Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

I'd recommend The Conversation, but who hasn't seen that.

Screw mystery/thriller, watch the awesome Find Me Guilty.
 
DouLou said:
Zerkalo

Tarkovskys personal semi-biographical movie is a complex ensemble of various periods in his life. Principally it is about a man reflecting on his past whilst on his death bed, but realistically it can not be decoded into any sort of structured narrative, nor should it be attempted. Instead it’s just something that needs to be enjoyed for what it is; abstract art in almost pure form.

I wouldn’t know who to recommend this to – But I’d say if you are willing to spend 100 minutes to enjoy the beauty of something without any expectation of a coherent plot then you may love this film.
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The first time I saw it I didn't know what to think of it, but I was definitely sitting in awe and as things started to make more sense it felt like I've just seen something truly metaphysical. I haven't really been blown away by a film in the same way before or since watching Zerkalo.

It made me think of my own life, of my parents, grandparents, ancestors lives and all the pointless but signifcant moments/memories that are lost in time.

I think there's plenty of symbolism in it, from the title of the film to the stuttering guy at the start.
 
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An American Crime[2007]: OMG!!!:eek:

Starring Ellen Page in a story based on a real life child abuse case.

6/10 because despite being very moving and having a good central performance from a younger Ellen Page it still feels like a TV movie. Worth watching for the sheer shock and horror factor alone though.
 
Batman - The Mask of Phantasm
Really cool little animated movie, unfortunately it's thrilling pace makes it lack depth. It could of been fleshed out to make a much greater film. 6.5/10

Last Temptation of Christ
Something a bit weird about seeing someone like Harvey Keitel play Judas... I just kept expecting him to feck up some romans with a shotgun or something...

Holden made for an interesting Jesus. It was a well explored concept.. the inner turmoil of Jesus as a man was a hell of a lot better than that savage painfest Gibson made. 7.5/10

Eat Man Drink Woman
A intertwining tale of love and loss, it focuses on a family of three daughters and their father as they find new relationships in life which change the family dynamic.

Oh, and it will also make you very, very hungry. 7.5/10

The Aviator
Well... I can't fault the performances, I thought Di Caprio gave something at least a little different to what I've seen of him recently and Cate Blanchett made a great Hepburn even if I'm only going by what I've seen of her in films... but I didn't care much for the story. It's not that I found it *boring*, I just couldn't get into it... the best parts were when the OCD/nutty side of Hawks came out, but the other 75% where he is just blowing his money and flying planes didn't exactly enthral me. 7/10
 
The Soccerer's Apprentice:

Overall enjoyable movie, with an undercurrent of humour throughout the film. Follows a standard theme and a predictable ending. But still a whole lot of fun to watch. Kids may especially love the plasma bolts and stuff.

Good performances by Nick cage & Molina. the kid was also OK, though a bit deadpan in some comic sequences.

Score: 7/10
 
Inception

The movie starts off at a mysterious and good pace, but I think it would ahve helped if they gave the viewers some basic infor in inception as such. personally during the 3rd quarter of the film, the dream within dream within dream was a bit confusing (maybe just because I was a bit drunk), but overall it moves at a fast pace. The dream fight sequences are very good.

Score: 8.5/10
 
The Wedding Banquet
Fun little comedy about a gay man who's partner convinces him to marry one of his female lodgers in order to appease his parents. Drama ensues when the parents overstay their welcome and the charade must be kept going for longer than anticipated. It's a touching story with some heartfelt scenes to it. 6.5/10

Ice Storm
Middle class families experiment with drugs, sex and alcohol. Think American Beauty-lite, although that may be a bit harsh... it's a great film in its own right, just I think Sam Mendes does the dark side of suburban life a lot better. 7/10
 
Thirst. Even though it's been billed as a horror. . .it would be fairer to describe it as a tragic love story laced with black comedy. So, if you're expecting a horror film with Ringu style chills and thrills look elsewhere, but it did have enough gore, sex and romance to keep everyone interested, and we shouldn't forget that wouldn't be a Korean movie without melodrama and it had plenty of that. . . the story, without giving too much away, was about a priest who was transformed into vampire thanks to a blood transfusion. . .and his adulterous relationship with an ill treated wife/daughter in law. Yeah. . .just your regular storyline. Bizarre as it was Thirst was entertaining. . . The second segment of the film took a completely different direction to the one I was expecting. . .but that's Korean movies for you. Bizarre.
 
Freaks
Disturbing film... I can see why it was banned in the UK for so long. It's based around a love triangle of a midget, a strongman and a trapeze artist. It has a timeless shock value because you can't really compete with the use of real 'freaks', the human skeleton, the human caterpillar... all real and it's more than a bit un-nerving to watch. The film builds up towards the ending where it's finally revealed what happened to the trapeze artist and it doesn't disappoint, it's brutal stuff. This really is a gem of a horror film although not in the typical sense. 7.5/10

Toy Story 3
Hard to fault this really. Great humour and story... was extremely poignant without being overly sentimental, yeah.. pretty much a flawless effort as far as animation goes.8/10
 
The Sweet Hereafter

A small town copes with the aftermath of a tragic bus accident which kills a large number of children. Ian Holm plays the city lawyer who takes a personal interest in the case (having lost his own child to drugs) and tries to recruit as many people as possible to build evidence for a lawsuit against the company that made the bus. I thought it was an emotionally draining story that’s well worth a watch. 7.5/10
 
The Losers

The A Team without the charm. Shit sandwich. Although that said, Jason Patric had a funny line or two.

"Who wants to be a billunaire?!" got a giggle.
 
Up - I've never really been a fan of Pixars stuff, but decided to give this one a shot anyway and it was a bit average.

The Maltese Falcon - Good stuff. Very enjoyable and it actually made me laugh a little on two or three occasions.

A Bittersweet life - Very good. Stylish, decent action...good score. I thought the girl and her relationship with the main guy was a bit underrused, felt a bit odd in the end.

M - I wasn't paying much attention at times whilst watching this, but that Lorre guy was good and it seemed very ahead of it's time in a few ways.

12 Angry Men - Simple greatness. Shows that you don't need much to make a good film.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird - A Korean cowboy film (Yes). It was good/okayish, reasonably entertaining...was longer than it felt, the time just flied past.
 
The Good, the Bad, the Weird - A Korean cowboy film (Yes). It was good/okayish, reasonably entertaining...was longer than it felt, the time just flied past.[/QUOTE]

After about five raving recommendations I tried this out and fell asleep on three separate attempts to finish this film.
 
2012 - Exactly what I was looking for. Something rubbish.

Beckett - I thought Peter O'Toole was much better in this movie that in lawrene of arabia or how to steal a million. The guy who wrote his lines did a spelndid job and O'Toole wasn't half bad delivering them. No idea how historically accurate this movie is but it was well worth the watch.

Fallen Angels - Not half as good as the other stuff from KWW that I've seen. The stories didnt tie in well enough and the end was just weird. The dumb guy was the most entertaining.
 
mehro said:
Fallen Angels - Not half as good as the other stuff from KWW that I've seen. The stories didnt tie in well enough and the end was just weird. The dumb guy was the most entertaining.
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I thought it was better than Chungking Express. In fact, it's my second fav WKW film.

So there, Mehrosexual.

And I have a feeling Brophs will review a couple of films.
 
Cemetery Junction - If you like Gervais and Merchant you'll probably like this. Very funny in places, albeit with a little too much heart string-tuggery. The ending was slightly too neat, but it was never meant to be anything other than a light film, so I won't complain too much.

7/10

Grown Ups - Odd movie. There are a few very funny moments, but for the most part it's a bit shit. It all felt like an excuse for all of the male actors to work together again. Chris Rock's character is utterly shit. He must have drawn the short straw. Are they the only people in the world who find Rob Schneider funny?

4/10
 
After.Life - Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and that kid from Dodgeball star in this horror/thriller. Liam Neeson plays the slightly-off funeral home director whilst Christina Ricci, fresh from a car crash, is the latest body to be bought into his home. Only she thinks she's not dead. Oh and the kid who sees dead people is in as well. It is very much Shutter Island meets Sixth Sense, without being as good as either. Although neither of those films were great.

Anyway, hard to review it without giving away too much, but Christina Ricci gets naked. A lot. So 7/10.

Though I can't be entirely sure how many of those points are for the film, and how many for Ricci's repeat nude scenes. Probably at least 1.5
 
The Golden Compass.

Was pretty sceptical about watching this film, didn't seem like my type of thing - a bit childish and never-neverland-esque. However a friend of mine convinced me to watch it as she absolutely loves it.

The film starts off quickly, and soon enough gets to the point of the story, which be it slightly confusing, it's quite original and it seems to work. The special effects are top notch and pretty well done - especially the part where the snow bears have a fight. I liked that bit.

It gradually unwinds with some cliché twists such as, "I know you hate me and I'm perceived as a bad guy and have been chasing you to stop you doing the right thing, but really I'm your parent."
But here comes the bad part, the ending. It wasn't even an ending, it was some half-arsed attempt at a cliffhanger. Nothing was resolved, nothing new was discovered that we didn't know an hour ago and all ended rather abruptly. It did it's job, made me want to see the second one just to find out what the feck happened but it's incredibly frustrating.

Overall it had decent special effects, some nifty characters and a good idea for a story line even if it ended a bit shitty.

6.5/10
 
Sw33t said:
The Golden Compass.

Was pretty sceptical about watching this film, didn't seem like my type of thing - a bit childish and never-neverland-esque. However a friend of mine convinced me to watch it as she absolutely loves it.

The film starts off quickly, and soon enough gets to the point of the story, which be it slightly confusing, it's quite original and it seems to work. The special effects are top notch and pretty well done - especially the part where the snow bears have a fight. I liked that bit.

It gradually unwinds with some cliché twists such as, "I know you hate me and I'm perceived as a bad guy and have been chasing you to stop you doing the right thing, but really I'm your parent."
But here comes the bad part, the ending. It wasn't even an ending, it was some half-arsed attempt at a cliffhanger. Nothing was resolved, nothing new was discovered that we didn't know an hour ago and all ended rather abruptly. It did it's job, made me want to see the second one just to find out what the feck happened but it's incredibly frustrating.

Overall it had decent special effects, some nifty characters and a good idea for a story line even if it ended a bit shitty.

6.5/10
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You realize it's adapted from Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials books?

Mind I've never seen the film, but I have read the books and of course the first one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger- it's a trilogy.
 
Ah, I didn't know that. Makes sense now why they put such a cliffhanger in it, still doesn't change the fact they did it poorly in the film.
 
Sense and Sensibility
Not a big fan of these 19th century period pieces, especially ones based on Jane Austin novels. It’s not a *bad* film really, just not my thing and a bit dull. I guess if you like Pride and Prejudice then you’ll like this, but if you didn’t I doubt it’s going to convert you. The best thing about this movie is Hugh Laurie. 6/10

Brokeback Mountain
Had mixed expectations going into this one, heard a lot of good things but wondered if that was because of the ‘brave’ subject matter. It wasn’t, it really is a great film. Heath Ledger and Gyllenhaal are both brilliant to. It’s one of the more hard-hitting films emotionally speaking that I’ve seen in a while. 8/10
 
As Tears go by - This was way too much like Bollywood. Fallen Angels was better. For anyone who hasnt seen Kar Wai's stuff. Watch Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, In the Mood For Love and stop right there.
 
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