I think I've seen it a long time ago, I'm not sure. I thought I had seen Fargo before too though.
Is it as shit as Fargo?
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
Is it as shit as Fargo?
I dunno, but what I do know is that you're as shit as Skilldy.
I'll watch The Big Lebowski in the next few days but if I don't like it I'll kill you, François!
Boyhood
I was impressed by how cohesive it felt given it was filmed in such a disjointed way. Some very funny scenes and strong performances, but also some weaker moments and I felt it lacked a real emotional hit in the final third of the film. 8/10
I was impressed by how cohesive it felt given it was filmed in such a disjointed way. Some very funny scenes and strong performances, but also some weaker moments and I felt it lacked a real emotional hit in the final third of the film. 8/10
Anyone seen Cloud Atlas? I'm about 30 minutes into it, and it's fecking impossible to follow. Totally lost here. So many different characters and timelines. My DVR says there's another 2.5 hours left to go. Is it worth sticking with?
It's better than it deserves to be with such a disjointed (and at times hokey) story and some laughable 'racing up'
Cheers. Will give it another half hour before hopefully shit starts making sense.
Ape Film - very good, ticked all the boxes. Reeves is a good director for this sort of thing, all his films have been well done. I have no idea how Jason Clarke is becoming a star but it's a win for the Everyman.
Inside Llewyn Davis - good Coen bros. Not their most ambitious but hard to dislike. Oscar Isaac will be big one of these days.
Inside Llewyn Davis - good Coen bros. Not their most ambitious but hard to dislike. Oscar Isaac will be big one of these days.
Just embrace the fact that it doesn't make sense.
I loved it, really ambitious film and it does come together. Really hard to follow at first though, I'll give you that!
@Eboue is a big fan.
Is it as shit as Fargo?
Inside Llewyn Davis is one of their most boring.
The Coen's have made better films than Fargo.
Holy shitballs, just finished watching Cloud Atlas and it blew my mind. Thanks @Mockney @R.N7 @Croque-monsieur for recommending to stick with it. I watched it without any pretense of what it'd be like, and I'm glad I did. Thought it was a pretentious mindfeck in the beginning but ended up really enjoying it. Definitely need to be in the right frame of mind before watching and although at times it can seem disjointed and tedious, the payoff for your patience is rewarded. Visually stunning and incredibly ambitious, the cinematography, soundtrack, and makeup are all top-notch. Beautiful movie. Embarrassing to admit, but it was only after reading its Wikipedia article, was I fully able to connect all the dots between the stories.
Never saw Inside Llewyn Davis, but A Serious Man was pretty boring. And although it's been fecking years since I've seen it, I remembered thinking Barton Fink, for all its acclaim, was also boring.
For my money, Fargo is still the Coen brothers best movie. Although No Country for Old Men is similar, it's missing Fargo's quirkiness and humor. Funniest films are The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.
Glad you enjoyed it! It's a tough film to follow at times but quite rewarding ultimately.
I got a lot of enjoyment out of Inside Llewelyn Davis... just thought it was a nice little character study, and I don't think it was really trying to be anything grander then that.
Begin Again - My memory of this film may be compromised by how in love I was with Keira Knightley whilst watching it - but regardless, I had a really good time with this film... and this is despite the fact that it was a bit daft, had James Cordon in it, had the dude from Maroon 5 singing a lot in it, and came off as a bit wanky at times,... erm, I suppose this is just a testament to how hot I think Keira Knightley is.
Begin Again - My memory of this film may be compromised by how in love I was with Keira Knightley whilst watching it - but regardless, I had a really good time with this film... and this is despite the fact that it was a bit daft, had James Cordon in it, had the dude from Maroon 5 singing a lot in it, and came off as a bit wanky at times,... erm, I suppose this is just a testament to how hot I think Keira Knightley is.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Thought this was ok but not as good as Rise. It was too dimly lit, the human characters were boring and might as well have been cardboard cutouts, the apes were cool but I didn't connect with any of them the way I did with Caeser in Rise. It was a decent film dont get me wrong, but after reading reviews, I hoped it would be better than the average Hollywood blockbuster, but it seemed to be just another big budget blockbuster film... 6/10
Transformers: Age Of Extinction
Better than part 2 and 3 but that isn't saying much. It was full of stupid comedy, product placement, ridiculous Michael Bay-isms and waaaay too long. However, if you like explosions and robots fighting then you may enjoy it, at least in this one you can actually see what is going on compared to the previous two. Also, replacing Shia with Marky Mark worked for me 5/10
House of Good and Evil
A couple with their marriage on the ropes move to a quiet countryside house, suddenly the woman starts seeing and hearing things. Sets up well but ends up flat. A lot of the 'scare' points aren't explained properly, it has a twist in there for the sake of having a twist, and you see it a mile off. Not particularly scary or even too entertaining. You just keep thinking it's about to get better but it doesn't 3.5/10
Vile
A group of people are kidnapped and placed in a house. They have 22 hours to cause each other enough pain to fill up a meter that will release the poisonous mechanic attached to their neck and set them free. This film is in the vein of Saw but done much worse. It's like they mixed the message of Saw with the stupidity of Hostel and this is the result. There were some good bit, like a Nani look-a-like sparking out an annoying bitch with an uppercut but overall it's like being on a ride that is fairly enjoyable but never getting to a destination. The film was just pointless 4/10
Thought this was ok but not as good as Rise. It was too dimly lit, the human characters were boring and might as well have been cardboard cutouts, the apes were cool but I didn't connect with any of them the way I did with Caeser in Rise. It was a decent film dont get me wrong, but after reading reviews, I hoped it would be better than the average Hollywood blockbuster, but it seemed to be just another big budget blockbuster film... 6/10
Transformers: Age Of Extinction
Better than part 2 and 3 but that isn't saying much. It was full of stupid comedy, product placement, ridiculous Michael Bay-isms and waaaay too long. However, if you like explosions and robots fighting then you may enjoy it, at least in this one you can actually see what is going on compared to the previous two. Also, replacing Shia with Marky Mark worked for me 5/10
House of Good and Evil
A couple with their marriage on the ropes move to a quiet countryside house, suddenly the woman starts seeing and hearing things. Sets up well but ends up flat. A lot of the 'scare' points aren't explained properly, it has a twist in there for the sake of having a twist, and you see it a mile off. Not particularly scary or even too entertaining. You just keep thinking it's about to get better but it doesn't 3.5/10
Vile
A group of people are kidnapped and placed in a house. They have 22 hours to cause each other enough pain to fill up a meter that will release the poisonous mechanic attached to their neck and set them free. This film is in the vein of Saw but done much worse. It's like they mixed the message of Saw with the stupidity of Hostel and this is the result. There were some good bit, like a Nani look-a-like sparking out an annoying bitch with an uppercut but overall it's like being on a ride that is fairly enjoyable but never getting to a destination. The film was just pointless 4/10
Going on holiday tomorrow, so I'm planning to download a few films just so I have something to watch in bed 
There's 591 pages in this thread, and I don't really fancy going through all of it. Any instant recommendations?
There's 591 pages in this thread, and I don't really fancy going through all of it. Any instant recommendations?
Prisoners, that I saw yesterday and enjoyed.
Prisoners was awful. Basically a 'how not to be a policeman' guide.
Miller's Crossing.
If it was a documentary, maybe. But it was a good film.
Don't even think it's that much of a 'how not to be a policeman', nothing that drags you out of the film throughout.
(spoilers throughout if any of you care). I don't know, maybe it's because I watched at the cinema as part of a double bill, but I found it completely laughable. Gylenhaal did feck all apart from frowning whenever the camera was on him, there was only one plausible person who could have done the crime and they told you they definitely did right at the start of the film which removed any semblance of tension. Most of the characters were completely underdeveloped and were only there so Jackman could interact with them. If those events happened in real life, there would have been a thorough search for the girls and they would have been found in about 10 minutes. The torture scenes weren't as grim as they were supposed to be, and should have been stopped anyway because it should have been blatantly obvious to the police what was happening. It just didn't work for me on any level really.
It's less Coen-y. I don't think they make shit films, just films that are hard to like.
Of their most recent output I'd put it below Country and True Grit. Definitely better than Burn After Reading and A Serious Man. Too short to be boring and with enough laughs.
American Graffiti - Linklater did this better with Dazed and Confused.
Trees Lounge - Written, directed and starring Steve Buscemi. I couldn't help but thinking of the film Barfly throughout, which I saw not too long ago, as they pretty much have the same themes but Buscemi was better at playing a drunk than Mickey Rourke. I did however prefer the other film's more visceral style to Tree Lounge's 90's indie style. Both worthwhile films but far from being anything really special. Buscemi should be in contention if they do another Bukowski film.
Light Sleeper - Speaking of 90's indie style, you could tell that it was a very personal film by Paul Schrader but I thought it lacked the grittiness of his previous works, like Taxi Driver. The psychic scenes and the Michael Been soundtrack was pretty meh and the film rather forgettable in the end. It's a shame because I thought it had potential.
Trees Lounge - Written, directed and starring Steve Buscemi. I couldn't help but thinking of the film Barfly throughout, which I saw not too long ago, as they pretty much have the same themes but Buscemi was better at playing a drunk than Mickey Rourke. I did however prefer the other film's more visceral style to Tree Lounge's 90's indie style. Both worthwhile films but far from being anything really special. Buscemi should be in contention if they do another Bukowski film.
Light Sleeper - Speaking of 90's indie style, you could tell that it was a very personal film by Paul Schrader but I thought it lacked the grittiness of his previous works, like Taxi Driver. The psychic scenes and the Michael Been soundtrack was pretty meh and the film rather forgettable in the end. It's a shame because I thought it had potential.
And now he's directing low budget films starring LiLo and a porn star. Poor Paul Schrader.
Yeah I don't think I agree with any of those points, so it's easy to understand why I enjoyed it!
No ones talking to you, Paul.
Mishima was such a good film and all.
Lovelace - Gets you feeling all good about how fun the 1970's were and then hits you with the grim reality. Interesting to see the story behind it but hooker/porn star with nasty husband has been done many times before.
Milius - Really enjoyed this docu on the director/screenwriter. Interesting to see how he influenced Coppola, Lucas and Spielberg and many others with his unique style. The Indianapolis scene from Jaws story was fascinating.
History Boys - Shite. A bunch of annoying pricks speechifying and acting smug while a couple of seedy paedophiles hover around them. Why was it set in the 1980's if all you were going to do was to put a few banging tunes at the beginning and nothing else to reference the period? There's no way a group of grammar-school boys from that period are going to be so accepting of homosexuality either.
Milius - Really enjoyed this docu on the director/screenwriter. Interesting to see how he influenced Coppola, Lucas and Spielberg and many others with his unique style. The Indianapolis scene from Jaws story was fascinating.
History Boys - Shite. A bunch of annoying pricks speechifying and acting smug while a couple of seedy paedophiles hover around them. Why was it set in the 1980's if all you were going to do was to put a few banging tunes at the beginning and nothing else to reference the period? There's no way a group of grammar-school boys from that period are going to be so accepting of homosexuality either.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
I'm not sure I've seen a more predictable movie. I was plotting everything out mentally early on and it happened exactly as expected. I realize that since it's a sequel/prequel, it has to be somewhat predictable so that doesn't ruin the film. The acting was all very good, but the characters weren't brilliant, except for Ceasar. It was entertaining, but there was minimal detail paid to character development. There were two characters who weren't central to the story but were involved in one of the more important events of the film and they just disappeared. No explanation, nothing. Overall, it was pretty good but had some deficiencies. 6.5/10
I'm not sure I've seen a more predictable movie. I was plotting everything out mentally early on and it happened exactly as expected. I realize that since it's a sequel/prequel, it has to be somewhat predictable so that doesn't ruin the film. The acting was all very good, but the characters weren't brilliant, except for Ceasar. It was entertaining, but there was minimal detail paid to character development. There were two characters who weren't central to the story but were involved in one of the more important events of the film and they just disappeared. No explanation, nothing. Overall, it was pretty good but had some deficiencies. 6.5/10
I seem to be one of the few who liked Burn After Reading. It's fluff, but it's good fluff. Their worst output of late is easily Gambit.
I didn't dislike Llewyn Davis, it just didn't go anywhere. I remember struggling to describe it to someone immediately after watching. It was basically without a 3rd act. Lots of interesting pondering about aimless failure, but without any conclusion. Which is thematically clever, but still boring. Like when people said Wolf Of Wall Street was meant to be over-indulgent and treat women badly because it was a meta-comment on the subject matter. It may be an excuse, but it doesn't remove the problem.
Isaac was very good, and Goodman's cameo was great (if again, meandering and pointless) but it felt like something that would've demanded at least another 2 drafts from less established writers.
It probably helps if you're massively into folk music too. Which I'm not.
True Grit is probably their least inspired effort in recent years, all the acclaim it got had me bewildered.
I think Inside Llewyn Davis was my favourite film of the last year. I loved just how understated it all was as an exploration of failure and crisis. It kept hinting at some sort of profound resolution but that wouldn't have been true to the tone of the rest of movie. Obviously it helps to have an interest in the folk scene in that era, which I do.
Imo, it's up there with Burn After Reading and No Country as the best Coens films of recent times. True Grit was a disappointment. It was brilliantly made but it all felt very much on the surface, a good attention to detail in terms of the Western setting without anything unique or interesting offered, I barely recognised it as a Coens film.
Of course, all these films pale in comparison to The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou.
Imo, it's up there with Burn After Reading and No Country as the best Coens films of recent times. True Grit was a disappointment. It was brilliantly made but it all felt very much on the surface, a good attention to detail in terms of the Western setting without anything unique or interesting offered, I barely recognised it as a Coens film.
Of course, all these films pale in comparison to The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou.
It wasn't so much of a profound resolution I was after, that certainly would've been a betrayal of the subject matter, but perhaps a more profound unraveling. Not quite enough happened for me. His failure wasn't even that abject, it played out more like a lost weekend than an existential crisis.It was just some stuff. And a cat. And then it ended. The vibe was nice, and the performances were all solid, but nothing about it stood out as very memorable (again, thematically fitting, but to me that's like making a bad film about bad films. It's still bad at the end of the day)
I can't quite remember True Grit that well, but I remember the girl was good. But Gambit was truly awful.
I'm with you on Burn though. It was light Coen fun. Not a classic but eminently watchable.
I can't quite remember True Grit that well, but I remember the girl was good. But Gambit was truly awful.
I'm with you on Burn though. It was light Coen fun. Not a classic but eminently watchable.
A Serious Man was great. Be damned. No Country probably up there with Mulholland Drive as the only all-time classic from the noughties really. Well not really, High Fidelity's up there too, and The Class.
In all honesty, I don't dislike any Coen films, they are all good viewing, and obviously theres plenty of greatness there too.
In all honesty, I don't dislike any Coen films, they are all good viewing, and obviously theres plenty of greatness there too.
Yeah was probably the least Coen like film. Awnyway I Iove Barton Fink...which never ever seems to get a mention. Ever.
True Grit was a good western and better than the original which was admittedly a bit of a turkey.