The Roommate is being called Single White Female for the Twilight generation. But there are more movies The Roommate appropriates than this one. It has shades of Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. Yet, the sum of ripping off three different movies does not equal a strong product; Takers taught us that last summer. Between the grade school play quality acting, slow buildup, and PG-13 watering down, The Roommate becomes unbearable company.
Let’s be honest: Anthony Hopkins could read the phone book and people would buy a ticket to watch (I would). He’s a treasure to his profession and even in his most sub-par films, he’s never dull to watch. This is the case with his latest film, The Rite.
Remakes (loose or direct) are never inherently bad simply because they belong to that classification, but usually the updated product is simply lazy and bland. Said lack of inspiration obviously has direct links to the fact the new product is based upon past material, but a premise is a premise, not a movie, and if handled correctly a remake can be as original as the filmmaker’s agile mind desires.
Director Peter Weir has tackled a variety of genres. Obscure yet brilliant films that might touch on societal issues (Picnic at Hanging Rock), comedies (Green Card), crime thrillers (Witness), and sweeping epics (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) are just a few of the different genres he’s taken under his wing in the past.
No Strings Attached fits the exact profile of a film quite literally strung together with the hopes of getting its cup under the R-rated sex comedy tap and catching a few precious drops of what has been comedy gold the last five years. And if 2011′s first romantic comedy is any indication, that cup hath runneth dry.
If anyone else had directed The Dilemma, I would’ve been pleasantly surprised with it. Since Ron Howard directed it, it met my expectations. His latest film might be presented as a straight comedy in the promotions, but the best parts of it are the more serious dramatic moments.
The Green Hornet ended up being mostly what it had intended to be: a fun, colorful romp that didn’t take itself too seriously. It falls short a little in terms of the acting chops and it could have used a little more action and a little less comedy, but it was a solid movie-going experience that should please fans old and new
Gwyneth Paltrow blends strength and insecurity into a tall delicious drink and Garrett Hedlund is the slice of lime that brings it all together. But a good cast cannot always save a movie, and in this case it doesn’t. Feste makes a decent attempt at drama but errs tragically in the narrative, character development and pacing.
Behmen (Nicolas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) are two 14th Century knights fighting in the Crusades. After deserting the army, the two knights discover Europe has been decimated by the Black Death and after being captured in a town, a Cardinal (Christopher Lee) ask them to escort a suspected witch (Claire Foy), blamed for the plague, to a monastery. At the monastery is the last Book of Solomon that will destroy her. With another knight (Ulrich Thomsen), a priest (Stephen Campbell Moore), a teenager who wants to be a knight (Robert Sheehan) and a dodgy merchant (Stephen Graham) the knights accept the quest but question both the mission and what the girl really is.
After a string of $100 million plus megahits Jim Carrey has reverted back to his roots with the low budget I Love You, Phillip Morris, and perhaps then it is no surprise this is one of the best movies (and performances) of his auspicious career.
