REVIEW: “Dream House” and “What’s Your Number”
‘Dream House’
Can you say “thriller”? I consider myself to be a scary movie enthusiast, and watching the trailer for “Dream House” even gave me goosebumps. When the idea of home becomes a nightmare and the concept of sanity meets an extreme case of chemical imbalance, a horror film is born — and this baby is definitely one to see.
Written by David Loucka and directed by Jim Sheridan, “Dream House” begins with a very normal, happy family moving into a very normal, beautiful home. It doesn’t take long for the male protagonist (Daniel Craig) to realize his wife (Rachel Weisz) and two daughters are not safe in this uncanny house. Need I mention the creepy tag line? “Once upon a time, there were two little girls who lived in a house.”
Apparently, this family’s new humble abode, doubles as the vicinity of some brutal murders, more precisely, the murders of a mother and her children a few years earlier.
Turns out, the killer could be the father, and the family we adore from the beginning of the story is all make believe — thought up from memories in the mind of a suspected murderer. Hence the title, “Dream House.”
Creepy, much? I think so. Confusing? A bit. This PG-13 film is slated to hit theaters next week, Sept. 30, and I am pre-emptively suggesting to you, my fellow thrill seekers, to not watch this movie alone.
— s.marcure@aggiemail.usu.edu
‘Dream House’
A group of not-too-bright preppy college students go on a weekend trip and, while there, decide to go skinny dipping. One of the girls sees Tucker (Alan Tudyk, “Serenity”) and Dale (Tyler Labine, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) night fishing and naturally panics, but she falls and gets knocked unconscious. Tucker and Dale rescue her from the water and, in an attempt to help, yell to the others that they have her. The students assume their friend has been captured, so they plan their own rescue.
Meanwhile, the “captured” student wakes up and realizes things are not as they seem to be. Tucker and Dale offer to help her find her friends, but the students have already made their move toward the rednecks’ cabin.
Tucker and Dale’s “dreamhouse” cabin looks like something out of an Edgar Allan Poe story, which gives more proof to the group that the hillbillies are psychopathic killers. As the students attempt to assault Tucker and Dale, they foolishly and accidentally kill themselves.
“Tucker and Dale vs. Evil” is going to be a bloody comedic tale of misunderstandings. Instead of two crazy killers, you get two genuinely nice guys trying to help a college girl and do the right thing; but disaster and chaos happens all around them.
The lesson to learn from this movie will be: A little miscommunication can go a long way, and sometimes it can be deadly.
I’m not going to see this movie. I don’t want to laugh my guts out. It may have some funny parts, but gallons of blood spewing all over the place isn’t my thing.
By the way, I’m sure those college students weren’t from USU; we’re much smarter here.
— spencer.palmer@aggiemail.usu.edu.
‘What’s Your Number’
Though I’ve watched the trailer 15 times in a row, I knew after the first 10 seconds that I was going to like this movie. If I had money, I’d see it today. Sure, it’s another romantic comedy, and, sure, it’s Anna Faris back in her stereotypical role of cute, air-headed girl trying to find true love. But who doesn’t want to see another happy ending?
Ally (Faris) has had a lot of relationships — 20, to be exact — and after she’s told that most women who date more than 20 men don’t get married, she resolves not to be one of them. Throughout the movie she attempts to track down all of her ex-boyfriends and find the one who isn’t a loser and could be “the one.” She enlists the help of her extremely attractive neighbor Colin (Chris Evans) and offers to help him avoid the girls he’s slept with if he helps her track down her exes. The cast of this movie is filled with actors like Andy Sandberg and Thomas Lennon, who play two of Ally’s exes and will, no doubt, have moviegoers rolling with laughter.
Ally and Colin’s relationship grows throughout the movie, and the two become best friends. There are sure to be rough patches, because both characters still have some growing up to do. But love always finds a way, right?
Throw in a girl-power song, a fake British accent and make Colin a sexy musician, and — Bam! — you’ve got yourself a movie that every college-aged, single girl will be quoting religiously for the next three months. Step aside, “House Bunny.” Faris has a new movie to be remembered by, because I pre-emptively love this movie.
— m.noble@aggiemail.usu.edu
The pre-emptive critics write knee-jerk analyses of upcoming films based solely on hearsay, advance
publicity and — most importantly — movie trailers. They have not yet seen the movies.