Dean Slater: Resident Advisor

Hearkening back to the 80's college comedy aesthetic this movie tackles the modern dilemma of social media vs. real world interaction. Set at the fictitious Southern California State University the movie follows three freshmen boys who, struggling to overcome their high school identities, find guidance from a long-lost alum standing in as their resident adviser.

On screen you see a lot of pretty young faces and bodies (a couple of the actors are of Disney and Nickelodean pedigree) and a surprisingly diverse assortment of locations from desert to campus to beach to an elaborate data-network center.

Things begin with the usual college antics...partying and partying then paying the price. This all comes with some laughs. A lot of the gags are of the gross out variety and I have to say that despite myself I was laughing out loud at some of the absurd potty humor (particularly a case of drunken toilet bowl mix-up).

There is a love story or two for the hopeless romantics but the emotions seem to take back seat to silliness as the story moves forward towards it's internet defying climax.

The acting is all good enough with the one stand out being Mitchel Jarvis of "Keith Stone" infamy who plays the pseudo-lead Dean Slater. Jarvis brings some real gusto to his scenes with a mix of Gene Wilder Willy Wonka and Johny Depp Jack Sparrow making for a strangely transfixing character.

With their coincidentally freshman effort, Colin Sander (writer, director) and Christian Sander (writer, producer) have made a movie with all the signs of a young and enthusiastic cast and crew having fun and learning as they go along. There are plenty of little things to criticize with the story and structure, but with this kind of movie it's really not worth getting worked up over. Delivering a good dose of laughs and surprises this is worth the rental fee.

P.S. The credit sequence (though perhaps coming in a little late) is fantastic. I hope to see more of that creativity in the next Sander Bro's collaboration.

Dean Slater: Resident Adviser was a great surprise. It is easy to assume mediocrity when a movie skips the big screens. Then again, I don't have much experience with these low budget films outside of nature documentaries on netflix. I am not the biggest fan of college themed movies either. Bearing biases, I enjoyed RA for it's creative filming, plot, and easy to watch acting.

The awkward moments of college were brought to life quickly. The movie actually hinges on awkward college life and this is a good thing. Growing up is awkward, and especially amidst your peers. Those that critique this aspect of the film are probably still reconciling their own youthful travails. The young cast had to have felt a tinge of red on their cheeks during the filming.

The highlight of the plot was when the internet was forcefully shut down, effectively halting access to text messages and facebook. The campus wide panic that resulted was beautiful, and a great tribute to the joys of interacting face to face (awkward or smooth), rather than through the hyped mediums of the 21st of the century (that decrease the stakes of an awkward interaction). The scene of great angst and confusion where the students lacked access to their phones was not exaggerated either.

The college students today would react similarly if they found themselves without access to facebook. I have seen my students use it voraciously when given free seconds. The social media snowball is racing downhill to create the next interactive platform into which the young and curious can stare into endlessly. But what about staring deeply into the eyes of your next best friend, or loved one? The writers of RA showed their concern in regards to the direction of everyday interaction on college campuses today. This made the movie for me.

The filming separated the movie from other non big screeners. It was tidy, clean and creative. The introductory scene and credits were excellent. 007 movies always kick off with an action scene and seductive opening credits. RA proved similar with less alterations and more props - which was impressive and had you buckling up rather than taking a bathroom break. Christian, Colin, and Scott are hopefully polishing up the plot of their second movie by now. I'm an eager fan.

Movies about the American college experience are silly, and this raises the bar. The reality of the American college environment is unreal, and so any comedy flick on the subject is by nature exploitative. Which reminds me to write that screenplay on my very real college experience that laid the groundwork for the next 20 years of my life.

The bottom line: this is an incredibly silly movie specific to California college life. It is not particularly awful and has some poignant and well thought out comedic moments. It has, as a major theme, the abuse of social media, which, given the sorry state of American culture these days - with people sharing a meal paying more attention to their cell phones than their company - is a real concern. This B-Grade flick makes the unpopular argument that the pervasiveness of social media is excessive, and that we we need to find a balance.

"Are you Amish?"

It's fun and frivolous but has some unique social commentary mixed into it. I enjoyed watching it. I think there's something for most people if they give it a chance. The score of 4.3/10 is BS it's much better than that. I had the chance to finally get a smart phone, get into using it then have it break. I went back to a normal phone while it was exchanged. The thing is when I got another smart phone it was just a phone to me. This is something that should be a part of everyone's experience as it puts things in perspective. This movie is about that sort of thing. Being unplugged. Great movie.

I have been a fan of Nathalia Ramos' for a few years now and when I heard her new movie, Dean Slater, was being released I thought I would at least look it up and see what it was. I then found that it was a direct-to-video release and I had my doubts. Regardless I paid the $3.99 on iTunes and rented it. Like my title suggests, it was not what I expected. I half-expected a cheap budget, weak acting, and a horrendous, stupid plot. I was actually surprised to find that I enjoyed the movie. True it is not Citizen Kane by any stretch nor a Mel Brooks or Monty Python comedy. It seems to be a take on the eighties movies that I grew up. The humor is basically sophomoric (of course there's farting and a guy who likes to urinate), but hey I enjoy that style sometimes. The story itself centers around three college freshmen and their replacement RA, the mysterious and banished former SCSU student Dean Slater. Dean is to them, their guru who teaches them to experience college and life in general. Being one who doesn't actually own a cell phone I agreed with most of what they had to say. Yes, the plot actually had something to say. Not always well, but it did have a moral. The acting was for the most part pretty good, and the scenes didn't looked slapped together. The writing was okay, some of it seemed forced, and I will admit some dialogue just seemed stupid to me. Not funny stupid, just not needed. That and it seemed the three writers tried a little too hard to fit in too many things plot-wise in the allotted 83 minutes. Plus there were a few things missing that could have been explained. Overall, though I still found myself enjoying the movie. Something I find not that often with today's movies. If you're looking for something intelligent with a deep message, don't bother. If you're looking for something silly, to entertain you for a short time I would suggest this. Heck, you could do worse.