Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006)

DS Jane Tennison heads reluctantly towards retirement under the shadow of her growing alcoholism, the personal and professional choices she's made, and her father's impending death. Added to these burdens is what will be her last investigation, the murder of a 14-year old girl.

Curiously, the case is interesting enough for the viewer but it's Tennison herself who dominates our attention; with a superb sense of subtlety, we - and the detective - constantly question whether her stellar career has been worth all the effort, heartbreak and frustration. She increasingly makes errors of judgement and behaviour, to the dismay of even her more loyal colleagues. Though she's too driven and intelligent to care for what seems trivial to her (family, relationships - the often humdrum stuff of a truly fulfilling life), she grudgingly regrets its absence and this is written all over her lined and weary face. On that point, there is little to no glamour in Prime Suspect, no snappy or cool one-liners delived by its star, no power-dressing or hairstyling - in this episode especially, Helen Mirren admirably forgoes the typical vanity of star actors and is rendered aged, jowly and dishevelled due to stress and drink. The viewer, perhaps unlike Jane, is tempted to believe that the absolute focus of her life - 'The Job' - has been the ruin of Tennison, despite her triumphs.

A fantastic, refreshingly anti-heroic series ends on a suitably ambiguous note.

10/10
 
SteveJ said:
Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006)

DS Jane Tennison heads reluctantly towards retirement under the shadow of her growing alcoholism, the personal and professional choices she's made, and her father's impending death. Added to these burdens is what will be her last investigation, the murder of a 14-year old girl.

Curiously, the case is interesting enough for the viewer but it's Tennison herself who dominates our attention; with a superb sense of subtlety, we - and the detective - constantly question whether her stellar career has been worth all the effort, heartbreak and frustration. She increasingly makes errors of judgement and behaviour, to the dismay of even her more loyal colleagues. Though she's too driven and intelligent to care for what seems trivial to her (family, relationships - the often humdrum stuff of a truly fulfilling life), she grudgingly regrets its absence and this is written all over her lined and weary face. On that point, there is little to no glamour in Prime Suspect, no snappy or cool one-liners delived by its star, no power-dressing or hairstyling - in this episode especially, Helen Mirren admirably forgoes the typical vanity of star actors and is rendered aged, jowly and dishevelled due to stress and drink. The viewer, perhaps unlike Jane, is tempted to believe that the absolute focus of her life - 'The Job' - has been the ruin of Tennison, despite her triumphs.

A fantastic, refreshingly anti-heroic series ends on a suitably ambiguous note.

10/10
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Love Prime Suspect, but I don't remember watching this and I have them all on my HDD.
 
Apparition also call The Nesting

When Doug's fiancée is killed in a car accident he retreats to their isolated farmhouse to recover from his loss, but supernatural occurrences leave him fearing for his sanity and reveal a secret she took with her to the grave.
Bit of a slow start, but gets better.
The music adds to the atmosphere , there is a few jumps but not many.
Has ghost stories go it was OK , strange ending though.
If you like ghost stories, worth a watch.

5/10

The Gift

A young married couple's lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husband's past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after more than 20 years.
A very good thriller, acting all round was excellent, very good story.
This is well worth watching.

8/10

Dark Places

Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.
A bit slow going this one , but still a very decent film , good story and good acting, nice twist at the end.

5/10
 
Taken 3
Loved the first hated the second and lukewarm about the third. Funny watching Liam Neeson having a shootout with a guy in his underpants at the end. Hope they leave the series at that 5/10

The Darkness
A family go on holiday and when they return home, they discover that a demon has followed their autistic son home. What a pile of disappointment. Every horror trope is present here and paced horribly wrong. Nearly every scene has something "scary" happen to the point that it just becomes comedic. Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell clearly did this for the pay check. Also, the film shamelessly rips off from the Poltergeist. Yawnfest 3/10
 
pauldyson1uk said:
he retreats to their isolated farmhouse
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pauldyson1uk said:
brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse.
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and the moral of these stories is...buy a caravan instead.
 
The good dinosaur

Thought this film was vastly underrated. Better than inside out in my opinion.

8-9/10
 
Just watched Fury for the first time. Decent acting, but didn't think it was a great movie by any means. Extremely empty storyline. You'd think the Nazi's were the stupidest soldiers ever watching this film.
It wasn't bad though. I'll give it a 6/10.
 
Creep

Trapped in a London subway station, a woman who's being pursued by a potential attacker heads into the unknown labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city's streets.
British low budget horror, that was pretty good, set in the creepy backdrop of disused London Underground stations, music was good , acting was OK.
there was blood and gore, bit of a twist with a strange ending.
Worth watching, well I thought so.

6/10
 
Containment

What happens when a epidemic breaks out, but you're kept in the dark? Anything can happen. Slowly the residents realize that they will all die unless they come together.
An entire apartment block in Britain is forcibly and mysteriously quarantined overnight; residents awake to sealed doors and hazardous materials units being deployed along the grounds.
I expected an ambiguous ending and I wasn't disappointed, I kept expecting zombies and wondering if they'll be a follow up.

6/10
 
Watched Platoon last night after realising I'd only seen snippets before. Don't think Charlue Sheen was very believable in his role but other than that I thought it was great. A quality depiction of the senselessness of the Vietnam war. How would you not go crazy in such a situation? Many soldiers barely knew where they were or what they were fighting for.
 
The Darkness

A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation, haunted by an ancient supernatural entity they unknowingly awakened and engages them in a fight for their survival.
The story had potential. Some evil native American spirits get their resting place disturbed, by some white folks (shocker), so in return, these spirits decide to unlock these guys inner most demons (mom's an alcoholic, the daughter is bulimic) to split up the family and drive them all crazy, the trouble was it never reached that potential.
Acting was pretty poor all round , even by Kevin Bacon , who I normally like.

4/10
 
pauldyson1uk said:
Creep

Trapped in a London subway station, a woman who's being pursued by a potential attacker heads into the unknown labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city's streets.
British low budget horror, that was pretty good, set in the creepy backdrop of disused London Underground stations, music was good , acting was OK.
there was blood and gore, bit of a twist with a strange ending.
Worth watching, well I thought so.

6/10
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Thought that was a bit iffy tbh and the baddie wasn't great.
 
these spirits decide to unlock these guys inner most demons (mom's an alcoholic, the daughter is bulimic)
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"I, Dashka, God of All Things, shall unleash...the Hashtag First World Problems curse!"
 
Hidden.

A family takes refuge in a fallout shelter to avoid a dangerous outbreak.
This is an excellent, best watched not know anything about it, there is a couple of very good twists in it and either of them I saw coming.
Don't be put off by its slow pace for me the slow pace just made the finale that more thrilling and emotional.
This is 100% one to watch.

9/10
 
The House October Built

Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening

Had a good review and a decent score, Hand held camera film along the style of Blair Witch , turned it off was utter rubbish.
 
The Green Inferno

A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.
It was OK I think, I was expecting more to be honest, yes there was some gory bits in it, but nothing I have not see before, but saying that did enjoy it, if enjoy is the right word for this type of film.

5/10
 
The Hallow

A family who moved into a remote mill house in Ireland finds themselves in a fight for survival with demonic creatures living in the woods.
For me this was defo a film of 3 parts, first part was OK, second part after revealing the cause of the disturbances was pretty good, some actual scary parts and OMG does that baby suffer.
then is just got silly.
Sad thing is there was a very god horror fil in there and for the first 60ish mins thought thay had made it, but the rest let it down badly.

4/5 first hour
1/5 for the rest.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
The Darkness

A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation, haunted by an ancient supernatural entity they unknowingly awakened and engages them in a fight for their survival.
The story had potential. Some evil native American spirits get their resting place disturbed, by some white folks (shocker), so in return, these spirits decide to unlock these guys inner most demons (mom's an alcoholic, the daughter is bulimic) to split up the family and drive them all crazy, the trouble was it never reached that potential.
Acting was pretty poor all round , even by Kevin Bacon , who I normally like.

4/10
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I hated this film. Probably one of my worst films of the year. The YouTube exposition dump was just :lol:

pauldyson1uk said:
Hidden.

A family takes refuge in a fallout shelter to avoid a dangerous outbreak.
This is an excellent, best watched not know anything about it, there is a couple of very good twists in it and either of them I saw coming.
Don't be put off by its slow pace for me the slow pace just made the finale that more thrilling and emotional.
This is 100% one to watch.

9/10
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Have this one saved on my HDD. Look forward to seeing it.

pauldyson1uk said:
The House October Built

Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening

Had a good review and a decent score, Hand held camera film along the style of Blair Witch , turned it off was utter rubbish.
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I quite enjoyed this. Constantly had me guessing whether they were being fecked with or if it was real. The girl in the RV freaked me the hell out.

pauldyson1uk said:
The Green Inferno

A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.
It was OK I think, I was expecting more to be honest, yes there was some gory bits in it, but nothing I have not see before, but saying that did enjoy it, if enjoy is the right word for this type of film.

5/10
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I thought this film was lame considering they took influence from cannibal holocaust but didnt go near enough balls deep.

pauldyson1uk said:
The Hallow

A family who moved into a remote mill house in Ireland finds themselves in a fight for survival with demonic creatures living in the woods.
For me this was defo a film of 3 parts, first part was OK, second part after revealing the cause of the disturbances was pretty good, some actual scary parts and OMG does that baby suffer.
then is just got silly.
Sad thing is there was a very god horror fil in there and for the first 60ish mins thought thay had made it, but the rest let it down badly.

4/5 first hour
1/5 for the rest.
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Thought this was boring as hell once it got 'going'. Great shame as the build up was excellent.
 
Thought Zootopia had some good stuff in it but I left with my head thumping from the bludgeoning I recieved from it's twitter-approved socially liberal message. The song is attrocious but some of the ideas in the film are pretty good and the animation (night lighting) is pretty remarkable.

It actually does that 'social liberal' thing of getting so caught up in it's do goody masturbation, that it doesn't realise that arguably the worst behaviour can be attributed to it's own side. Notably Hopps and Foxy teaming up with the mafia don to extract info by way of torture. 'Member kids Police corruption and murderous gangsters are fine when you have good on your side , and you are waterboarding a weasel (muslim).

It feels like cheap and easy right-on messaging has threatened plot and creativity for some time now and I reckon the success of Zootopia is going to bring about a new type of ego stroking cinema driven by politically comforting themes and facebook trends. 'Activists' are a hell of a lot cheaper than good artists so it makes financial sense and we seem to prefer hearing our own views fed back to us anyway, rather than artistically challenging work.

mra# alllivesmatter# Isthisevenhowyouhastag#
 
dumbo said:
Thought Zootopia had some good stuff in it but I left with my head thumping from the bludgeoning I recieved from it's twitter-approved socially liberal message. The song is attrocious but some of the ideas in the film are pretty good and the animation (night lighting) is pretty remarkable.

It actually does that 'social liberal' thing of getting so caught up in it's do goody masturbation, that it doesn't realise that arguably the worst behaviour can be attributed to it's own side. Notably Hopps and Foxy teaming up with the mafia don to extract info by way of torture. 'Member kids Police corruption and murderous gangsters are fine when you have good on your side , and you are waterboarding a weasel (muslim).

It feels like cheap and easy right-on messaging has threatened plot and creativity for some time now and I reckon the success of Zootopia is going to bring about a new type of ego stroking cinema driven by politically comforting themes and facebook trends. 'Activists' are a hell of a lot cheaper than good artists so it makes financial sense and we seem to prefer hearing our own views fed back to us anyway, rather than artistically challenging work.

mra# alllivesmatter# Isthisevenhowyouhastag#
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Shit, that's heavy for a movie review.
 
Anomalisa. It's brilliant and the more I think about it the better it seems. Funny and beautifully designed. Though I can't help feeling that these Confessions of a schizoid personality sufferer perhaps are more suited to a shrinks couch than a cinema screen. Synechdoche served up brutal existential truth in the form of a tragic heroism, it was painful but it was beautiful. Anomalisa serves it's truth chilling and raw. And all you can really do is gawp at it. The automaton idea is really crazy.

I'm off to find out how they did the animation because that can't have been done solely with stop motion armatures.
 
High Rise

Proof that not every book should be made into a film. Was really looking forward to this but it was such heavy handed bore that I think Ben Wheatley can rightfully claim to have spawned a new genre - shatire. I've still got the last 20 minutes to watch tonight too because my will to live was slowly seeping away last night.
 
dumbo said:
Thought Zootopia had some good stuff in it but I left with my head thumping from the bludgeoning I recieved from it's twitter-approved socially liberal message. The song is attrocious but some of the ideas in the film are pretty good and the animation (night lighting) is pretty remarkable.

It actually does that 'social liberal' thing of getting so caught up in it's do goody masturbation, that it doesn't realise that arguably the worst behaviour can be attributed to it's own side. Notably Hopps and Foxy teaming up with the mafia don to extract info by way of torture. 'Member kids Police corruption and murderous gangsters are fine when you have good on your side , and you are waterboarding a weasel (muslim).

It feels like cheap and easy right-on messaging has threatened plot and creativity for some time now and I reckon the success of Zootopia is going to bring about a new type of ego stroking cinema driven by politically comforting themes and facebook trends. 'Activists' are a hell of a lot cheaper than good artists so it makes financial sense and we seem to prefer hearing our own views fed back to us anyway, rather than artistically challenging work.

mra# alllivesmatter# Isthisevenhowyouhastag#
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Even without the heavy-handed messaging, I thought the movie was disappointing. All its ingenuity seemed to go into the backdrop, with nothing much left for character and story. But I understand why liberal critics ate it up - it must have been like looking into a mirror of their own prejudices. All in all, the closest a mainstream Hollywood movie has come to outright propaganda since the depiction of Nazis in WW2 or commies in the 1950s.
 
Captain America Civil War - Alright, so seriously, why the hell is this movie highly rated? It was the same old mish mash of a 100 superheroes beating people/each other up, and making cheesy unfunny jokes in between, on repeat. And like the Avengers trilogy, the story was once again something I gave zero fecks about.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Captain America Civil War - Alright, so seriously, why the hell is this movie highly rated? It was the same old mish mash of a 100 superheroes beating people/each other up, and making cheesy unfunny jokes in between, on repeat. And like the Avengers trilogy, the story was once again something I gave zero fecks about.
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When did the third part come out?
 
NK86 said:
Stay off the stuff for some time Amol :p
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He's right. i could barely recall Age of Ultron while watching Civil War. And I've already forgotten most of Civil War.

The first Avengers movie, whilst relatively memorable, has very little rewatchability.
 
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NK86 said:
Stay off the stuff for some time Amol :p
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I find them closer to the transformers series I.e superhero action porn instead of robot action porn, than genuinely good films.

I mean, did anyone actually give a shit about the battle between the two avenger factions? They're going for eye candy and "cool" one liners, that's it.
 
CassiusClaymore said:
High Rise

Proof that not every book should be made into a film. Was really looking forward to this but it was such heavy handed bore that I think Ben Wheatley can rightfully claim to have spawned a new genre - shatire. I've still got the last 20 minutes to watch tonight too because my will to live was slowly seeping away last night.
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So I did finish this last night and it didn't get any better. An absolutely awful film.
 
Dad's Army Well cast but an appaulingly unfunny film. Even worse if you didn't know and love the original TV series. 1/10
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I find them closer to the transformers series I.e superhero action porn instead of robot action porn, than genuinely good films.

I mean, did anyone actually give a shit about the battle between the two avenger factions? They're going for eye candy and "cool" one liners, that's it.
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I hate the Avengers series because it has been crap and I really have a hard time recalling much, if any, of the "story". Just found it funny that you thought you had seen three of them already ;)
 
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