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Cinema Rat - Sifting through the Garbage to bring you the GOOD STUFF

Cinema Rat - September 2009

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT -REVIEW (ON DVD)

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the last house on the left

Director: Dennis Iliadis
Cast: Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt, Spencer Treat Clark
Rating: *

Last House on the Left is a remake of a 1970's movie. Emma, John, and Mari head out on vacation to their lake house. They encounter some trouble along the way when they meet some unsavoury types along the way.

Last House is an overly gruesome somewhat cliche horror movie with predictable turns, graphic scenes regarding assault against women and gratuitous nudity. This is a slasher film with little or no substance to the story. This reviewer found it difficult to watch and was almost not going to review this film due to its sheer confronting nature in one scene and its failure to produce an engaging story throughout. This review was done out of request, and because it is in fact new to DVD thus us newly available.

This was viewed in the company of two women. One of which enjoys horror movies, however all three of us were put off by its squeamish nature. There are all the hallmarks of a cheesey formulaic slasher movie here. These include the rain, the melodramatic music and the nudity.

This reviewer wouldn't recommend this film especially to women, however it is out now on DVD and it may well find its niche, though it won't make waves in horror cirlces, atleast not for positive reasons or innovative ideas.

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FAME - REVIEW

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fame 2009

Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Cast: Kay Panabaker,Walter Perez, Naturi Naughton, Asher Book, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally
Rating: ****

There are so many films about dancing singing and music that have come before this remake of Fame. Incidentally they may have been inspired by the original film, so we have perhaps come full circle.

So much has been said about the original film, so it's important to note that the revamped version is far removed from the original. This difference makes it easier to focus on the feature at hand.

fame 2009


Jenny, Victor Denise and Marco are all students of the New York Academy of Performing Arts. They each are keen to succeed and forge their own paths and relish in their achievements. We follow our students from Audition Day to their final Graduation and the highlights and lowlights of their 4 long years are compressed into about 100 minutes of screen time.

Some interesting avenues were explored and the usual ethnic diversity was present. At one point though this reviewer was thinking that this remake was focusing on a particular ethnic minority, however this was not the case and the vast populous was appeased with a broad range of minorities included.

The cinematography was well done and a certain "vintage look" was applied to the look of each scene, with the style sitting somewhere between doco and concert movie.

It was nice to see some original cast members returning. They all contributed to the advancement of the plot and though their inclusion in the cast may seem trivial, it's good to see they are humbled enough to return to what help make them famous. This reviewer is also a fan of Frasier so seeing Frasier and Lilith in something again was also quite nice.

fame 2009


My main criticism is that with so much ground to cover and very little screen time to do it any, some very promising subplots went undiscovered which took some meat out of the story.

Each performer was excellent to watch in their particular expertise, and this reviewer has a particular passion for music and acting with some experience in the field so it was somewhat inspiring to watch lives be moulded and shaped into the realisation of lifelong dreams.

The downside of passion is how you deal with disappointment and the expectant paths of coping are displayed here, though the movies rating prevents any serious exploration into the dark paths of disappointment.

Altogether this film is an upbeat revamp and a thrilling assault on the senses.A family movie that appeals to the youth whilst recapturing it for the parents. Remember it's name.



fame 2009




Interview with Naturi Naughton and Asher Book:
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SURROGATES - REVIEW

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surrogates

Director: Jonathan Mostow,
Cast: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames
Rating: ****

Surrogate: noun, someone who takes the place of another person.

Technology is a necessary evil. The way in which our lives are ruled
by ejectrinic gadgetry is extrodinary. We as a race are relying
increasingly more on something else to do something we can't be
bothered doing , for us. An early example was the TV remote that
removed the need to actually get up from the couch and reach out to
the tv set to turn the dial that changed the channel. This brilliant
idea gave birth to the Universal Remote and while it doesn't
litterally control the universe, it does a damn fine job of running
your electricals in your house for you with ease.

A 14 year development project has been underway in order to assimilate the use of Surrogates into every-day living. Now the "meatbags" use their Surry's to navigate their daily lives, while the operator stays at home strapped to a chair out of harms way. That is until two operators are killed using their Surry's, an occurrence, the people at VSI, the manufacturers of mass-market surrogates, say is "impossible".

Bruce Willis as Det. Greet
Bruce Willis as Det. Greet



Willis is an FBI Agent who is called in to investigate the deaths, and this leads him on a dangerous path to discovery. One such operator who doesn't leave the house is his wife, who after the death of their son in a car accident, has turned to her Surry for comfort and she doesn't think or feel she belongs in the real world anymore.

James Cromwell is excellent as the now retired founder of VSI Corp. Dr. Canter and Ving Rhames lends a great composure to his role as 'The Prophet' the voice of the people who speak out against the use of surrogates.

ving rhames
Ving Rhames as The Prophet



The initial perception from this reviewer was Surrogates was to be an amalgam of Fifth Element, and The Matrix and whilst some lingering nuances of both remained, a more sophisticated edge crept in.


Whilst this has all the hallmarks of a Bruce Willis actioneer, it is clever and engaging and throws in some interesting ideas about humanity. It forces us to take a look at how we live our lives and our dependancy on modern gadgetry and gizmos and may serve as a reminder of the way in which things are going. Particularly in reference to the gaming world where mayhem can be realised in the press of a button without any physical consequence to the player or players, however if the player could be harmed as a result of their on screen antics, would their actions still be acceptable and would they still carry them out.

The direction is slick and the cinematography with its bright hues, resembling that of a computer game, are clever. There is one particular scene reminiscent of the "falling scene" in The Happening that elevated Surrogates from its ***1/2 rating that it held for the most part. The concept behind the conclusion to the film also held it there.


Unplug from your chair, get up, and go see Surrogates, go on....live a little.




Interview with Bruce Willis on SURROGATES:



BEHIND THE SCENES FEATURETTE:


NOTE: Neither rogerebert.com nor rottentomatoes.com had seen Surrogates at time of writing this review.
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OBSESSED - REVIEW (ON DVD)

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obsessed
obsessed

Director: Steve Shill
Cast: Beyonce Knowles, Idris Elba,Ali Larter, Jerry O'Connell


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SPRING BREAKDOWN - REVIEW (ON DVD)

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spring breakdown

Director: Ryan Shiraki
Cast: Amy Pohler,Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch, Sophie Monk


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NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLIST - REVIEW (ON DVD)

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nick and noras infinite playlist

Director: Peter Sollett
Cast: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Aaron Yoo, Alexis Dzniena


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FIRED UP - (DVD REVIEW)

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fired up

Director: Will Gluck
Cast: Nicholas DAgosto, Eric Christian Olsen, Molly Sims, John Michael Higgins


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TWILIGHT NEW MOON NEW EXTENDED TRAILER

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TWILIGHT: NEW MOON


HERE IT IS VAMPIE RATS... THE LATEST, EXTENDED TRAILER FOR TWILIGHT: NEW MOON OUT NOVEMBER 20th 2009..
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17 AGAIN - REVIEW (ON DVD)

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17 again


Director: Burr Steers


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TRAILERS TRASH & TREASURES

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HERE ARE SOME TASTY TREATS IN THE TRAILER TRASH TODAY:

9

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UP - REVIEW

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Up


Director:Pete Docter


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A CHRISTMAS CAROL TRAILER

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From Director Robert Zemeckis and Disney comes ' A CHRISTMAS CAROL' This Christmas


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500 DAYS OF SUMMER - REVIEW

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Director: Marc Webb


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FUNNY PEOPLE - REVIEW

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Funny People

Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill


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FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN - DVD REVIEW

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Director: Dennis Lee
Cast: Julia Roberts, Wilam Dafoe, Ryan Reynolds


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TRAILERS TRASH & TREASURES

SEARCH: untitled,men,goats,boys,back,youth,revolt,trailers
Here are this weeks tasty morsels I found in the garbage...

astro boy

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THE SOLIST -REVIEW

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The Soloist


Director: Joe Wright


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