined with an incredibly annoying end e ventually results in the film disappearing up its own arty anus. The director has promise but I ended up wanting my hour and half back again please. 2/10

The Shining The good: Jack Nicholson. I previously thought that this was another one of his bits of massive overacting but I was wrong. Apart from the painfully pedestrian conversations at the beginning of the film Nicholson is genuinely menacing. Parts of the direction are very good at building tension. I particularly like the bits where the kids is cycling around. The kid is also worth watching most of the time. The bad: Shelley Duval is really terrible in almost every scene. The plot is a major let down for anyone who has read the book. They have cut most of the plot for no apparent reason and the bits they left are largely unexplained. The worst bit is the direction. Like most of Kubrick's films this is an emotional wasteland that means we don't really give a toss about any of the character and for some reason he has directed the actors to speak at the pace of a 60's film - where people speak before they have actually had time to hear what the other actors have said - very odd. A few bits of nice cinematography and Nicholson aside a very poor effort. 3/10

Poltergiest I haven't seen this since it first came out. A very well made film despite the appalling 80's fashions and the occasional overtly melodramatic moment. Quite scary considering it was made for more of the ET market than the Exorcist demographic. 7/10
 
Inglorious Basterds - Hmm, enjoyable enough but I felt like I didnt get it. I feel the different parts were OK in their own rights, but mashing them together in one movie? Nah, and it was fairly long despite not much really happening. Nothing bad could be said about the acting though, it was brilliant.
 
Went to see Law Abiding Citizen the other day. Not bad, watchable enough....
 
Wibble said:
The Shining The good: Jack Nicholson. I previously thought that this was another one of his bits of massive overacting but I was wrong. Apart from the painfully pedestrian conversations at the beginning of the film Nicholson is genuinely menacing. Parts of the direction are very good at building tension. I particularly like the bits where the kids is cycling around. The kid is also worth watching most of the time. The bad: Shelley Duval is really terrible in almost every scene. The plot is a major let down for anyone who has read the book. They have cut most of the plot for no apparent reason and the bits they left are largely unexplained. The worst bit is the direction. Like most of Kubrick's films this is an emotional wasteland that means we don't really give a toss about any of the character and for some reason he has directed the actors to speak at the pace of a 60's film - where people speak before they have actually had time to hear what the other actors have said - very odd. A few bits of nice cinematography and Nicholson aside a very poor effort. 3/10
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Controversial!
 
Wibble said:
The Shining The good: Jack Nicholson. I previously thought that this was another one of his bits of massive overacting but I was wrong. Apart from the painfully pedestrian conversations at the beginning of the film Nicholson is genuinely menacing. Parts of the direction are very good at building tension. I particularly like the bits where the kids is cycling around. The kid is also worth watching most of the time. The bad: Shelley Duval is really terrible in almost every scene. The plot is a major let down for anyone who has read the book. They have cut most of the plot for no apparent reason and the bits they left are largely unexplained. The worst bit is the direction. Like most of Kubrick's films this is an emotional wasteland that means we don't really give a toss about any of the character and for some reason he has directed the actors to speak at the pace of a 60's film - where people speak before they have actually had time to hear what the other actors have said - very odd. A few bits of nice cinematography and Nicholson aside a very poor effort. 3/10
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I watched The Shining the other week for the first time. I was pretty disappointed because its a classic in the eyes of many. Agree re Jack Nicholsons performance - hes very good in it. I think its shot brilliantly, especially those scenes with the boy on his bike. I didnt think Shelley Duval was was too bad.

I just thought it was a bit of a stupid story.

I would give it 5/10
 
The Game

Micheal Douglas plays a rich investment banker who is given a strange game by his brother (Sean Penn) for his birthday. The game is never explained to him, he simply shows up at the offices of the company who created the game, takes the tests and then waits for the game to begin.

From then on the film is a completely absorbing mystery thriller, the plot twists keep you guessing throughout the whole film as you try to decide how much of it is actually the game. I can't say I am the biggest fan of the ending, without any specific spoilers I initially thought it was way to surreal, but now I can see what Fincher was going for, this film isn't meant to be logical or realistic, it's just a dark but very fun ride that keeps you on your toes.

8/10
 
Avatar - Awesome

Sherlock Holmes - Big pile of shit, I'm actually shocked people like this film..WTF!
 
500 Days of Summer

Great stylish rom-com. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel were brilliant together.

8/10

Sicko

Thank feck for the NHS. That's all I can say.

7/10
 
DouLou said:
The Game

Micheal Douglas plays a rich investment banker who is given a strange game by his brother (Sean Penn) for his birthday. The game is never explained to him, he simply shows up at the offices of the company who created the game, takes the tests and then waits for the game to begin.

From then on the film is a completely absorbing mystery thriller, the plot twists keep you guessing throughout the whole film as you try to decide how much of it is actually the game. I can't say I am the biggest fan of the ending, without any specific spoilers I initially thought it was way to surreal, but now I can see what Fincher was going for, this film isn't meant to be logical or realistic, it's just a dark but very fun ride that keeps you on your toes.

8/10
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I saw this once a few years back and really enjoyed it. I'd like to see it again now that I'm older and hopefully wiser and see if it still stands up as a good film. I get your point about the ending!
 
Memories of Murder 9/10

Beautifully shot police procedural based on unsolved serial killings in Korea circa 1986. Industrial complexes rising upwards in the midst of a gorgeous rural landscape capture a developing country caught between rapid modernization and tradition. Conflict galore between the local detectives and a city cop dispatched to assist in the case after the former botch the case amidst nationwide scrutiny. Seasoned with comedy which only serves to highlight the underlying inexorable sense of a country's loss of innocence. David Fincher's also excellent 'Zodiac' borrows heavily (steals wholesale) from this film in terms of tone.

The ending is the best I've ever seen of its kind; absolutely spine chilling (and I watch J-horror for amusement) One of the best foreign films I've seen in the past ten years.
 
The Fall

Stuntman Roy Walker is paralysed and bed ridden in hospital after his first movie stunt goes wrong, he manages to befriend a young child called Alexandria and seizes the opportunity to use her to get him the drugs he needs to kill himself. Whilst he gains her friendship he tells her of a mythical tale of 5 bandits; the explosives expert, the runaway slave, The Indian, Charles Darwin and The Masked Bandit. They have each sworn to be the man who kills the evil Governor Odious. The fantasy element serves as an insight into Roy himself, and as the story progresses the lines between reality and fiction blur, with characters from Roys real life entering the tale.

Liked this one a lot and there are also some great visuals in this film if you appreciate that sort of thing.

7.5/10

*EDIT*

Forgot to say the performance from the child actress (Catinca Untaru) is probably the best I've ever seen from someone her age.
 
DouLou said:
The Fall

Stuntman Roy Walker is paralysed and bed ridden in hospital after his first movie stunt goes wrong, he manages to befriend a young child called Alexandria and seizes the opportunity to use her to get him the drugs he needs to kill himself. Whilst he gains her friendship he tells her of a mythical tale of 5 bandits; the explosives expert, the runaway slave, The Indian, Charles Darwin and The Masked Bandit. They have each sworn to be the man who kills the evil Governor Odious. The fantasy element serves as an insight into Roy himself, and as the story progresses the lines between reality and fiction blur, with characters from Roys real life entering the tale.

Liked this one a lot and there are also some great visuals in this film if you appreciate that sort of thing.

7.5/10
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Stunning film visually.
 
olesmyhero said:
Stunning film visually.
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Couple of interesting things, it was shot in 28 countries (although feck knows which ones, the deserts and butterfly island just looked awesome though)

And apparently there are no computer generated effects in it either. Which makes me wonder how they made the labyrinth of despair.
 
This is England

Young Shaun is the victim of bullying and ridicule; from the people he meets at his school to the people he meets in the streets. One day whilst taking the underpass he is befriended by an older group of lads who take him under their wing, but as soon as things start to get cosy Combo (a former member of the group who just done 3 years in jail) turns up and splits the group in half with his violent hatred of foreigners. Most see sense and leave Combo, but some join him and Shaun soon finds himself in a new family, slowly brainwashing him and twisting an impressionable young boy into something else.

It's a fantastic british film which is naturally gritty and insightful to the illogical hatred that exists in people. Two performances stand out, Thomas Turgoose as the young Shaun is completely authentic, the kid starts off innocent and charming, and even when he is being turned into a thug he still retains these qualities as well as the anger and confusion. Stephen Graham as Combo is just fecking outstanding, he will walk into the room and you'll feel the tension become unbearable, he displays a genuine caring emotion to his character but at any moment can erupt into a complete pyscho.

The soundtrack deserves a mention to, the scenes that use Fuori dal mundo are emotionally draining.

8/10
 
You Don't mess with the Zohan. 0/10
So shit i stopped watching. Makes Manos Hands of Fate look like a cinematic masterpiece.
 
You Don't mess with the Zohan. 0/10
So shit i stopped watching. Makes Manos Hands of Fate look like a cinematic masterpiece.
 
Blade Runner - Blu Ray

At last I see the full effects of Blu Ray. All movies I have watched in this format up until now have been new releases and although they still look great I am never exactly bowled over because they look great in SD also.

But having watched Blade runner in SD not too long ago I was literally stunned by how amazing this looks on Blu Ray. I would highly recommend.

The movie itself is one of my favorites of all time. Ridley Scott is a genius this is such a stylish film, incredible images throughout. Although I don’t think it is everyone’s cup of tea.

For me though Blu Ray has made this movie a 10/10
 
Absolutely loved Inglorious Basterds 10/10

Saw it at Xmas and had just watched another movie. NWR suggested we watched this one. I was dreading it when I saw on the box that it was 2.5 hours long....

I was absolutely glued to the screen and couldn't take my eyes off it. The first scene with the German Colonel and the French farmer was absolutely superb, the tension of waiting, waiting, waiting for the inevitable denoument.

Seems to be one of those films that you either love or hate (most of the Critics hated it) but it was the best film of the year for me
 
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