Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

[CoopersDream]

I watched the film Revenge today. I thought it was a rather stylish and well executed rape-revenge thriller, with quite a nerve to it. It's pretty basic but effective. The main downside being the insane amount of hp of these character, and they seemingly have infinite amound of blood as well. I guess that's pretty standard for action movies anyways.

Short Term 12

Expertly crafted little indie film about a home for neglected and abused kids and the adults that supervise them, some of whom are equally as scarred.

Features relatively early turns from Brie Larson and Rami Malek, but the standout performance is Lakeith Stanfield in his film debut. Both he and Larson are able to convey so much with a look. (Who knew LK could spit bars?)

This is also a perfect example of a film that doesn't waste a single second of its brisk runtime (97mins). It's so rare to genuinely give a shit about every single character, no matter how brief their appearance.

The director (Destin Daniel Cretton) recently got swept up by Marvel to direct Shang-Chi - hopefully his next film is a return to this kind of story: intimate, human and filled with heart. (He's also involved with Tokyo Vice in an executive producing capacity, so I'll be checking that out next.)

Highly recommended! 9/10

Brilliant film indeed. Been a favorite of mine since its release and one of my favorite movies of the '10s. I agree with most everything you say, but consider this to be Brie Larson's best turn. For some reason I've missed seeing the directors other work, but it seems like he made a few good films before he moved on to Marvel.

 

[Salt Bailly]

I agree with most everything you say, but consider this to be Brie Larson's best turn. For some reason I've missed seeing the directors other work, but it seems like he made a few good films before he moved on to Marvel.

She was excellent. It's a close-run thing between her performance in this and Room.

 

[Sweet Square]

Got to watch it @Sweet Square. One of the best shows I’ve seen in terms of storytelling and only saw it thanks to @Salt Bailly ‘s recommendation. Ended up reading about the Japanese occupation of Korea afterwards as well.

Cheers I’ll give the show a watch tonight.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I watched the film Revenge today. I thought it was a rather stylish and well executed rape-revenge thriller, with quite a nerve to it. It's pretty basic but effective. The main downside being the insane amount of hp of these character, and they seemingly have infinite amound of blood as well. I guess that's pretty standard for action movies anyways.


Brilliant film indeed. Been a favorite of mine since its release and one of my favorite movies of the '10s. I agree with most everything you say, but consider this to be Brie Larson's best turn. For some reason I've missed seeing the directors other work, but it seems like he made a few good films before he moved on to Marvel.

that is a good way to describe it. Some of these feckers have troll hide or a +2 cloak of painlessness.

 

[Cheimoon]

I saw Dungeons & Dragons: Honour among Thieves (2023) yesterday. Total dumb fun: a bunch of people of various D&D classes need to go through a couple of quest to get some important item and stop a bad guy. So, fantasy action, but with a lot of humour. And it really is fun. As someone who isn't much into fantasy, I kinda had to ignore of some of the naming, but hey, that's what you get in this sort of context. Overall, I rather enjoyed it. 7/10

 

[calodo2003]

I watched the film Revenge today. I thought it was a rather stylish and well executed rape-revenge thriller, with quite a nerve to it. It's pretty basic but effective. The main downside being the insane amount of hp of these character, and they seemingly have infinite amound of blood as well. I guess that's pretty standard for action movies anyways.


Brilliant film indeed. Been a favorite of mine since its release and one of my favorite movies of the '10s. I agree with most everything you say, but consider this to be Brie Larson's best turn. For some reason I've missed seeing the directors other work, but it seems like he made a few good films before he moved on to Marvel.

I saw Revenge about a month ago & agree with your sentiments. I'd say it was a 7.5 / 10.

 

[CoopersDream]

Went to see Poor Things tonight. While I have liked a few of Yorgos' films I have not really been a big fan. Poor Things didn't really change that. It's undeniably very well made and it's hilarious at times. Acting is on point with Ruffalo as my standout. However, I can't help but to think that the weirdness serves itself rather than the film and this brings me out of the film. I still enjoyed it quite a bit and I totally see the appeal - just not quite for me. 7/10

that is a good way to describe it. Some of these feckers have troll hide or a +2 cloak of painlessness.

Yep

I saw Revenge about a month ago & agree with your sentiments. I'd say it was a 7.5 / 10.

Yeah, I gave it 3.5/5 myself.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Aquaman 2
Massive fan of James Wan and I actually quite enjoyed the first Aquaman movie but this was really bad. It just felt like DCEU admitting they've been copying MCU and that they're trolls. It had a few good action sequences and some scenes were clearly inspired by the horror genre and felt tense but overall this was a CGI mess with a flaky story and zero characterisation. It also looked cheap despite the astronomical budget. With the announcement of the "old" DCEU disbanding, I think this film was dead on arrival. But there was good chemistry between Mamoa and Wilson and there were enough good scenes to not make it a total waste of time 4/10

Rebel Moon
Why does Charlie Hunnam always have a dodgy accent in every film? Do you think he puts "master of accents" on his CV or something? Anyway...This film got a lot of hate but to be honest, I didn't hate it. Again, like the above, it looked cheap for a film of such high budget but at least there were some interesting character designs and world building and just felt like a decent switch-your-brain-off popcorn flick and it succeeded in doing that. Also had some great looking slow motion action sequences, which is to be expected from Snyder. I'll happily watch the second one 6/10

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Aquaman 2
Massive fan of James Wan and I actually quite enjoyed the first Aquaman movie but this was really bad. It just felt like DCEU admitting they've been copying MCU and that they're trolls. It had a few good action sequences and some scenes were clearly inspired by the horror genre and felt tense but overall this was a CGI mess with a flaky story and zero characterisation. It also looked cheap despite the astronomical budget. With the announcement of the "old" DCEU disbanding, I think this film was dead on arrival. But there was good chemistry between Mamoa and Wilson and there were enough good scenes to not make it a total waste of time 4/10

Rebel Moon
Why does Charlie Hunnam always have a dodgy accent in every film? Do you think he puts "master of accents" on his CV or something? Anyway...This film got a lot of hate but to be honest, I didn't hate it. Again, like the above, it looked cheap for a film of such high budget but at least there were some interesting character designs and world building and just felt like a decent switch-your-brain-off popcorn flick and it succeeded in doing that. Also had some great looking slow motion action sequences, which is to be expected from Snyder. I'll happily watch the second one 6/10

Listen, Schweini, people love you, it's not too late. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Also, Charlie Hunnam is one of the worst actors in the biz. I have yet to see him play a role that actually suits him. I had to stop watching Sons of Anarchy because he was so ridiculous in it, don't even get me started on Greenstreet Hooligans (as it was called here). More recent offerings like the Papillon remake and Lost City of Z sealed it. He's got all the range of a ham sandwich, and as you point out, his accents are fecking dire.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Listen, Schweini, people love you, it's not too late. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Also, Charlie Hunnam is one of the worst actors in the biz. I have yet to see him play a role that actually suits him. I had to stop watching Sons of Anarchy because he was so ridiculous in it, don't even get me started on Greenstreet Hooligans (as it was called here). More recent offerings like the Papillon remake and Lost City of Z sealed it. He's got all the range of a ham sandwich, and as you point out, his accents are fecking dire.

I know man, my film taste is awful and I fully own up to that

 

[The Corinthian]

I watched Animal over the weekend, a bloated 3 hour 25 min Bollywood movie. There's very few redeeming qualities about this movie. The plot is all over the place, the main character is annoying, the acting hammy and the action scenes, even for Bollywood, are so over the top. The film only really picks up when Bobby Deol enters and he ends up stealing every scene he's in. His introductory scene has gone viral, and it's pretty epic:


Overall, I'd give it a 2.5/10

 

[Unam333]

Listen, Schweini, people love you, it's not too late. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Also, Charlie Hunnam is one of the worst actors in the biz. I have yet to see him play a role that actually suits him. I had to stop watching Sons of Anarchy because he was so ridiculous in it, don't even get me started on Greenstreet Hooligans (as it was called here). More recent offerings like the Papillon remake and Lost City of Z sealed it. He's got all the range of a ham sandwich, and as you point out, his accents are fecking dire.

Whatcha talkin bout Willis? Charlie Hunman was fantastic in Pacific Rim.
He's the hero the world needs, but not the one it deserves right now"

There, I said it!

 

[Salt Bailly]

Whatcha talkin bout Willis? Charlie Hunman was fantastic in Pacific Rim.
He's the hero the world needs, but not the one it deserves right now"

There, I said it!

The "Aussie" accents in that movie gave me nightmares. I think they hired those guys on purpose to make Hunnam look good by comparison.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Whatcha talkin bout Willis? Charlie Hunman was fantastic in Pacific Rim.
He's the hero the world needs, but not the one it deserves right now"

There, I said it!

I forgot he was in that. I thought it was Charlie Day.

The "Aussie" accents in that movie gave me nightmares. I think they hired those guys on purpose to make Hunnam look good by comparison.

 

[Bilbo]

Listen, Schweini, people love you, it's not too late. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Also, Charlie Hunnam is one of the worst actors in the biz. I have yet to see him play a role that actually suits him. I had to stop watching Sons of Anarchy because he was so ridiculous in it, don't even get me started on Greenstreet Hooligans (as it was called here). More recent offerings like the Papillon remake and Lost City of Z sealed it. He's got all the range of a ham sandwich, and as you point out, his accents are fecking dire.

He wasn't horrible in The Gentleman

 

[Sweet Square]

The Iron Claw

Terrible Ric Flair impression but Zac Efron is brilliant. Overall it’s a standard A24 film. It’s decent enough.

7/10

 

[Bobade]

He wasn't horrible in The Gentleman

His best performance by a country mile, I'd say. He's pretty dreadful in Sons of Anarchy, but the whole thing is hammy as feck so you don't really care as much as you should.

 

[SalfordRed18]

The Iron Claw

Terrible Ric Flair impression but Zac Efron is brilliant. Overall it’s a standard A24 film. It’s decent enough.

7/10

Perhaps I'm bias but it was a 9/10 for me. Truly heartbreaking.

My only "gripe" was that they left out one of the brothers, the youngest. His life went exactly the way you think it did if you didn't know already and you're wondering.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

I finally watched Benedetta yesterday and once again Verhoeven walks a tight rope and pulls it off. There's many different themes that are at the heart of the film, such as sexual freedom and its relationship to religion, ambition, etc. but it never feels messy or muddled. It's also a very pretty film to watch, and I'm not only referring to the fact that Virginie Effira is nude in large parts of it, though I'm also mainly referring to the fact that Virginie Effira is nude in large parts of it (helps that she's been a massive crush of mine for the best part of 2 decades). It's exhilarating, it's a lot of fun, seeing a sword swinging Jesus on a horse beheading people in visions was pretty fecking awesome, and yeah it's just a really great film.

Verhoeven needs to make more films.

 

[Nickelodeon]

I watched Animal over the weekend, a bloated 3 hour 25 min Bollywood movie. There's very few redeeming qualities about this movie. The plot is all over the place, the main character is annoying, the acting hammy and the action scenes, even for Bollywood, are so over the top. The film only really picks up when Bobby Deol enters and he ends up stealing every scene he's in. His introductory scene has gone viral, and it's pretty epic:


Overall, I'd give it a 2.5/10

Did not expect a (quite poor) Bollywood movie to be mentioned here. In case anyone finds it interesting, laying out a few more facts about this movie and the overall controversy it has generated since it's release a couple of months back.

• The director's (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) had only directed two previous movies. Both were the same movie, it was made first in a regional language and then a wider released Bollywood version. Both were big commercial successes.
• The overall criticism the director faced was that the movies had a misogynistic protagonist and the movie seemed to glorify it. The main character slapping his partner and displaying other emotionally and physically abusive behavior were the highlights of the film. The director doubled down and defended his movie as well as the characters.
• When Animal released, it seemed that the purpose of the entire movie is to carry the same misogyny through the lead character and build an extremely flimsy plot around it. Some examples include:
  • When the lead character is flirting with his friend's sister who is recently engaged to another person, he says 'You have a big pelvis. It's perfect for carrying healthy babies'. The woman naturally couldn't resist the charm.
  • When the guy is at a party, he says 'Women shouldn't drink Whiskey, wine is enough for them',
  • When he's having an affair, he shows his team of bodyguards a love-bite on his mistresses neck and orders them to buy a car of the same color
• This movie was even more successful commercially but naturally critics criticized the misogyny as well as the lack of a story, editing or any redeeming qualities.
• The director went full Joey Barton and through the official X handle of the movie, individually name checked and attacked every single critic or industry veterans who said anything remotely critical about the movie or even mentioned the term 'misogyny' in some cases. He has also promised to ensure that any future movies are even 'worse'.

 

[AlexUTD]

The Creator 9/10.

Really great movie that makes you think about AI and humanity.

Almost cried 2 times, so i think i need to go to my doctor and ask if i can get a shot of testosterone, the levels might be low.

 

[Salt Bailly]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Actually, that's a half-lie. I didn't initially expect something like this until I discovered Lanthimos was the director a few weeks ago. At that point, I kind of expected it to have an air of the surreal, but mostly thought it'd be more grounded, like The Favourite. How wrong I was. Lanthimos really is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood.

The basic premise is that a surgeon befriends the son of a man that died on his operating table but who is not as...friendly...as he first seems. I won't say any more, as going into this blind made it all the more brilliant. Keoghan is a special actor.

8/10

 

[The Corinthian]

Did not expect a (quite poor) Bollywood movie to be mentioned here. In case anyone finds it interesting, laying out a few more facts about this movie and the overall controversy it has generated since it's release a couple of months back.

• The director's (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) had only directed two previous movies. Both were the same movie, it was made first in a regional language and then a wider released Bollywood version. Both were big commercial successes.
• The overall criticism the director faced was that the movies had a misogynistic protagonist and the movie seemed to glorify it. The main character slapping his partner and displaying other emotionally and physically abusive behavior were the highlights of the film. The director doubled down and defended his movie as well as the characters.
• When Animal released, it seemed that the purpose of the entire movie is to carry the same misogyny through the lead character and build an extremely flimsy plot around it. Some examples include:
  • When the lead character is flirting with his friend's sister who is recently engaged to another person, he says 'You have a big pelvis. It's perfect for carrying healthy babies'. The woman naturally couldn't resist the charm.
  • When the guy is at a party, he says 'Women shouldn't drink Whiskey, wine is enough for them',
  • When he's having an affair, he shows his team of bodyguards a love-bite on his mistresses neck and orders them to buy a car of the same color
• This movie was even more successful commercially but naturally critics criticized the misogyny as well as the lack of a story, editing or any redeeming qualities.
• The director went full Joey Barton and through the official X handle of the movie, individually name checked and attacked every single critic or industry veterans who said anything remotely critical about the movie or even mentioned the term 'misogyny' in some cases. He has also promised to ensure that any future movies are even 'worse'.

I'm not particularly au fait with Bollywood generally, but you're quite right, and it's all the things my wife mentioned to me prior to watching (although she did say his first movie Kabir Singh was much better, but I have no inclination to watch it).

There's also homages to No Country for Old Men and Oldboy in there, which I'm not sure quite worked.

Most of the bullet points above is leans in to why it's such a crap movie - it's a relic of a day / time that's gone. I also found it, not necessarily Islamophobic, but intentionally putting the Muslims in a really poor light (maybe that is Islamophobic) and maybe its the wider propaganda angle we're seeing being pumped out of Bollywood at the moment where Muslims = Bad (eg Baaghi 3). For example, the scene where the protagonist is literally cheating on his wife is shown as poetic love making, with a acoustic hindi song, and very sensual and soft shots of two bodies in rhythm. The wedding night for Bobby Deol's character (a Muslim), is shown to be forceful almost violent, where the groom has blood on his face after murdering someone, where there's no sensuality, and the two other wives are having to witness it. It's just such hammy screenwriting and really on the nose...even for Bollywood!

All in all, it's a shit movie, and the end credits scene where they're teasing a sequel looked even worse.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Actually, that's a half-lie. I didn't initially expect something like this until I discovered Lanthimos was the director a few weeks ago. At that point, I kind of expected it to have an air of the surreal, but mostly thought it'd be more grounded, like The Favourite. How wrong I was. Lanthimos really is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood.

The basic premise is that a surgeon befriends the son of a man that died on his operating table but who is not as...friendly...as he first seems. I won't say any more, as going into this blind made it all the more brilliant. Keoghan id a special actor.

8/10

The spaghetti scene was brilliant

 

[Salt Bailly]

The spaghetti scene was brilliant

So unsettling The cafeteria scene was the one that caught me off guard.

 

[Loon]

I finally watched Benedetta yesterday and once again Verhoeven walks a tight rope and pulls it off. There's many different themes that are at the heart of the film, such as sexual freedom and its relationship to religion, ambition, etc. but it never feels messy or muddled. It's also a very pretty film to watch, and I'm not only referring to the fact that Virginie Effira is nude in large parts of it, though I'm also mainly referring to the fact that Virginie Effira is nude in large parts of it (helps that she's been a massive crush of mine for the best part of 2 decades). It's exhilarating, it's a lot of fun, seeing a sword swinging Jesus on a horse beheading people in visions was pretty fecking awesome, and yeah it's just a really great film.

Verhoeven needs to make more films.

ELLE (2016) is a nice return to psycho-sexual thrillers of the past such as THE FOURTH MAN (1983). I believe he's returning to make American films soon.

 

[Sweet Square]

Perhaps I'm bias but it was a 9/10 for me. Truly heartbreaking.

I think most people agree with you as it’s got pretty great reviews. I’m probably a bit harsh on the film as everything is really solid from the directing, performances, writing, cinematography etc. But that’s sort of the problem I had with it. It’s a very good traditional film which isn’t I’m into at the moment. Still I’m surprised it didn’t get any Oscar nods.

My only "gripe" was that they left out one of the brothers, the youngest. His life went exactly the way you think it did if you didn't know already and you're wondering.

Cheers. I didn’t know that. The film did make me want to look more into Von Erich family history more.

 

[Vidyoyo]

@Sweet Square there's a Verhoeven discussion taking place

 

[Unam333]

ELLE (2016) is a nice return to psycho-sexual thrillers of the past such as THE FOURTH MAN (1983). I believe he's returning to make American films soon.

He really should. Very talented director, but he only made like what? 15 movies and he's almost 90.

 

[Loon]

He really should. Very talented director, but he only made like what? 15 movies and he's almost 90.

Yup. Though I'm sure he could continue to get projects financed outside of the US.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

The Creator 9/10.

Really great movie that makes you think about AI and humanity.

Almost cried 2 times, so i think i need to go to my doctor and ask if i can get a shot of testosterone, the levels might be low.

This is a safe space, Alex.

 

[Redplane]

This is a safe space, Alex.

In his defense..I felt like crying watching that movie too. Because it was so bad.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

In his defense..I felt like crying watching that movie too. Because it was so bad.

I think we are going to have go to VAR on this one. Alex is finally in touch with his feminine side after watching this movie, and you want to go a murder rampage because of the same movie.

 

[diarm]

The Creator 9/10.

Really great movie that makes you think about AI and humanity.

Almost cried 2 times, so i think i need to go to my doctor and ask if i can get a shot of testosterone, the levels might be low.

I watched this the other night and thought it was absolute shite.

Their understanding of what AI is, is broadly along the lines of what I'd expect if I asked my tech illiterate 70 year old mother to explain AI.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I saw Dungeons & Dragons: Honour among Thieves (2023) yesterday. Total dumb fun: a bunch of people of various D&D classes need to go through a couple of quest to get some important item and stop a bad guy. So, fantasy action, but with a lot of humour. And it really is fun. As someone who isn't much into fantasy, I kinda had to ignore of some of the naming, but hey, that's what you get in this sort of context. Overall, I rather enjoyed it. 7/10

I haven't seen this because the trailer put me off, but I did have a couple questions: do they have any clever puzzles or traps for the campaigners to solve, or is it basic cut 'n' thrust? Do they utilize the different classes and alignments to come up with anything?

In a semi-related tangent, in a few episodes of Sword Art Online, they show how a dungeon raid is supposed to work, with tanks in the front, clerics casting constant healing spells in the back, and the quickest fighters darting in and striking then retreating. I'd never seen it portrayed like this, which is what you do in a D&D game to avoid dying.

 

[Cheimoon]

I haven't seen this because the trailer put me off, but I did have a couple questions: do they have any clever puzzles or traps for the campaigners to solve, or is it basic cut 'n' thrust? Do they utilize the different classes and alignments to come up with anything?

In a semi-related tangent, in a few episodes of Sword Art Online, they show how a dungeon raid is supposed to work, with tanks in the front, clerics casting constant healing spells in the back, and the quickest fighters darting in and striking then retreating. I'd never seen it portrayed like this, which is what you do in a D&D game to avoid dying.

I've never played D&D and don't really care for that sort of thing, so it's not something I paid attention to; but generally, I would say no. It's basically a fantasy adventure film set in a D&D realm, and the character do things as you'd expect from their personality. For myself, if I hadn't read somewhere that the group of main characters together represent D&D's main character classes, I never would have known. But as a D&D fan, you might recognize these things, and maybe it's really all quite clever - I just have no idea.

 

[AlexUTD]

This is a safe space, Alex.

The Caf and safe space in the same sentence seems wrong in a way mate

In his defense..I felt like crying watching that movie too. Because it was so bad.

Was it that bad? with so many bad movies coming out of "woke" hollywood this was not bad in my humble opinion, but maybe it was that time of the month for me i dunno!

I think we are going to have go to VAR on this one. Alex is finally in touch with his feminine side after watching this movie, and you want to go a murder rampage because of the same movie.

I am a metalhead, full of tattoos. It was not my proudest moment....

I watched this the other night and thought it was absolute shite.

Their understanding of what AI is, is broadly along the lines of what I'd expect if I asked my tech illiterate 70 year old mother to explain AI.

Well of course this AI was not accurate.

What this movie made me think if is that humans are complex but also primitive with going to war with what they do not understand. It reminded me of a old movie called Enemy Mine where a human befriends a alien.

Maybe it reminded me of better times or the mortality of family.

 

[Salt Bailly]

I enjoyed it, @AlexUTD!

The visuals were extraordinary.

 

[diarm]

Well of course this AI was not accurate.

What this movie made me think if is that humans are complex but also primitive with going to war with what they do not understand. It reminded me of a old movie called Enemy Mine where a human befriends a alien.

Maybe it reminded me of better times or the mortality of family.

Fair enough. I guess I was just too annoyed at their portrayal of AI to even consider what other messages the film was trying to portray.

I knew what the two main "twists" of the film were going to be within the first 5 minutes and then spent the rest of the movie muttering angrily to myself about how any AI that was advanced enough to be worrying about this much, would simply have wiped the US off the face of the planet already.

 

[AlexUTD]

I enjoyed it, @AlexUTD!

The visuals were extraordinary.

Good to hear that there are more of us that liked it mate!

And yes the visuals were somethhing else agreed!

Fair enough. I guess I was just too annoyed at their portrayal of AI to even consider what other messages the film was trying to portray.

I knew what the two main "twists" of the film were going to be within the first 5 minutes and then spent the rest of the movie muttering angrily to myself about how any AI that was advanced enough to be worrying about this much, would simply have wiped the US off the face of the planet already.

Hehe it is annoying when you understand the plot twists from start that i an understand mate And i totally agree that the AI would bury us long before we could fight back.

But the thing that made me think is that it is only us humans that think that we need to control and dominate others. If you take out the emotions then it does not make sense to go to war or dominate others or risk dying ?

I mean a AI would not think that would make any sense, cause it is not primitive and have emotions.