Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Watched quite a few good films lately.

Goodfellas-9/10

Pesci and De Niro are both brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Quality film. The ending was a bit of a letdown though and it never really built up to that big moment.

The Departed-8/10

Very good movie. Wasn't massive on it for a while as it took quite a while to get going. The last hour or so was excellent though and the ending really surprised me.

Schindler's List-9.5/10

Brilliant movie. Incredibly tragic but probably Spielberg's greatest film at the same time. Neeson is superb and Fiennes is disturbing but incredible.

Fight Club

I can't really give this a rating because I watched an hour and absolutely hated it. Has to go down as one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Full of unrealistic characters.
 
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)

Full of 70s Americana, based on the country music scene around Nashville, and some real country characters of the time. Very classic Altman work. A lot of stuff you see in other films of his. The story is chopped into a bunch of other story lines, which because of the length can get tiresome. Too long for modern day lore. Saw this almost 30 years ago in a college film class, and loved it then. Didn't seem so dated, ha ha. Still holds up very well except the length. Could've cut out some big chunks without hurting it. Funny to watch these older movies and see so many flat chested actresses. Think of Shelly Duval in whacky 70s getups. This movie would have to be highlighted (as well as Altman) when talking about American cinema of the 70s.

8 cocks up.
 
I hate the Departed. More and more the more I see it. Though it's largely a product of being a not as good remake of a great film.
 
Mockney said:
I hate the Departed. More and more the more I see it. Though it's largely a product of being a not as good remake of a great film.
Click to expand...

I've never seen the original so I can't comment on it. I thought it was a decent movie myself, although it's not one I'd go back to watch again and again.
 
I'm pretty sure it's a great film if you haven't seen the original. Problem is if you have, everything good about it is taken verbatim from that, and everything they add in is crap.
 
Departed was uninspiring for me. OK and watchable but nit one I would watch again.
 
The worst part of the Departed is how they remove anything of any interest from Matt Damon's character, and just make him a straightforward baddie. And then kill him in the end. He's essentially the lead in the original. And more of an anti-hero.
 
Mockney said:
The worst part of the Departed is how they remove anything of any interest from Matt Damon's character, and just make him a straightforward baddie. And then kill him in the end. He's essentially the lead in the original. And more of an anti-hero.
Click to expand...

They had to....it is Matt Damon after all. ;)
 
Mockney said:
The worst part of the Departed is how they remove anything of any interest from Matt Damon's character, and just make him a straightforward baddie. And then kill him in the end. He's essentially the lead in the original. And more of an anti-hero.
Click to expand...

What was different about him in the original?
 
He's an actual character for a start, rather than a cartoon baddie. He's basically the main character, with the bigger arch, and the whole film is focused far more on the idea that both men are jealous of the other for living the life they wanted. He also doesn't have a girlfriend for the hero to sleep with for no apparent reason (or cause he's just bad...and Di Caprio's good....so Woooo!!! feck yeah!)

He also doesn't die, and makes sure the Di Caprio character is recognised as a hero (because Marky Mark doesn't exist in IA, so when the main boss dies, no-one knows he's a cop - an example of them adding something needlessly)

The last scene/line of IA is wonderful, and all about this theme of duopoly and each man envying the other. The Departed "lets kill the bad guy and then use a rat as a visual metaphor" ending genuinely annoys the feck out of me.
 
Cheesy said:
Fight Club

I can't really give this a rating because I watched an hour and absolutely hated it. Has to go down as one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Full of unrealistic characters.
Click to expand...

If you watch it right to the end you figure out why.
 
Cheesy said:
Watched quite a few good films lately.

Goodfellas-9/10

Pesci and De Niro are both brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Quality film. The ending was a bit of a letdown though and it never really built up to that big moment.

The Departed-8/10

Very good movie. Wasn't massive on it for a while as it took quite a while to get going. The last hour or so was excellent though and the ending really surprised me.

Schindler's List-9.5/10

Brilliant movie. Incredibly tragic but probably Spielberg's greatest film at the same time. Neeson is superb and Fiennes is disturbing but incredible.

Fight Club

I can't really give this a rating because I watched an hour and absolutely hated it. Has to go down as one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Full of unrealistic characters.
Click to expand...

You've only seen these for the 1st time now? I'm surprised but also jealous. Would love to watch movies of this quality for the 1st time.

I adored the ending to Goodfellas though. And although I do not have strong hatred for Fightclub. It is one of the most overrate movies I can think of. It does nothing for me.

Only seen Departed once, when it was in cinema. I enjoyed it but I have little recollection of it.

SL is one of my favourite all time films.
 
Dogville - Really good. Can't remember the last time a 3 hour film flew by so quickly, riveting stuff. I was a bit ambivalent initially about the combination of Von Trier and the minimalistic setting but it was bang on.
 
R.Nilsson7 said:
Dogville - Really good. Can't remember the last time a 3 hour film flew by so quickly, riveting stuff. I was a bit ambivalent initially about the combination of Von Trier and the minimalistic setting but it was bang on.
Click to expand...

Really enjoyed it too. Somehow the setting makes the movie itself stay with you for just that bit longer.

Can't Say I really enjoyed Melancholia as much though.
 
Mockney said:
He's an actual character for a start, rather than a cartoon baddie. He's basically the main character, with the bigger arch, and the whole film is focused far more on the idea that both men are jealous of the other for living the life they wanted. He also doesn't have a girlfriend for the hero to sleep with for no apparent reason (or cause he's just bad...and Di Caprio's good....so Woooo!!! feck yeah!)

He also doesn't die, and makes sure the Di Caprio character is recognised as a hero (because Marky Mark doesn't exist in IA, so when the main boss dies, no-one knows he's a cop - an example of them adding something needlessly)

The last scene/line of IA is wonderful, and all about this theme of duopoly and each man envying the other. The Departed "lets kill the bad guy and then use a rat as a visual metaphor" ending genuinely annoys the feck out of me.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I didn't actually know that when watching this version. I'll need to go back and give the original a watch one time because Sullivan in that sounds like a much better developed character. They only really briefly touch on his torment of wanting to be a cop but feeling like he owes something to the main bad guy. Would have been better if they went into that more.
 
Randall Flagg said:
You've only seen these for the 1st time now? I'm surprised but also jealous. Would love to watch movies of this quality for the 1st time.

I adored the ending to Goodfellas though. And although I do not have strong hatred for Fightclub. It is one of the most overrate movies I can think of. It does nothing for me.

Only seen Departed once, when it was in cinema. I enjoyed it but I have little recollection of it.

SL is one of my favourite all time films.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know there are so many good movies out there that I've not seen yet.

I don't know, I just wasn't massive on the ending to it. It felt a little bit anti-climatic although it was better than going for a hollywood shootout style one with high octane drama, because it wasn't really that sort of movie the whole way through. It was more realistic than that. I really liked it overall though.

I just couldn't get into Fight Club. I know what the main plot twist at the end was now, which only makes it seem even more silly than it originally was.
 
R.Nilsson7 said:
Dogville - Really good. Can't remember the last time a 3 hour film flew by so quickly, riveting stuff. I was a bit ambivalent initially about the combination of Von Trier and the minimalistic setting but it was bang on.
Click to expand...
Dogville's very good one of Kidman's two good performances in about 100 films.
 
R.Nilsson7 said:
Yeah, Melancholia wasn't that great, neither was Antichrist though I liked it more than most people did.
Click to expand...

Definately although i'd have to say I enjoyed the first half mainly of Antichrist as the stuff dealing with child loss is actually well done, its only really when things head toward crazytown that it loses its way.

As for melancholia it really didn't work for me.
 
peterstorey said:
Dogville's very good one of Kidman's two good performances in about 100 films.
Click to expand...

Yeah, she was surprisingly very good.

BAMSOLA said:
Definately although i'd have to say I enjoyed the first half mainly of Antichrist as the stuff dealing with child loss is actually well done, its only really when things head toward crazytown that it loses its way.

As for melancholia it really didn't work for me.
Click to expand...

Those were the parts I liked the most as well, the absolute depression. The following splatterfest and pretentiousness, not so much.
 
Funny how opinions are. I couldn't handle Dogville. Thought Larsy was carrying his dogma schtick to an annoying extreme. Got about 2/3 way through it and I felt like I was torturing ourselves too much, and said feck it, never again. And no fookin' way would I subject myself to Manderlay.

Really enjoyed all that depressing dysfunctional crap in Melancholia, though. Reminded me of Lars himself. As for Antichrist, thought that was a heavy-fantastic beginning scene and then went downhill from there. Was present at an interview with Willem Dafoe and his Italian director wife a couple of years ago and he said Antichrist was probably his favorite film that he's acted in.
 
Nobby style said:
Funny how opinions are. I couldn't handle Dogville. Thought Larsy was carrying his dogma schtick to an annoying extreme. Got about 2/3 way through it and I felt like I was torturing ourselves too much, and said feck it, never again. And no fookin' way would I subject myself to Manderlay.

Really enjoyed all that depressing dysfunctional crap in Melancholia, though. Reminded me of Lars himself. As for Antichrist, thought that was a heavy-fantastic beginning scene and then went downhill from there. Was present at an interview with Willem Dafoe and his Italian director wife a couple of years ago and he said Antichrist was probably his favorite film that he's acted in.
Click to expand...

I didn't think the Dogme elements were that prominent in Dogville to be honest. The European and American opinions on the film have been very polarizing it seems.
 
What I'm referring to about the "dogma" elements is more like the removal or stripping down of all the traditional cinematic elements to make it as simple, or non cinematic, as possible, as opposed to the actual checklist, certified "Dogma 95" doctrine. That's what I personally see him doing with Dogville, hence the name, Dogville. Seems like he's boiling it all down to shooting a play, that has as little do do with "cinema" as you can create, and for me, a boring as feck play. Like sitting down for the local theater faire of Our Town with all the old fuddy duddies who still think the only great cinematic or theatrical quality came from before the 80s.

This's all my miserable, egocentric, marijuanated opinion, of course. Voices in my head are telling me Lars is fecking with us with Dogville, and rejoicing that smart, earnest film folks are actually eating it all up, ex creepy Tom Cruise squeeze and all. The cinematic version of The Emperor Has No Clothes, and he's laughing his creepy ass off.

*By the way, I'd probably put Dancer in the Dark in an imaginary top ten. For me, that film was fookin' immense.
 
Cheesy said:
Watched quite a few good films lately.

Goodfellas-9/10

Pesci and De Niro are both brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Quality film. The ending was a bit of a letdown though and it never really built up to that big moment.

The Departed-8/10

Very good movie. Wasn't massive on it for a while as it took quite a while to get going. The last hour or so was excellent though and the ending really surprised me.

Schindler's List-9.5/10



Brilliant movie. Incredibly tragic but probably Spielberg's greatest film at the same time. Neeson is superb and Fiennes is disturbing but incredible.

Fight Club

I can't really give this a rating because I watched an hour and absolutely hated it. Has to go down as one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Full of unrealistic characters.
Click to expand...

not watched Schindler's List or Goodfellas but I intend to very soon.
I thought Flight Club was excellent, the ending was not what I expected.
 
And why do Yanks think it's anti American? That said I've not seen it for years... and I can't remember much.
 
Nobby style said:
What I'm referring to about the "dogma" elements is more like the removal or stripping down of all the traditional cinematic elements to make it as simple, or non cinematic, as possible, as opposed to the actual checklist, certified "Dogma 95" doctrine. That's what I personally see him doing with Dogville, hence the name, Dogville. Seems like he's boiling it all down to shooting a play, that has as little do do with "cinema" as you can create, and for me, a boring as feck play. Like sitting down for the local theater faire of Our Town with all the old fuddy duddies who still think the only great cinematic or theatrical quality came from before the 80s.

This's all my miserable, egocentric, marijuanated opinion, of course. Voices in my head are telling me Lars is fecking with us with Dogville, and rejoicing that smart, earnest film folks are actually eating it all up, ex creepy Tom Cruise squeeze and all. The cinematic version of The Emperor Has No Clothes, and he's laughing his creepy ass off.

*By the way, I'd probably put Dancer in the Dark in an imaginary top ten. For me, that film was fookin' immense.
Click to expand...

Oh. Weren't ýou talking earlier about of how you liked modern directors pushing the limits of creativity ;) I think it was a successful experiment that made the film perhaps more memorable.

Spoony Kobayashi said:
And why do Yanks think it's anti American? That said I've not seen it for years... and I can't remember much.
Click to expand...

The ending credits consisted of David Bowie's Young Americans playing over pics of poverty-stricken Americans. It sort of attacked American capitalism and the xenophobic nature of Americans, but I think the film was also meant to encompass human nature in general and not just specifically America. I read a few reviews by American critics and it was amusing how offended they were by the film.
 
Total Recall

I'd figure I put a spoiler since this is quite a new movie, and probably most haven't had the chance to watch them.

Meh, just a so so action flick, not the groundbreaking movie it once were. Biehl was lame, Beckinsale looks like a werewolf chaser on steroids, and Collin is just... collin, he's no action figure. I'd give it a 5/10 probably 6/10 for the big budget blockbuster, but overall, shit acting.
 
Cheesy said:
Watched quite a few good films lately.

Goodfellas-9/10

Pesci and De Niro are both brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Quality film. The ending was a bit of a letdown though and it never really built up to that big moment.

The Departed-8/10

Very good movie. Wasn't massive on it for a while as it took quite a while to get going. The last hour or so was excellent though and the ending really surprised me.

Schindler's List-9.5/10

Brilliant movie. Incredibly tragic but probably Spielberg's greatest film at the same time. Neeson is superb and Fiennes is disturbing but incredible.

Fight Club

I can't really give this a rating because I watched an hour and absolutely hated it. Has to go down as one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Full of unrealistic characters.
Click to expand...

I love the ending of Goodfellas. It suits the mood and themes of the films perfectly.

Treated as a pure work of fiction, I find Fight Club to be a superb film. It's characters arn't realistic, but then it's not meant to be realistic.

Everything I wanted to say about The Departed, Mockney has already said.
 
R.Nilsson7 said:
Oh. Weren't ýou talking earlier about of how you liked modern directors pushing the limits of creativity ;) I think it was a successful experiment that made the film perhaps more memorable.
Click to expand...

Of course, and I love creative experimental film made with natural actors and almost zero resources et al, I just found, in my opinion of course, Dogville to be a boring failure of an experiment with non-cinema cinema. It reminded me a bit of those paintings they make like say, of a plant, and the image of the plant is formed with words like stem stem stem stem, root root root root, bud bud bud bud etc. I appreciate Von Trier highly, but not that work. I can appreciate though as well (I think I can) that other people like it. There's a lot of people's film opinion I totally respect that like movies I feel are cack, and vice versa.
 
Nobby style said:
Of course, and I love creative experimental film made with natural actors and almost zero resources et al, I just found, in my opinion of course, Dogville to be a boring failure of an experiment with non-cinema cinema. It reminded me a bit of those paintings they make like say, of a plant, and the image of the plant is formed with words like stem stem stem stem, root root root root, bud bud bud bud etc. I appreciate Von Trier highly, but not that work. I can appreciate though as well (I think I can) that other people like it. There's a lot of people's film opinion I totally respect that like movies I feel are cack, and vice versa.
Click to expand...

Each to their own!
 
Poetry - A wonderful film about an elderly South Korean woman suffering from Alzheimer's who must at the same time deal with her grandson getting into trouble. She enrolls in a poetry class and the driving force of the film isn't the illness or the crime but poetry and the performance of the actress, you just want to get into her head and know what she's thinking. A quiet, subtle and evocative film that is more or less, a poem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.