Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Wibble said:
Never liked the film. Just nowhere near as funny as it thinks it is (or was as I only saw in once in the early 80's and I doubt that it has aged well).
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I’d say that reflects well on you Wibbs.

The weird thing is that it wasn’t even reviewed well at the time. It’s only gained its modern status thanks to some baffling cult following. Which would usually imply that it was ahead of its time, or potentially era transcendent or something... but alas, no. Most definitely no. If anything its the complete opposite. It’s a painfully dated raunchy teen comedy that mines its laughs from how funny weed and boobs and crusty old golf club “squares” are to the uniquely singular audience of white Gen X drop outs. One of its biggest set peices being a bunch of people jumping into a pool for no apparent (or remotely narrative) reason, whilst being either comically fat or naked. A bit which is eventually paid off by the film’s biggest and most iconic gag....a chocolate bar being mistaken for a poo.

‘twas truly a golden age of comedy.
 
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Mockney said:
I’d say that reflects well on you Wibbs.

The weird thing is that it wasn’t even reviewed well at the time. It’s only gained its modern status thanks to some baffling cult following. Which would usually imply that it was ahead of its time, or potentially era transcendent or something... but alas, no. Most definitely no. If anything its the complete opposite. It’s a painfully dated raunchy teen comedy that mines its laughs from how funny weed and boobs and crusty old gold club “squares” are to the uniquely singular audience of white Gen X drop outs. One of its biggest set peices being a bunch of people jumping into a pool for no apparent (or remotely narrative) reason, whilst being either comically fat or naked. A bit which is eventually paid off by the film’s biggest and most iconic gag....a chocolate bar being mistaken for a poo.

‘twas truly a golden age of comedy.
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If you want that sort of comedy Animal House is a far better source of laugh. Admittedly dated but there are some funny bits.
 
entropy said:
Good for you.
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The thing I disliked the most was they just about missed the point of the fleet of small civilian boats. Many did multiple journey over a number of days. To me that was the story and they only paid lip service to it.
 
The Shape of Water - 4/10


I would have rated it lower but for the nice visuals. What a strange story it turned out to be, I didn’t connect with this movie at all.
 
Redplane said:
That quite literally describes how I felt about the movie. Wasn't until the scene with the guys sitting in the boat waiting for the tide that I started feeling a wee bit of investment in the characters. Usually I re-watch movies like this but I don't myself doing the same with Dunkirk. Too high of expectations going in I guess.
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Wibble said:
Hugely underwhelming wasn't it?
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Yeah, maybe the shitty screen and sound didn't help, but I was expecting a lot more action, claustrophobia and suspense.

I watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri before that and really enjoyed it. Great, well-acted original and quirky film.
 
Wibble said:
The thing I disliked the most was they just about missed the point of the fleet of small civilian boats. Many did multiple journey over a number of days. To me that was the story and they only paid lip service to it.
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I thought Nolan did what he does best. Jumping back and forth between 2-3 different storylines to create tension. It is his forte and something that is very clear in all of his work.
 
FCBarca said:
Yeah, totally agree. I think both Up! & Wall-E are similarly moving which is remarkable for animation outside of Miyazaki films




Great to hear, if nothing else it'll be good viewing for the parents
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Just saw this today and was impressed. Unusual story and very subtle storytelling for a kids film. Has moments of genuine emotion and surprising plot twists that are not blindingly obvious from the get go.

The dead aspect is done sensitively and is respecting of mexican culture, showing a depth to the culture seldom seen in movies.

One scene near the end will have everyone crying but joy soon follows and the film is very positive.

The visuals are stunning, will have to see if the music "sticks" after a second viewing. I didn't think much of Moana's songs on first hearing but grew to like them.
 
entropy said:
I thought Nolan did what he does best. Jumping back and forth between 2-3 different storylines to create tension. It is his forte and something that is very clear in all of his work.
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Then he failed as it wasn't very tense at all.
 
The new cloverfield film is up on Netflix now

Edit: there is a good reason it’s not getting a cinema release, it’s a complete and utter mess, Bright was better than it.
 
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That new Cloverfield movie. I guess this is going to be a typical caf review, which I usually dislike. I am not sure, if this movie is the worst of the lot or the best, since I didn't think much of the previous instalments. Similar to Life from last year, the cast is kinda intriguing and I was rooting for the people involved, but it doesn't change that the story, also similar to Life, is kinda crap IMO. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelewo, Ziyi Zhang, Daniel Brühl and Elizabeth Debicki try their best. The plot feels like the writer wanted to be a physicist, but wasn't good enough at physics, so he became a writer instead. It gets very silly towards the end. As a mindless popcorn flick with lowered expectations this movie is definitely enjoyable, it tried to be something more though. Still a better experience than Life overall. God, do I hate that movie.
 
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bucky said:
That new Cloverfield movie. I guess this is going to be a typical caf review, which I usually dislike. I am not sure, if this movie is the worst of the lot or the best, since I didn't think much of the previous instalments. Similar to Life from last year, the cast is kinda intriguing and I was rooting for the people involved, but it doesn't change that the story, also similar to Life, is kinda crap IMO. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelewo, Ziyi Zhang, Daniel Brühl and Elizabeth Debicki try their best. The plot feels like the writer wanted to be a physicist, but wasn't good enough at physics, so he became a writer instead. It gets very silly towards the end. As a mindless popcorn flick with lowered expectations this movie is definitely enjoyable, it tried to be something more though. Still a better experience that Life overall. God, do I hate that movie.
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I just hope you are referring to the movie Life here and not your own personal circumstances.
 
anant said:
I don't mean deformity sort of theme, but a truly feel good movie like Wonder
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Have you seen "The straight story" by David Lynch? i think it his masterpiece - none of his usual showboating and peculiarity just a powerful story about family.

Harry Deans Stanton's face at the end as he realises what his brother has done..... amazing acting
 
R.N7 said:
Disaster Artist killed The Room a little for me.
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Probably just over-saturation. It had a sort of cult status beforehand but feels a lot more widely known now.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
I take it, you have watched it and have a strong dislike of it.
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Yes, and I so desperately wanted to like it.

I love the original Cloverfield, the best found footage movie ever made IMO. I also liked the sequel.

This one is just bad though. If you want a black hole \ alternate dimension movie you should watch Event Horizon again instead.

JJ Abrams, the cnut, tries to be real smart in this one - and it doesn't suit him one bit.

Edit: I now see that JJ Abrams didn't direct it, some other nobody did. But it says it all that the movie was so shite that I thought JJ Abrams directed it. It is his company, Bad Robot, behind the movie though.
 
SwansonsTache said:
Yes, and I so desperately wanted to like it.

I love the original Cloverfield, the best found footage movie ever made IMO. I also liked the sequel.

This one is just bad though. If you want a black hole \ alternate dimension movie you should watch Event Horizon again instead.

JJ Abrams, the cnut, tries to be real smart in this one - and it doesn't suit him one bit.
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I am gutted , I was looking forward to this.
I liked the first one, the second one was good until the very end, I will still watch it.
 
entropy said:
The 'James Franco' effect
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I enjoyed this review.

The Disaster Artist is a lousy tribute to the greatest bad movie of our time

How did a story with this much potential get turned into something so unimaginative? Well, for one, because the film couldn’t exist without the blessing of Wiseau, who has turned The Room into a cottage industry. Though The Disaster Artist is nominally an adaption of the same-titled book by Wiseau’s former roommate and co-star Greg Sestero and the critic and journalist Tom Bissell, the movie bears only faint traces of its characterization of the secretive, self-made filmmaker; the exclusion of any biographical details (many of which are now public knowledge) leaves yawning gaps in the script, which was written by the duo of Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days Of Summer, The Spectacular Now, The Fault In Ours Stars, etc.). In a different context, Franco’s casting of himself as Wiseau might have been pointed: the handsome, Oscar-nominated movie star behind the accent and shoulder-length black wig as a visual metaphor for the character’s Hollywood ambitions. But in this hash of sub-Apatovian buddy picture beats, his performance never rises above a superficial impression. One can’t help but wonder what, say, Nicolas Cage could have done with this role and a meatier screenplay.

Opening with a montage of celebrity testimonials (never a good sign), The Disaster Artist briefly rescues itself with its first scene, in which a 20-year-old Sestero (Dave Franco) flubs his way through Waiting For Godot in front of his San Francisco acting class. In storms Wiseau in a Napoleonic jacket and frilled red velvet blouse, shouting “Stella!” as he tosses chairs and climbs up a stage ladder like King Kong. The friendship that soon develops between these two wannabe thespians—one can’t act, the other doesn’t know he can’t act—is an inherently poignant idea, as are all bonds between big-dreaming losers. But the relationship is vaguely phrased. Wiseau is a quirky, moody space alien, while Sestero is supposed to the pretty boy; it doesn’t help that the Franco brothers are both in their 30s, but are playing characters with a 23-year age difference. The world of the film is ersatz, short on period details apart from Wiseau’s tacky wardrobe (it’s set in the late 1990s and early 2000s), with everyone wearing godawful wigs, the entire lazy enterprise summed up by the embarrassing teddy-bear-fur beard glued to the younger Franco’s face in the second half of the movie.

Of course, one could argue that parts of the film look cheap and phony on purpose, and that The Disaster Artist represents the conceptual apotheosis of Franco’s directing career, which is itself a vanity project. (A random reference to the end of Beau Travail resembles Wiseau’s habit of overambitious quotation; this is possibly intentional.) But the fact is that Franco isn’t a natural filmmaker. This is his 18th feature as a director, and his most mainstream effort to date; after years of hacking unwatchable literary adaptations out of the American canon (John Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle was the most recent victim), he has matured into mediocrity. Commercially speaking, this probably doesn’t matter: The Disaster Artist’s target audience are people who have already semi-memorized The Room and who will appreciate Franco’s studious recreations of scenes from the film, as well as the lengthy clip reel coda that plays his recreated scenes side-by-side with the originals to further demonstrate their studiousness. Maybe for his next movie (he has five in post-production), he can put his grad school grades in the credits.

But will anyone who hasn’t seen The Room actually be able to piece together a sense of this Z-grade sensation from watching The Disaster Artist? Franco has a fan’s affection for Wiseau’s mannerisms, but if his objective was to lionize him as an outsider auteur à la Ed Wood, then he’s failed. The idea that The Room’s strange and bitter qualities are very personal and rooted in some deep pain is obvious to anyone who’s seen the film—except, it seems, to the star and director of this movie. His performance is too gentle to give the character a soul. Franco’s Tommy Wiseau is an oblivious creature who bangs out the script to his mystifying tour de force in a furiously hokey typewriter montage; without any internal conflicts, motivations, or backstory to speak of, his ambitions are simplified into his relationship with Sestero, a character whose two modes are “wide-eyed” and “peeved.”

But The Disaster Artist has something going for it: Wiseau’s ineptitude and penny-ante tyranny on the set. Whether he’s burning through dozens of flubbed takes in front of an exhausted crew (including Seth Rogen as the exasperated script supervisor), insisting on filming a sex scene with his leading lady (Ari Graynor) with all of the members of the cast present, or getting a personal toilet installed in the middle of the soundstage, Wiseau struts his private despotate of fake brick walls like a perfect parody of directorial hubris. And yet, for some reason, these scenes are only a small part of The Disaster Artist. There is a lesson hidden in them: No matter how much time, control, or money you get, this stuff still takes talent.
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https://www.avclub.com/the-disaster-artist-is-a-lousy-tribute-to-the-greatest-1820787988
 
Downsizing - 2/10

I very rarely review films in this thread but I felt like I needed to make you all aware how shit this film is. The trailer sold me this Comedy/Drama with Kristen Wigg, that bit is over in the first 30 minutes. They had a great concept and just executed it poorly. And that god awful Vietnamese pidgin English accent, apparently she was nominated for best supporting actress at golden globes?
 
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