Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Just got back from seeing Cloud Atlas... and well, I think I enjoyed it. I mean, it's definitely too long, and there are frequent luls in the proceedings, but it's incredibly ambitious, much of the cinematography is fantastic, and its superbly edited together. It's not as hard to follow as I had anticipated before hand, and the use of actors across the different stories and timelines is both succesful and not so much in about equal measure I would say.

I probably need to think about it more...
 
Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (2008)

Movie about a theater director whose life and his work begin to come dreamily together and the line between theater and life become blurred along with the complimentary insanity involving this. This was Kaufman's directorial debut and I believe the only film he has directed, being more known for his creative and melon twisting screenplays. As a theater groupie, I enjoyed this film on that level and can appreciate Kaufman's genius and his attention to the art of a playwright, director, scenery, other theatrical detail and whatnot, and the ambition of what he was trying to do, but nevertheless, I think this film evolved out of his control and ultimately became a load of theatrical gobbledygook on the back of Phil Hoffman and his typical brilliant acting.

7 cocks up
 
Nobby style said:
Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (2008)

Movie about a theater director whose life and his work begin to come dreamily together and the line between theater and life become blurred along with the complimentary insanity involving this. This was Kaufman's directorial debut and I believe the only film he has directed, being more known for his creative and melon twisting screenplays. As a theater groupie, I enjoyed this film on that level and can appreciate Kaufman's genius and his attention to the art of a playwright, director, scenery, other theatrical detail and whatnot, and the ambition of what he was trying to do, but nevertheless, I think this film evolved out of his control and ultimately became a load of theatrical gobbledygook on the back of Phil Hoffman and his typical brilliant acting.

7 cocks up
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:lol:
 
Longford (2006)

The film centres on Labour Party peer Lord Longford and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley.
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Very good indeed, with some fine acting (by Jim Broadbent in particular) to boot.
Longford, a kindly Christian and a relentless campaigner for prisoners' rights, idealises Hindley as an 'outcast, on the fringes of society'; his author wife Elizabeth feels that Myra Hindley was denied her 'rightful' parole simply because Hindley was female; both were wrong. Lord Longford maintains his naturally forgiving nature by being in denial about Hindley's crimes. In the closing sequence Hindley says to Longford that evil, as much as 'good,' has its own spiritual aspect; she too is wrong, I feel.

8/10
 
Plechazunga said:
Synecdoche

Watching this film is literally like watching a philosophy of mind undergraduate wanking onto a piece of celluloid for about four hours.

So Weaste, you'll love it. Everyone else, stay the feck away.
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Most apt review of Synechdoche I've read.
 
Wibble said:
Red Dawn Gun ho american yoof take on the invading red hoards (North Korea :lol: with a few Russian's thrown in later.) A labotomy is needed to sufficiently suspend your disbelief for this one although they could have made it sillier if Nicholas Cage was in it. And the young brother seemed to be imitating a character from Goodfellahs by the end for no apparent reason. Paul will enjoy it but find it a bit silly. 3/10
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I'm assuming they've done a remake of the original? Wolverines!
 
The Green Hornet

The movie has no plot and is a total mess. It neither has good humor nor action. Seth Rogen does a terrible job playing a billionaire bad boy blundering through life, though with the same stupid facial expressions that he gives in every movie.He has a side kick, Jay Chou, who develops all the gadgets and provides whatever little action is there in the movie. The main antagonist is a character played by Christoph Waltz, who in the movie has an insecurity complex in being perceived as a fearful gangster.

The move treads along daftly as Rogen's father dies and he is suddenly in charge of his paper business. He finds Chou and for some reasons develops this idea that they should be superheroes, while using his paper as a vehicle to promote themselves. The next hour n half is a mundane, annoying, predictable, boring, cringe worthy, unfunny nonsense, where Rogen and Chou go on their stupid adventures.

Probably one of the worst movie I have seen in my entire life. 1/10
 
Elite Squad - Superior Brazillian police drama. Very well made, extremely well acted and it has the bonus of being able to use Brazillian as a backdrop for many of the scenes. There isn't a great deal of action - but when it occurs it's impactful, and very well done - it's more of a focus on the corruption of the police force, and how this elite task force exist because of that - and how it effects the people within it.

Also, there's a fair bit of torture on display as shown as a useful tactic... I imagine those people that were against Zero Dark Thirty would have a field day.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Elite Squad - Superior Brazillian police drama. Very well made, extremely well acted and it has the bonus of being able to use Brazillian as a backdrop for many of the scenes. There isn't a great deal of action - but when it occurs it's impactful, and very well done - it's more of a focus on the corruption of the police force, and how this elite task force exist because of that - and how it effects the people within it.

Also, there's a fair bit of torture on display as shown as a useful tactic... I imagine those people that were against Zero Dark Thirty would have a field day.
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Good film, although I had the misfortune of watching a version dubed with american accents, was in the process of watch part two as well(which thankfully had just subtitles) when my hard drive packed up on me. Both good films though.
 
In that remake, when it was shot the Chinese were the villains, then they changed it to North Koreans after the fact. Shot new scenes, dubbed in references to North Koreans, digitally altered flags. It sounds really terrible.
 
Forevergiggs said:
The Green Hornet

The movie has no plot and is a total mess. It neither has good humor nor action. Seth Rogen does a terrible job playing a billionaire bad boy blundering through life, though with the same stupid facial expressions that he gives in every movie.He has a side kick, Jay Chou, who develops all the gadgets and provides whatever little action is there in the movie. The main antagonist is a character played by Christoph Waltz, who in the movie has an insecurity complex in being perceived as a fearful gangster.

The move treads along daftly as Rogen's father dies and he is suddenly in charge of his paper business. He finds Chou and for some reasons develops this idea that they should be superheroes, while using his paper as a vehicle to promote themselves. The next hour n half is a mundane, annoying, predictable, boring, cringe worthy, unfunny nonsense, where Rogen and Chou go on their stupid adventures.

Probably one of the worst movie I have seen in my entire life. 1/10
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seth rogan has a face just asking for a punch

this film was truly awful
 
Talk to her - 9/10

Excellent film. The music and cinematography was just fantastic. Shocking ending to the film though.
 
Kill Bill 2

Enjoyed it more than the first one, thought Carradine was excellent, Daryl Hannah, Micheal Parks were also very good.
I want to be able to do the Five point exploding heart thing, I know a few I could do it on.

8.5/10
 
I saw Malick's latest film this weekend, To the wonder. Though I'm a huge Malick fan and consider him to be the best director around, I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed by this film. Of course, as usual, the cinematography is superb, and the way he just goes straight into the film without any kind of exposition or introduction separates it from any other kind of film, but I thought that the film was a bit vain, didn't have much to say. Whether you like Malick or not, you always understand what he's trying to achieve with his films, what he's trying to tell you, here it seems like a bit of an empty shell. A beautiful empty shell, of course, and still worth a watch if you like his stuff, but nowhere near his other masterpieces. 2 years to write, shoot and edit seemed very short for a guy who usually takes ages to make a film, and I hope it was just a bit of an accident and not the sign of a lack of inspiration. But I have to insist that at the pictures, on a big screen, the cinematography is just stunning.

After that, the fiancée and I went to see Hansel and Gretel (when we go to see a serious film, we usually like to follow up with one where we can unplug our brains). The less said, the better. Pauldy, I want your review on this one! It was dreadful, ugly looking, terribly edited, hardly lasted 90 minutes but felt like hours. I wouldn't know where to start if I had to rip it to pieces. It's a film I'd want to subject my worse enemies to, so they understood what pain means. But there's a cheap naked girl shot at some point in there, and Gemma Arterton looks hot in leather trousers. That's its only redeeming quality.
 
Oz: The Great and the Powerful
This is exactly what you probably think it is - decent couple of hours of entertainment. Some critics say James Franco was mis-cast but I disagree. I thought his wide tooth smile was perfect for the con man he was portraying and seems like he had fun with the film. Mila Kunis on the other hand was fecking aweful - character and acting. Decent effects and jokes in there and a brilliant transition from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio conversion. Enjoyed it. 6.5

Parker
The same as any other Jason Statham film, which is a good and bad thing. Existing fans will lap it up but it will not convert any new ones. Statham admittedly has to act a bit more than usual and Jlo was supposed to be a real estate that is struggling for money (yet for some reason lives in Palm Beach :lol:) and works at a real estate that operates with iMacs:lol: 5

The Croods
Putting aside my obvious bias for the CAGE, this was still a brilliant cartoon. All the voice actors do a good job and is a really heart felt animation with some really nice effects. Well worth 90 minutes of your time 7.5
 
Angels and Demons

Having read the book, I wanted to watch the film again, the book is far better but I enjoyed the film, it followed the main parts of the book pretty well.
I watched the extended version and it 2 hours and 26 mins long, but it did not feel too long. Hanks was OK and on the whole the acting was average.
The history at the start about the Pope was interesting.

6/10
 
thepolice123 said:
Talk to her - 9/10

Excellent film. The music and cinematography was just fantastic. Shocking ending to the film though.
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Good film. The soundtrack is indeed fantastic.

Rooney in Paris said:
I saw Malick's latest film this weekend, To the wonder. Though I'm a huge Malick fan and consider him to be the best director around, I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed by this film. Of course, as usual, the cinematography is superb, and the way he just goes straight into the film without any kind of exposition or introduction separates it from any other kind of film, but I thought that the film was a bit vain, didn't have much to say. Whether you like Malick or not, you always understand what he's trying to achieve with his films, what he's trying to tell you, here it seems like a bit of an empty shell. A beautiful empty shell, of course, and still worth a watch if you like his stuff, but nowhere near his other masterpieces. 2 years to write, shoot and edit seemed very short for a guy who usually takes ages to make a film, and I hope it was just a bit of an accident and not the sign of a lack of inspiration. But I have to insist that at the pictures, on a big screen, the cinematography is just stunning.
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All this was very clear by just watching the trailer, unfortunately. He's such a flawed genius, which is getting more and more obvious.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
I have seen it before and I really enjoy it, many be one of the few that do.
I really wanted a Vol 3 but I doubt it will be made.
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Glad you liked it, even if I didn't.:p
It just goes to show the diversity of opinion in such a subjective art-form.
(I'll ignore the standard of your back-catalogue) ;)

Someone on here recommended Mr Brooks , with the rider that Demi Moore should never have gotten near this film. I must say, you were so very, very right.
She was as out of place as Sean Bean in Ronin. His presence prevents me re-watching this more often.
 
Tyrranosaur

Written and directed by Paddy Considine, it's about an angry alcoholic who befriends a Christian charity shop worker who is suffering domestic abuse. It's not a comedy ;)

It stars Olivia Colman, of Peep Show fame, and Peter Mullan, who recently starred in The Fear. Both put in good performances, the violence is realistic and the majority of the characters have depth. I think it could have done with another 15-20 minutes run time to flesh out some of the secondary characters and to allow Colman and Mullan's relationship to grow at a more measured pace, but overall it is definitely worth a watch. 7/10
 
verminater said:
Glad you liked it, even if I didn't.:p
It just goes to show the diversity of opinion in such a subjective art-form.
(I'll ignore the standard of your back-catalogue) ;)

Someone on here recommended Mr Brooks , with the rider that Demi Moore should never have gotten near this film. I must say, you were so very, very right.
She was as out of place as Sean Bean in Ronin. His presence prevents me re-watching this more often.
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Dont judge me on that, I like watching bad films.

I liked Ronin, but do agree Sean Bean in it was a joke.
Never really liked Demi Moore.
 
R.N7 said:
All this was very clear by just watching the trailer, unfortunately. He's such a flawed genius, which is getting more and more obvious.
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Maybe, though I find it hard to draw too many conclusions from a trailer anyway (didn't you like the trailer by the way? I thought you'd posted it in the movies I want to see thread and said you liked it). I agree that if you look at his last two films, Tree of Life and this one, as compared to his two previous ones, Thin Red Line and New World, the quality seems to have dropped a bit: Tree of Life was superb in moments but, as you say, pretty flawed (I hated the ending), and this one just seemed vacuitous. Though I feel that the very short gap between Tree of Life and this one was just too short for him, I wouldn't mind it if he took ten years until his next project and came up with another piece of brilliance.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Maybe, though I find it hard to draw too many conclusions from a trailer anyway (didn't you like the trailer by the way? I thought you'd posted it in the movies I want to see thread and said you liked it). I agree that if you look at his last two films, Tree of Life and this one, as compared to his two previous ones, Thin Red Line and New World, the quality seems to have dropped a bit: Tree of Life was superb in moments but, as you say, pretty flawed (I hated the ending), and this one just seemed vacuitous. Though I feel that the very short gap between Tree of Life and this one was just too short for him, I wouldn't mind it if he took ten years until his next project and came up with another piece of brilliance.
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I loved the trailer, but having watched The Tree of Life I could sense how it would not work as well as a film. Yeah, I think it's he's working maybe a bit too spontaneously at the moment. It will also affect the editing which he always struggled with, took about two years for him just to edit Days of Heaven.
 
True, the editing of his films is such an important part of his work, nothing is left to chance, it just flows, usually. This one really doesn't feel that natural, the film never seems to come together.

Ah well, it's disappointing, but it happens. Hope he'll do better next time. Have you seen it yet Nilsson? Even though it's not perfect, I still think it's worth a watch by his fans.
 
Koker Trilogy - Abbas Kiarostami

Where is the Friend's Home - 1987
And Life Goes On - 1992
Through the Olive Trees - 1994

This is a trilogy of films by Iranian Abbas Kiarostami taking place in the village of Koker which lies in the region of the 1990 earthquake that killed around 50,000 people. The first film is a schoolboy story before the earthquake, the second film deals with Kiarostami dramatizing his trip to Koker following the earthquake to see what had become of his natural actors from the first film and if they had survived or not. The third one is a film dramatizing the making of the second film, which mixes in the actors private lives as they act out a distinct character in the film.

I think you have to like this sort of cinema which mixes an Asian neo realism, documentary style, very low tech film making and natural actors. Very poetic storytelling, profound in its simplicity and groundbreaking in its narrative techniques. You really feel like you're watching an absolute master at work in Kiarostami's work. Heartbreaking to see the massive damage these impoverished areas suffered yet the sense of recovery and life continuing is captured by Kiarostami in a beautiful, very simple way with the regions natural actors. It has so many layers in it as well.

I was staken back that my daughter who usually has zero interest in the artsy craftsy bollocks films I watch was quite captivated by these films. Can't recommend these enough.

9 1/2 cocks up
 
Kiarostami's new film "Like Someone in Love" looks interesting.

Rooney in Paris said:
True, the editing of his films is such an important part of his work, nothing is left to chance, it just flows, usually. This one really doesn't feel that natural, the film never seems to come together.

Ah well, it's disappointing, but it happens. Hope he'll do better next time. Have you seen it yet Nilsson? Even though it's not perfect, I still think it's worth a watch by his fans.
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Yeah, I will definitely see it.
 
"Like Someone in Love" is quite good as well, but with a much more polished style. This along with his last, Certified Copy, are his first films made outside of Iran. Like I said, I think you have to be into his style of work or you might get bored with Like Someone in Love. His Japanese protagonist is incredibly attractive. Wow. Great ending that cracked me up.
 
Nobby style said:
"Like Someone in Love" is quite good as well, but with a much more polished style. This along with his last, Certified Copy, are his first films made outside of Iran. Like I said, I think you have to be into his style of work or you might get bored with Like Someone in Love. His Japanese protagonist is incredibly attractive. Wow. Great ending that cracked me up.
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The cityscape of Tokyo really is the polar opposite of the sparse Iranian countryside, where most of his films seems to be set. I'm used too slow moving, brooding East Asian films so I think it'll be easy for me to take in.
 
Yeah, obviously Tokyo is far far from Tehran or the Iranian countryside, but Like Someone in Love shows his art has become much more polished and refined and his genius more subtle. Much more "international" as well. I actually didn't mean you RN7 would get bored as I'm sure you won't, rather "one" could get bored by his style.

I'm wondering if his career of filming in Iran is over as he's finally had it with its idiotic fundamentalist government and their treatment and imprisonment of his friend and ingenious colleague Jafar Pahani, and its maddening general censorship. What a shame all around.
 
Ring of Fire

Typical disaster 2 part feature length mini series.
Just in case somebody wants to watch it and not know :lol:

It has the same things has all the others, parents fighting over kids and then making up, dodgy company doing thing they should not and it resulting a small thing that gets out of hand and threatens the whole world. A family torn apart by a death and them they make up. Then there is the one man who saves the whole world and falls in love with who helped him. All very chessey really

I love these and could watch them all day, its not for everybody and maybe just for me but I thought it was OK and worth a watch if you like this sort of stuff.

5.5/10
 
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