The Roommate (2011)

Directed By: Christian E. Christiansen

Starring: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Danneel Harris, & Alyson Michalka

MPAA Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 / 10

Is The Roommate a remake of Single White Female? For some reason, that question has become perhaps the most discussed thing about this new thriller. My answer to that question: isn't it obvious? If this wasn't meant to be a remake, then someone should file a lawsuit, because The Roommate is so much like Single White Female, it is practically the same film. So many scenes - the cuddly pet doomed from the minute it arrives, the ex-boyfriend tricked into sex, the girl-on-girl slapdown - are eerily similar, despite The Roommate focusing on younger characters and changing the setting (from an upscale New York apartment to a college dorm room). Now, my problem with this is that Single White Female is only a mildly-entertaining fluff piece anyway...so why would anyone choose to copy it? I can only guess it's because Fatal Attraction has already been covered. The good news is that The Roommate follows Single White Female's formula so closely that it actually manages to be as effective as its predecessor. I'm talking total cheesy trash...but in a completely watchable way.

This cheered me up today.

These past few weeks have been pretty difficult for me. First of all, school sucks. We all know it...the due dates, the borderline psychotic professors, sitting through blander-than-bland lectures. It all just sucks. I'm four weeks in and already I'm thinking that being a waiter at Shoney's wouldn't be so bad after all...the Thursday night breakfast bar crowd tips big, or so I hear. On a more serious note, I also lost a very dear friend last Thursday in what can only be described as a tragic accident. My heart hurts...and I just haven't been in the mood to watch movies. Heck, I practically dragged myself to see 127 Hours because I really needed a blog update, and I had been looking forward to it for months. Anyway, so I've been pretty bummed all day today...it was the day of the funeral, which I, unfortunately, had to miss because of a mandatory class meeting. And, when I need a quick pick-me-up, I always go to, you guessed it, dance. And the tribute that Dancing with the Stars did in memory of Michael Jackson was perfect for what I needed. Designed with appropriate reverence, but choreographed to include the enthusiasm and passion that Jackson made famous, it is one of the best dances that Dancing with the Stars has ever done. And, in what has become one of the saddest days for me in recent memory, it brought a much-needed smile to my face. Thus, I thought I should share it with you. Enjoy.

127 Hours (2010)

Directed By: Danny Boyle

Starring: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Burton, & Treat Williams

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 10 / 10

Though much attention has been given to David Fincher and his ability to make techno-babble fascinating in The Social Network, it should be said that Danny Boyle deserves praise as well, as he expertly tackles a challenge just as daunting as the one Fincher faced. In 127 Hours, aside from a few minutes at the beginning, the narrative follows a man stuck in one place, unable to move, and with no one to communicate with. Suddenly, everything that usually propels a film...relationships, dialog between characters, movement, and more...are completely cut off. It is just us and the film's star, James Franco. What could (and, in all reality, should) have been a dull-as-dirt gimmick stretched out to ninety minutes is, thanks to Boyle and Franco, an electric and genuinely masterful piece of cinema, a film that is incomparable to anything else in theaters right now and that is certainly one of 2010's best offerings.

Winter's Bone (2010)

Directed By: Debra Granik

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garrett Dillahunt, & Kevin Breznahan

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 4 / 10

Okay, let's face it, I am just about the only person in the world who hasn't prayed at the altar of Winter's Bone this year. Critics fell head over heels in love with it, it has been nominated for a slew of awards, and it even won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Knowing all of this, I went into Winter's Bone quite excited for what it had to offer...but I came out with a decidedly different impression. It just isn't that good. What this film was intended to be was a compelling dramatic thriller about a young girl trying to find her father, a journey that provided insights into the shocking poverty of the Ozarks, as well as the debilitating crystal meth ring running in the area. That could have made for a wonderful film. Unfortunately, Winter's Bone plays out more like some redneck mafia movie, where everyone stares ominously at everyone else and says things like, "Come with me. I've got something you need to see."

Blue Valentine (2010)

Directed By: Derek Cianfrance

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka, & Mike Vogel

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 10 / 10

"This is the dream." - Dean (Ryan Gosling)

Brutal and beautiful. Those two words aren't usually used together, but they are most fitting when describing Blue Valentine. It's brutal, because of its unflinching portrayal of two people falling apart. It's beautiful, because of the touching way it approaches the story. Neither praising nor condemning either of its lead characters, it presents the duration of their rocky relationship in a decidedly unbiased way. In fact, by the end of the film, I had fallen for both of the characters and, though I didn't believe they should be together, I wanted them each to have a happy ending apart from one another. This symbolizes why Blue Valentine is so effective. In real life, there isn't just black or white, good or bad. There are shades of grey. In a break up, there isn't always one person solely responsible; there isn't always a bad guy twirling his/her maniacal moustache as the other partner pines for what could have been. Sometimes, things just don't work out. For some reason, this is a truth not often shown in movies.

Saw 3D (2010)

Directed By: Kevin Greutert

Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flannery, & Cary Elwes

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 1 / 10

I guess you could call me a Saw fan. I mean, I've seen every film, no matter how poorly-reviewed they were. I stuck by the franchise through the Saw V debacle (and was justly rewarded with Saw VI). And I can pretty much give you a scene-by-scene runthrough of the first film, since I've seen it countless times. That being said, I'm not the person you need to go to if you want to talk about what was in the envelope that so-and-so delivered to what's-his-name in the the such-and-such sequel. I just haven't put that much focus or interest in any of the sequels since Saw III...of course, neither have the filmmakers, so we're equal. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I'm not some bitter film critic who dismisses these movies as pure "torture porn" without having seen them. In fact, after the far better-than-expected Saw VI, I was really looking forward to this sequel, said to be "The Final Chapter" (yeah right). Unfortunately, Saw 3D was not merely a disappointment...it is, by far, the worst film in the entire series. It is a sequel so poorly-made, it makes Saw V practically look like Oscar bait.

Country Strong (2010)

Directed By: Shana Feste

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, & Leighton Meester

MPAA Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 / 10

Writer and director Shana Feste reportedly said that she was inspired by Britney Spears when writing the screenplay for Country Strong. No, she didn't rock out to "Toxic" in between scenes...she used Britney's now-legendary career as a basis for this film's heroine, Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow). Kelly is a Grammy-winning, record-breaking solo artist whose career and life fall apart when she gets drunk while five months pregnant, falls off the stage, and sadly loses the baby. Her husband, James (Tim McGraw), forces her into rehab, partly because he loves his wife, but mostly because she needs good PR. When the film opens, Kelly hasn't conquered any of her demons. She's still an alcoholic, still pops pills, and is still suffering from depression. Are you seeing the connection yet? We've seen this story played out in the press countless times before, recently with Lindsay Lohan, but most famously with the aforementioned Britney. Country Strong is rightfully sympathetic towards these stars, painting a portrait of Kelly not as a fame-seeking, irresponsible bimbo...but as a broken soul who can't get her head above water. She wants to get better, but can't.

No Strings Attached (2011)

Directed By: Ivan Reitman

Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Greta Gerwig, & Lake Bell

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 7 / 10

Would it be a stretch to say that the romantic comedy subgenre has been in a slump the last few years? Would anyone disagree with me? I didn't think so. It's no secret that somewhere between the vibrating pantie scene in The Ugly Truth and, well, everything in The Bounty Hunter, the romantic comedy has become a consistently unfunny, unlikable, and thoroughly unbearable affair. All of this coming from someone who thought Killers was actually pretty funny...so you know I'm not terribly hard to please when it comes to these movies. It's rare nowadays to see a romantic comedy that doesn't make me want to throw myself off the concession stand before the ends credits...and, let's face it, if you have seen a trailer for No Strings Attached, you were probably under the same assumption I was: it's just more of the same. But, I realized that I had yet to see a 2011 theatrical release and really needed to if this blog was going to retain any (rumored) relevance whatsoever. So, dodging the continued downfall of Nicholas Cage and Seth Rogen still trying to be funny, I decided that No Strings Attached was probably the least psychologically-scarring movie in theaters.