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Hostel (2005)
4/10
Good horror, non-existent story
20 December 2005
I like a rip-roaring horror movie as much as the next guy, but this one just didn't do it for me. It certainly felt like it hit all the necessary marks, from nudity and dismemberment to bloody revenge, but at the conclusion, it just felt like eating cotton candy - no real nutritional value, just a sense that I had satisfied some of my prurient appetite without any logical payoff.

The movie was slow in getting started and then the sprinted to a singularly boggling ending. I walked out of the theater asking, "What was the point of all that?" And while this is described as horror, it really should be classified as thriller. There was no explanation or clever twist at the end. Just the end. I'm sure that it will attract an enthusiastic audience of young adults, but the evisceration by the critics will stem any hopes of huge box office.

If your expectations are low enough, and your tastes in gore sufficiently robust, then you are in for a good time. Otherwise, skip this and see a classic Hitchcock film. You'll feel better about yourself.
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8/10
A welcome respite to typical summer fare...
15 June 2005
This breezy melodrama is a relaxing tale of a family torn by their common love for things they can't have. A brother and sister are left without parents and clearly have come to depend on each other. But the summer brings a change in circumstances that threatens to tear them apart.

In the case of Mona, it's a sophisticated rich girl who entices her with tales of woe and a well-heeled upbringing. But Mona's brother attempts to seek reconciliation with his sister by being born again and using the power of Christ. Both their worlds come crashing down in a bittersweet but oddly satisfying conclusion, when we learn that they are more alike than they are dissimilar.
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