I just hated every character in it and so had zero interest in what happened to them and stopped watching.
Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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100% agree with all of this. It's a gem of a film.
Concerning Adam Sandler, have you seen Punch Drunk Love? Very good performance from him in that. Different from Uncut Gems, but very moving.
The Wishmaster - I saw this years and years ago when it first came out, watched it again last night. Basic premise is an ancient djinn causing havoc in Persia is locked inside a jewel by the sultan’s sorcerer. It then goes to present day and that jewel makes its way to a woman who unknowingly wakes the djinn up. The djinn in its bid to find the woman grants people ‘wishes’ which all take on a dark turn. It’s a movie so bad that it’s good. Would not recommend unless you hate yourself.
Yeah, that was my issue at all. I could appreciate the art, @Wing Attack Plan R, but I just deeply disliked the story I was watching, which makes it very hard to enjoy the film.
It's like with Smashing Pumpkins: I know some of their early albums are supposed to be very good technically, and I normally like that stuff; but I find their music so profoundly ugly that I just can't hear anything else in it.
Punch Drunk Love was great. Not the sort of romcom to watch on a date though, in my experience.
Indeed, bad choice. I usually just stick with Cannibal Holocaust for a first date.
And play some Cannibal Corpse over a candle-lit dinner to stay in theme?
(skull candleholders, duh)
On the other hand, Punch Drunk Love is an excellent taste check. I mean, if the date can't appreciate or laugh about it, clearly it's not gonna work out. End it there and then.
A bit extreme to resort to murder on the first date, if you ask me, Cheimoon...
I think it’s only murder if he gets caught.
also, I never saw Punch Drunk Love because I don’t like that director’s style, but I’ve been meaning to see cuz everyone has said it’s good.
Recently saw Midsommar, the follow up film from the Heriditary director. It’s a horror film ostensibly but plays more like a classic suspense film. His style is interesting because he has so many detours and little details that go away from the typical fast paced horror style. He’s part of the new breed of horror films that have been basically a golden age/renaissance to the genre, films like It Follows, You’re Next, Let the Right One In, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Lights Out, and both of this guy’s films.
No, Get Out doesn’t qualify.
It's only
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Hereditary is the superior movie between the two. However, I really enjoyed Midsommar. It could have done without that explicit nude scene. Man, that was annoyingly loud (you know which one I mean), but I guess even that has a purpose.
Hereditary definitely scores a 9 for me.
Midsommar: 7,5
The Unforgivable
I saw the trailer on Netflix two days ago and my first reaction was: nah, I'll watch a Christmas movie instead.
Well, today I decided it's time to watch The Unforgivable. Thankfully the movie didn't disappoint. Sandra Bullock is great in this one and a couple of scenes were really powerful and impressive.
Score: 8,5
Sure, "member"... Trying to deflect by making no sense I see
Bugger, bestest joke of the year ruined by autocorrect...
Yeah agree. Good Time is far better fit and more original than Uncut Gems. Although personal I think my favourite is the soundtrack to Only Heaven Knows What.
I felt the opposite. I thought Hereditary was alright but never really captured me whereas Midsommar was the superior realization and execution of the concepts with the lessons learned from Hereditary. Hereditary would be a 6.5 for me while Midsommar would be an 8.5
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This doesn't need much introduction I suppose. The story is fairly thin (and a little confusing at times), but the action and settings are great. Although I suppose the 'flying' would have looked better when the film came out in 2000; it looks a little clumsy now. Anyway, a great martial arts film. (At least for someone fairly inexperienced with the genre like me.)
As a massive aficionado of wuxia I can provide a little content. The movie is based on an iconic pentalogy of novels from the 30s-40s by Wang Dulu who was really a pioneer of the genre and influenced the three most well known writers that came after whom a lot of movies and shows are based on.
The movie takes parts from books 3 and books 4 and alludes to the other novels (a lot of Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh's background is from Book 2). The movie also streamlines some of the complex story which is a multigenerational tale of four couples - Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh being one and Lo and Jen (the Tiger and Dragon of the movie) being another. The story might seem a little confusing (though I wouldn't say it's thin) because a lot of the complexity is stripped down for the movie. There are tons of "easter eggs" in the movie that refer to other parts of the novels.
The "sequel" movie actually tells a lot of the story from Book 2 and adds a new ending after what would have been Book 4 - it doesn't deal with the Book 5 story at all.
I can totally understand why they made those choices for 2000 era wuxia movie, but for me it would have been cooler had they done 5 movies based on the 5 novels, although that probably doesn't fit with a Western audience. I am surprised though with how many remakes mainland China and Hong Kong have done of other famous wuxia works that it was never made into a 36-50 episode series. It could be amazing if they did it (and certainly better than some of the 50-episode remakes they've green lit recently) especially if Zhang Jizhong took the project on.
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I always thought the tiger and dragon were the two women of the movie. I'd be a bit disappointed if the bolded part was author-confirmed.
Does Jen leave Lo in a similar manner in the books? Does she reappear in the next book?
Yeah, the pairing definitely refers to Lo as Tiger and Jen as Dragon. It makes more sense in the context of the entire book series though. I suppose with just the movie though it could be interpreted other ways like you did.
Yes, and also yes, but the 5th book focuses more on the next generation Jen and Lo have a son.
I felt the same.
Thanks. I can totally picture how Jen and Lo would have been portrayed as the tiger/dragon/hidden heroes in the book series.
My favorite thing about it are the scenes out west in what I guess is supposed to be Xinjiang. Incredible desert and mountain scenery.
I finally watched Scorsese's Silence last night, a film I'd been putting off for no real reason for a long time. I thought it was a rather gorgeous film about faith in general, and keeping one's faith in the face of oppression, set in a really interesting context I knew nothing about (the inquisition of catholics in 17th century Japan). It's a rather gorgeous film, as you'd expect with Scorsese, and it's quite removed from some of his more frantic work, taking its time to slowly set the scene, develop the characters and share just how hard it was for those who decided to uphold their faith in that era. The film is carried by three amazing leads in Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson, Garfield being the one who has the most screentime and giving an amazing portrayal of Rodrigues, torn between his faith and his more basic humanity. It's a subtle performance, and really shows how good an actor he is.
Ending of the film I was slightly down cos I'd just received a positive covid test result, and had to cancel flights, so I think the film will stay in mind for more reasons than one
But yeah, strongly recommended, and another great addition to Scorsese's pretty immense filmography.
Ending of the film I was slightly down cos I'd just received a positive covid test result, and had to cancel flights, so I think the film will stay in mind for more reasons than one
But yeah, strongly recommended, and another great addition to Scorsese's pretty immense filmography.
Sorry but while this post is over a decade old and I’m sure dumbo has seen the error of his ways. I still can’t associate myself with someone who at one point thought Terminator 2 wasn’t the peak of western cinema!
Surely only a timeline where the last fifteen minutes of E.T. didn't already exist.
Yeah I take it back too. Imagine thinking T2 is better than Alien
It is indeed supposed to be XInjiang: when Lo disturbs the wedding parade, he keeps shouts 'return to Xinjiang with me'!
Actually, when Lo leaves her along in the cave to take her bath and sings his song outside, my wife and I were saying to each other how Turkish the song sounds, and were wondering if he is supposed to be an Uyghur or Turkmen. So the Xinjiang reference later on seemed very fitting to us.
Yeah, I got the general idea of that from Wikipedia, if not in that much detail. You're right that 'thin' isn't the right word for the story; messy fits better. Maybe it shows that they tried to cram bits from multiple books into one film.
I saw this when it came out in the cinema and thought it was brilliant. Doesn’t get the same regard as Scorsese’s other repertoire, but I think it’s one of his best. A very subtle movie. I thought Adam Driver outperforms Garfield personally, but agree that all three put in top performances.I finally watched Scorsese's Silence last night, a film I'd been putting off for no real reason for a long time. I thought it was a rather gorgeous film about faith in general, and keeping one's faith in the face of oppression, set in a really interesting context I knew nothing about (the inquisition of catholics in 17th century Japan). It's a rather gorgeous film, as you'd expect with Scorsese, and it's quite removed from some of his more frantic work, taking its time to slowly set the scene, develop the characters and share just how hard it was for those who decided to uphold their faith in that era. The film is carried by three amazing leads in Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson, Garfield being the one who has the most screentime and giving an amazing portrayal of Rodrigues, torn between his faith and his more basic humanity. It's a subtle performance, and really shows how good an actor he is.
Ending of the film I was slightly down cos I'd just received a positive covid test result, and had to cancel flights, so I think the film will stay in mind for more reasons than one
But yeah, strongly recommended, and another great addition to Scorsese's pretty immense filmography.
Oh I have a massive man crush on Driver, and thought he was excellent, just that he had less screen time than Garfield. One scene with him was particularly harrowing, I guess you'll know which one I'm referring to as you've seen it.
Just got back from Licorice Pizza and it's alright. Great fun for the first hour but kinda wanes after and I was honestly wondering what the feck is happening for a good chunk but the cast do a great job and it's got a strong nostalgia vibe. It's similar to PTA's adaptation of Inherent Vice in terms of being more style than substance. Maybe also a little self-indulgent at times.
Edit - Just read it was basically a personal project for him and that he cast loads of his mates and family. Makes sense.
Edit - Just read it was basically a personal project for him and that he cast loads of his mates and family. Makes sense.
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I think we need to ask ourselves as a society what do we value more, the relationship between humanity and a small orange disgusting alien or watching a giant Austrian robot dad getting lowered in hot steel.
dumbo doesn't understand a true artist like CameronYeah I take it back too. Imagine thinking T2 is better than Alien
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The Power of the Dog Jane Campion's first film in a whole. Nicely shot, quality acting and as subtle as ever if a bit slow and long-winded. Worth a watch but nowhere near as good as The Piano largely because it had quite low ambition, so that at the end you were left thinking "so what"? 7/10
Spider Man: No Way Home Entertaining enough although I suspect I would have enjoyed it far more if I'd seen all of the Spiderman films, and not just the original 3, and whatever films the magician guy has been in. Fans of superhero films will like it I suspect. 7/10
Spider Man: No Way Home Entertaining enough although I suspect I would have enjoyed it far more if I'd seen all of the Spiderman films, and not just the original 3, and whatever films the magician guy has been in. Fans of superhero films will like it I suspect. 7/10
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I think part of it is also what Western audiences are used to, typically a very linear storyline that only follows one or two main characters. It's common in classic wuxia to switch gears mid-story and start developing a character that may be a minor character or might be a new character completely. I have some friends that have found that confusing when watching wuxia shows I recommended. Personally, I didn't find it messy but can see how some people I know were more confused with watching it. Still, I loved the movie and for me, it was definitely a superior film to Gladiator that year (which I also really enjoyed).
No, that didn't bother me. I think I felt there was too much context with lose ends or that's underexplored. I also wasn't convinced by Jen's development as a character and how Jade Fox pops up in the story when it's convenient, and otherwise doesn't really exist - all of which sounds like stuff that probably works better in the full book version.
Other way around, by far.
Best film of the year: TITANE.
Hereditary pisses all over Midsommar from a great height. I like my horror movies to actually scare me.
They're both great. I found Midsommar pretty scary anyway, it does a good job of selling you on Florence Pugh joining a cult that burns their own members to death. Yeah the obnoxious Americans die and who cares about them but they throw 2 of their own members in the fire promising them no pain before they die screaming.
Yet I was kind of pleased about her joining them, which is kind of a scary thought. And the crazy flower, snail creature shes waddling around as at the end is pretty fecked up and weird
Yet I was kind of pleased about her joining them, which is kind of a scary thought. And the crazy flower, snail creature shes waddling around as at the end is pretty fecked up and weird
Hereditary scared you? Didn't make me feel much. (I'll rewatch though)
Humans are way more scary than ghosts.
Midsommar made me feel quite uncomfortable at times, because of the tension building up.
Same with "The Wickerman" (The original). Another one that makes you feel uncomfortable.
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The first time I saw it, in a barely populated cinema, yes. Never been scared by anything like it, before or since.
I will say that once you know what's coming, it loses its potency. I took someone to see it again shortly after and certain scenes and moments that I''d found terrifying before became almost comical.
I appreciated the originality of Midsommar, and there definitely were some creepy elements, but I think I set the bar too high and was bound for disappointment. Still, Florence Pugh...
"Humans are way more scary than ghosts." That I agree with, as far as real life goes, but I'm struggling to think of a non-supernatural movie that's genuinely scared me, including The Wicker Man, creepy as it is. The first season of True Detective had its moments, off the top of my head.