Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Arrival

Looks like I'm in the minority here but I really enjoyed it. From the alien design to the discussions on language, the running time flew by for me and I felt it dealt with the whole
non linear concept of time
in a far more satisfying way than the likes of Interstellar. The only dud note for me was the predictable
rogue army faction wanting to blow up the invaders which was clearly tacked on to add some jeopardy to the plot.
 
Really enjoyed Moana. It still kind of follows the tried and tested Disney princess blueprint but the emphases are slightly and smartly adjusted. Moano is a subtle, well-rounded character; strong but not impervious to weakness and doubt. The Rock is great as Maui and it's about time someone with his charisma got a good script, Geniesque at times. Jemaine Clement as an evil giant turtle is another highlight. Good songs, great animation and smart humour. I saw it sat next to my 8 year old melanesian cousin, who's infectious giggling made it one of my most enjoyable trips to the cinema. Preceded by a nice short feature too.
 
Watched three Fassbinder films in a row.

Beware of a Holy Whore - A film about a film, everyone is being bitchy to each other and is ordering cuba libres in the bar, never seen so many cuba libres being ordered and drunk in a movie before, must be some sort of world record. All this was very stylishly shot as well. A nice easy watch on a Wednesday morning

Fear of Fear - A nice cocktail of valium, Leonard Cohen and mental breakdown. Fassbinder's own melodramatic spin on A Woman Under the Influence.

Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? - You could tell that Fassbinder wasn't really that involved much with this one, the style is very cinema verité, with some really nice suffocating atmosphere, that perfectly encapsulates Herr R's mundane existence, a peripheral player in his own life, leading up to to climax where he finally snaps.
 
Last edited:
SwansonsTache said:
The Invitation | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2400463/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Quite decent horror \ thriller movie. The whole dynamic between the group of people in the house was quite well done, and I liked Tom Hardy in it. A bit too obvious since I figured out what would go down about 10 minutes in, and they almost tried to hammer it in with all the small hints during the awkward exchanges between the people attending the dinner party.

7/10
Click to expand...

The Invitation 8/10

I watched this movie off the back of the horror movie thread, apart from some very wooden acting, the movie as a whole had you on the edge of your seat.

Loved the little twist with the red lanterns at the end as well.
 
Last edited:
Neighbors 2
Had some really funny moments that genuinely made me LOL, but other times it feel quite flat. Not as good as the original but not a bad movie either 6/10
 
Leave Her to Heaven - There's something really striking about a 1940's film noir in blazing Technicolor. A brilliant performance by Gene Tierney, the first 30 minutes were really great, then it became pretty rather how the film was gonna pan out and despite some stiffness here and there, it did have some really good moments, like the boat scene for an example. The courtroom scene at the end however felt a bit unnecessary, the film probably could have benefited from being about 20 minutes shorter.
 
Last edited:
Kubo and the Two Strings
I love the look and feel this studio gives it's films (Coraline, Paranorman and now Kubo), it feels elegant and made with a lot of love. It just looks beautiful and the story was captivating. There were some jokes that fell flat but overall, I was engrossed. Shame it didn't do too well at the box office but I hope they keep making films like this. Fans of animation should definitely watch this 8/10

Zootopia
Been meaning to see this for ages, and now I finally have. Really funny, has a simple but interesting plot with some great nods to popular culture, especially the Breaking Bad in joke. Again, another animation that looked fantastic. Didn't have the emotional hit some Disney animations have had recently but I didn't mind that because I was having a great time 8.5/10

The Accountant
Despite negative to mixed reviews, I was really looking forward to this as I loved Gavin O'Connor's Warrior and am a fan of Ben Affleck, John Lithgow and Jon Benrthal but this film was a compete mess. Too many storylines that felt all over the place, it was paced horribly and felt really long. There were some cool action scenes and was acted quite well but I just couldn't get into the film 4/10
 
Hell or High Water - taut, funny, atmospheric neo-Western. Just really well put together and there's something about West Texas that's so appealing as a backdrop. Maybe a little too heavy with the message and Jeff Bridges is teetering awfully close to self-parody. He also seems to age faster than the average man, every film he seems considerably more decrepit.
 
@Mrs Smoker
Just saw Star trek beyond. Such a frustrating film because they were had a really good chance to get a real trek-like story.

All they had to do was keep the villains off that planet (maybe their ships can't penetrate the atmosphere). Then the crashed crew find that old ship and figures out what's going on and how to stop them by... thinking and reviewing their own battle, instead of action scenes throughout the planet portion and then learning on the fly in the climax. I didn't mind the use of the motorcycle or the music, with the music they could have used a little better explanation and the effect should have been less drastic.

Edit: the villain was under written, would have helped if they discovered his identity earlier. And he could have been Maquis instead.
 
There was an animated film I watched a lot as a kid and all I can remember of it right now was a scene where rats are lurking in the dark and all you can see are their eyes glowing red. Similarly horrific to the work in Watership Down.
 
The Purge: Election Year

I thought it was decent enough, plenty of killings , blood and fighting. just what you expected.
It did not blow me away , but it also did not bore me, I found it superior to the previous two films, so I can give it a slight recommendation, but only if you like the previous 2, if you did not you will hate it.
Reading that there will be a 4th, but a prequel about how the Purge can to be accepted.

5.5/10
 
Archie Leach said:
Hell or High Water - taut, funny, atmospheric neo-Western. Just really well put together and there's something about West Texas that's so appealing as a backdrop. Maybe a little too heavy with the message and Jeff Bridges is teetering awfully close to self-parody. He also seems to age faster than the average man, every film he seems considerably more decrepit.
Click to expand...

One of the only (or possibly the only) film I've seen this year. I liked it a lot.
 
The Shallows
A woman is attacked by a shark and must survive whilst stranded with no one to help. You really need to switch your brain off with this one because so much stupid and illogical stuff happens. I really just couldn't get into the film at all. Blake Lively looks 10 years older than she is as well for some reason. Weird slow motion shots are quite jarring. Boring film 3/10
 
Dirty Schwein said:
The Shallows
A woman is attacked by a shark and must survive whilst stranded with no one to help. You really need to switch your brain off with this one because so much stupid and illogical stuff happens.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't really buy the shark as love interest.
 
Pet 7/10

Mate at work advised this one on me, basically a horror movie with a big twist, won't spoil the twist but the movie is based on an abduction. Things go crazy from that point onwards.
 
The King of Marvin Gardens - A truly absurd film, largely down to Jack Nicholson playing a timid and reserved character while Bruce Dern played an extroverted Jack Nicholson type of character. Ellen Burstyn added some crazily real craziness. A desolate and wintry Atlantic City on the verge of demolition was quite an eerie setting. The boardwalk of broken American dreams and so forth. It was a very low-key and whimsical slow burner that might have been a bit too insubstantial and thin on plot, but it began and ended on such a perfect note. It's one of those films that whilst not being totally successful on viewing, it really etches itself in the mind, much like Rafelson's previous film Five Easy Pieces.

 
Radio On - A rare British road movie, basically an attempt to make a Wim Wenders road movie set in England. Very stark but also a bit sparse and slight, so it basically ended up like a Jim Jarmusch film set in England instead, before Jim Jarmusch was even a thing. The new wave soundtrack consisting of Bowie, Kraftwerk and others made it all worthwhile though.
 
Seconds (1966) - Fantastic film. Disturbing from the title sequence to the ending. Rock Hudson was frigging amazing and perfectly captured the emptiness of the character. What a great score too. Frankenheimer always interests.
 
Really loved Arrival, the premise is fresh, it was shot beautifully, and the dilemma of the main character becomes far more poignant after the reveal.

The language <-> time thing didn't work for me though I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.
 
Die Hard: 9/10

Dammit Hollywood, why can't you make proper action movies anymore?
 
Directed in 1988 but everything looked so smooth and slick, good soundtrack as well.
 
Incarnate
A man goes into the minds of possessed people to free them. Starring Aaron Eckhart and Melisandre from GOT, this was like mixing the worst bits of The Exorcist with the worst bits of Inception. The acting was poor and the only thing worse than that was the lighting... it's like they got an intern as their D.O.P. Boring snoozefest 2/10
 
Jason Bourne (2016) - It was shit. Completely unnecessary sequel that tarnishes the legacy of the original trilogy (I don't even consider the fourth to be a part of the movie series - it was standalone shit) 3/10
 
Circle (2015)

Watched this on Netflix today. 50 random people wake up in a strange chamber, all of them standing in a large circle with a device in the middle. Every two minutes a person is killed by a high voltage zap from said device. There is no build up so we get straight into the mystery as to why they are there, who is doing the killing and how they can stop it. The group is a right mish-mash of characters from all social groups with the usual profiling characteristics; age, gender, sexuality, disability, race, religion, education, status etc. There's even a young child and pregnant women to add to the dilemma and suspense.

What soon becomes apparent though is that they can control who gets picked off every two minutes and what ensues is a battle of wits and insight into human behaviour, morals and values when presented with the choice as to who deserves to live and who should die. The usual assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes come to the fore when put in this extreme situation. None of the characters are really developed during the film and we don't get to know much about them, which is probably a good thing as the film would be completely spoiled if you had an idea as to who was going to be the last person standing. Not many plot twists but a few surprise killings along the way and a decent enough, if not slightly flat ending.

Acting wasn't great but adequate enough to keep you engaged during the under 90-minute running time. You do end up rooting for certain people to get bumped off next though. Very much in the Cube/Saw genre without the blood and guts.

I'm giving this a 5/10.
 
berbatrick said:
Really loved Arrival, the premise is fresh, it was shot beautifully, and the dilemma of the main character becomes far more poignant after the reveal.

The language <-> time thing didn't work for me though I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.
Click to expand...

I found the language bit really hard. I kept thinking.....really??? Could I learn Chinese from scratch without someone telling me what the characters meant....in a few months? Hell, no! I actually enjoyed the Charlie Sheen movie of the same name a lot more tbh. But good movie nonetheless.
 
Spectral (Netflix Original)

Netflix seems to come up some really good sci-fi movies under their belt and after ARQ, Spectral hits the spot.

A cool looking sci-fi that actually looks better and is worth being in big screen imo. Very nice graphics, and super cool guns and the background set (war torn city) is very well done. Plot keeps you interested and screenplay is tight with lots of action and guns thrown in to keep any action fan happy. There are one or two parts where the script stretches believability, but as those lead to really really kool action scenes, they are easily forgiven.

Good watch. I would love it they made this into a game.

Rating: 8/10
 
Rogue One - I know the prequel trilogy set the bar low and Star Wars fans aren't the most discerning sort but the positive reaction to this film is a bit baffling, especially in the shadow of The Force Awakens, an actually very good Star Wars film. This is completely inconsequential, full of nothing characters (you could play musical chairs with the actors and their roles and there'd be no demonstrable difference to the film) pursuing confusing and uninteresting goals. It's the B-plot to a real Star Wars film.

It looks absolutely gorgeous though.
 
Irma Vep - Maggie Cheung spent a large part of the film in a tight latex suit, the rest of the film was pretty good too...a hip meta film that was a satire on filmmaking, a critique on the stale state of French Cinema at the time and a whole lot of other good stuff.
 
RedPed said:
Circle (2015)

Watched this on Netflix today. 50 random people wake up in a strange chamber, all of them standing in a large circle with a device in the middle. Every two minutes a person is killed by a high voltage zap from said device. There is no build up so we get straight into the mystery as to why they are there, who is doing the killing and how they can stop it. The group is a right mish-mash of characters from all social groups with the usual profiling characteristics; age, gender, sexuality, disability, race, religion, education, status etc. There's even a young child and pregnant women to add to the dilemma and suspense.

What soon becomes apparent though is that they can control who gets picked off every two minutes and what ensues is a battle of wits and insight into human behaviour, morals and values when presented with the choice as to who deserves to live and who should die. The usual assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes come to the fore when put in this extreme situation. None of the characters are really developed during the film and we don't get to know much about them, which is probably a good thing as the film would be completely spoiled if you had an idea as to who was going to be the last person standing. Not many plot twists but a few surprise killings along the way and a decent enough, if not slightly flat ending.

Acting wasn't great but adequate enough to keep you engaged during the under 90-minute running time. You do end up rooting for certain people to get bumped off next though. Very much in the Cube/Saw genre without the blood and guts.

I'm giving this a 5/10.
Click to expand...
I saw this and quite liked it... I was playing along the whole time!
 
RedPed said:
Circle (2015)

Watched this on Netflix today. 50 random people wake up in a strange chamber, all of them standing in a large circle with a device in the middle. Every two minutes a person is killed by a high voltage zap from said device. There is no build up so we get straight into the mystery as to why they are there, who is doing the killing and how they can stop it. The group is a right mish-mash of characters from all social groups with the usual profiling characteristics; age, gender, sexuality, disability, race, religion, education, status etc. There's even a young child and pregnant women to add to the dilemma and suspense.

What soon becomes apparent though is that they can control who gets picked off every two minutes and what ensues is a battle of wits and insight into human behaviour, morals and values when presented with the choice as to who deserves to live and who should die. The usual assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes come to the fore when put in this extreme situation. None of the characters are really developed during the film and we don't get to know much about them, which is probably a good thing as the film would be completely spoiled if you had an idea as to who was going to be the last person standing. Not many plot twists but a few surprise killings along the way and a decent enough, if not slightly flat ending.

Acting wasn't great but adequate enough to keep you engaged during the under 90-minute running time. You do end up rooting for certain people to get bumped off next though. Very much in the Cube/Saw genre without the blood and guts.

I'm giving this a 5/10.
Click to expand...

Quite liked it myself, these two about roughly the same subject are better though:

Exam (2009)

Fermat's Room (2007)

Considering giving this one a go:

El método (2005)

"During IMF & World Bank Summit and demonstrations which upset Madrid, like other capitals, major corporation Dekia holds interviews to recruit a top executive from seven applicants. Their doubts start when they have to sign a clause accepting the Grönholm method, which nobody ever heard of. It soon becomes clear the tests are dirty mind games, but never what is true and what the trick. They must guess who among them is the HR mole, and repeatedly eliminate one of their number from the procedure. Their priorities, ethics and loyalty are put trough stressing tests."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.