Saturday, January 26, 2008

Mad Money (2008)





Director: Callie Khouri

Writers:
Glenn Gers
John Mister

Release Date: 18 January 2008 (USA)

Cast:
Diane Keaton (Bridget Cardigan)
Queen Latifah (Nina Brewster)
Katie Holmes (Jackie Truman)

Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is shocked to learn that she is on the verge of losing her home and comfortable upper middle class lifestyle when her husband Don (Ted Danson) is downsized from his job of 30 years. Don has been looking for a job for a whole year with no luck. Armed only with a decades old English Lit degree and years as a dedicated mother and corporate wife, Bridget is forced into the unfamiliar labor market with no job skills. Finally, she takes the only position she can find as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City.

The one-time suburban mom soon discovers she has more in common with her new co-workers than she thought. Bridget forges an unexpected bond with Nina (Queen Latifah), a hard-working single mom with two kids to raise who shreds old money all day, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), an exuberant free spirit with nothing to lose who moves the old money cart. Every day the bank shreds over a million dollars. Caught up in a system that underestimates their talents and keeps their dreams just out of reach, Bridget, Nina and Jackie set out to even the score.

After a lifetime of playing by the rules, the three join forces and devise a plan to smuggle soon-to-be destroyed currency out of the supposedly airtight Federal Reserve. As the unlikely crime syndicate amasses piles of cash, it looks like they have pulled off the perfect crime until a minor misstep alerts the authorities. With more money than they know what to do with, the women are pushed to the limits of their ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the law!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

One Missed Call (2008)





Director: Eric Valette

Writers:
Andrew Klavan
Yasushi Akimoto

Release Date: 4 January 2008 (USA)

Cast:
Edward Burns (Jack Andrews)
Shannyn Sossamon (Beth Raymond)
Azura Skye (Leann Cole)

When I first saw the trailer for this film I thought "Oh great, another 'When a stranger calls' movie". I had nothing to do so I saw it with some friends. After I watched it I probably had the biggest headache in my entire life. The dialog was hilariously awful, The characters are very unlikable, the "Jump" moments didn't even phase me. And I hated how they tried so hard to make the whole feel of the film creepy and scary(Hence the 'Scary music').

"One Missed Call" follows a college coed named Beth (Shannyn Sossamon), whose friend, Leann (Azura Skye) dies in a freak accident after receiving a strange phone message that seems to be a recording of her death that followed two days after it was received. Not only that, but another one of Leann's friends, Shelley (Meagan Good) had a similar incident before her bizarre death. When Beth meets detective Andrews (Edward Burns), who believes there is truth to the strange events, the two team up to try and discover the source of the murderous chain of phone messages. And when Beth receives one herself, it becomes a race against time before she meets her predetermined fate as well.