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