Film The Redcafe Movie review thread
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How To Blow Up A Pipeline
This turned out OK. The first half isn't great, goes all Oppenheimer with lots of annoying background humming which adds nothing to the movie other than causing a huge distraction.
The characters also find a way to make themselves extremely dislikeable despite the fact that we're supposed to be rooting for their cause (that of the environment).
The way it alternates between the present day plot and the back stories of each character works well with the overall pacing of the movie and it does improve overall in the second half.
I still think this film could have been way better, the plot lends itself to a really exciting movie which I don't think this is.
6.5/10
The Holdovers
Liked this a lot.
Incredible to think this was a debut for Dominic Sessa who plays the last remaining student on campus and is effectively the co-lead with the wonderful Paul Giamatti.
Those two are brilliant and the chemistry between the debutant and the old hand is very evident from start to finish. Sessa has a bright future.
It has some really funny moments and lines but also a very serious side as well, very touching in parts and I just think it's wonderfully constructed.
This will definitely take some beating for 2024's film of the year (in terms of films I've seen in 2024! Appreciate this is officially a 2023 movie), highly recommended.
8.5/10
This turned out OK. The first half isn't great, goes all Oppenheimer with lots of annoying background humming which adds nothing to the movie other than causing a huge distraction.
The characters also find a way to make themselves extremely dislikeable despite the fact that we're supposed to be rooting for their cause (that of the environment).
The way it alternates between the present day plot and the back stories of each character works well with the overall pacing of the movie and it does improve overall in the second half.
I still think this film could have been way better, the plot lends itself to a really exciting movie which I don't think this is.
6.5/10
The Holdovers
Liked this a lot.
Incredible to think this was a debut for Dominic Sessa who plays the last remaining student on campus and is effectively the co-lead with the wonderful Paul Giamatti.
Those two are brilliant and the chemistry between the debutant and the old hand is very evident from start to finish. Sessa has a bright future.
It has some really funny moments and lines but also a very serious side as well, very touching in parts and I just think it's wonderfully constructed.
This will definitely take some beating for 2024's film of the year (in terms of films I've seen in 2024! Appreciate this is officially a 2023 movie), highly recommended.
8.5/10
I liked the charm and tone of the The Holdovers but it just dragged for me. Maybe it'll feel different watching at home snuggled up with a warm cup of cocoa. Along similar-ish lines of comedy and heartfelt drama, I watched American Fiction yesterday and loved it.
I’ve seen lots of parts of it but haven’t given it a full watch through. I love Colin Farrell impressions of Herzog talking about tea and how the memories scenes resembles Yayoi Kusama - Infinity Mirror Rooms. Even from the clips I definitely agree with you on the understated vibe of the film. The guy seems to be a very impressive film maker(I don’t think he went to film school but instead started off making YouTube essays).
Poor Things
Watched this a few hours ago in a empty cinema. Won’t spoil anything but jesus its pure beautiful vulgar cinema.
10/10
Watched this a few hours ago in a empty cinema. Won’t spoil anything but jesus its pure beautiful vulgar cinema.
10/10
So basically an easy wank?
How was Ruffalo?
I watched the movie Foe the other day. I knew it had gotten quite bad reviews, but both Paul Mescal and especially Soairse Ronan are great actors. This was one of those movies that wasn't bad to watch (even thought it kinda dragged a bit), but completely fall apart when looking back at it. It's an interesting premise and I think it works for two acts. but falters in final act. It's also when the rest of the movie sort of stops to make sense at all. Ronan and Mescal are always very watchable, but it's not a good film. 1/5
I also watched Dream Scenario. Another one of those that are great for two acts and then does not stick the landing. This was really great until it really wasn't. To me the equivalent of having a character waking up and realizing everything was a dream. It's such an interesting concept and instead of diving deeper into it it just ends up a big meh. As to differ from the previous movie, at least the first two acts remains very interesting even after and Nicolas Cage is great. Too bad the didn't make more of it though. 2/5
I also watched Dream Scenario. Another one of those that are great for two acts and then does not stick the landing. This was really great until it really wasn't. To me the equivalent of having a character waking up and realizing everything was a dream. It's such an interesting concept and instead of diving deeper into it it just ends up a big meh. As to differ from the previous movie, at least the first two acts remains very interesting even after and Nicolas Cage is great. Too bad the didn't make more of it though. 2/5
I can’t say without spoiling but there’s a big plot point which takes away the erotic element away from the sex scenes. The scenes are more in line with self discovery and interesting to watch play out. Also comedic in parts.
Incredible. He really funny in this and has some great lines. Emma Watson is the stand out performance but whatever Ruffalo appears on screen it’s sooo good.
She's in it too?
I can’t say without spoiling but there’s a big plot point which takes away the erotic element away from the sex scenes. The scenes are more in line with self discovery and interesting to watch play out. Also comedic in parts.
Incredible. He really funny in this and has some great lines. Emma Watson is the stand out performance but whatever Ruffalo appears on screen it’s sooo good.
How's Emma STONE?
Whoops! Stone is kind of amazing as a Barbie meets Frankenstein monster doll.
Afire - Minor Petzold but a cozy watch. Paula Beer is a precious angel.
Anatomy of a Fall - Swann Arlaud's hair def deserved the Palme D'or
Also had the best cinematic use so far of 50 - Cent - P.I.M.P
Anatomy of a Fall - Swann Arlaud's hair def deserved the Palme D'or
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Also had the best cinematic use so far of 50 - Cent - P.I.M.P
I've hardly had that song out of my head since I saw this at the cinema and that was mid-December!
The Kitchen
Dystopian drama set in future London. Watched this due to it having a decent rating on RT and because it’s Daniel Kaluuya first film.
But yeah it’s pretty shite. Falls into every bad sci fi trope. From filling the screen with neon lighting signs and turning everything into a touch screen. A future set in the past where Ian Wright is a dj playing grime instrumentals from the late 2000’s.
The economy of the movie the standard rich vs poor but never goes any deeper. Water supplies are cut but internet power continues to run. It’s surface level what if Gaza happened in London. Which is stupid.
The acting is terrible with stereotypical angry grumbling poor guys. While at times there’s some decent uses of colours overall it’s very tacky. Cheap looking CGI with the standard Netflix gloss on top and the camera does nothing interesting.
Overall a expensive episode of Eastenders. Disappointed to not see Danny Dyer make a appearance.
3/10
Dystopian drama set in future London. Watched this due to it having a decent rating on RT and because it’s Daniel Kaluuya first film.
But yeah it’s pretty shite. Falls into every bad sci fi trope. From filling the screen with neon lighting signs and turning everything into a touch screen. A future set in the past where Ian Wright is a dj playing grime instrumentals from the late 2000’s.
The economy of the movie the standard rich vs poor but never goes any deeper. Water supplies are cut but internet power continues to run. It’s surface level what if Gaza happened in London. Which is stupid.
The acting is terrible with stereotypical angry grumbling poor guys. While at times there’s some decent uses of colours overall it’s very tacky. Cheap looking CGI with the standard Netflix gloss on top and the camera does nothing interesting.
Overall a expensive episode of Eastenders. Disappointed to not see Danny Dyer make a appearance.
3/10
Hey man, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!
One of those films that's a 3/10 or a 7/10 depending on your mood at the time. Basically the movie equivalent of much of the Manchester United squad. And I don't understand why the other residents don't beat the shit out of Kano for hogging all the water: you're initially under the impression that he's some sort of Don who doesn't have to give a shit about the rest of the people, but he's just a pleb like them. Similarly, when he returns the bike to the gang. There's no big reveal that he used to be a bad man or anything. He's just grumpy and, in the dystopian future that is The Kitchen, being moody coats you in Teflon for some reason.
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Agree. For me a film which is dull/boring is far worse than a genuinely bad film. There’s always the potential of interesting things happening in bad film compared to something which is very meh.
Yep that was really odd. I mean why does a community shower have only one access door. Why is the food supply dependent on teenagers stealing Waitrose trucks.
So much of the world is built around individuals scenes. There’s no wider thought put into the film. I can imagine the sells pitch was Top Boy +
Black Mirror and what we get is poorly made version of both shows mashed together.
Interesting ranking of Terence Malick's films in the Guardian today: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/25/terrence-malick-films-ranked.
Best to worst (according to them):
1. The Tree Of Life
2. Badlands
3. The New World
4. Days Of Heaven
5. The Thin Red Line
6. To The Wonder
7. A Hidden Life
8. Song To Song
9. Voyage Of Time
10. Knight Of Cups
What do you think? It's hard to take seriously a list that has The New World two spaces ahead of The Thin Red Line and ahead of Days Of Heaven (!!!), but I also haven't seen all these films. There's something in The New World that is akin to being put into a trance, where your eyes are open and you're nominally watching a movie, but you suddenly lose all sense of what the "plot" is and you're on kind of an autopilot mode. I had to rewind and watch the last half hour again because the story jumped and I thought I'd missed some big plot point. The Germans must have a word for this sleeping while awake thing (where my Germans at?).
Best to worst (according to them):
1. The Tree Of Life
2. Badlands
3. The New World
4. Days Of Heaven
5. The Thin Red Line
6. To The Wonder
7. A Hidden Life
8. Song To Song
9. Voyage Of Time
10. Knight Of Cups
What do you think? It's hard to take seriously a list that has The New World two spaces ahead of The Thin Red Line and ahead of Days Of Heaven (!!!), but I also haven't seen all these films. There's something in The New World that is akin to being put into a trance, where your eyes are open and you're nominally watching a movie, but you suddenly lose all sense of what the "plot" is and you're on kind of an autopilot mode. I had to rewind and watch the last half hour again because the story jumped and I thought I'd missed some big plot point. The Germans must have a word for this sleeping while awake thing (where my Germans at?).
I would have badlands at 1. And the thin red line at 2.
Hes gone to shit since The Tree of Life.
Ferrari
I don't want to give it a number rating but it was easily the worst Michael Mann I've seen. A lot of problems with the movie, didn't care about any of the characters and not enough character development, Driver seemed to just reprise his Gucci performance, and overall it just didn't hit the mark. Penelope Cruz was probably the highlight but jeez was her Italian accent inconsistent.
I don't want to give it a number rating but it was easily the worst Michael Mann I've seen. A lot of problems with the movie, didn't care about any of the characters and not enough character development, Driver seemed to just reprise his Gucci performance, and overall it just didn't hit the mark. Penelope Cruz was probably the highlight but jeez was her Italian accent inconsistent.
I know Refn is not for everyone but The Neon Demon was fantastic for me. It captures so much of the darkside of LA's film/fashion culture (arguably its only side) thematically and a lot of the scenes are great, I loved the final scene myself. Plus, all the actresses are quite easy on the eyes
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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/03/27/martin-scorsese-profile-man-who-forgets-nothing
Interesting and informative piece on Martin Scorsese in The New Yorker, March 19, 2000.
"“Marty hates plots,” Thelma Schoonmaker often says, echoing remarks that Scorsese has uttered along those same lines. He is, of course, a masterly storyteller, one who refuses to settle for conventional three-act linear dramas with tidy resolutions, because since when does life work that way? What drives a Scorsese tale is his talent for weaving variegated optical and aural and emotional textures, for devising solutions to the paradox that truth and beauty and depravity must share the same frame. Underlying these dazzling gifts is Scorsese’s compulsion to provoke discomfort in himself and his audience. For instance, there’s the slaughter at the Norbulinga Palace in “Kundun,” or the torment and torture of Jesus in “The Last Temptation of Christ,” or the tattooed torso of the jailed Max Cady (Robert De Niro) in “Cape Fear.” Or there’s that sidewalk confrontation between Travis (De Niro) and Sport (Harvey Keitel, playing Jodie Foster’s pimp) in “Taxi Driver,” during which De Niro expresses his revulsion—and our revulsion—by stiffening his spine and looking away, into the uncertain distance. Our sympathy lies squarely with Travis at that moment, as opposed to the chill we feel in the famous “You talkin’ to me?” sequence. (For my money, and this is, I concede, a minority viewpoint, the most unnerving scene in the Scorsese canon is the passage in “The King of Comedy” where Rupert Pupkin, in a successful effort by De Niro to establish a gold standard for putzlike behavior, shows up uninvited, luggage in hand, along with a girl he’s trying to impress—Diahnne Abbott—at the weekend home of Jerry Langford, a Carson-like talk-show host played by Jerry Lewis. Pure skin-crawling terror, and nobody ever comes close to getting hurt.)"
Marty has gotten more Marty as time has worn on.
Interesting and informative piece on Martin Scorsese in The New Yorker, March 19, 2000.
"“Marty hates plots,” Thelma Schoonmaker often says, echoing remarks that Scorsese has uttered along those same lines. He is, of course, a masterly storyteller, one who refuses to settle for conventional three-act linear dramas with tidy resolutions, because since when does life work that way? What drives a Scorsese tale is his talent for weaving variegated optical and aural and emotional textures, for devising solutions to the paradox that truth and beauty and depravity must share the same frame. Underlying these dazzling gifts is Scorsese’s compulsion to provoke discomfort in himself and his audience. For instance, there’s the slaughter at the Norbulinga Palace in “Kundun,” or the torment and torture of Jesus in “The Last Temptation of Christ,” or the tattooed torso of the jailed Max Cady (Robert De Niro) in “Cape Fear.” Or there’s that sidewalk confrontation between Travis (De Niro) and Sport (Harvey Keitel, playing Jodie Foster’s pimp) in “Taxi Driver,” during which De Niro expresses his revulsion—and our revulsion—by stiffening his spine and looking away, into the uncertain distance. Our sympathy lies squarely with Travis at that moment, as opposed to the chill we feel in the famous “You talkin’ to me?” sequence. (For my money, and this is, I concede, a minority viewpoint, the most unnerving scene in the Scorsese canon is the passage in “The King of Comedy” where Rupert Pupkin, in a successful effort by De Niro to establish a gold standard for putzlike behavior, shows up uninvited, luggage in hand, along with a girl he’s trying to impress—Diahnne Abbott—at the weekend home of Jerry Langford, a Carson-like talk-show host played by Jerry Lewis. Pure skin-crawling terror, and nobody ever comes close to getting hurt.)"
Marty has gotten more Marty as time has worn on.
Dumb Money
A film based on the GameStop stocks battle between retail investors and Wall Street. I really enjoyed this film, think it had a good cast, well paced and quite interesting in terms of the overall subject 8/10
A film based on the GameStop stocks battle between retail investors and Wall Street. I really enjoyed this film, think it had a good cast, well paced and quite interesting in terms of the overall subject 8/10
Just watch it. Here to second you.
Public Enemies
On the surface it’s looks like Mann is repeating Heat. Two charismatic lead actors facing off in a bank heist movie. But the twist here is Deep plays man already out of time. A doomed romantic criminal born in dying old world going against Bale who becomes the spear head for a new world of technology advanced, increasing government strength and moral decay.
I loved the use of the digital camera in contrast with the 1930’s setting. The shootout scenes are maybe Mann best(Aside from the back heist in Heat).
The performances are greats(Although god knows what accent Marion Cotillard is going)and there’s some correct J Edgar Hoover hate.
The ending is also brilliantly poetic.
8/10
On the surface it’s looks like Mann is repeating Heat. Two charismatic lead actors facing off in a bank heist movie. But the twist here is Deep plays man already out of time. A doomed romantic criminal born in dying old world going against Bale who becomes the spear head for a new world of technology advanced, increasing government strength and moral decay.
I loved the use of the digital camera in contrast with the 1930’s setting. The shootout scenes are maybe Mann best(Aside from the back heist in Heat).
The performances are greats(Although god knows what accent Marion Cotillard is going)and there’s some correct J Edgar Hoover hate.
The ending is also brilliantly poetic.
8/10
Nice! I’ve been repeatedly watching scenes online from it and listening to the soundtrack. The film has really stuck with me.
Could be great but "EDGLRD"? Really?! Worst name ever?!
Oh the name is complete dog shit. I found out recently that Korine spends his nights with Jared Kusher. Korine is a loser but makes great films.
Jaysus.Oh the name is complete dog shit. I found out recently that Korine spends his nights with Jared Kusher. Korine is a loser but makes great films.
Poor Things
What an incredibly ballsy feature to create. I expected some Lanthimos weirdness but didn't realise he'd go that far with it; homeboy pulled it off with aplomb. Still processing how much I rated it - currently feel like it sits below both The Lobster and The Favourite. The random gag inserts had me rolling, and the sex... So much sex. Great first date movie or one to see with your least cinephilic friend or family member. 8/10
What an incredibly ballsy feature to create. I expected some Lanthimos weirdness but didn't realise he'd go that far with it; homeboy pulled it off with aplomb. Still processing how much I rated it - currently feel like it sits below both The Lobster and The Favourite. The random gag inserts had me rolling, and the sex... So much sex. Great first date movie or one to see with your least cinephilic friend or family member. 8/10
Same. Days Of Heaven 3.
The Zone Of Interest (2023)
Surprisingly good film. Maybe even brilliant. Surprised me, anyway, because his last two movies were fairly ridiculous. Sexy Beast was a lot of fun, but rumor has it that film was taken away from him and assembled in the form you saw without him. Under The Skin, wow, I don't know what to say about that, other than if the movie features a naked Scarlet Johannson and you want to shut the movie off, then something is seriously wrong.
Anyway, Zone feels like a completely different esthetic was involved. It's in German and Polish, no "name" actors (at least none I knew). Glazer blocked a lot of the shots so they weren't "framed" for the audience. Many times you don't get to see a person's face as you would in a normal film. For instance, in one scene, a crowed of SS men are wishing their commandant a happy birthday, and zero of them look into the camera. So it's like you're there and just don't have a great view. It makes it feel almost documentarian. The sound design is staggering.
The story concerns the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp and his family, who live in a very nice house just over the wall from the camp. You never* see in the camp, and the only prisoners you see are the few who are domestic servants. There are some arthouse moments, like the beginning of the film being 3 minutes of ambient sounds under pure black.
Hannah Arendt mentioned "the banality of evil" and this is what that film shows. When Nazis are portrayed as raving lunatics, spittle flying from their mouths, or portrayed as devils instead of men, I think we lose what was truly terrifying about them: their ordinariness, their cultured mannerisms, the casual way they took the belongings of Jews as if they were picking berries. Because this film is so evenhanded, it doesn't use bombast, it doesn't use a manipulative score, it doesn't use manipulative imagery. It's like spending time with a very ordinary family whose patriarch happens to be masterminding the extermination of the Jews.
It's an excellent film.
9/10
Surprisingly good film. Maybe even brilliant. Surprised me, anyway, because his last two movies were fairly ridiculous. Sexy Beast was a lot of fun, but rumor has it that film was taken away from him and assembled in the form you saw without him. Under The Skin, wow, I don't know what to say about that, other than if the movie features a naked Scarlet Johannson and you want to shut the movie off, then something is seriously wrong.
Anyway, Zone feels like a completely different esthetic was involved. It's in German and Polish, no "name" actors (at least none I knew). Glazer blocked a lot of the shots so they weren't "framed" for the audience. Many times you don't get to see a person's face as you would in a normal film. For instance, in one scene, a crowed of SS men are wishing their commandant a happy birthday, and zero of them look into the camera. So it's like you're there and just don't have a great view. It makes it feel almost documentarian. The sound design is staggering.
The story concerns the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp and his family, who live in a very nice house just over the wall from the camp. You never* see in the camp, and the only prisoners you see are the few who are domestic servants. There are some arthouse moments, like the beginning of the film being 3 minutes of ambient sounds under pure black.
Hannah Arendt mentioned "the banality of evil" and this is what that film shows. When Nazis are portrayed as raving lunatics, spittle flying from their mouths, or portrayed as devils instead of men, I think we lose what was truly terrifying about them: their ordinariness, their cultured mannerisms, the casual way they took the belongings of Jews as if they were picking berries. Because this film is so evenhanded, it doesn't use bombast, it doesn't use a manipulative score, it doesn't use manipulative imagery. It's like spending time with a very ordinary family whose patriarch happens to be masterminding the extermination of the Jews.
It's an excellent film.
9/10
Naked Singularity
Wtf. Bad movie with some random sci-fi dialogue that don't even fit in. Ridiculous plot and some really crappy directing.
1/10
Wtf. Bad movie with some random sci-fi dialogue that don't even fit in. Ridiculous plot and some really crappy directing.
1/10
Maestro (2023)
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. Uncanny aging due to his acting chops and makeup effects. Excellent directing. More big moments for costar Cary Mulligan than Emily Blunt had in Oppenheimer.
The difference overall between those two films was Oppenheimer was about something — morality, ethics, big ideas, can anyone be trusted with nukes, did we do the right thing etc. — where Maestro is an almost documentarian look at Bernstein’s life. At the end, you’re thinking, “I know this movie is about Leonard Bernstein, but why did they want to make a film about him in the first place?”
The style of filmmaking changed as Lenny got older, but he disappeared so far into the role that ut was like looking at disconnected chapters of a documentary.
I think he just might pip Murphy to the Acting Oscar, although I think Oppenheimer was more powerful directing. Both dance a jig on Paul Giamatti.
It’s a shame Barry Keoghan wasn’t nominated because it would have been a battle between his prosthetic dong and Cooper’s prosthetic schnoz.
8/10
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. Uncanny aging due to his acting chops and makeup effects. Excellent directing. More big moments for costar Cary Mulligan than Emily Blunt had in Oppenheimer.
The difference overall between those two films was Oppenheimer was about something — morality, ethics, big ideas, can anyone be trusted with nukes, did we do the right thing etc. — where Maestro is an almost documentarian look at Bernstein’s life. At the end, you’re thinking, “I know this movie is about Leonard Bernstein, but why did they want to make a film about him in the first place?”
The style of filmmaking changed as Lenny got older, but he disappeared so far into the role that ut was like looking at disconnected chapters of a documentary.
I think he just might pip Murphy to the Acting Oscar, although I think Oppenheimer was more powerful directing. Both dance a jig on Paul Giamatti.
It’s a shame Barry Keoghan wasn’t nominated because it would have been a battle between his prosthetic dong and Cooper’s prosthetic schnoz.
8/10
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Sidebar: watching The Zone of Interest and then Maestro on successive nights was a shock to the system. Zone unshowy and austere, while the early bxw scenes in Maestro were done in a kinetic goofiness (as appropriate to the 1950s). It will give you whiplash. I wanted to shout “chill the feck out with your camera moves and blocking”, but I kept my shit together for once.
Alien boobies?
Little addendum to this: Mark Ruffalo cadding it up is one of the great Hollywood switcheroos of our time, and his delivery of the word cnut must be assigned to the AFI HoF for future study. The production design and music, and the fish eye cinematography, were all insanely on point too.
Also want to give a shoutout to the guy that played the General, been a while since I've mustered that level of animosity for a single character, and in such a short time. Revised score: 8.5/10
Edit: also, Defoe at one point says "I'm something of a..." I see you, Yorgos.
What are your rankings so far for the best picture nominees?
Embarrassingly, I've only seen 3 of the 10 this year. I've made a personal pledge to watch all 10 before the event so that I can comfortably judge my fellow posters on the night itself for their bad choices. Whisky shall be involved.
Half way through The Killers of the Flower Moon. Very slow opening hour. But out of respect for Scorsese i will watch the second half tomorrow. Not his best though so far.
Pleasently surprised with Ferrari, thought it was excellent.
@Sweet Square best of Mann?
@Sweet Square best of Mann?
Literally only criticism are crashes, both visually and story wise.