Jun 26, 2011

Just friends, 2005


Just friends, 2005
Director: Roger Kumble
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris



Stage: Home theatre

Just friends in short: Chris Brander has always been friends with Jamie Palamino, but now decides it is time to take his relationship to the next step. The problem is, is that Jamie still wants to be 'Just Friends'. When he runs away and moves to L.A., he becomes a attractive music manager, who everyone wants. When his jet crashes, when flying to Paris with his newest singing sensation, Samantha James, he ends up back home. To his surprise, he encounters Jamie again, and sets out to be more than 'Just Friends' this time.


Preps: a strong recommendation makes me wonder what is behind the scenes of the piece


Reality: A good surprise. Normally, this type of the movie, turns out to be a lame comedy or a truly stupid piece. There are, however, some of the movies that derive from Hollywood and have surpassed my eye of criticism as fairly good or even very good. Dude where's my car, American pie, Roadtrip, etc. These are some of the better ones. And this piece turns out to be one of them, too. Amazingly enough, it drives you through high school dilemmas and wondering, what is the perfect love, how to gain it, what are the drama effects mocking can have on someone and how to tell your love that she/he is your love, if you are supposingly "just friends".

Now, turning to present time, the guy, that was mocked in high school, is a hot shot, good looking successful person, working with high recognizable people and movie/music stars. Going back to his family house, even though it's supposed to be for a day, gives him the opportunity to come clean with the trauma that has obviously caused him to turn out a jerk. Pushing love romance in one edge and indulging in the relationships (various, money-driven; passion-driven) on the other, it doesn't make him a better person. Just better perceived in his own idea what he's supposed to be. The story revolves around one simple question everyone has once in a while and some for their whole lives - who am I now, am I happy with myself and what is my perception of what should I be.

There isn't a brilliant formula to describe this, however, this piece implies that childhood traumas dramatically effect the way you act as an adult. I personally disagree up to some extent. In some way, we can be influenced a lot, on the other hand, surely you can acknowledge, whether you have become a mean version of yourself. And the trauma from childhood could here serve as an excuse - so they made me the way I am now. Philosophically put, you are the way you decide to be. You live the life you choose and not vice versa.

Philosophy aside, the movie is one of better Hw'd comedies in the last decade, bringing an enormous amount of sane humour and good scenes, where you should roll with laughter. And the ever popular chase for the girl. If nothing else, you will enjoy humorous chasings and rivalry between two guys to meet one girl's heart to claim forever.


My personal rating: 8,0 (a solid piece, worth seeing again. I can sense the director of American pie in this).

Just friends on IMDB

Jun 18, 2011

3 Idiots, 2009


3 Idiots, 2009
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Mona Singh




Stage: Home theatre, nice afternoon scenery

3 Idiots in short: Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi want to re-unite with their fellow collegian, Rancho, after faking a stroke abroad an Air India plane, and excusing himself from his wife - trouser less - respectively. Enroute, they encounter another student, Chatur Ramalingam, now a successful businessman, who reminds them of a bet they had undertaken 10 years ago. The trio, while recollecting hilarious antics, including their run-ins with the Dean of Delhi's Imperial College of Engineering, Viru Sahastrabudhe, race to locate Rancho, at his last known address - little knowing the secret that was kept from them all this time.


Preps: None in perticular. A good recommendation


Reality:
Well, it seems that every time I run into a Bollywood scene, it evolves in somehow romantic perspective of the world. Is India really the place, where the only two options what to become in life, are doctor or a scientist (engineer)? Saving the last penny for the kid to go in school, placing all your bets on his good being and trying to feed yourself while the youngster comes home with a degree, ready to serve the nation and bring home the big bucks? Maybe so.. however, much in this piece, that I simply cannot buy without research. Is there really so many suicides in India, and all of them because of a bad grade, bad choice in faculty, your parents forcing you to live up their dreams? Might be also true, however, in this piece it's depicted somehow from a perspective of a romantic scenery, "all is well" saying, so juvenile, not convincing at all.

Nevertheless, a cute piece, suits perfectly to the Sunday atmosphere, trying to relax and watch something amusing up to some extent and not demanding from a viewer's perspective. This is a genuine description I am giving to this one. Because the story doesn't fit the reality, the main characters are at least ten years too old to be hanging around the faculty. The times of Beverly Hills 90210 are over, you cannot have the audience by implementing elder people in the roles of students. Nevertheless, a relaxing one, trying to make you visit India (because of the scenery and the music, and evidently openess of the people involved, the habits they have, the poverty that seeks for foreign capital.

Nothing really thrilling about this piece. But can make you smile and laugh hard in many moments. Therefore, a nice perspective for the afternoon, nothing more. How come all the Bollywood movies seem to have a happy ending? Need to see more, I guess. Not all of them should be like this, I am sure.


My personal rating: 5,0 (amusing Sunday entertainment, even a bit more, from my perspective. Could be shrinked to one hour and a half, though)

3 Idiots on IMDB

Jun 14, 2011

Kung Fu Panda 2, 2011


Kung Fu Panda 2, 2011
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Cast:(voices): Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan




Stage: Home theatre, late night entertainment

Preps: Seeing absolutely adorable Kung Fu Panda part 1, I need to see this. As I am not a perticular fan of sequels, therefore I am never truly convinced I want or need to see it. In this case, this really wasn't an option, definitely needed to see this.


Panda in short: From the studio that brought you "Shrek," "Madagascar" and "Kung Fu Panda." Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five - Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po's awesome new life is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu? He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.


Reality: A minor dissappointment, as the story isn't as good and convincing as in the first part. But I should have known this, as it is predictable. The story, plot and surrounding. We learn a bit about the background of Po - the childhood nightmare and how he landed in the hands of his so called father. However, this side story has much to conquer and the director didn't make the most of it. I like the idea that it isn't your flesh and blood you should love or appreciate unconditionally. It's the person that raises you that deserves this and he/she doesn't even need to be your relative. As in this case, obviously.

The idea, that can be easily transmitted in the real life nowadays. From my perspective, you can love some of your friends much more than given relatives, and you don't necessarily need to feel bad about it, it's just life fact and so to speak, reality. Po's turnover on the seeking of his origin, who he really is, turns out to be the seek to the love of his "father". And no expectations, dissappointments about the life as it turned out for him.

The animated movie has its downfalls, obviously. The passages between the actions, delivered by the notorious (famous) five warriors, with the peacock giving out his vicious plans, are simply boring and hard to take in (or to relate with). The time of the movie, when you go and grab some snacks or are very grateful to have some at the movies. The same goes for the great plan to destroy China with a tool that breathes fire. And on the other side, the battle in the end, is something you need to breathe at, so good and true. Of course, good versus evil in an animated piece always ends predicteably - of course Po is the winner of the day and all the rabbits in China are playing tambourine again.


My personal rating: 5,0 (some truly amusing scenes, on the other hand, boresome inputs on some passages).

Kung Fu on IMDB

Jun 13, 2011

Red Riding Hood, 2011


Red Riding Hood, 2011
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Lukas Haas, Gary Oldman




Stage: Home theatre


Hood in short: Valerie (Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Irons). Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village. For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Oldman), to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. As the death toll rises with each moon...


Preps: Hm.. some recommendations from my friends. Juvenile audience pouring from the cinemas. A hot thing a while ago, and me curious about everything.



Reality: Yuk. Mix a fairy tale with some dillusion of Beowulf, Robin Hood, King Arthur.. well, you end up with Red Riding Hood. I hadn't had any perticular picture in my head what this movie was supposed to be like, but I for sure didn't have this in mind. The story is weak, the effects are poor, the music and the scenery are high-school-ish.. sometimes when you mix that many famous movies ever made and put them together, the song just doesn't have a tone, rhyme, doesn't fit. In this case, in my opinion, a strong failure.

It is not until the very last scenes that the Red Riding Hood is given the stash with goodies for the grandmother. And even there, they cannot follow the original fairy tale. Maybe quite naive, but I wanted to see the film version of the fairy tale. Why bother to take the original title, if you are going to do something completely different? The link between her childhood and present seems lacking in confidence and competence - it doesn't link at all. Furthermore, the love triangle is vague and minimized, although the director obviously wanted it to run the complete show.

No recommendation whatsoever. Rather see the other mentioned movies, from where this weird mix of scenes derives. They are much better.

My personal rate: 1,0 (erase it, don't waste your time. Honestly!)

Hood on IMDB

Jun 12, 2011

Seven, 1995


Seven, 1995
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow



Stage: Home cinema, TV selection on a nice Saturday Evening

Seven in short: A film about two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while green Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...
Preps: Hm.. n'th time to be seeing this. So good I cannot dare to miss it again, even though it's a tv version.


Reality: One of Fincher's most remarkable pieces. I absolutely adore the storyline and the disgusting tone he's following. Pitt brilliantly playing the rookie, Freeman also brilliant in the role of retiring cop. Paltrow one of the side roles, still remains true to the idea of the movie. The murders follow a pattern, still are exceeding each time with the evil note they possess. I have seen several similar case studies involving several murders, after all this is a grateful genre with a wide range of audience, however this one somehow reminds of the Silence of the Lambs in its evilness and making the viewer respect the murderer's actions - in a sense, I am not able to say he's punishing the wrong people. I just disagree with the idea that he is the mesia, taking God's hand into his own. Or justice, for all the atheists like me.
When Spacey is revealed, this is mere a cherry on the top of a pile of delicious fruit. It draws attention even more to the other side, making me respect the mind of someone so vicious and dangerous. The last deed is indeed the most vicious and psychological the hardest one to take into your system and you are just waiting for Pitt to explode in the last scene. Scenery carefully chosen, dialogues are leading to perfection. Some of dark humour involved, especially in the family atmosphere scenes (when Freeman comes to Pitt's home and meets the wife). Seeing the soft side of the rookie is somehow entertaining, however it brings the emotional part to the movie and attaches the viewer also to Paltrow, which was obviously the purpose to see the last scene in the most emot spirit ever.

There are several overachievers in the business, Seven seems to be one of them. In my opinion, one of the best movies in the genre, difficult to miss with its many repetitions. Also, remarkable flow of the cast at the end - vice versa as it was supposed to be. Finally, remark about the music. If you don't notice it during the piece, you will be surely surprised in the defilee - the last words coming out of director's mouth.


My personal rating: 9,5 (absolutely a must see)
Seven on IMDB

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 2002


Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets, 2002
Director: Chris Columbus
Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint




Stage: Home TV selection

Harry in short:Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby the house-elf, who warns Harry Potter against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening: Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his/her guard - "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware"



Preps:
Having read all of the books, I was anxious to see the movies as well. This was the second or the third time to see this. From a teen perspective, a superb transformation of the written material into movie reality.


Reality: As said, the tremendous success Potter had (or dare I say, Rowling had) with creating so many marketing materials - where the movie is the mere "must have" and all the rest just sings the same tune. Meaning, that from that point on, the teens in the globe went crazy about this magical mumbo jumbo, from having the school on net for magicians, to making their parents buy them everything that is connected with Harry Potter. In some sense, more or less similar to Avatar. Namely, Potter creates a versatile parallel world, where almost everything is possible, the good perceived as the virtue that in the end overcomes the evil. The villains in one dorm, the good guys in another. The power among teachers nicely balanced (also in good/evil sense). However, this goes for all Harry Potters with the movie versions of the brilliant scripts.

The story is always a bit different, nevertheless the movie itself holds a strong case in sense of continuity of different facts (following the true book, upon which it was built); separation between "real world" and magical interpretation. New faces each time, the main protagonists remaining the same. A step forward in juvenile genre, making dreaming virtually possible. After all, who wouldn't be a magician for at least a day? The items, produced in the imagination of Rowling, are amazingly put to life in the movie. From Dobby, to magic tools (the invisible coat, the potion, flying donuts, etc). It will hold the viewer up to the end, presumeably if the viewer is normally a fan of Potter. For all the others -the formula is 1:0 - either you love it or hate it, no passage inbetween.


My personal rate: 7,0 (not as good as some of the sequels and definitely doesn't break the initial part. However, a truly good piece in perspective of making your dreams turn real. And the kids are obviously happy about the fact, that geeks with glasses are again in the game).


Harry on IMDB

Jun 7, 2011

Aleksandrinke, 2011


Aleksandrinke, 2011
Director: Metod Pevec
Cast: various people from that time - the documentary movie. Children and relatives of known Alexandrians



"The expression »Aleksandrinke« is a specific term which was invented by the local people of the Goriška region for the girls and women who worked in Egypt at the time of the most intense expansion of the phenomenon and doesn't mean the inhabitants of Alexandria."

Stage: Local kino Dvor, premiere


Aleksandrinke in short:The massive female emigration from the Goriška region to Egypt in the second half of the 19th century started due to the fact that during the construction of the Suez Canal, and still more so after its opening in the year 1869, the number of European entrepreneurs in Egypt, who settled above all in the cities of Alexandria and Cairo, increased. The country and middle-class girls from our area started to work for these rich European families as cooks, maids, nannies, wet nurses or governesses, dressmakers, etc..


Preps: I am not aware about the movie more than I know about the term in general. Neither I am sure whether it's a documentary or a played movie. Haven't done the homework, I was invited to the premiere which is supposed to be great. The piece, I mean. Historical part is the trigger that drags my expectations high enough.

Reality: The movie shows historical important piece of documentation on the topic - Alexandrian women, known as nannies, governesses, nurture substitute mothers for the children of the wealthy couples in Egypt. Came from all over the world, however, this documentary focuses in perticular on slovene women. Supposed to be hard working, nice, kind to the children, obviously determined to get some money in return for taking care of the children, giving them love they never received from their mothers. Sadly enough, most of them left their real children back at home in Slovenia, in the hands of their relatives, husbands they left behind, shelters for orphans, etc.

A dramatic story, sad from the beginning to its end. The poverty that ruled Slovenia at that point forced a lot of people into situations like this. The hatred the children expressed years after they grew up, the evil thoughts they still carry around and dissappointment from both parties, mothers and their children. The husbands that waited in vain for the lady to return.. Some happier stories inbetween, if the girl succeeded to be an accompanying "mistress" of the landlady, and some also married. However, most of them were there to spend their life to get some money to send it home to poor people that anxiously waited for them.

Nowadays, in Slovenia, maybe the situation is vice versa, Slovenia might now be the shelter and a promised land to many workers from balkan countries. However, the roomer around most of them is really sad, they don't get the money they worked for. Up to great extent far more sad than the Alexandrians - at least they got some money. The guys here, mostly working in construction, nowadays, they don't receive anything for several months of work. And stay, desperately hoping to get at least something, most of them never see the deserved paycheck.

Alexandrians is a documentary, pulled together with various stories, similar to the extent of the thin red line. Breathtaking emotions hidden inbetween the lines, truth as it is, no special effects, nothing more or less than the hard truth. The viewer is left with his soul, thinking about this and how deep the emotions get even after periods of time, that has passed by. The challenge was to make the movie dynamic, Pevec succeeds greatly. Change of scenes, change of people that speak - true facts, combined with status as it was (pictures, taken from that point), narrator that speaks about history, relations between different people and places, political views and culture). Letters, collected from that area and stories that cannot tell a lie. A masterpiece with extensive background research. Worth seeing and being thought about.


My personal rate: 9,0 (leaves you speechless on the topic. a good history and emotional lesson).


Official site of Aleksandrinke

Jun 5, 2011

Fast Five, 2011


Fast Five, 2011
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel,Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson




Stage: local theatre, late Saturday show. Crowdy and unnacceptable smell in the hall. Yuk.

Fast Five in Short: Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on their tail. Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey... before someone else runs them down first.


Preps: Trying to see this for some time now. A friend drags me in the movies, she is a huge fan of the muscles and cars :) I follow, humbly, as I want to see this also. However, my expectations are low as it is the fifth sequel and I don't have any good experience in a long run with them. Lovely cars and beautiful women, combined with a race. Is there anything more?


Reality: Nope. Nothing more. However, a spectacular view of Rio de Janeiro, in its poverty, overload of small detached houses/barracs, people with guns, chasing and running on the roofs, making the daily bread by stealing and other criminal acts.. One guy that rules the world. The god in the convenient role of a godfather, who is being chased by the main protagonists in this action movie.

The story will not impress you. As said, beautiful women, stealing and racing with cars, a grand theft in verses of The Bank Job or Mission Impossible, or Ocean's eleven (in this sense, Vin Diesel can be as charming as Clooney). The plan, that is swept away by local police, the seeking of the love, the boobs and asses at the chase racing playground.

Can people really be so enthusiastic about the racing? I guess so. I know personally some addicts in this area. Which doesn't mean I understand it. The movie implies the adrenalin they get, comes from the mere fact of a race and competition, and rarely reflects the prize the one who wins, gets or owns. Do you bet your car? In this game, you do. Do you bet your woman? Also.. the sky is the limit. The piece will take you through the same path the former Fast and Furious did, although with a slight change of cast, music, place and cars. Apart from that, the story is clear and not demanding for the viewer. Like a race in Formula one. Easy to follow, even easier to fall asleep inbetween (because you don't miss much). The music, however, is very powerful in the Fast Five. Not a surprise, the movies with beautiful women and cars are normalwise surrounded/accompanied by great music. Not as hillarious and emotional like some Zimmerman pieces, but mean, harsh and powerful, the way it fits to the purpose.


My personal rate: 5,0 (somewhere in the middle. However, you need to be a fan of racing, or a Vin Diesel fan, or want to see beautiful women. Not a lot of intelligence put into this piece, but a strong scene and materialism put upfront)

Fast Five on IMDB

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, 2004


The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004
Director: Michel Gondry
Cast: Jim Carey, Kate Winslet,Tom Wilkinson



Stage: Home Theatre
The Sunshine in short:Joel is stunned to discover that his girlfriend Clementine has had her memories of their tumultuous relationship erased. Out of desperation, he contracts the inventor of the process, Dr. Howard Mierzwaik, to have Clementine removed from his own memory. But as Joel's memories progressively disappear, he begins to rediscover their earlier passion. From deep within the recesses of his brain, Joel attempts to escape the procedure. As Dr. Mierzwiak and his crew chase him through the maze of his memories, it's clear that Joel just can't get her out of his head.

Preps: I have seen this movie several times. Find it a classic and a good way to think about what you do in life. The choices you make. A good way to spend a Friday evening.



Reality
: Up to what extent are we remembering or better put, trying to keep the memory? According to some theories, in a long run, you don't remember the good stuff, you tend to remember the bad things. Therefore, if you have a bouncy relationship, which ends in fury, you will remember after a while, only the things you fought about. And after years and years, maybe a vague memory will serve as a mere reminder of what have you done wrong. Or how it went down the drain.

Now, this movie implies something completely different. That the good times are stashed somewhere subconsciously. Yes, the memory reminders, such as the things you have done together, the photos, the quotes you both spoke, nick names, dolls you bought together, those reminders will take you back to a good memory. This is why most women (and some men also) just stash those things in a box and bury it, throw it away, clean the appartement from those reminders. How about cleaning your soul, subconscious thoughts, things that chase you in your dreams? The procedure, shown in a movie, is a bit similar to losing weight by going to a place where they suck your fat. It makes you thin in a second, but what a waste to one's mind - you don't get to grow by experience, because you pay that an experience is skipped and afterwards, mostly, unappreciated present state of mind, makes you forget about the path (obviously, because you haven't had one to remember about).

Building a relationship is stated of many moments, that collide in a story. After ending it, they collapse in fragments that appear every now and then in your imagination. Either good or bad, they are here. They chase you while you are being alone at night, wondering, what the hell went wrong and how did I succeed not noticeing it. So, a perfect solution appears in this piece, just erase the bloody memories. It will all restart, and your brains will not be damaged any more with you wondering around, thinking how good it was and how crappy everything is right now.

The only problem the human race might have with this, that in many cases emotions suck the sane part of your mind. For instance, erasing your own memories just because your ex decided to do so (for some sort of a vengeance reason) is purely emotional factor and shouldn't in this case make the doer any happier. She doesn't know him anymore and it will only serve the desperation Joel has when thinking of the daring idea she got into motion with erasing everything they did, who they were, every fragment that involved him. In some sense, the easier way. Like a suicide. The easiest way to solve problems. And definitely coward-full, in terms of it's harder to cope with your trouble and accept responsibility than to just end it up. In this piece, erase it.

Humans tend to change their minds. Just what if you took the wrong pill (Matrix) and you want to exit? In this dream, no way. Still, Joel finds a lucid way in his procedure of erasing and knows he's dreaming. A conscious decision to escape the procedure makes this sf movie tremendously adventurous and romantic at the same time. Does he escape the things that are buried in his soul? In his dreams firstly he realizes they are dreams and memories that are about to go blunt, and then he creates another dream within a dream (the Inception from last year holds the same candle in its red line). In those dreams, supposeably cannot be found. The acknowledgement, that he per se, doesn't want to lose the memories at all, is breathtaking, as we watch him fall deeper and deeper, desperately seeking a place where he can hide with his Clementine.


Brilliant work from Carey and Winslet. Excellent exposure of the director's mind. A movie, worth all the attention it got and worth re-seeing again and again. Sad, romantic story about the essence of ourselves and up to what point we want to torture ourselves or live in a dream. And up to what extent the memories of a beloved person reach.



My personal rate: 9,5 (a brilliant "relationship" piece, worth every second of screening).


The Sunshine on IMDB

The Roommate, 2011


The Roommate, 2011
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Cast: Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet




Stage: home theatre, late evening when you cannot sleep and mistake bed for another movie selection

Roommate in short: College student Sara finds that her new roommate Rebecca has an obsession with her, which quickly turns violent.


Preps: Well, been told that it's the newer version of Single White Female, plus, quite successful in our theatres. Hence, a good thing to see in my opinion (for the first comment. I loved Single White Female, its creepiness and point)


Reality: Hm. Again hm. a middle-high school movie. Firstly, you have the actors that age. Meaning, the movie is attacking obviously younger audience. As oppose to Single White Female, where we are put in a grown up world. Here we have college kids, striving for a placement in their world(s) and looking for action wherever they go. World, where you get your seat in the class by looking gorgeous, the one, where a roommate can be creepy and cute at the same time with hidden virtues from her past.
In any sense, the world which is not really believable and with cheap movie tricks that are supposed to make the audience shiver.

Single white female highly wins this battle, as it posesses the thriller soul at which your lungs shiver in fear from time to time. The Roommate is the younger sister that never gets anything but too big trousers to wear and never gets to lead. The cast is poor, the scenario lacks true content. The scenery is too simple and photography lacks enthusiasm. The only thing that the movie implies is up to what extent should you trust a complete stranger, only because you have to share rooms for the semester? And how villain some people appear after the masks fall down. And for this idea, you don't need to see this movie at all. It is a known fact, very poorly introduced in this piece, hence, almost impossible to stick up to the very end of it. And in no imagination I cannot perceive its success at our theatres. Either only school-kids went to see this and found it exciting, or on the other hand, sometimes the worst movies turn into a financial success, undermining the intelligence of the audience.


My personal rate: 2,0 (not really the worst one I have seen in this genre, but definitely something that won't get you high of excitement :)

The Roommate on IMDB