'The Host' & 'Gimme The Loot' Reviews

The Host is a scifi romance based on the book of the same name by Stephanie Meyer. The movie is incredibly convoluted in structure and all in all an unsatisfying narrative. It borrows much from Invasion of the Body Snatchers for premise and duplicates almost exactly the love triangle from the Twilight Series.

It's the future and small alien bug creatures made of light have possessed most humans on earth and created a utopia where everyone is nice to each other and pollution has been eradicated. One alien called Wanderer has invaded the heroine Melanie. Wanderer with Melanie still alive in her head flees to the last human stronghold in a cliff dwelling. Wanderer falls in love with one of the human survivors and he with her but tensions mount because Melanie(trapped in Wanderer's head) is still in love with her former flame. Drama ensues.

The most distracting thing about the movie isn't the overly dramatic dialogue, the non-existent chemistry, or the fact that nothing actually happens, it's the frequent scenes where Saoirse Ronan plays Wanderer in Melanie's body talking audibly to the voice over of Melanie in her head. Ludicrous.

Don't See It.

Gimme The Loot is a day-in-the-life comedy about two teen graffiti artists from the Bronx. The movie begins as if it will be about our two heroes 'bombing' part of Mets Stadium but quickly reveals itself as a reflection of a day or two in their friendship.

The film portrays the realistic lives of these two teens, with hopes and dreams, artistic aspirations, romantic struggles, and occasional illegal activity. There's a wonderful sense of authenticity about it however the movie isn't actually about anything. The story doesn't move, the characters don't change, they seemingly accomplish nothing. We simply see an unfiltered glimpse of who they are, which is almost enough.

Ty Hickson as Malcom and Tashiana Washington put out great performances especially as the movie goes forward. I would guess the movie was shot chronologically because it's clear Hickson and Washington get more and more comfortable in their characters and on screen as the movie progresses. They start off over the top and kind of false but engage you as the movie rolls forward.

An interesting film from first time actors and director. Not quite there but almost. I'm very interested to see what this group of people do next.

Rent It.