I missed the earlier conversation on this, must go back and have a look. Just to say that the cult status of the original has no bearing whatsoever on my own opinion of the remake as I saw the original when it first came out prior to it attaining cult status. I loved it and still do, it was a refreshing take on the horror genre at the time. Personally I don't see the point of remakes even if the remake is a decent effort which usually isn't the case but each to their own, to me its like painting by numbers.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
I missed the earlier conversation on this, must go back and have a look. Just to say that the cult status of the original has no bearing whatsoever on my own opinion of the remake as I saw the original when it first came out prior to it attaining cult status. I loved it and still do, it was a refreshing take on the horror genre at the time. Personally I don't see the point of remakes even if the remake is a decent effort which usually isn't the case but each to their own, to me its like painting by numbers.
Nah I don't really care about Raimi's other stuff, I like his work with the horror films. And I don't think the points you bring up especially "made up for it", as I said on a whole I think it's a pretty average movie.
But even putting that aside, I think you should judge the remake on its own merits, of which it has quite a few. I think it's a shame to say "remakes are pointless anyway" and to basically brush it aside because of that, as it had A LOT of redeeming features. And ironically, what has made Raimi's film so endearing and used as positive aspects to defend Evil Dead aren't strangers to Fede Alvarez's take on the franchise and the genre, I feel.
But it's like when Mockney moans about Star Wars. Unless you were there in 1977, sat in a dark cinema packed with kids, and saw this amazing spectacle unfold you just can't really appreciate it fully. Seeing it for the first time 20 years after it was released means it will be cheesy and laughable. But everything about it was was groundbreaking at the time...even down to the sounds. That being said, I can't be arsed to ever watch it again.
When you look at a list of horror films released in 1981 the only ones close to Evil Dead are American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Another thing with the cheesy acting is that I'd argue that's kind of a Raimi hallmark in his early films. They are all a bit over-acted and contain slapstick. It's what he likes....Crimewave, Darkman even The Quick and The Dead. He doesn't really go for edgy realism...you always know you're watching a movie with his films.
When you look at a list of horror films released in 1981 the only ones close to Evil Dead are American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Another thing with the cheesy acting is that I'd argue that's kind of a Raimi hallmark in his early films. They are all a bit over-acted and contain slapstick. It's what he likes....Crimewave, Darkman even The Quick and The Dead. He doesn't really go for edgy realism...you always know you're watching a movie with his films.
American Werewolf in London is better than Star Wars
It's a bit of a cop-out, the acting thing, he embraced it afterwards, but it was an accident for the first one. He realized the cheezyness gave his films a certain style and used it after that to his advantage, but it wasn't exactly a genius coup!
And I have no problem recognizing that I can't "fully appreciate" the film, though again, I am able to put it in context and there's LOADS of other films that I understand the historical importance of and the necessity to put in context (Evil Dead for one, and your example of Star Wars is very good as well). And in every post I made on the subject, I stressed its importance from that perspective and its influence afterwards if you read my posts. And I have no problem with fully appreciating a lot of films that were considered important because of the context in which they came out, and I have no problem with the two following Evil Deads.
I just don't think it's that good a film despite all this.
And I have no problem recognizing that I can't "fully appreciate" the film, though again, I am able to put it in context and there's LOADS of other films that I understand the historical importance of and the necessity to put in context (Evil Dead for one, and your example of Star Wars is very good as well). And in every post I made on the subject, I stressed its importance from that perspective and its influence afterwards if you read my posts. And I have no problem with fully appreciating a lot of films that were considered important because of the context in which they came out, and I have no problem with the two following Evil Deads.
I just don't think it's that good a film despite all this.
So can I, and I wasn't born when it came out. Thus it passes my test of great films. The humour in that is definitely deliberate.
Well for me it's mainly Jenny Agutter's tits. I spent lots of time freeze-framing those in the early 1980's.
Compared to most horror films released over the last few years I thought it was pretty decent. Worth a 6 at least imo.
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension
Peter Weller stars as world renowned surgeon, adventurer and international rock star Buckaroo Banzai. He and his band, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, must together save the workd from evil aliens from the 8th dimension. Loved every minute of it.
10/10
Peter Weller stars as world renowned surgeon, adventurer and international rock star Buckaroo Banzai. He and his band, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, must together save the workd from evil aliens from the 8th dimension. Loved every minute of it.
10/10
The Raid Redemption. I absolutely loved this movie. Its an Indonesian movie but saw with it English subs obviously. Its basically 20 cops going into a 30 story building to take down a crime lord and most of the residents are ruthless killers as well. Endless action from the first second to the last second. 9/10. Here is the trailer:
The Raid is one of my favourite films ever. I might be helping out with the post production of the sequel!
One of my favourites too. Insane action.
Black Narcissus - Looked great but meh.
Trance Incredibly stupid rubbish about hypnotism and a robbery that gave the decent cast no chance. Danny Boyle lost the plot with this one in an attempt to create a Inception type film. I'd lost the will to live long before the twist lumbered into view like a diseased whale looking for a rocky shore to beach itself on. Avoid. 1.5/10
Decided to watch some of the Studio Ghibli stuff recently. Expected Spirited Away to be better than it was but it's good fun all the same. Preferred Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind. Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies are just great movies. The only one I'm not too fond of is Howl's Moving Castle which initially put me off the whole genre a couple of years back.
Not exactly. It was more of a WTF moment. Very silly indeed.
I think I liked the film all in all (I probably cut it a lot of slack because I like Boyle) despite how daft it got... but that scene is easily the most ridiculous thing I've seen at the cinema this year... and I've seen a lot of shit.
I was too busy appreciating the view to be too bothered about that part in isolation, its only afterward I really thought about how bone crushingly stupid the whole premise of the movie was. Still a 5/10 for me though, visually entertaining in a leave your brain at home kind of way.
The Lone Ranger: A movie that ridicules itself. It's as if the director almost makes a challenge to make silly all the points that make a movie good. It's not a spoof, it not a comedy, it's not a drama, it's not a action movie, it's not a western...yet it has all those elements just thrown into the mix. It's one of those movies which is "so bad that it's worth a watch"...at least for the sake of a few curses! 5/10
Kung Fu Hustle: If you haven't seen this, you are missing something. Outrageously funny. Beyong belief. Definitely a movie for the insane. Hilarious with black humour, over the top stunts. 7.5/10
Star Trek - Into the Darkeness: A really cool movie to watch. Keeps you engrossed from beginning till the end. Great cast, Zoe Saldana looks
. 8/10
Kung Fu Hustle: If you haven't seen this, you are missing something. Outrageously funny. Beyong belief. Definitely a movie for the insane. Hilarious with black humour, over the top stunts. 7.5/10
Star Trek - Into the Darkeness: A really cool movie to watch. Keeps you engrossed from beginning till the end. Great cast, Zoe Saldana looks
. 8/10It was a silly film, and the way they shoehorned the nude scene into the plot to try and make a valid excuse for it was stupid.
Pitch Black
With the new Riddick film coming out I thought I'd see the first two so that I can enjoy the new one in the cinema. I thought it was decent, not too predictable and Vin Diesel was quite good in it. Didnt like the Blue/Yellow tint the film used throughout in the daytime desert shots and the monsters looked quite generic, still an enjoyable film overall. 7/10
Gridiron Gang
I love the motivational films where the underdogs triumph and are based on "true" stories. I like pure hollywood cheese within these films. And when the two of these are being offered along with The Rock? Wow, just wow! 8/10
The Call
New film starring Halle Berry and made by WWE Studios. A lot better than their previous efforts and was quite intriguing. The film had a sense of urgency and the bad guy was superb. Ruined by the daftly cliched final third and the ending was dog shit. Still, an enjoyable enough ride. 7/10
With the new Riddick film coming out I thought I'd see the first two so that I can enjoy the new one in the cinema. I thought it was decent, not too predictable and Vin Diesel was quite good in it. Didnt like the Blue/Yellow tint the film used throughout in the daytime desert shots and the monsters looked quite generic, still an enjoyable film overall. 7/10
Gridiron Gang
I love the motivational films where the underdogs triumph and are based on "true" stories. I like pure hollywood cheese within these films. And when the two of these are being offered along with The Rock? Wow, just wow! 8/10
The Call
New film starring Halle Berry and made by WWE Studios. A lot better than their previous efforts and was quite intriguing. The film had a sense of urgency and the bad guy was superb. Ruined by the daftly cliched final third and the ending was dog shit. Still, an enjoyable enough ride. 7/10
Time Bandits - Passably entertaining bonkerness.
Thoroughly enjoyed (if that's the word), the first hour, then it got silly. The final scene will go down as one of the worst endings in cinematic history.
It had the feel of the producer's grubby, clueless hands all over it!
The Evil Dead
Not as good as the original, still shat my pants. My only point of criticism would be that they could have spent a bit longer on character development and building up the suspense before hell broke loose.
Better than any horror film released this year though. Keeps you on the edge of your seat from start (with a brilliant opening scene) to finish. 7.5/10
Not as good as the original, still shat my pants. My only point of criticism would be that they could have spent a bit longer on character development and building up the suspense before hell broke loose.
Better than any horror film released this year though. Keeps you on the edge of your seat from start (with a brilliant opening scene) to finish. 7.5/10
No One Lives
Another WWE Studios film. It was quite good but had too many flaws to recommend. The acting is terrible but I think that's more because of the god awful writing rather than the actors' abilities as Luke Evans is usually quite good and even here, he still does an ok job as the film goes on. The lighting is waaaay too dark, there is absolutely 0% character development and the film has so much pointless scenes and an overload of gore. However, if you watch it with genre enthusiasts, you will enjoy it. It's mindless gore and there is some suspense. The killing methods are quite unique and I did quite like Luke Evan's character, I just wish they fleshed him out a bit more. 6.5/10
Another WWE Studios film. It was quite good but had too many flaws to recommend. The acting is terrible but I think that's more because of the god awful writing rather than the actors' abilities as Luke Evans is usually quite good and even here, he still does an ok job as the film goes on. The lighting is waaaay too dark, there is absolutely 0% character development and the film has so much pointless scenes and an overload of gore. However, if you watch it with genre enthusiasts, you will enjoy it. It's mindless gore and there is some suspense. The killing methods are quite unique and I did quite like Luke Evan's character, I just wish they fleshed him out a bit more. 6.5/10
Cleaver: A guy in the Mob comes back from the dead to get revenge on his boss, a bad assed Daniel Baldwin, oh and he has a meat cleaver for a hand!
Worth a watch.
Death Blow: "When someone tries to blow you up, not because of who you are, but for different reasons altogether” I saw this on a surprisingly well shot pirate DVD! The film wasn't great though, avoid!
Worth a watch.
Death Blow: "When someone tries to blow you up, not because of who you are, but for different reasons altogether” I saw this on a surprisingly well shot pirate DVD! The film wasn't great though, avoid!
Take this Waltz - A film notable only for Michelle Williams doing full frontal nudity, and Seth Rogen actually acting. It also wanted to say something about the cyclical nature of bordem within relationships/marraiges... but I really couldn't give one.
Is it worth the watch for that reason alone?
Please note that I'm a busy businessman and don't necessarily have loads of time on my hands sunshine so I'd appreciate a short yes or no answer.
It depends how much you like Michelle Williams. She gets her tits out often, and theres some very brief, almost softcore porn like sex-shots. Sarah Silverman also does the full frontal, so if you've got a thing for her too.... buy it on blu-ray.
But it's not a good film, and she's not very likeable or "sexy" in it... though she does have some slight mental problems I think...
Hopelessly dated nonsense with the garish colour matching the overwrought plot/acting.
And of course you'll find it right there at #4 of Rogie Ebert's list of greatest films ever made.
That's a pretty accurate description of the Powell and Pressburger films I've seen. I liked Peeping Tom though.
The Internship
I laughed frequently and I laughed quietly.
7/10
I laughed frequently and I laughed quietly.
7/10
Witness - Very good thriller, sometimes a really good atmospherical score can really make a big difference. Two fine showings from Ford and McGillis as well.
In The Loop: I've not seen a single episode of the tv show it's based on, but I found this very enjoyable. Some of the lines felt a bit forced and some of the characters came out with very similar put-downs. This briefly made me wonder if they were just different versions of the same person, but it's a minor gripe which doesn't detract from a film which is built on ascerbic comments.
Definitely worth a watch.
Definitely worth a watch.