Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Black Mass (2015): 6

Such an impressive crime story and they turn it into this soft shit? The director needs to take lessons from Scorsese, De Palma and Sergio Leone.
 
Hard-Boiled (1992): 9/10

John Woo in his peak? My god, this movie was great entertainment.:drool:
 
VorZakone said:
Black Mass (2015): 6

Such an impressive crime story and they turn it into this soft shit? The director needs to take lessons from Scorsese, De Palma and Sergio Leone.
Click to expand...

Thought the movie was awful myself, very nearly turned it off.
 
Witchfinder General - I had been looking for a lush depiction of the English countryside scenery and this was an unlikely source. A decent enough kitschy and miserable 60's horror.
 
Last edited:
Spectral (2016)

Seen on Netflix. Thought I'd also give it a whirl after seeing it reviewed here. For a Netflix Original production, this movie is very well made. Set in the not too distant future, a military unit comes up against an unknown enemy of which they have little knowledge and no defence. A small team is sent to collate data and investigate but get a bit more than they bargained for. They then commit to taking down this unknown force before it threatens humanity. The armour, weaponry and sets are reminiscent of the Aliens movie and look really cool. The movie itself also has a similar theme to Darkest Hour/Battleship/Battle: Los Angeles but with an original twist on the concept. Slow in parts, the last third is where it really takes off. Visually, the film is great and not ruined by excessive or tacky low-budget effects. There are a couple of bits where you roll your eyes and think really?? But overall, a thoroughly enjoyable film if you're a fan of the genre.

I'm giving this an 8/10.
 
ARQ (2016)

Seen this on Netflix. Another of their Netflix Original productions, this is a very good time loop movie. Infinitely better than Source Code (imo) and with similar elements to Edge of Tomorrow (minus the alien threat), a couple are caught in a time loop which resets every time they are killed as they aim to prevent a revolutionary device, which is actually causing the time anomalies, from falling in the wrong hands. I always find these 'time loop' movies a bit difficult to keep up with, but this one was really well done. I didn't realise the female lead was also the same actress in Transformers and The Darkest Hour but the rest were unknowns (to me anyway). Still gorgeous anyway. The film moves along nicely, keeping you guessing all the time as to what's going to happen next and with surprises along the way. Acting is really good and although not quite 'edge of your seat' stuff, you find yourself getting sucked in. Thoroughly recommended.

I'm giving this a 8/10.
 
Gremlins

Thought I'd take a Xmas trip down nostalgia lane for this one and boy has this aged badly. So much so I think it's fair to question the notion that it was ever any good in the first place. Aside from the cruddy puppets there are some genuinely odd and uncomfortable scenes like the 10 minute section of Gremlins running rampant in Phoebe Cates bar where there's no music or dialogue. It's just weird. Like they forgot to put it through post production. With the dog being the best actor in the movie I am satisfied that there is now a very good reason why they hardly ever show this on tv. Not a classic by any stretch.
 
Spectral
I have browsed past this a few times thinking it was a series, and I have enough series to watch as it is but on this thread I read that it's a film and thought I'd give it a go. I'm glad I did. Had a decent, although not original, story with some cool action scenes and pretty beefy looking guns/effects, which isn't surprising considering Peter Jackson's company done all the computer work on this. Had an 'Aliens' feel, which is definitely a good thing 8/10
 
Decided to watch Chastity Bites on Sky. Arguably the worst film I've ever sat through @pauldyson1uk
Terrible acting, terrible dialogue, crap plot, unlikeable characters, repetitive and uninteresting murder scenes and crap special effects.

I continued watching it to see how bad it got. Avoid at all costs, makes The Room look like an all time great.
 
Bill.s.preston said:
Decided to watch Chastity Bites on Sky. Arguably the worst film I've ever sat through @pauldyson1uk
Terrible acting, terrible dialogue, crap plot, unlikeable characters, repetitive and uninteresting murder scenes and crap special effects.

I continued watching it to see how bad it got. Avoid at all costs, makes The Room look like an all time great.
Click to expand...
You do know I have to watch it :lol::lol:
 
Friend Request
A girl makes friends with a social outcast, who's bizarre behavior leads the girl to 'unfriend' her. The weird girl then commits suicide and comes back to haunt the girl who unfriended her as well as her friends. Starts off promising, some nice imagery and decent enough mystery to its narrative but the second half of the film just relies on jump scares that don't really work and just brings the film down. Not the worst film I've seen but Unfriended is a similar movie to this but much more inventive. I'm giving this 5.5/10
 
The Childhood of a Leader. Brady Corbet's directorial debut is an ambitious, atmospheric, recipe for baking a fascist leader. With a Strong sense of time and place the film looks and feels great. The acting overall is very good but with the odd misstep which I think can be put down to direction/editing inexperience rather than the performers. Likewise the cod socio/philo/politico/religio/pyscological musings struck me as sophomoric deadends and more importantly narratively clunky (which hasn't stopped certain so called liberal critics jumping on them as more tools for the ongoing Trump flagellation orgy). Sadly I don't think the world's collective ills can simply be attributed to sub-freudian psycosexual origins. Small things (ahem) aside I found it to be a sharply focused, enjoyable little thriller.

It's obviously a guy learning the ropes with obvious borrowing from the likes of The Omen, The White Ribbon, PT Anderson, etc. but it has it's own voice and ideas too. It's a nice time.
 
Dementia (1955) - A quite fantastic dreamlike and psychosexual ride, sort of a missing link between Maya Deren and Eraserhead by way of Ed Wood/B noir. Haunting score by George Antheil.
 
Coming to America A fairly rubbish Eddie Murphy film where he plays the prince of a terribly stereotypical African nation (presumably the 50 or so that exist are too terrible on human rights to warrant a comedy) with the added really dodgy African accent from Murphy. The movie is randomly made brilliant for about 50 seconds though when a pre-Pulp Fiction Samuel L. Jackson robs a fast food restaurant.

Movie rating without Samuel L. Jackson: 4.5/10
Movie rating with Samuel L. Jackson: 11/10
 
Cheesy said:
Coming to America A fairly rubbish Eddie Murphy film where he plays the prince of a terribly stereotypical African nation (presumably the 50 or so that exist are too terrible on human rights to warrant a comedy) with the added really dodgy African accent from Murphy. The movie is randomly made brilliant for about 50 seconds though when a pre-Pulp Fiction Samuel L. Jackson robs a fast food restaurant.

Movie rating without Samuel L. Jackson: 4.5/10
Movie rating with Samuel L. Jackson: 11/10
Click to expand...

Coming to America is a fantastic movie.
 
Passengers: Pleasant if fairly unsurprising movie that manages to get by based mainly on the charm of its two stars. Pratt and Lawrence are entertaining company on most occasions and their charisma goes a long way towards making this a pretty engrossing watching despite its occasional formulaic twists and turns. Chemistry between them is occasionally a little lacking during the more romantic scenes but both have good comic energy which actually helps to sell the change in tone of the movie about midway through. Very good use of CGI throughout helps with the visual side and makes the atmosphere believable. A decent but mostly unsurprising watch that is raised only slightly above the ordinary by the charisma of its two main stars.

6.5/10
 
Last edited:
It literally looks like a film made just to put those two together. Looks terrible really.
 
To Live and Die in L.A - Essentially a reimagining of The French Connection in a sun-soaked L.A with 80's aesthetics. It was cheesy, cliche-ridden, subversive, nihilistic, steaming with hypermasculinity and just absolutely delightful. It started out with Wang Chung song and a Ronald Reagan speech, doesn't get much more 80's than that, then it essentially played out like this for a while:




I suspected the worst but what followed was a wonderfully shambolic ride with some great chase scenes, gorgeously shot by Robby Muller.

It ticked a lot of the same boxes Manhunter did, instead of a blind girl caressing a tiger there was Willem Dafoe and his girlfriend loitering around naked burning money in a fire pit (the implied menage a trois between them and the other woman was an hilarious touch) and/or William Petersen standing on a balcony high on adrenaline as his female informer lamented "the stars are gods eyes".
 
Nightcrawler (2014) - Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed. About an eccentric, odd-ball thief (JG) who gets into filming and manipulating crime scenes to make some money. Decent film. 7.5/10
 
Cheesy said:
Coming to America A fairly rubbish Eddie Murphy film where he plays the prince of a terribly stereotypical African nation (presumably the 50 or so that exist are too terrible on human rights to warrant a comedy) with the added really dodgy African accent from Murphy. The movie is randomly made brilliant for about 50 seconds though when a pre-Pulp Fiction Samuel L. Jackson robs a fast food restaurant.

Movie rating without Samuel L. Jackson: 4.5/10
Movie rating with Samuel L. Jackson: 11/10
Click to expand...
Harsh. Not exactly Beverley Hills Cop or Trading Places, but still solid 6.5-7/10 vintage '80s Murphy.
 
Wild Strawberries (1957)
One of Bergman's best, a moving story about a day in the life of a superannuated doctor having flashbacks about his past. 9/10

Death of a Salesman (1985)
Dustbin Hoffman turns in a tour de force as Arthur Miller's salesman Willy Loman failing to achieve the American Dream. Excellent supporting cast. Highly verbal, not much action. 9/10
 
Jippy said:
Harsh. Not exactly Beverley Hills Cop or Trading Places, but still solid 6.5-7/10 vintage '80s Murphy.
Click to expand...
Just looked at Murphy's IMDB page and his filmography this century is shocking, has an actors career ever taken a worse nosedive?

I also saw that they're doing a new Beverly Hills Cop, can't they leave anything along nowadays?
 
Moana - Just fantastic. Absolutely gorgeous animation, a fun/touching story, great catchy songs, interesting characters and some nice comedy to boot... and on top of all that, it has a Mad Max inspired action scene. Loved it.
 
Twins said:
Just looked at Murphy's IMDB page and his filmography this century is shocking, has an actors career ever taken a worse nosedive?

I also saw that they're doing a new Beverly Hills Cop, can't they leave anything along nowadays?
Click to expand...

I can't think of a decent Murphy film since Bowfinger.
 
Twins said:
Just looked at Murphy's IMDB page and his filmography this century is shocking, has an actors career ever taken a worse nosedive?

I also saw that they're doing a new Beverly Hills Cop, can't they leave anything along nowadays?
Click to expand...
It's sad- Dr Dolittle and so much utter shite. Don't think he even made a half decent movie after the '80s? I have equally low expectations of any BHC reboot.
 
Twins said:
Just looked at Murphy's IMDB page and his filmography this century is shocking, has an actors career ever taken a worse nosedive?

I also saw that they're doing a new Beverly Hills Cop, can't they leave anything along nowadays?
Click to expand...

John Travolta?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.