Century Hotel

I also really liked Century Hotel. I only heard about it, because I am a huge OLP fan and I just wanted to see Raine Maida. But it was good! I haven't heard anything about it other than one article before it even came out. I watched it last night and I can't stop thinking about it. I wasn't disappointed in the movie, or Raine. And to the person who was looking for the song, it's called Can't Make It Good, but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere. I've been looking all day.

A young woman (Lindy Booth) lodges in the room 720 of the Century Hotel and the old bellboy tells that that room has several stories. Along the years, an old man marries a young virgin; a whore and her client fall in love with each other; a man is left by his wife and seeks her out in the hotel; a musician and the chambermaid has a weird relationship; two friends from navy have a gay relationship; a Chinese woman comes to America to get married with a powerful Chinese. Some of the relationships have good ending, others have tragic conclusion.

"Century Hotel" is a movie with a good storyline of romances along many decades in a hotel room. However, the screenplay is boring with too long and fragmented with entwined segments. The most attractive plot is certainly the love story of a prostitute performed by the gorgeous Mia Kirshner and her client. Unfortunately the movie does not work well. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

This movie was an intriguing concept- I'd read a bit about it. One room in one hotel, different years, different people. However, I found it highly disappointing for three main reasons. The first is that many of the vignettes are rather disjointed and uneven, which makes the plot really confusing and hard to follow at times. The vignettes continually weave in and out of each other, which only confused this viewer. The second is the inordinate amount of sex and foul language used in the film, often with no context. While I'm no prude, I felt that there was just too much of both in this movie, and it was overused. Did every vignette need to have some sort of sex scene? Often, no context is given. The third reason is that the particular hotel where the room is located could have been better explained. What type of hotel is it? Where is it?

Once in a while, one rents a potentially interesting movie that turns out to be a big disappointment. This was one of those for me.

I just saw this film last night at the Victoria Independent Film Festival and was very impressed. The intertwining stories of eroticism, death, betrayal, love and understanding were a feast for the eyes and the heart. David Weaver and Co. give a lesson in how to construct a beautiful movie on a limited budget with a minimum of location.

The set design was impeccable. From the opulence of the turn of the century to the stark functionality of the recession era 80's the designers managed to capture the essence of each era in the furnishings and decorative aspects of the room.

Less than convincing was Raine Maida's effort at the cliched emotionally unstable rock star recluse. I suppose my judgment is clouded by seeing the excellent portrayal of said cliche by Maury Chaykin in Whale Music. Also, the dialogue between Raine and Chantal was strained and really didn't fit into the stream of the rest of the movie.

Of particular enjoyment were the scenes between the Hotel Detective and the Nerdy Book Lover. Their chemistry together was unmistakable. The simplistic dissection of the nature of love between a man and a woman gave me many a laugh.

All in all, a highly recommended Canadian flick.

9/10

I got this film on the strength of one actress that I like... Lindy Booth. Her performance in Century Hotel seems a little below par, but it was adequate.

The film doesn't seem to go anyway in the first hour, but then it unfolds nicely after that. Which is unfortunate since the film is only about 90 minutes long.

The Cantonese pronunciations were absolutely crap. I didn't they just stick to using imitation bad English (Canadian) accents instead of getting the actors to speak very poor Cantonese? Or perhaps they should have rewritten that part of the script. Sorry, it's a nitpick, but I believe films are an art form and, as such, should be given more TLC than Century Hotel was given.

I did like the little "twist" regarding the soldier guy who was soon to be married to his sweetheart who he hadn't seen for a long time. Watch the film and you'll find out!

All in all, this wasn't a bad film. But they could've done so much more with it. 6/10 is a fair indication of its entertainment value.