A Shocking Discovery

Dear Sir or Madam,

I’m writing in response to your letter asking for my opinion and recommendations for your hotel.

Expecting an extraordinary holiday, two of my friends and I happily arrived to the hotel. At first sight we fancied the hotel and everything went according to plan until we entered our room. It was extremely messy, hence we decided to call the reception. After half an hour of waiting, the receptionist finally arrived and apologized spicily. He called the maid to clean the room and left angrily.

After a while, I managed to calm down and started unpacking my suitcase. I needed a shower so I went to the bathroom. I was shocked! Water was leaking all over the place, the toilet was unflushed and used towels were left on the floor. We immediately rang the receptionist who was extremely furious and unpleasant. After seeing red and making me feel like I am the one who should feel guilty, he gave us a key to another room.

As for suggestions for improvement, I would like to emphasise that the staff should be replaced as soon as possible. Hotel staff is supposed to make you feel at home, so I don’t think I understand how this particular receptionist got a job, considering his negative and unpleasant attitude. I consider that I do not need to mention that rooms should as well be cleaned regularly.
In conclusion, this was not quite a good day to start a holiday with. Fortunately, we found another accommodation nearby and settled in there. I am obliged to refuse your offer until some changes are made.

Sincerely,

Milica

Free Airport Transfer: You get what you pay for.

Dear Mr. Anderson,  

We really appreciate that you felt remorseful and asked us what the problem was with our arrival.

Firstly, we had problems with the bus company that you hired to drive us to the hotel. The bus driver was impolite. My wife had a quarrel with him. He did not want to turn air conditioning off. It was warm and stuffy for him, but in the back of the bus passengers were freezing.

Somehow we survived the bus trip, but when we came to the hotel we were surprised, unpleasantly. We discovered that they did not have enough space in the bus for all the luggage. So they had put some of the luggage in a small van that was 2 hours late. It was because the tire went flat. It took the driver an hour and half to find car shop and change it.

We came to the conclusion that you should change the bus company, or not organize transport to the hotel at all. Generally, we had a wonderful time in your hotel afterwards. The room was spacious enough, comfortable and had a great view of the garden. It was just as we expected, and more. The food was without flaws.

All in all, we have a nice memory of your hotel, and we thank you for the free accommodation you have offered us. We will gladly take it, probably this time next year.

Sincerely,

DrMicKey

A Strongly-worded Letter

Hello Everyone,
In this week's series, we feature some disgruntled hotel guests who manage to make their complaints without resorting to rudeness.

Enjoy!

Untouchables

A review of Untouchables by Milica

If you are a fan of profound comedy-drama movies, the French movie called Untouchables will leave you breathless and even bring you to tears.

As the movie opens we are introduced to a young, unemployed man from a poor neighbourhood in Paris. During his search for a job he meets a paralyzed man and starts working for him as a nurse. At the very beginning neither one likes the other. They hardly speak, saying only a few words daily, and stick together just because they are useful to each other. However, as the story develops, the two of them get to know each other better. They start solving problems together, and become extremely close, which eventually results in an unbreakable friendship.

The reason why I thoroughly enjoyed this movie is its depth and decency. It is an unbelievable story about two different men and two different life stories which cross at some point and become inseparable. The acting is at the top level, which contributes to the movie as well.

To sum up, I would recommend this profound story about friendship to anyone, as I’m pretty sure you won’t regret any second of it.

Anna Karenina

A review of Anna Karenina by Lena

Love and hate, husband and lover, pride and shame, son and daughter… and Anna Karenina. This movie is an unusual twist on Leo Tolstoy’s novel. Set in late 19th century Russian high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with Count Vronsky. This is, without a doubt, the greatest love story of all time. After seeing Joe Wright’s vision of the piece, Romeo and Juliette are a thing of the past.

The main themes of this movie are love and shame. Anna is a free spirit, and she was not afraid to leave it all behind for someone who, she thought, was worth it all. Although she struggled to leave her son, she knew that one day he would understand. She didn't care about what people had to say, and that was one of her best qualities. All in all, I thought the movie was fantastic, but the movie critics weren't so kind. Upon the release, the film received some positive reviews from critics, but later they noticed Wright's apparent preference for style over substance, and I agree. Some scenes could have lasted longer and could have been more explanatory. I realised that I wouldn't have understood a thing if I hadn't read the book previously. There is one more thing that caught the critic’s eye. In the book it is explicitly said that Anna is a curvaceous woman with wild, black curly hair. Keira Knightley doesn't exactly meet the criteria.

Even so, if you enjoyed reading the Russian classic, than this is the movie for you.

Saw

Saw, a review by DrMicKey

If you like watching horror movies and thrillers, then Saw is a great film for you.

The film starts with two guys chained to pipes and their attempts to break free. In the beginning, viewers think that they do not have anything in common and were random people who were kidnapped. As the plot develops, we get to know more about character' traits, hobbies and how were they were captured. Throughout the film, we see small scenes of other people being captured and their failed attempts to escape. These people are not as important for the main story line as the first two.

In my opinion, the film did not have a big budget, because there are not so many famous actors and only two or three sets. I do not know why, but some of my friends say that acting is bad. I liked it. The setting where the main story develops is a toilet in an abandoned warehouse.

What I really liked about this movie was the twist at the end. You are watching the film and convinced that you know what it is about and how it will end. Then, two minutes before the end, the whole story changes and you realize that every assumption you had until that moment is wrong.

If someone asked me to erase my memory of only one film, I would choose this one. I would like to experience, once again, the feeling of being wrong on every point of the movie.

Taken 2

Taken 2, a review by AK800i

Don't mess with the loved ones of an ex-CIA operative. That could be the message of the new movie "Taken 2".

The revenge-seeking father of a young criminal plots to kidnap the wife and daughter of an ex-CIA operative. The storyline is surprisingly believable and moves very quickly and dynamically. This is an excellent pace for this type of action movie. It keeps you on the edge.
There's just about right amount of time in the beginning used to introduce viewers to the characters which are simple and their relationship in the story is clear and easily understandable. The viewers get the sense that they've known them for a long period of time.
Fast driving, bomb explosions, gun shots, fist fights and, sometimes, all of that at the same time make this an incredibly interesting and adrenalin-infusing story. The movie sucks you in and you have the feeling that you're in the middle of action. That is why I would highly recommend this movie to anyone seeking adventure and excitement.

On the down side, the main character is at times too skillful or to lucky to have survived. The ease he fights and conquers with might be too unrealistic for some. Opposed to that, the combat moves in the movie have great special effects and watching it on the big screen is a treat for your eyes.
So if you feel like watching an adrenalin-filled and less mind challenging movie then "Taken 2" is the one for you.

Inception

Inception, a review by Sm1leAway

"Is this the real world we live in, or is this just a dream world created by an "Architect" for some unknown reason?" is the question almost everyone asks themselves after seeing this movie.

For the ones that have no idea what I'm talking about, the name of the movie is Inception. It is a movie that has a blend of extremely good acting and a fascinating story. It also features very stunning effects.

The plot revolves around a group of people in a shadowy organization who use dreams to get certain people’s information. They create a dream world in which they place themselves and the target, and then they do whatever is necessary to get or implant certain information. To an ordinary reader this may seem really confusing. Believe me, it is. But fear not, this actually benefits the movie in a way. It adds a certain complexity to it, the kind that leaves you with a feeling of awe.

Sadly there are also a couple of things that bring this fabulous movie down, such as the length, which isn't quite enough, and there are quite a few things that remain a mystery to us.

All in all, this movie is one of the better ones I've seen in quite a while and I would gladly recommend it to anyone wishing to be blown off his feet with the pure awesomeness of this movie.

By way of introduction...

As the first set of posts in what we hope will be many, we present to you a number of film reviews, written by keen observers of popular culture.


Gangster Squad, a review by KatK7

The plot takes place in 1949 in the so-called city of angels, which is, in fact, over-filled with gangsters. The storyline follows the life of the powerful mob king Mickey Cohen. The thing is that he has all of the government’s most important men behind him, so basically he is the one running the city at the time.

The Gangster Squad is a group of guys trying to take down this ruthless man who can get away with anything. A few police officers, a detective and an excellent wire man are the people who are determined to take him down. The Gangster Squad does not aim to kill Mickey Cohen and his allies but to destroy them from the inside. You may see a lot of guns shooting, cars chasing, bombs exploding, and bloody fight scenes, as expected .The special effects and the whole storyline are overall very good.

On the other side we have a love story. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone once again reunite as each other’s love interest in this movie, after having great chemistry as a couple on screen in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Having said that, the movie is perfect for people who love to get those adrenaline rushes while watching a movie. It does resemble to The Godfather in some ways. Spoiler alert: the movie does have a happy ending with some not-so-happy scenes in between. Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen is amazing in this movie. Likewise Josh Brolin (you may know him from Men in Black 3), who gave an excellent performance.

Overall, if you are looking for a movie with lots of action, great actors and an awesome storyline, I absolutely recommend this movie.