Thursday, February 10, 2011

Sanctum 3D

Movie: Sanctum 3D
Cast:    Richard Roxburgh      (Frank)
            Rhys Wakefield          (Josh)
            Ioan Gruffudd             (Carl)
            Alice Parkinson           (Victoria)
Genre: Suspense/thriller
Synopsis: Frank is a world-renowned cave explorer.  His latest project is the largest cave system known.  It is locate on a South Pacific Island.  The project is financed by a billionaire – Carl.  Carl is part of the exploration team.  Frank’s son – who seems to hate him – is also part of the team.  Frank and several members of the team are deep into the cave system in a part that can only be reached with scuba gear when While deep in the cave system, a monsoon hits.  The subsequent flood seals off the section of the cave with Frank and several members of the team.  Their only recourse is to try and find and find where the flooding waters are exiting the cavern system.

My two cents: After getting off to kind of a slow start, this movie really provided some great action and suspense.  Getting trapped in a cave has always been high on my list of things to avoid.  This movie sure validated that high ranking.  As if being trapped with only battery-fed lights is not bad enough – these people had to contend with repeated underwater swims with a limited supply of air in the tanks.  My only real beef was with a character, Victoria, who was supposed to be a seasoned mountain climber.  She had no wet suit.  When someone dies while wearing a wet suit, Victoria opts to deal with the cold water rather than wear something taken from a dead person.  Does a mountain climber not understand hypothermia?

The 3D effects were better than average.

Bottom line: A thriller that actually delivers the thrills with a good dose of suspense thrown in.
Definitely worth seeing.
[37]

The Roommate


Movie: The Roommate
Cast:    Minka Kelly                (Sara Matthews)
Leighton Meester        (Rebecca)
            Alyson Michalka         (Tracy)
Genre: drama
Synopsis: Sara is just starting her freshman year in college.  Her roommate, Rebecca, seems at first to be very nice.  As time goes on, Rebecca becomes more and more possessive about Sara.  It soon becomes apparent that Rebecca is a full-on psycho who is not above killing for her roommate.

My two cents: Mostly a forgettable movie.  I found nothing to set this apart from other movies dealing with obsessive friends or roommates.  I did find Leighton Meester (Rebecca) to be interesting.  A couple of weeks ago I saw her playing the spunky up-and-coming singer in “Country Strong”.  I really liked her in both roles – and these roles are about as far apart as you can get.  I guess that’s why they call it acting.

Bottom line: wait for it to hit the small screen.

[36]