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PANIC ROOM: A Study in Post 9-11 Paranoia & Claustrophobia By Rachel Deahl Official Site David Fincher has a fascination with the internal - a trait he expressed freely and repeatedly in Fight Club. In Fincher's adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's brilliant novel about a group of men who beat the crap out of each other in order to feel alive (or simply feel anything), the director constantly pushed his camera inside the body. Throughout Fight Club, Fincher probed the human body, taking us through bone, skin and muscles. The visual choice was an effective one, constantly reminding the viewer how these men were ripping apart their bodies, tearing away at the skin and pulverizing the muscles in order to ignite that other, invisible component, of our internal framework: feelings. And while Fight Club was a fascinating and complex film, in the end it seemed as though Fincher had bitten off more than he could chew - the narrative structure of Palahniuk's novel ultimately crumbled in cinematic form. In his latest effort, Panic Room, Fincher tackles a much less complex story with equally dazzling, if not as compelling, results. Jodie Foster makes her long awaited return to the screen as Meg Altaman, a recent divorcee and single mom looking for the perfect new home in Manhattan. The chosen humble abode is an impressive multi-story brownstone on the Upper West Side of the island, complete with an elevator, vaulted ceilings and a 'panic room'. Located off the master bedroom, according to the realtors the panic room was built by the previous owner (a reclusive and wealthy quack) as a guard against home invasion. A kind of 21st century bunker, the panic room is made of thick steel and equipped with video monitors, a phone line, a toilet and a full stock of medical kits. As mother and daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart looking eerily like a young Jodie Foster), settle into their new digs a trio of burglars arrive (Forrest Whitaker, Jared Leto and country crooner Dwight Yoakam, who spends almost the entirety of the film in a black ski mask), forcing the new tenants to test out the panic room. Ironically, Panic Room is an essentially static film. The burglars want in, the women want out, and the stalemate that ensues takes up the bulk of screen time. But to Fincher's credit, he focuses on the house, this time putting his camera not inside the human body (as he did in Fight Club) but the lifeless structure that is propelling the action of the film, which is the house itself. Although at times improbable and unrealistic, Panic Room is, nonetheless, a deftly directed thriller, as smart as it is visually pleasing. VAN WILDER: National Lampoon Attempts to Recapture the Genius of Animal House Click for the Official Site Returning to the land of toga parties, jello shots and keg stands, National Lampoon's Van Wilder attempts to bring college debauchery into the 21st century. Bringing back the beloved gags that made Animal House a huge hit in the 1970s, this teen flick from director Water Becker adds American Pie caliber gross-out humor to an otherwise moderately funny trip back to those not-so-hallowed halls of higher education. Making the rounds as a seven-year senior, Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds most recognizable from his stint on the now defunct sitcom Two Guys and a Girl) has just received some awful news. His father, Vance Wilder, Sr. (Tim Matheson who made his film debut in Animal House playing a character much like Reynolds') has finally decided to stop payment on his son's seemingly endless education. Faced with the devastating reality of paying his own way through school, Van, beloved by all factions of the student body for his commitment to good times and his reputation as a man who knows how to party, becomes an unlikely entrepreneur. With the help of his pothead roommate (Teck Holmes of, yes, MTV's Real World: Hawaii) and a foreign exchange student named Taj (Kal Penn), Van begins a lucrative business as the campus party planner. When students want to throw a party, they turn to Van to make the magic happen. But when Van meets Gwen (Tara Reid), suddenly partying isn't the only thing on his mind. A dedicated reporter for their college newspaper, when Gwen is forced to do a piece on the most well known man on campus, Van, she begins to have feelings for her persistent subject. Complicating matters though, is Gwen's uptight boyfriend Richard (Daniel Cosgrove). President of the Delta Iota Kappa fraternity (lovingly called DIK), Richard is everything Van isn't- ambitious, mean and stuck-up. As Van tries to make enough money to stay in school and win Gwen's heart, he must wrangle with Richard and the scariest thing of all: the possibility of graduation. Reynolds, whose smugness borders on the annoying, is surprisingly charismatic as the imminently lovable Van Wilder. And, although he has little comedic help from his supporting cast (save Daniel Cosgrove who's wonderful as the conniving arch nemesis), Reynolds just about carries the show. Amazingly, Van Wilder actually manages to top the 'gag me' scenarios its predecessors have hung their hats on; forget humping a pie, the students here do something with an éclair that will make you forever weary of the tasty pastry. And, while this film is definitely no Animal House, Van Wilder is certainly amusing enough to pass as a kind of second cousin to the king of college comedies.
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