Film The Redcafe Movie review thread

Wing Attack Plan R said:
The further I get from this film, the more I like it. Some of the images were really good, and it was a very different kind of film. They had to market it as horror rather than LGBTQ for it to have any audience.
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The shot of the dad staring silently from the couch remains the creepiest thing I've seen in a movie since Hereditary.
 
Black Bag

Boy am I glad Steven Soderbergh never followed through with his threat to retire from filmmaking.

I was hooked from the opening tracking shot following Fassbender's master spy from a London street down into the belly of a nightclub and back out again further up the road. SS's mastery of the camera is always such a joy to watch.

His films don't always have the plot, performances or pacing to match, but not this time. This is an unapologetically slow-burning, dialogue-centric mystery thriller that only unleashes its sparse action beats at just the right moments.

Fassbender and Blanchett are in their element as a husband and wife working for British intelligence, one of which may be committing treason, and the supporting cast of lesser stars all hold their own. The whodunnit that ensues twists and turns as it leads to a gloriously satisfying conclusion.

And the jazzy soundtrack knocks it out of the park.

9/10
 
Salt Bailly said:
Black Bag

Boy am I glad Steven Soderbergh never followed through with his threat to retire from filmmaking.

I was hooked from the opening tracking shot following Fassbender's master spy from a London street down into the belly of a nightclub and back out again further up the road. SS's mastery of the camera is always such a joy to watch.

His films don't always have the plot, performances or pacing to match, but not this time. This is an unapologetically slow-burning, dialogue-centric mystery thriller that only unleashes its sparse action beats at just the right moments.

Fassbender and Blanchett are in their element as a husband and wife working for British intelligence, one of which may be committing treason, and the supporting cast of lesser stars all hold their own. The whodunnit that ensues twists and turns as it leads to a gloriously satisfying conclusion.

And the jazzy soundtrack knocks it out of the park.

9/10
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Awesome, love Soderbergh. Presence was excellent.

If anyone hasn't already checked this out, his show The Knick, with Clive Owen is superb.
 
Salt Bailly said:
Black Bag

Boy am I glad Steven Soderbergh never followed through with his threat to retire from filmmaking.

I was hooked from the opening tracking shot following Fassbender's master spy from a London street down into the belly of a nightclub and back out again further up the road. SS's mastery of the camera is always such a joy to watch.

His films don't always have the plot, performances or pacing to match, but not this time. This is an unapologetically slow-burning, dialogue-centric mystery thriller that only unleashes its sparse action beats at just the right moments.

Fassbender and Blanchett are in their element as a husband and wife working for British intelligence, one of which may be committing treason, and the supporting cast of lesser stars all hold their own. The whodunnit that ensues twists and turns as it leads to a gloriously satisfying conclusion.

And the jazzy soundtrack knocks it out of the park.

9/10
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ohh exciting

I hope this isn't available on torrents
 
Salt Bailly said:
Black Bag

Boy am I glad Steven Soderbergh never followed through with his threat to retire from filmmaking.

I was hooked from the opening tracking shot following Fassbender's master spy from a London street down into the belly of a nightclub and back out again further up the road. SS's mastery of the camera is always such a joy to watch.

His films don't always have the plot, performances or pacing to match, but not this time. This is an unapologetically slow-burning, dialogue-centric mystery thriller that only unleashes its sparse action beats at just the right moments.

Fassbender and Blanchett are in their element as a husband and wife working for British intelligence, one of which may be committing treason, and the supporting cast of lesser stars all hold their own. The whodunnit that ensues twists and turns as it leads to a gloriously satisfying conclusion.

And the jazzy soundtrack knocks it out of the park.

9/10
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I went to see this yesterday. It is brilliantly filmed and the locations ooze class ... but, and it's a big but ... I thought the script was really poor. I cannot fault the performances of all the actors - I thought Marisa Abela was particularly strong - however for me it just lacked something on first viewing.

Maybe it was my expectations. I was expecting more Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and felt it was more Poirot. Still, we are all different. I'll watch it again.
 
Mickey 17

I saw this today and thought it was absolutely brilliant. Bong Joon-ho is a master. The acting, the cinematography, the editing, the plot, the narrative arcs - all for me are faultless. It's sci-fi, dark comedy, topical social satire - probably not  quite as good as Parasite, but then again they are different beasts. I'd highly recommend.
 
Demon Barber said:
I went to see this yesterday. It is brilliantly filmed and the locations ooze class ... but, and it's a big but ... I thought the script was really poor. I cannot fault the performances of all the actors - I thought Marisa Abela was particularly strong - however for me it just lacked something on first viewing.

Maybe it was my expectations. I was expecting more Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and felt it was more Poirot. Still, we are all different. I'll watch it again.
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Fair comment, I can see how somebody expecting Tinker Tailor territory would be disappointed. Slow Horses is probably a fairer comparison. Glad you got something out of it though.
 
Demon Barber said:
I went to see this yesterday. It is brilliantly filmed and the locations ooze class ... but, and it's a big but ... I thought the script was really poor. I cannot fault the performances of all the actors - I thought Marisa Abela was particularly strong - however for me it just lacked something on first viewing.

Maybe it was my expectations. I was expecting more Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and felt it was more Poirot. Still, we are all different. I'll watch it again.
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Given that the setting is again London, and with Fassbender playing a spy again....is there zero concern about it having any sense of being too close to the premise of the show The Agency?
 
Redplane said:
Given that the setting is again London, and with Fassbender playing a spy again....is there zero concern about it having any sense of being too close to the premise of the show The Agency?
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I'd love to respond to this, but I've never seen The Agency.

Edit: I've just looked it up and I get your point, but, not having seen it, I still can't answer!
 
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The Coffee Table
Jesus and Maria are a couple going through a difficult time in their relationship. Nevertheless, they have just become parents. To shape their new life, they decide to buy a new coffee table. A decision that will change their existence. Don't want to say much else as to not ruin anything but safe to say, you'll have to be able to stomach something horrific in the first act to get through this. It's done tastefully (as tastefully as you can considering what happens) but from then on, this is basically anxiety packaged as a film and is one of the few films that genuinely had me close to breaking point for the pressure cooker of narrative that just gets more and more tense during it's 90 minute run time mainly due to the way it uses suspense and dramatic irony. Oddly funny at times too. Isn't a film I'll forget any time soon 8/10

Cold Wallet
A team of Redditors lose everything after a cryptocurrency scam leads them to plot to kidnap the "financial influencer" who screwed them over. Load of shite. A cliched hostage/heist movie with a crypto angle. Yawned my way through this. Will give it an extra point for treating crypto enthusiasts like idiots 2/10

I'll Play Mother
After the death of their birth mother, two young children are placed in the care of prospective adopter parents, however, it's not long before the new family begin to question if something more sinister is at play. Some of this was shot really well, at times, the plot went in interesting directions and the twist wasn't bad. But the rest of it was flat and boring with a lead character who was as dull as dishwater. There was also no consistency with character motivations or behaviours 3/10

Caveat
A lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in an abandoned house on an isolated island. Debut film from the guy who directed Oddity. This was shot really well with good performances and was able to turn the creepy-meter up and down with ease. The mystery in the plot worked well for the first two acts but the final act didn't stick the landing. Not bad for a directorial debut and used it's (mostly) single location really well. There is a dead woman in the film that was creepy as hell, I can still picture her smile in my mind 6.5/10
 
Dallas Buyer's Club - great film with standout performances by Jared Leto & Matthew McConaughey. 9 / 10
 
Electric State

I wish I'd known it was a MBB film before I watched it, cos then I wouldn't have bothered. She's a bad actress. I always just feel like I am watching someone act when she's on screen (and that's being generous, as sometimes she's barely even doing that). Also, the film is bad. Chris Pratt hamming up an already very hammy script, and the editing just made everything look dull and boring. So little effort was put into this movie that I suspect the most attention it ever got was the 11 minutes I spent looking up from my phone.
 
Salt Bailly said:
Black Bag

Boy am I glad Steven Soderbergh never followed through with his threat to retire from filmmaking.

I was hooked from the opening tracking shot following Fassbender's master spy from a London street down into the belly of a nightclub and back out again further up the road. SS's mastery of the camera is always such a joy to watch.

His films don't always have the plot, performances or pacing to match, but not this time. This is an unapologetically slow-burning, dialogue-centric mystery thriller that only unleashes its sparse action beats at just the right moments.

Fassbender and Blanchett are in their element as a husband and wife working for British intelligence, one of which may be committing treason, and the supporting cast of lesser stars all hold their own. The whodunnit that ensues twists and turns as it leads to a gloriously satisfying conclusion.

And the jazzy soundtrack knocks it out of the park.

9/10
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Nice one.

Looking forward to seeing it tonight.
 
The Beekeeper

Jason Statham is a retired killing machine who comes out of retirement when a lady who buys honey from him is scammed out of a lot of money. The guy in charge of all the call centres doing the scamming also happens to be the son of the President of the United States. Jason Statham kills almost everyone in the film. One of the worst films I've ever seen in my life.

0.5/10

Fight or Flight

Laughably gory, idiotic John-Wick-on-a-jumbo-jet pile of dung. It looks like there's going to be a sequel, too. And some people have the temerity to claim there's a God.

1/10
 
Badunk said:
The Beekeeper

Jason Statham is a retired killing machine who comes out of retirement when a lady who buys honey from him is scammed out of a lot of money. The guy in charge of all the call centres doing the scamming also happens to be the son of the President of the United States. Jason Statham kills almost everyone in the film. One of the worst films I've ever seen in my life.

0.5/10
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Lies, that is a certified Statham banger.
 
SmashedHombre said:
Electric State

I wish I'd known it was a MBB film before I watched it, cos then I wouldn't have bothered. She's a bad actress. I always just feel like I am watching someone act when she's on screen (and that's being generous, as sometimes she's barely even doing that). Also, the film is bad. Chris Pratt hamming up an already very hammy script, and the editing just made everything look dull and boring. So little effort was put into this movie that I suspect the most attention it ever got was the 11 minutes I spent looking up from my phone.
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Just watching the trailer alone made me realize I had zero interest in it. I hope the Millie Bobby Brown being shoehorned into so many things experiment is finally over, and I can't take Pratt too seriously anymore since he s spamming my YouTube shorts promoting a Christian prayer app in ads no matter how many times I down vote it.
 
SmashedHombre said:
Electric State

I wish I'd known it was a MBB film before I watched it, cos then I wouldn't have bothered. She's a bad actress. I always just feel like I am watching someone act when she's on screen (and that's being generous, as sometimes she's barely even doing that). Also, the film is bad. Chris Pratt hamming up an already very hammy script, and the editing just made everything look dull and boring. So little effort was put into this movie that I suspect the most attention it ever got was the 11 minutes I spent looking up from my phone.
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Apparently, it's among the most expensive movies ever made. Unbelievable.
 
Redplane said:
Just watching the trailer alone made me realize I had zero interest in it. I hope the Millie Bobby Brown being shoehorned into so many things experiment is finally over, and I can't take Pratt too seriously anymore since he s spamming my YouTube shorts promoting a Christian prayer app in ads no matter how many times I down vote it.
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Get used to MBB, she's basically the Netflix mascot at this point. She's doing a decent job of transitioning to grown up roles. The two Enola Holmes movies were decent enough, light fare. Her shaved head in Stranger Things made her seem perhaps more expressive than she is, kinda like how Sinead O'Connor's shaved head made her eyes seem larger than the great lakes. I miss Sinead.

Chris Pratt is another story. I have never understood his appeal, and I don't think I ever will.
 
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entropy said:
Anora: So this movie fecking sucks. I know it’s common for terrible movies to win Oscars. Anora is just one of those. Congrats Sean Baker, I guess.
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Maybe your expectations were unreasonably high due to the Oscars, but what didn't you like about it? Assuming you knew the basic premise of the film going in, didn't it deliver on that simple promise? I thought it was really well made, and thought Mickey whoever was great.
 
Last Breath

New Woody Harrelson film about deep sea diving. My friend advised me not to read anything about it, just watch it, so I did. And I'm glad.

8.5/10
 
Tár. A psychological drama from 2022 Cate Blanchett plays an orchestra director at the top of her game whose manipulations of everyone around here are about to turn against her.

I thought it's extremely well made. The film-making is good, lots of interesting shots and perspective, the acting is great, and the script is very clever, with its references, the constant brooding tension, the way it leave little gaps in the story to later meaningfully fill them in, and the lines people say. Ultimately, though, I felt the film was rather empty. It becomes apparent fairly soon that Tár is not a pleasant person and that her way of manipulating everyone, and disappointing many along the way, cannot but be her downfall eventually. I don't feel like I learned anything interesting along the way, in terms of people, social dynamics, or any aspect of society. And what does she do when that happens? She basically restarts her life from the bottom, re-watching at her childhood home what she appears to see as a key Bernstein video in her musical upbringing and then returning to performing at the lowest rung of the ladder. So I don't feel there is any real takeaway for the character or the audience, and that soured the film for me. Still, expertly made. 8/10
 
The Invisible Guest

A young Spanish businessman wakes up in a hotel room with the police banging on the door, and the woman he's been having an affair with lying dead in the bathroom surrounded by loads of money. He gets out on bail and hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him. They go over his defence, retracing the events that led up to the night in question.

I don't want to say any more. Go into it blind. One of the best films I've seen in a long time.

10/10
 
Redplane said:
Just watching the trailer alone made me realize I had zero interest in it. I hope the Millie Bobby Brown being shoehorned into so many things experiment is finally over, and I can't take Pratt too seriously anymore since he s spamming my YouTube shorts promoting a Christian prayer app in ads no matter how many times I down vote it.
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She's a huge Netflix draw but that's about it. I don't think her star power translates to box office.
 
Badunk said:
The Invisible Guest

A young Spanish businessman wakes up in a hotel room with the police banging on the door, and the woman he's been having an affair with lying dead in the bathroom surrounded by loads of money. He gets out on bail and hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him. They go over his defence, retracing the events that led up to the night in question.

I don't want to say any more. Go into it blind. One of the best films I've seen in a long time.

10/10
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Right, watching this now. Better be good
 
Badunk said:
The Invisible Guest

A young Spanish businessman wakes up in a hotel room with the police banging on the door, and the woman he's been having an affair with lying dead in the bathroom surrounded by loads of money. He gets out on bail and hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him. They go over his defence, retracing the events that led up to the night in question.

I don't want to say any more. Go into it blind. One of the best films I've seen in a long time.

10/10
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I've seen that I've reviewed this on Letterbox but I have zero recollection of it.
 
We watch Bank of Dave last night. It's a lovely story, especially since the core of it is based on real events (even if virtually none of the dramatic elements and key narrative events are) but I thought the film was quite poorly made. A lot of the lines are corny and the acting is often poor - although having to deliver many terrible lines doesn't help, of course. (Come to think of it, in a way it's the opposite of Tár!) 5/10
 
Andy_Cole said:
I liked the movie. But a million miles away from Oscar winning.
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Wing Attack Plan R said:
Maybe your expectations were unreasonably high due to the Oscars, but what didn't you like about it? Assuming you knew the basic premise of the film going in, didn't it deliver on that simple promise? I thought it was really well made, and thought Mickey whoever was great.
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yeah, I think that’s what it was. I was maybe expecting too much, especially after the oscars. on second thought, I was being too harsh. I can see why people liked it. It just didn’t do much for me and felt very surface-level overall.
 
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