Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Prometheus is an insult of a film. There's no way that should ever have been allowed to be a part of the Alien franchise. The Alien needs no back story, it needs no explanation. It just is. It's cosmic unknowable horror that will hunt you and either murder you or use you to incubate it's offspring. It's the perfect killing machine and that's all you need to know. Adding all that Jesus bothering mumbo jumbo and creation theory nonsense was just pointless. Especially when they nuked the planned sequel to Aliens with Ripley and Hicks to make it.
 
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

As bad as - or just about as good as - the immediately preceding one. But with marginally better monster fights. A tiny bit better than the last one.

Edit: It's nowhere near a monster bash-em-up fest.
 
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White Noise: The Light (2007)

Why do I do this to myself?

1/10
 
Art Vandelay said:
Prometheus is an insult of a film. There's no way that should ever have been allowed to be a part of the Alien franchise. The Alien needs no back story, it needs no explanation. It just is. It's cosmic unknowable horror that will hunt you and either murder you or use you to incubate it's offspring. It's the perfect killing machine and that's all you need to know. Adding all that Jesus bothering mumbo jumbo and creation theory nonsense was just pointless. Especially when they nuked the planned sequel to Aliens with Ripley and Hicks to make it.
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I have never been more disappointed in a film in my life. The trailer looked amazing (helped by the really jarring "Alien" style music). Prometheus is so terrible I had to write a fecking essay to vent after I saw it.
I think they could have gone into a genuinely interesting story about the Space Jockeys, but this was not it. The film was bizarrely anti-science, horribly loud and badly paced.
The Alien as an evolved super killing machine with no intent other than to procreate and survive spawned by an uncaring Universe is so much more interesting than giant bald dudes.
 
Fingeredmouse said:
I have never been more disappointed in a film in my life. The trailer looked amazing (helped by the really jarring "Alien" style music). Prometheus is so terrible I had to write a fecking essay to vent after I saw it.
I think they could have gone into a genuinely interesting story about the Space Jockeys, but this was not it. The film was bizarrely anti-science, horribly loud and badly paced.
The Alien as an evolved super killing machine with no intent other than to procreate and survive spawned by an uncaring Universe is so much more interesting than giant bald dudes.
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It wasn't just that it was shite, it was just so unnecessary. Like Scott had an idea for a story and decided to hijack the Alien franchise to tell it. It's like doing a prequel to Die Hard, it's going to do nothing but adversely affect the original. The alien just is, we don't need to know why it's there or how it came to be. We know all we need to know about it.

Neil Blomkamp had Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn on board for a direct sequel to Aliens until they cancelled it to go with this nonsense.
 
Art Vandelay said:
It wasn't just that it was shite, it was just so unnecessary. Like Scott had an idea for a story and decided to hijack the Alien franchise to tell it. It's like doing a prequel to Die Hard, it's going to do nothing but adversely affect the original. The alien just is, we don't need to know why it's there or how it came to be. We know all we need to know about it.

Neil Blomkamp had Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn on board for a direct sequel to Aliens until they cancelled it to go with this nonsense.
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I'd argue it was both shite and unnecessary.
 
They tried to tack a soul onto something which - given that the alien is an emblem of nature's 'blind threshing machine' - is soulless. There was no way back once Cameron had shifted the franchise into a mere action-thriller; it's like expecting the shark from Jaws to philosophise. The only thing the Engineers have in common with gods is their mutual inscrutability, and that doesn't necessarily equate to mystery; sometimes it simply means there's a void where we expect mystery and revelation to be.
 
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SteveJ said:
They tried to tack a soul onto something which - given that the alien is an emblem of nature's 'blind threshing machine' - is soulless. There was no way back once Cameron had shifted the franchise into a mere action-thriller; it's like expecting the shark from Jaws to philosophise.
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This time it's personal?
 
The great showman. I did not know it was a musical. My son wanted to watch it and hid the information. In any case I liked it a lot. We were humming the main song for several days. 8/10
Rim of the world. Not bad, it has some funny moments, although it disappoints a bit like all the netflix movies 6/10
The silence. Meh. 4/10
Baby Driver. I liked the first scenes, and I thought that the whole movie was going to be like that. The second half of the movie bored me a bit. The music is good. 6/10
Train to Busan. Very good zombie movie. Already one of my favorites 8/10



 
Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Chucked it on while babysitting for my mate. Good fun.

7/10
 
Mockney said:
I watched Rim of the World for.... some reason, and it’s pretty much the first time I’ve been utterly convinced that a film is actively trolling me, personally.

A Netflix jobby about a bunch of kids at an implausibly Rim named summer camp who get caught up in an alien invasion and have to save the world, solve their story mandated individual issues, and also ride bikes. It’s unsubtly set up as a pandering elaborate nostalgic homage to the kind of Speilbergian Amblin kids adventure films of the 80s. The kind that film & TV makers who grew up in the 80s, and are now powerful and making things, seem obsessed with re-making, or updating, or “paying homage to” whilst simultaneously telling us how no one’s making these kinds of things anymore.

And it does this so bluntly and egregiously, that I became convinced it was going to reveal itself as some kind of Meta-twist comment on the subject by the end. Because I genuinely couldn’t fathom that someone would make (or be allowed to make) a completely straight, on the nose rehash of a bad 1980s kids film in 2019, complete with awful 2D supporting characters and cheesy drama beats, only for adults, without some kind of deconstructionist take on it...

This idea was made all the more convincing by the decision to have each scene dramatically change its colour grading, to (seemingly?) illustrate different kinds of blockbuster aesthetics, starting at the point of the invasion. As well as a completely unironic bit where they all change into garishly branded vaguely retro addidas clothing for absolutely no reason, and then proceed to have a dance montage during the apocalypse. These things were so shamelessly blatant that, coupled with the amusingly bad one note authority figures who kept popping up to earnestly entrust the fate of the World to 4 sports casual branded children, I became more and more convinced that the film was heading towards a denouement where the cheesy aesthetics would be revealed to be a part of some camp game fantasy, or a simulation, or something equally meta where what we were seeing was in some way influenced by the tropes and stereotypes of the kind of films it was paying homage to.

But.... no. No no no. It wasn’t. It genuinely was just another variety of “Hey, remember The Goonies and Stand By Me!?” only EXTRA ... and without any of the updated story and character depth of things like Stranger Things, It, Super 8 or any of the other things they keep making as homages to this very specific type of 80s film that no one is apparently making anymore....apart from all the ones they keep making.

“Well it’s probably for kids” you say?.... Except I’m not sure it is, as it’s weirdly graphic in both violence and sexual humour, which I’m pretty sure is there mostly to amuse the 40 year old dudes watching (and making) this kind of thing, as a giant excersize in nostalgia. Because everything now that’s ostensibly for kids, from Star Wars to animated films, has to also be for the 40 year old Gen Xers who get angry about the new animated iteration of She-Ra not being fit enough to masterbate over. And you know this, because the cultural touchstones these Gen Z kids reference are normal Gen Z stuff, like rubix cubes and the original Star Wars, because why would a 13 year old in 2019 have a different point of reference than a middle aged hack screenwriter?

Also I’m drunk, but whatever. It’s fecking shite.
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Had to watch this, after you gave it such a glowing review.

I see what you mean about Goonies etc but to me the film it most blatantly ripped off was Attack The Block. Stole the premise (motley crew of tweenagers fend off alien invasion) and relocated it to a holiday camp, so Americans can relate.

But yeah, it’s absolutely terrible. I only lasted 30 minutes.
 
Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Decent third entry in the MonsterVerse series with Gojira reprising his role as Earth's favourite guardian and facing off against some of his well-known foes. Once you get past the completely absurd plot and some increasingly annoying characters that you just want to scream at, the final 30 minutes almost makes it worth the effort of sitting through the whole thing.

The thing that I find a little frustrating with these giant monster mayhem movies is that it can be a little difficult to appreciate the full grandeur of the spectacle before you as there is so much going on in so little space. I had the same issue with the Pacific Rim movies…but the Kong: Skull Island kinda worked. However, at least the producers of these movies now understand that if you're going to do a movie of this type you really can't skimp on the effects....and skimp they don't. With the biggest budget of the three films so far, they have done Godzilla and his pals justice. No complaints there.

The realism of these creatures and how they interact with their surroundings mean that your suspension of disbelief is not affected too much. The visuals are great and ramp up several notches towards the climax. However, I must comment about the story and plot. They are so convoluted that they continually take you out of the moment and just as the excitement builds, you find yourself groaning at something completely ridiculous.

Despite the mention of 17 creatures or Titans on the rampage, don’t get too excited. I don’t think the budget would have stretched far enough for all out monster carnage. Still it was enjoyable enough and yeah I would probably watch it again.

I would place it above Godzilla but way below Kong: Skull Island. The next instalment should be pretty spectacular though.

I’m giving this a 7/10.
 
Art Vandelay said:
Neil Blomkamp had Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn on board for a direct sequel to Aliens until they cancelled it to go with this nonsense.
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Yeah I remember that. A Blomkamp helmed Alien movie would have been awesome.
 
Jude Law at the Gates (2001)

Well, I enjoyed it.

7/10
 
SteveJ said:
Jude Law at the Gates (2001)

Well, I enjoyed it.

7/10
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I remember enjoying that too, but it was a long time ago. I'd ask if it's held up well, but you tend to watch films at least a decade after release.
 
SteveJ said:
Jude Law at the Gates (2001)

Well, I enjoyed it.

7/10
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I remember the weird effects they used in the trailer which I was thought was going to be in the film....they weren't. Good cat-and-mouse movie with a bit of Rachel Weisz butt cheek.
 
I flew for 23 hours yesterday and here’s what I learned:

The Sisters Brothers - weirdly unambitious and slight Western from Jacques Audiard. Still, loving Jake Gyllenhaals mid-career pivot into camp, mugging weirdo.

Aquaman - every DC film is worst than the last. Which when you consider Man of Steel was the first (of this chain) tells you how truly reprehensible this film is. Didn’t finish but I hope James Wan ends up in The Hague.

Green Book - if this film came out in 1991 people would still talk of it as a classic like they do with Forrest Gump. We think we’re better than that now, but it won Best Picture. Very stupid film. Viggo’s caricature may be the most racially insensitive thing about this film, which is saying something.

Three Identical Strangers - intriguing story, bad documentary.

I hate aeroplanes.
 
Downfall (2004)

I don't understand the criticism regarding Hitler's portrayal - he is obviously not shown as a 'sympathetic figure'.

9/10
 
Captive State (2019)

Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict - the collaborators and dissidents.
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One of the better Science Fiction films i've seen in a while. If you enjoy Science Fiction give this a go.
 
carvajal said:
The great showman. I did not know it was a musical. My son wanted to watch it and hid the information. In any case I liked it a lot. We were humming the main song for several days. 8/10
Rim of the world. Not bad, it has some funny moments, although it disappoints a bit like all the netflix movies 6/10
The silence. Meh. 4/10
Baby Driver. I liked the first scenes, and I thought that the whole movie was going to be like that. The second half of the movie bored me a bit. The music is good. 6/10
Train to Busan. Very good zombie movie. Already one of my favorites 8/10
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Even though it got some attention and won a few awards I feel the Greatest Showman flew under the radar of many. Probably because there were some other big movies out around the same time. Absolutely entertaining movie though and some very memorable songs. Would love to see it as a Broadway show.
 
Always be my maybe.
Rom-com with Ali Wong and Randall Park. Watched it on Netflix.
Somewhat predictable but has an Asian lead cast so it’s different. Set in San Fran it’s two kids that grew up next door to each other that find each other again after years as Wong had left to pursue her high flying chef career in LA while Park stayed in San Fran and never ventured beyond his neighbourhood.
7/10 for the on screen chemistry plus Wong is so :drool:.

Also, if check out Wong’s Netflix stand up specials. Raunchy.
 
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Memento (2000)

Great stuff, and led me to read interesting things about anterograde amnesia.

8.5/10
 
Godzilla: King of the monsters

Written by a committee of 8 year olds. Risible dialogue, dreadful characterisation, fake jeopardy, the worst attempt at a venereal disease joke in the history of cinema and a meandering half arsed plot. Redeemed slightly by a truly original giant moth and electric lizard monster love story and the fact the monsters looked like Harryhausen designed them.

2/10 ...and at least one of those points is for the love sick moth monster.
 
Gone Girl - about halfway through I realized this movie had tricked me into thinking it was to be taken seriously. Maybe that was the intent, I dunno. Anyway it was wank, and no more so than the last twenty minutes or so. Just enough intrigue in the first part to merit a 3/10.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Had to watch this, after you gave it such a glowing review.

I see what you mean about Goonies etc but to me the film it most blatantly ripped off was Attack The Block. Stole the premise (motley crew of tweenagers fend off alien invasion) and relocated it to a holiday camp, so Americans can relate.

But yeah, it’s absolutely terrible. I only lasted 30 minutes.
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I kinda get where you’re coming from, but Attack The Block very much is a deconstruction. It’s a very modern take, and about black inner city youths on an estate, a demographic rarely served by that kind of film, who are shown to be considered “monsters” themselves initially by Whitaker’s character, and who view the police as such themselves. There’s lots of decontructionalist stuff going on. Whereas this is just basic with a capital B. It’s a film with an entirely 80s-era script plonked into 2019, with absolutely no attempt to do anything interesting or new with it at all. But with weird little hints that it was going to be, that never come to anything! What was the colour grading change about!!? Why did it become an Adidas advert half way through!!? What? WHAT!!???

Anyway... I also watched the other Netflix films that dropped that week, which were somewhat better.

See You Yesterday is also DEFINATELY an 80s movie plonked into 2019, but with a suitable amount of updating and modern social commentary layered on top. And it mostly works well. This is exactly what you should do with a throwback - give it a new, unexplored perspective. Though my one quibble would be that said social themes end up clashing with the fatalistic rules of time travel the film presents, leading them to chicken out of their main character arc a bit....

The lead is set up as impulsive and reckless with the power of time travel, only making things worse every time she interferes, but with the subtext being the inability of disenfranchised black urbanites to change a society stacked against them (and the injustices that just seem to keep repeating themselves, etc) the film makers understandably don’t want to end on a message of utter hopelessness, so they instead have it conclude on a more open ended note, and the possibility that “she might change things if she just keeps trying!”... which, while thematically satisfying (and again, understandable) also kinda means the character ends up not changing and learning nothing, which narratively feels odd.

Always nice to see Michael J Fox in a cameo though...

The Perfection is basically Black Swann by way of Old Boy, in a “that elaborate reveange plan makes absolutely no sense at all, but whatever this is a crazy movie, also lesbian high culture rivals” kinda way.

I’d give both about a 7
 
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