In the White City - A very quiet and contemplative film depicting Bruno Ganz roaming around aimlessly in the weightless solitude of Lisbon, writing pompous letters back to his wife, hooking up with a native girl, ending up getting drunk and lonely and so forth. It was perhaps a bit too distant for it's own good but I'm a sucker for existential loners on shore leave so I probably liked it more than I should have.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
- Thread starter golden_blunder
- Start date
Arrival - Very disappointing overall. The film manages to waste what is a fairly interesting first hour by following it with a completely terrible second hour, that's incredibly stupid, doesn't make much sense and is a bit silly.
Really have no idea why this is getting so much praise. I'm starting to think that people are so starved of so called "intellectual" big sci-fi releases, that they'll lavish praise on any old guff thats released and has the promise of being "thought-provoking"
Really have no idea why this is getting so much praise. I'm starting to think that people are so starved of so called "intellectual" big sci-fi releases, that they'll lavish praise on any old guff thats released and has the promise of being "thought-provoking"
That sounds like what my life could become
I liked it, but preferred Modern Times and The Gold Rush if I'm honest.
Thinking about sailing off to Portugal?
Why not!
I echo their sentiments ^
You could be a latter day Denis of the Nativity.
What is that?
Pierre Berthelot (Honfleur, 12 December 1600 - Sumatra, 27 November 1638) was a French sailor and cartographer in the service of the king of Portugal, and later Discalced Carmelite friar in Goa, taking the name Denis. He was killed in Sumatra while taking part in a diplomatic mission there on behalf of the Portuguese Empire. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1900 as Blessed Denis of the Nativity, O.C.D. (also Dionysius).
That is one very specific obscure reference right there Nilssy
Ain't it
Night Moves (1975) - Gene Hackman, private detective, 1970's, you get what you expect. Rough around the edges but pleasantly bleak and the underwater sequence at the end was quite stunning.
The Hudsucker Proxy - I liked the Coen-isms...the Frank Capra-isms, not so much. Tim Robbins and his puerile face can feck off.
The Hudsucker Proxy - I liked the Coen-isms...the Frank Capra-isms, not so much. Tim Robbins and his puerile face can feck off.
Kindergarten Cop: probably Schwarthzeneggar's best work, outside of the all-time holiday classic 'Jingle All The Way.' The needy shy girl and the boy obsessed with death stole the show though.
One of my all time fav Arnie flick.... Can't get enough of it
Kubo and the Two Strings is a terrific nipponophile action adventure. Delicately blending influences from cinema, woodblock and dance with stop motion puppetry, it skillfully gives life to Hokusai's waves and Kuniyoshi's skeleton, whilst respectfully stealing from the likes of Mizoguchi, Kurosawa and Kobayashi. It's story is dark and serious but told with a light touch. And the perilous action scenes are the best I've seen for some time. It's just a really well crafted piece of cinema... oh and also a disgusting piece of cultural appropriation.
When Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, Sony etc. all seem to be converging on the kiddy-flick conservative middle ground, It's nice to see a (comparatively) well funded studio like Laika (and Aardman) providing a fresh voice.
When Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, Sony etc. all seem to be converging on the kiddy-flick conservative middle ground, It's nice to see a (comparatively) well funded studio like Laika (and Aardman) providing a fresh voice.
Apparently it bombed at the box office though which is a massive shame.
Tis a pitty.
The problem I have with this though is that the whole plot boils down to:
The chinease general giving her an arbitary message (that doesnt' mean anything) in the future, so she can tell him it in the past and that will make him believe her.... so, in the end, no language, communication or culture was used in the resolution that saved the world, just a random plot device that was really poorly executed
I felt a bit let down by the final act, hard to believe it was all stop motion though. Stunning stuff.
That's a fair grievance. Only thing I'd say is that the film allows for this because of the time they spend explaining the premise of Sapir Whorf (reshaping the way one thinks via language), and the nonlinear way in which time is perceived (identical to their language, which again fits). So the message, in the context of the film, works because it's spoken by the general to the general verbatim -- he's telling himself to stand down. The plot device isn't too troublesome either, as, in that version of the future, she doesn't yet know what it is that she relayed to the general in the past. I think the film is strong enough to carry it.
Regarding Arrival.
My problem was turning the theory of communication inward wasn't effective because the story of Amy Adam's family was so uninteresting. Her relationship with Renner wasn't at all developed and their coming together at the end felt like an afterthought. All in all the emotional payoff had no heft and so you were left with a short story you didn't particularly care about, with a long explanation as to how it came about, involving admittedly interesting but undeveloped discussions of language. It came across as a cheap emotional manipulation: what's the most heart rending situation we can manufacture, a dead little girl!
Yeah I didn't like that either - it was almost like "Well I have to get with him because the future tells me I get with him, which I need to do create my daughter"... it felt quite cold and as you say, an afterthought
Ulysses' Gaze - Man, this was an absolute chore to watch. Angelopoulos is a visual master but the storytelling was really clunky, the characters peripheral (all the women were played by the same actress, the reason which was lost on me) and the poetic dialogues definitely sounded like they had been translated from one language to another. It felt like Harvey Keitel didn't knew what he was saying most of the time.
Oh, that Denis.
I'm afraid we don't have any more space left for parisians. Sorry
I didn't even know about him and I know way too much about Portugal's history.
Fun fact, if you google Denis of the Nativity + forum, this thread is the fourth hit.
Ffs
Seriously @R.N7 how do you know about him?
I certainly didn't google french sailors and picked one at random.
Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
The remake had passed me by til tonight. So and so at best remake. This Freddie is quite uncharismatic. The usual fit young 20-somethings playing teens. Insipid sums it up.
5/10
The remake had passed me by til tonight. So and so at best remake. This Freddie is quite uncharismatic. The usual fit young 20-somethings playing teens. Insipid sums it up.
5/10
Speaking of Denis...
Vendredi Soir - Thought this was a fantastic, tender little film. Very understated with some nice sensual cinematography. About a chance encounter but it also works as a city symphony. Impressive score too.
Vendredi Soir - Thought this was a fantastic, tender little film. Very understated with some nice sensual cinematography. About a chance encounter but it also works as a city symphony. Impressive score too.
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Ouija 2: Origin Of Evil
Really enjoyed this. Not full of jump scares, instead focusing on suspense and had some really neat scare tactics. The final act let it down a little bit but overall it was ace, and the little girl was creepy as hell! Mike Flanagan has now made 4 good films in a row (Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake and Ouija 2), and it's definitely a horror director to keep an eye out for 8/10
Really enjoyed this. Not full of jump scares, instead focusing on suspense and had some really neat scare tactics. The final act let it down a little bit but overall it was ace, and the little girl was creepy as hell! Mike Flanagan has now made 4 good films in a row (Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake and Ouija 2), and it's definitely a horror director to keep an eye out for 8/10
Bridget Jones's Baby So utterly shit is is hard to express exactly how unfunny this is. Somehow they dragged this utter turd out to over 2 hours but I quit after 1 hour and 15 minutes of this laugh free zone. Avoid at all costs if for no other reason than to having to look at Renée Zellweger's weird looking lips. 0.5/10
I was forced to watch this last night. It's absolutely woeful. I wanted neither of them to be the Father.Are you still that much in love with your wife that you will watch this with her?
So cute!