R - RED
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R-Point [2004] Rabid [1977] Radius [2017]
Rambo: First Blood Part II [1985] Rambo III [1988] Rampage [2018]
Random Acts of Violence [2019] Ratter [2015] Ravenous [1999]
Ravenous [2017] Re: Born [2016] Re-Animator [1985]
Re-Kill [2015] Ready Player One [2018] The Real Charlie Chaplin [2021]
Real Steel [2011] Realive [2016] The Reaping [2007]
Rear Window [1954] The Recall [2017] Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project [2019]
Red Dragon [2002] Red Eye [2005] Red Notice [2021]
Red One [2024] Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 [2009] Red Rock West [1993]
Red Room [1999] The Red Sea Diving Resort [2019] Red Sparrow [2018]
Red One [2024]

            

Santa Claus is kidnapped and his bodyguard must team up with the guy that got Nick abducted and save him. This was an enjoyable Christmas romp with fun characters, a good pairing of Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans with plenty of sharp banter and a few LOL moments. First half was far better than the 2nd, especially the Krampus scene - that went on way too long - and it got pretty sluggish after that. The climax, like most of the actions scenes in the film, was too dark to appreciate. Overall, though, it was cheerful fare for Christmas.
Red Notice [2021]

            

2 thieves, an FBI profiler, and an Interpol agent hunt for Cleopatra's eggs. I like action, adventure films and I'm a fan of the 3 leads but, this was a terribly mediocre clone of an Indian Jones style adventure (Ryan even hums the Raiders theme). The writing is weak - the humor comes off as being written by someone who only thinks they're funny - and, without descent material, the actors are shallow and dull. The action is badly designed making it over-the-top, hard-to-see and flat at the same time. I didn't hate it but I could list dozens of better B-movies to watch. Pity.
Rambo: First Blood Part II [1985]

         

While serving a 5 year sentence, Rambo is offered a covert mission to recon a Vietnamese camp to see if it's housing POW's in exchange for a pardon. Of course, things don't go as planned and Rambo has to fight a one-man war to get out. That's it in a nutshell with Sly Stallone doing a wonderful job of looking terribly menacing and being extremely dangerous while actually giving his character quite a bit of depth. The action it constant and sometimes over-the-top with a body count that is amazing making it an exciting spectacle that is thoroughly satisfying. Ooahh!
Rambo III [1988]

            

When Rambo's only friend in the world, Colonel Trautman, is captured by the Russians in Afghanistan, he's gotta go get 'em. Plays out like a typical Rambo film so there's no surprises there but the action was excellent with lots of fights, shootouts and explosions. The writing was excellent giving a lot of depth to the characters making them genuinely interesting especially Rambo, showing that he does have a sense of humor. In fact, he's actually a bit of a smart ass in this one. Overall, above average escapist matinee entertainment I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Real Charlie Chaplin [2021]

         

An in-depth expose of the great comedian, Charlie Chaplin, that presented his rise from poverty and homelessness to being the most famous person in the world to, due to the Red Menace era, being one of the most hated and reviled men in America. Doesn't spend a lot of time on his works, which, considering the length, they certainly had time for. Rather they used that time to emphasize how much of a genius he was vs. how bad he was dealing with friendships, peers and, especially, his abusive relationships with his wives. In that, it's quite extensive.
Ravenous [1999]

            

In the 1860's, a Captain is transferred to a remote fort in California and finds himself at odds with a cannibal. Despite it's fairly good ratings, this film really didn't work for me. It presented its story in a almost humorous manner (including incongruous music) as if it didn't take itself seriously and this story really needed to be more serious. I like Guy Pierce but he spent most of the film silent with a slack jawed, confused look on his face. Even his righteous indignation seemed lazy and hollow. There's a lack of energy that made the whole film feel lethargic. Meh!
Real Steel [2011]

            

An ex-fighter struggles to become a major contender in robot boxing when he's forced to take care of an 11-year-old son he's never bothered to meet before and events that an interesting turn. The story is basically Rocky with robots so there's no surprises there. But the relationship between Charlie (Hugh Jackman) and his son, Max (Dakota Goyo), is delightfully fun with loads of emotion, excitement and exceptional banter that makes one really care about them. The robot fights are edge-of-you-seat awesome. Don't be surprised if you find yourself cheering.
The Red Sea Diving Resort [2019]

            

Based on true events, a group of Israelis lease a diving resort and use it as cover to smuggle thousands of Jewish refugees out of Sudan. This is a good film and well worth seeing, especially for it's historical value. But it could have been so much better. The dialog and characters were rather generic making them likable enough but without any real personality or banter worth mentioning. The dangerous situations didn't feel dangerous enough. Time spent recruiting a team of specialists but their specialties were rarely used. It just wasn't very tense or exciting.
Rabid [1977]

         
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Savagely burned in a motorcycle accident, a woman undergoes an experimental grafting procedure that makes her vampiric and those she feeds on quickly spread a horrific rabies like virus. Imagine me, a Cronenberg fan, who has never seen this early film by him. Viewed in the light of today's pandemic, it was quite interesting to see how they believed a quickly spreading virus may need to be handled. The characters were believable, despite the sometimes questionable acting, and vestiges of Cronenberg's trademark body horror to come was quite evident.
Re: Born [2016]

            
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Enemies from a veteran's past try to kill him ...but they can't. That's the problem is that the guy is indestructible so where's the tension? The anemic story line is simply an excuse to provide endless bloodshed for a guy who can dodge bullets, kills dozens upon dozens of advisories with little effort without getting a drop of blood on him and remain practically emotionless and stoic for the entire slaughter. Oh, and he makes gurgling sounds when he flexes his shoulders. Finally had an enemy worth fighting near the end but I just wanted it to be over with.
Re-Animator [1985]

            
  
Herbert West has a good head on his shoulders.. and another one on his desk. One of the greatest taglines, not just for its humor, but also for completely epitomizing the tone of this film. Herbert West, arrogant, conceited, genius, played to perfection in a breakout performance by Jeffrey Combs, has created a serum that brings the dead back to life ...sorta. Being excessively gory and violent just adds to the humor and absurdity of the whole affair with perfect pacing, LOL moments and brilliant quotable lines making it an instant psychotronic cult classic!
Random Acts of Violence [2019]

            
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The author of a comic book series featuring "Slasherman" - inspired by a serial killer from the past - and some of his friends and colleagues, encounter a killer who now appears to be inspired by the comic. I really liked the premise and the story itself is pretty good ...just badly executed. The characters always seem to be in conflict - like a bunch of dysfunctional co-dependents - and a totally miscast kid used in the flashbacks had me pretty confused as to who he was until the end ...which was anti-climactic and somewhat pointless. Waste of a good idea.
R-Point [2004]
aka Arpointeu
            
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A twisted little Korean film that ultimately left me with more questions than answers. Reminiscent of Annihilation, a platoon of Vietnamese soldiers, in 1972, are sent on a search and rescue mission into an area known as Romeo Point, a place known for missing soldiers. It has a leisurely pace and not a whole lot happens but it held my interest. The characters weren't the least bit authentic, with all the unprofessional bickering going on, and was more distracting than anything else. The ending left me mystified and not in a good way. Not bad just ho hum.
Radius [2017]

            
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Moving along at its own leisurely pace, this film is an extremely personal tragedy that never resorts to sensationalism. A man wakes up with amnesia after an apparent car accident and discovers that any living animal or human that gets within a certain distance from him simply drops dead except for a woman who also has amnesia. This story was well thought out, their actions made sense, they're fears and logic were genuine and the ending was disturbing but not unexpected ...although they did manage to throw in a twist I didn't see coming. Nicely played!
Realive [2016]

         

A man, dying of cancer, decides to have himself cryogenically frozen. Little did he realize he would become the first successful cryogenic reanimation sixty years later. Spending considerable time showing us his life before and the psychological issues involved after, the message I got out of it was confusing. It's better to be nothing than to live? Is that what they're saying? Overall, I found this film to be depressing, disturbing, too clinical and a far too fatalistic version of "be careful what you wish for".
Ravenous [2017]
aka Les affames
            

A group of people travel through the wooded countryside as they try to survive the zombie apocalypse. Starting out as 1 or 2 individuals, here and there, eventually they come together as a group. Their stories are extremely personal and if you're looking for emotional realism, this movie's got it in spades. Unfortunately, that's all it has. Very little in the way of any sort of proactive progress ...they basically just wander around. Their actions in the last 15 minutes were foolish and mystifying ...and zombies building towers?? What's that all about?
Red Sparrow [2018]

            

A prominent Russian ballet dancer has her career cut short by an accident on-stage. Fearing the loss of her home and support for her mother's medical needs, she agrees to become a spy. My wife and I came out of the theater simply feeling dirty after watching this film. Jennifer Lawrence did a wonderful job and I really wanted to like this movie - espionage thriller with a good, sophisticated story - but I just felt uncomfortable the entire time. It's mostly just rape, sex, torture, and anguish without a payoff worthy of what we've had to sit through.
Red Room [1999]
aka Akai misshitsu (heya): Kindan no osama geemu
         


This Japanese film was very badly made and quite unpleasant at the same time. Contestants in a game command each other to do vile and disgusting things to each other until only one is left. Nothing more than sex and violence in about as revolting a way as you can do it with no budget. WARNING: the trailer is easily as disgusting as the film. Move along ...nothing of redeeming value to see here. It's a pity IMDb doesn't allow me to give a movie a "0" rating.
Rampage [2018]

         

After a space station accident, a genetic pathogen crashes to earth turning an ape, a wolf and a crocodile into gigantic monstrosities. This film uses an extremely simple story as an excuse to give us action, spec fx and Dwayne Johnson. So what! This film is absolutely awesome entertainment. I've never been a big fan of Godzilla-type movies as they always appeared cheesy and non-realistic. The effects in this were so real, I wanted get up and run! Don't pass up the opportunity to see it on a big screen, if you get the chance. I went to the theater twice to see it!
Ready Player One [2018]

         

In 2045, everyone spends most of their time in a virtual world known as the Oasis. And now you can control the world if you can find the creator's Easter Egg. We've seen this before on numerous occasions so there's nothing new as far as the story goes. But the journey is fantastic! Not only is the virtual world more immersive than any other film I've seen, the constant pop culture references - from The Shining, to disco, to Atari games, to Chucky - was sheer nostalgic joy for an older guy like me. What a trip!
Red Rock West [1993]

            

A drifter, looking for work, stumbles into Red Rock, Wyoming, and is mistaken for a hit man. Thus begins a series of events reminiscent of Blood Simple on drugs. There are so many twists and turns in this movie that one literally has no idea what's going to happen 2 minute from now. Sounds confusing but it's not. It's tightly written with everything making perfectly logical sense ...even if it doesn't appear that way, at first. Nick Cage and Dennis Hopper are genuinely compelling and the rest of the cast plays their parts to perfection. Very satisfying thriller.
Re-Kill [2015]

            

Presented as a Cops style reality show (complete with commercials and stories of survival), a camera crew follows around R-Division 8, a military group of re-animate (zombie) killers. With the low ratings it got, I wasn't expecting much but I found it to be a low budget gem. With so many attempts at humanizing zombie movies these days, it was refreshing to see a movie that's just about the slaughter. Militarily realistic, well made, exciting, lots of zombie action, and a load of mindless fun. Not great but good, escapist, popcorn movie.
The Reaping [2007]

         
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A fallen ordain minister, who now debunks miracles, goes to a small, secluded hamlet in Louisiana called Haven where the river appears to have turned to blood. This was a pretty entertaining "science vs religion" story centering around a creepy little girl. Is she an angel? the devil? or something else? The plagues were effectively presented as well as how you'd expect people in that culture to react. Not particularly scary but well worth a watch with an ending that, although not great, did the job just fine.
The Recall [2017]

            
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Aliens return to Earth to pick up previous human experiments as well as a few new ones. Like having two different writers, the first half wasn't bad; the characters were likable, smart, pacing was great and it was shaping up nicely. Then there's the second half, which made everyone dumb, the story increasingly outrageous, and, ultimately, it descended into cheap sci fi silliness. They had to invent a slightly unhinged, aggressive character for Wesley Snipes to play as his only real function in the film is to explain things. Everything else he did was superfluous. (sigh)
Ratter [2015]

         

A girl from Wisconsin moves to NYC and becomes the victim of an electronic stalker. Nice premise ...badly executed. This movie is viewed entirely from the stalker's POV so, unless you're a real voyeur who's thrilled watching the rather uninteresting life of an average college student, this movie is not for you. Although our protagonist notices some strange electronic activity, she doesn't even know there's a physical threat until the last 15 minutes, i.e, no tension. And the ending?? (smacking forehead and walking off)
Red Eye [2005]

            

On the red eye to Miami, a woman is threatened with the death of her father if she doesn't help with an assassination. This was a tense and entertaining movie but everything seemed a bit too structured. There was a lot of dialogue that interfered with someone just doing something ...like warning someone they're going to attack them before they do. Yeah, threats were really big in this film. Although Rachel McAdams & Cillian Murphy acted well, neither of them were very convincing. Overall, it was a fun thriller without a lot of memorable qualities.
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 [2009]

         
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A rookie journalist investigating the disappearance of children stumbles into a expansive world of corruption. Not only is it excruciatingly slow to the point of despair, it appeared to have very little to do with missing children and everything to do with the journalist whose haphazard investigation just ticks people off and results in several injuries. He's not very smart about it either but, hey ...at least he gets laid every 15 minutes. This is the first film in a trilogy. Since this was such a senseless waste of time, I'm obviously not going to bother with the others.
Rear Window [1954]

            


What would you do if you were confined to your apartment because of an injury? Watch the neighbors, of course. What if you suspect one of them committed murder ...and no one believes you? Suspenseful, classic Hitchcock that ought to especially appeal to the voyeurs among us. James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr are excellent ...and Hitchcock's direction is top drawer.
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project [2019]

         
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Back in 1977, Marion Stokes started recording the news and didn't stop until her death 35 years later, amassing over 70,000 tapes with over 400,000 hours of recordings. This in-depth and personal biography provides the viewer with an intimate portrayal of a woman - part political activist, part humanitarian and part hoarder - who simply was not going to let history slip away. Well constructed and presented, I found this biodoc to be highly informative and quite fascinating, considering I never heard of her before this. Well done and thank you, Marion.

After Marion's passing, her entire video collection was sent to the Internet Archive. Drop by the Marion Stokes Movies, Audio & Video Collection for more information,
Red Dragon [2002]

            

I saw the classic The Silence of the Lambs ages ago but, for some reason, I never got around to seeing this prequel. Another film I remembered seeing a long time ago is Manhunter ...which is the first film based on "Red Dragon". Both films are equally as good, imo. Edward Norton was excellent as the FBI profiler, Ralph Fiennes' performance is spot-on as the Red Dragon and, of course, Anthony Hopkins is back in his best form as Hannibal the Cannibal. Certainly an intense and worthy prequel!
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