Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

The Master

PIG feck!

Really strange one. At times it’s brilliant with some genuinely uncomfortable moments with Anderson contrasting the unsettlingly 50’s suburban traditional family with Freddie alcoholism. A nice reminder about the realities for many people during the “golden years” of American capitalism.

The con artistry element to modern religion is portrayed well. With top figures knowing they are peddling bullshit while those at the lower levels are using it as a coping mechanism.

Also how the religion controls its members with everything from self help, overt kindness to rage, public torture and total dependency on the organisation. It’s so good at times you almost forget Hoffman is a fraud who is exploiting his followers.

But it really runs out of steam by the en. Feels like it’s really building towards something but then never deliveries.

Overall a good watch.

8/10

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin


Masterpiece

10/10

Also MI2 is the greatest film of all time DOVES FLYING
Many people are saying this.
 
Only now?!
Yep in terms of artistic value it’s crazy how long it’s taken. Carpenter has been influential in pretty much every form of media although
I guess his influence has been delayed(Apart from Halloween).

Which makes sense given his left wing politics and most active in the Reagan years. Plus even at his peak Carpenter was honest about other directors.

 
Only now?!
The Hollywood Walk of Fame thing isn’t really an honour that’s awarded to people, as everyone has to pay to get a star (or someone pays for them), and a lot of people aren’t that bothered about it. There seems to have been a spate of them recently for some reason so I don’t know if they’ve cut the price or something
 
The Hollywood Walk of Fame thing isn’t really an honour that’s awarded to people, as everyone has to pay to get a star (or someone pays for them), and a lot of people aren’t that bothered about it. There seems to have been a spate of them recently for some reason so I don’t know if they’ve cut the price or something
I could be wrong but I think it’s rewarded to the person(After submission)and then it they want a star it cost - $75,000

Yes, it costs money to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! In addition to a $250 fee to submit an application, there is also a sponsorship fee of $75,000 upon selection, which pays for the creation and installation of the star as well as maintenance of the Walk of Fame.

https://people.com/hollywood-walk-of-fame-rules-you-didnt-know-8431908
 
Yep in terms of artistic value it’s crazy how long it’s taken. Carpenter has been influential in pretty much every form of media although
I guess his influence has been delayed(Apart from Halloween).

Which makes sense given his left wing politics and most active in the Reagan years. Plus even at his peak Carpenter was honest about other directors.


I love Altman's work, surprised that Carpenter didn't like at least some of it. He can bash the feck away on Spielberg and Lucas, though. Besides Coppola and Scorsese, Altman is one of the titans of New Hollywood.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller
MASH
The Long Goodbye
3 Women
Nashville
Gosford Park
Buffalo Bill and the Indians
Thieves Like Us
The Player
Vincent And Theo
Come Back to the Five and Dime
A Wedding
Quintet
Kansas City

I didn't like some of his movies, but not every at-bat is a homerun: Popeye, Prêt-a-porter, Short Cuts, OC and Stiggs, Cookie's Fortune, Gingerbread Man, etc. but what a record that guy had! Altman didn't really operate in genre the way Carpenter did, but both of them were iconoclastic and responsible for creating the look and feel of modern movies.
 
The Master

PIG feck!

Really strange one. At times it’s brilliant with some genuinely uncomfortable moments with Anderson contrasting the unsettlingly 50’s suburban traditional family with Freddie alcoholism. A nice reminder about the realities for many people during the “golden years” of American capitalism.

The con artistry element to modern religion is portrayed well. With top figures knowing they are peddling bullshit while those at the lower levels are using it as a coping mechanism.

Also how the religion controls its members with everything from self help, overt kindness to rage, public torture and total dependency on the organisation. It’s so good at times you almost forget Hoffman is a fraud who is exploiting his followers.

But it really runs out of steam by the en. Feels like it’s really building towards something but then never deliveries.

Overall a good watch.

8/10
A valid criticism of Anderson's work. He either keeps the movie going way too long and dilutes its impact (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) or stops the film mid-sentence and abandons half the script (There Will Be Blood, The Master). My favorite PTA film is Inherent Vice, which everyone hates, because at least it had a beginning, middle, and an end. Licorice Pizza can feckkk off.
 
Mickey 17
Really enjoyed the first two thirds of this but the film meanders a lot and many plot-threads get dropped for less interesting pivots, which didn't help the pacing of the film, not helped by the fact that this theme has been covered by this director a few times. The acting was hit and miss. Robert Pattison was really good but what the feck were Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette doing? Ruffalo is shite as expected but I'm disappointed in Collette, she's better than this. But I have to say that for the most part, it is a fun movie that is at least original. The world building was also solid and some fascinating characters, like Steven Yeun, who just needed more development 7/10
Mark-Ruffalo-Walk-of-Fame-020824-b0b2285ea3fe465a8959a32af0157d43.jpg
 
The Hollywood Walk of Fame thing isn’t really an honour that’s awarded to people, as everyone has to pay to get a star (or someone pays for them), and a lot of people aren’t that bothered about it. There seems to have been a spate of them recently for some reason so I don’t know if they’ve cut the price or something

I could be wrong but I think it’s rewarded to the person(After submission)and then it they want a star it cost - $75,000
Hollywood is the thinnest of thin-skinned cities, of course people care about getting a star on the walk of fame. There is an approval committee of 6 people who themselves have a star, and the honoree has to include a couple of mundane things like community service, and the $75,000 check. They get hundreds of applications every year and select about 20. If people care about a goddamn Golden Globe, you bet your ass they care about a star on the HWOF.
 
I actually like him as a person. Seems really nice.
He seems like the slightly dazed, perhaps stoned, classmate who gets picked to give a graduation speech, and then forgets the speech at home and just wings it. Maybe that's his charm, that he never appears to actually be reciting lines written down, that everything he does appears to be improv. Yes, he does seem a decent sort, The Solutions Project is a good idea: https://thesolutionsproject.org/who-we-are/our-values/our-story/ .
 
A valid criticism of Anderson's work. He either keeps the movie going way too long and dilutes its impact (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) or stops the film mid-sentence and abandons half the script (There Will Be Blood, The Master). My favorite PTA film is Inherent Vice, which everyone hates, because at least it had a beginning, middle, and an end. Licorice Pizza can feckkk off.
Yep I really like Magnolia but it going on far too long is definitely true. Felt like a chore by the end. Wants the audience to know it a big epic film(Although tbf There Will Be Blood is probably PTA achieving that).

My favourite stuff is his romantic films -
Punch Drunk Love and Phantom Thread. Imo Anderson best ability is highlighting the weird but relatable habits between two people in a relationship. I still enjoy his other films(Inherent Vice is probably my third favourite)but his world view is never that clear(Or maybe I’m just missing it).

Also remember Fiona Apple saying she quit doing coke because PTA & Quentin Tarantino bored her to death during a binge. Makes me think Anderson is a giant movie nerd above all else.

Hollywood is the thinnest of thin-skinned cities, of course people care about getting a star on the walk of fame. There is an approval committee of 6 people who themselves have a star, and the honoree has to include a couple of mundane things like community service, and the $75,000 check. They get hundreds of applications every year and select about 20. If people care about a goddamn Golden Globe, you bet your ass they care about a star on the HWOF.
Thanks. Had no idea about the 6 people committee.
 
Yep I really like Magnolia but it going on far too long is definitely true. Felt like a chore by the end. Wants the audience to know it a big epic film(Although tbf There Will Be Blood is probably PTA achieving that).

My favourite stuff is his romantic films -
Punch Drunk Love and Phantom Thread. Imo Anderson best ability is highlighting the weird but relatable habits between two people in a relationship. I still enjoy his other films(Inherent Vice is probably my third favourite)but his world view is never that clear(Or maybe I’m just missing it).

Also remember Fiona Apple saying she quit doing coke because PTA & Quentin Tarantino bored her to death during a binge. Makes me think Anderson is a giant movie nerd above all else.


Thanks. Had no idea about the 6 people committee.
After "a couple of hundred" applications are submitted each year, Martinez says a special committee meets annually in June to review and select recipients. The committee, which Martinez suggests and the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Steve Nissen approves, is made up of six Walk of Famers (one per category) and a selection committee chair who is also a Walk of Famer. Martinez notes that former committee members have included Vanessa Williams, LL Cool J, Kristin Chenoweth, Don Mischer and Vin Di Bona.


"Each committee member who has their own star represents their category," she explains. "They get the information ahead of time and then we meet in June and then they go through all the applications. And then we go back and forth and discuss, and that's when they make their selections.”


She adds that the committee members usually serve a two-year term but can extend to four years if they wish. And the makeup of the committee has changed: “It used to be executives, like a movie studio head or a record label person, but then I talked to my boss at the time, like ‘Why don't we have Walk of Famers and they can vote for their peers?’ It's worked out amazingly. We've had some really good people.”


After the committee votes, there are a few additional steps in the selection process, including having the vote “ratified by the board of directors of the chamber,” filing “a permit for each star” and then having the city council give their final approval.
 
The Master

PIG feck!

Really strange one. At times it’s brilliant with some genuinely uncomfortable moments with Anderson contrasting the unsettlingly 50’s suburban traditional family with Freddie alcoholism. A nice reminder about the realities for many people during the “golden years” of American capitalism.

The con artistry element to modern religion is portrayed well. With top figures knowing they are peddling bullshit while those at the lower levels are using it as a coping mechanism.

Also how the religion controls its members with everything from self help, overt kindness to rage, public torture and total dependency on the organisation. It’s so good at times you almost forget Hoffman is a fraud who is exploiting his followers.

But it really runs out of steam by the en. Feels like it’s really building towards something but then never deliveries.

Overall a good watch.

8/10
I need to rewatch this. I remember looking forward to it when it first came out and feeling pretty underwhelmed. It’s my least favorite work of his. although everything from the casting, the look, and the score is amazing, it felt wasteful overall. I still remember the hype when the first teaser dropped. It was amazing.

 
Yep in terms of artistic value it’s crazy how long it’s taken. Carpenter has been influential in pretty much every form of media although
I guess his influence has been delayed(Apart from Halloween).

Which makes sense given his left wing politics and most active in the Reagan years. Plus even at his peak Carpenter was honest about other directors.


slightly masturbatory :lol::lol:
 
The Intern. A 2015 Nancy Meyers film in which Robert De Niro plays a 70 year old retired VP who goes back to work as an intern at a successful e-commerce, where he ends up giving life lessons to the boss. It's fairly simple, but good fun and not too shallow. 4/5

Hard Target. A 1993 John Woo film (his first in Hollywood), with Jean-Claude Van Damme who helps a woman and takes on a sort of gang after her dad was murdered. The story is fairly dumb and the acting is uninteresting, but the film style is great - style over substance, but that's fine in a film like this. 3/5
 
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The Intern. A 2015 Nancy Meyers film in which Robert De Niro plays a 70 year old retired VP who goes back to work as an intern at a successful e-commerce, where he ends up giving life lessons to the boss. It's fairly simple, but good fun and not too shallow. 4/5

Hard Target. A 1993 John Woo film (his first in Hollywood), with Jean-Claude Van Damme who helps a woman and takes on a sort of gang after her dad was murdered. The story is fairly dumb and the acting is uninteresting, but the film style is great - style over substance, but that's fine in a film like this. 3/5
Thank you for your service.
 
Heart Of Stone (2023)
Gal Gadot stars as Rachel Stone, a super spy who has infiltrated MI6 because she’s a double agent who also works for a shadowy international group of ex-spies who go around trying to fix things the CIA and MI6 broke/wont fix.

It’s basically Bond/Bourne/Hunt, except Gadot actually served in the military, is 5’10”, knows how to handle weapons and does Krav Maga for real. Someone who is a Mission Impossible fans should watch this and compare & contrast.

To me, these fights, car chases, shootouts, explosions, skydiving, motorcycle chases all look very good and even though you know they are VFX they don’t necessarily look like it.

There is some country-hopping travel porn here, as Stone races against several clocks to rescue the Dildo of Destiny, a quantum computing (and Bluetooth-enabled) device that can hack anything, anywhere, at any time. It can send pizzas to your boss. It can dismiss that parking ticket. It can tell you what time it is in several different cities at once. Thing is powerful!

Lots of chases fighting shit blowing up double crosses triple crosses. It’s certainly no dumber than anything Ethan Hunt did. It’s better than a lot of Bond movies because it avoids the wanking to wealth and dreary self-importance of Oscar-winning actors hamming it the feck out in space.

Gal/Gadot
 
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Manchester By The Sea

Such a disappointment. Tries to be artsy and an excruciating piece but falls short in many aspects. It's like almost good but just a little too much off.

2/5
 
After "a couple of hundred" applications are submitted each year, Martinez says a special committee meets annually in June to review and select recipients. The committee, which Martinez suggests and the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Steve Nissen approves, is made up of six Walk of Famers (one per category) and a selection committee chair who is also a Walk of Famer. Martinez notes that former committee members have included Vanessa Williams, LL Cool J, Kristin Chenoweth, Don Mischer and Vin Di Bona.


"Each committee member who has their own star represents their category," she explains. "They get the information ahead of time and then we meet in June and then they go through all the applications. And then we go back and forth and discuss, and that's when they make their selections.”


She adds that the committee members usually serve a two-year term but can extend to four years if they wish. And the makeup of the committee has changed: “It used to be executives, like a movie studio head or a record label person, but then I talked to my boss at the time, like ‘Why don't we have Walk of Famers and they can vote for their peers?’ It's worked out amazingly. We've had some really good people.”


After the committee votes, there are a few additional steps in the selection process, including having the vote “ratified by the board of directors of the chamber,” filing “a permit for each star” and then having the city council give their final approval.
Thanks. Honestly I had no idea so much work does into a cement star.
I need to rewatch this. I remember looking forward to it when it first came out and feeling pretty underwhelmed. It’s my least favorite work of his. although everything from the casting, the look, and the score is amazing, it felt wasteful overall. I still remember the hype when the first teaser dropped. It was amazing.


Oh I’ve never seen that trailer. Really cool one.

It might be worth it again for the performances which are great although I’m pretty sure seeing it over a decade later did somewhat ease my disappointment.

slightly masturbatory :lol::lol:
Such a brutal takedown. I wish Carpenter went into more detail. I’ve not watched Nashville but just going off some clips and a director interview I do sort of get Carpenter criticism.
 
Swinging Safari (2018)
“…film starring Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, Radha Mitchell, Julian McMahon, Asher Keddie, and Jeremy Sims. Written and directed by Stephan Elliott, (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”).

Made by a mad bunch of Australians. 3 families with a ton of kids live on the same culdesac in 1974. Parents are all besties until 1 wife decides they should do a “key party” partner swap. Ostensibly it’s a Bildungsroman told via an aspiring filmmaker who is 14, and the girl he loves.

Extremely energetic shots with dozens of kids all doing wacky 70s things like lighting themselves on fire, giving blowies to literally a queue of boys, and behaving like wild animals. Amazing job recreating 70s attire and activities, but hard to tell how much of this is 70s excess (sideburns, cigarettes, KFC buckets, all day drinking, Tupperware) and how much is merely Aussies being Aussies. I need an Australian to watch this and explain how much of it was documentary.

It’s funny, a few laugh out loud moments. It has a fast kinetic pace that doesn’t let up for quite awhile. Impressed with the look and design of the film. All the kids were great. Mitchell and Minogue were very entertaining.

7/10*

*I don't even know what the payoff is supposed to be anymore when watching a film. Did the film make me forget for 2 hours that we are adrift in a meaningless universe on an inescapable slide into decay? Yes, it did. Would I want to watch it again? No. Did I think about other movies I could have watched instead at some point during the run-time? Yes. Was the story a song for the ages that reveals dark truths about the universe? No.
 
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Watched The Gorge last night, which for a Sunday night film, still tipsy from an afternoon of day drinking in the sun, while eating fried chicken, was ok. It's kinda trash, looks a bit shit considering the relatively high budget, some of it is good (Anya Taylor Joy in particular) but is entirely forgettable. But enjoyable watch overall in specific circumstances and no expectations.
 
Hollywood is the thinnest of thin-skinned cities, of course people care about getting a star on the walk of fame. There is an approval committee of 6 people who themselves have a star, and the honoree has to include a couple of mundane things like community service, and the $75,000 check. They get hundreds of applications every year and select about 20. If people care about a goddamn Golden Globe, you bet your ass they care about a star on the HWOF.
It’s still a pretty low bar to get one, with the main requirement being to actually want one. The walk of fame itself is tacky as feck
 
Watched The Gorge last night, which for a Sunday night film, still tipsy from an afternoon of day drinking in the sun, while eating fried chicken, was ok. It's kinda trash, looks a bit shit considering the relatively high budget, some of it is good (Anya Taylor Joy in particular) but is entirely forgettable. But enjoyable watch overall in specific circumstances and no expectations.
It's the fried chicken that made the Gorge palatable.