Too much of everything

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

So, this morning I watched the 2010 Chad Feehan as writer / director film, Beneath the Dark. The synopsis sounded good, but I tried it mostly because Jamie-Lynn Sigler beneath(Sopranos, Guys With Kids) was in it. The film also stars, Josh Stewart, who has been in a number of good films and TV shows as well.Okay. The basic idea is that Paul (Stewart) and Adrienne (Sigler) are headed to a wedding. A guy from Paul's college frat is tying the knot. Growing weary on the way, and a little frisky, Paul runs the vehicle of the road. It's decided they will not push it and land a hotel room for the night.The Roy Hotel is run by Frank (Chris Browning). He's a step-and-a-half above Anthony Perkins on a creepy-meter, and the hotel is slightly more modern than the Bates Motel. Once tucked away in a room, Adrienne is still frisky (and while there is no nudity, it is quite hot), only Paul has too much on his mind and cannot perform. Frustrated he heads to the connected diner for coffee where he meets a Man (Afemo Omilami) who claims to be the Son of God.The Man certainly knows a lot about Paul, and Paul's soiled past, and aside from conversation, he tries to have Paul answer some simple questions . . . What Do You Believe In?I can't forget Frank's wife, Sandy (Angela Featherstone). She is not a happy woman. Sandy stalks the bars looking for company. Isn't hard for her to find what she wants. Not bra-less in a thin white tank-top. She shows up here and there. (And is quite sensual in a barfly kind of way). Seems her sole (or soul) purpose is to torment the loser-ness of her husband.There is always homemade cherry pie and fresh coffee. There is a jukebox–while outdated with its selection–that is always ready to play.Beneath the Dark is nothing new. Sadly, I knew the end of the story at the very beginning of the movie. There have been a flood of "identical" big-screen and direct to DVD films with the same ending over the last four years. I could name them. But if you see one — then I have ruined the ending for the rest. I hate that. Hate it. Because the story was as solid as the acting. Both I enjoyed. The dialogue was crisp enough. The filming was simple but effective.If I were to assume you saw none of the other films with the same ending — then this is an excellent movie. If not, then this is a mediocre film. Since the Beneath the Dark is from 2010 — and we are on the cusp of 2014, I am going to assume the ladder and for that, give the movie 5 out of 10 Stars.Zombie Author Phillip Tomassohttp://www.philliptomasso.com

Since the majority of the critiques are ignorant of the truth I'm just going to spell this out for you. The film is a re-vamp of Albert Camus' short story The Guest. It's an existentialist piece... if you don't appreciate either the writer or the movement then this isn't for you. I loved both and thought it was well executed. The soundtrack was great to boot. I'll eventually try to add that on here as it's a shame it's not already done.It's only when the prisoner is set free with the choice to make on his own that he suddenly finds peace with his solitude & meaning in a life where he too has freedom of choice, "In this vast landscape he had loved so much, he was alone". It's here we see three of the pillars of Camus' point –liberty, justice and happiness. Furthermore, Camus makes the prisoner a "Guest" to represent his assertions of brotherhood --the fourth pillar; "Men who share the same rooms, soldiers or prisoners, develop a strange alliance". This best illustrates that each person is alone in exile but sharing the planet with each other & in doing so makes us each alike in that regard. It comes across as a statement of liminality, like we are alone but with each other.Liminality is an anthropological term used to describe political and cultural change as well as rituals. During liminal periods of all kinds, social hierarchies may be reversed or temporarily dissolved, continuity of tradition may become uncertain, and future outcomes once taken for granted may be thrown into doubt. ...tell me it's a spelling mistake :P

This is probably a good 7 Stars, but I've given it an extra few to try an outweigh the absolutely undeserved 1 Star. I know we all like or loathe different things but this is so far from bad that this review is entirely inaccurate. ***SPOILER START It was pretty obvious to me within 5 minutes that the lead characters were dead, ***FINISH; but for me, it made no difference, I was interested to see how, why, when etc, and I enjoyed getting there! The actors did a great job, with a stand out performance from Angela Featherstone, Although Jamie-Lynn Siglers effort was for me the least convincing. Some elements I have seen elsewhere, but in this case they were repeated well, and I didn't mind at all; in any case the stories pack was shuffled in such a way, that I wasn't quite sure which cards I was going to be dealt, but by the end there were a few unexpected aces in the Directors hand. I enjoyed the look and overall feel of the film, with a lovely 'sunset walking' shot at the end. Supernatural thrillers with big budgets & buckets of blood are ten a penny, and most are dreadful, but this one entertains on a fraction of their budgets, and succeeds where most of them have failed.

Movie starts off with a youngish (man and woman) couple (mid 30s) driving to a wedding.It's late night, so the guy pulls up at a motel. He does this for two reasons. A) His girlfriend wants sex and B) He is tired. Signing in to their room, they encounter a nervous motel owner.Later, on the bed, the couple try to have sex. He can't get an erection so he goes off to get a coffee. While he drinks his coffee he meets a black guy who goes on about stuff from the Bible.We're now 25 minutes in. Bored yet? Because I was.In between all this we see other characters. One older woman, one blonde woman late 30s, some other guy, and another guy who's a security guard. By the way we learn the security guard gets fired.The movie still doesn't make any sense and we're already 45 minutes in.Bored yet? Jeez, I was!! Back to the motel, this other blonde woman walks through the darkened bedroom while the couple are sleeping. Well, he's awake, his girlfriend is sleeping...Who was the woman and why did she do that? No clues...Still bored? YES! Because nothing of any interest in happening...Over 55 minutes in, AT THIS STAGE I GAVE UP. Awful film, I skipped through to the end, and it still made no sense.Probably one of the worst films of 2010. I can only guess all the 10s it's received have been from people involved in the movie.AVOID!!