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Visitors Review

2013-05-17 18:24:33

Sex and Death 101

This review is from: Sex and Death 101 (DVD) Sex and Death 101 is about a successful executive Roderick Blank (Simon Baker) who receives a list via e-mail of every woman he's ever had sex with and ever will have sex with. If this was you would you continue with your up coming marriage or find the names on the list? You got it! Only one thing lurks 'Death Nell' (Winona Ryder) a mysterious femme fatale who becomes an urban folk hero targeting men guilty of sex crimes against women. Written and directed by Daniel Waters the writer of 'Heathers' I did expected more black comedy, more edge, more Winona, a fun look at fantasies too good to be true.

2013-05-17 08:52:46

Quirky Comedy

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Sex and Death 101 is a quirky comedy by Daniel Waters the writer of Heathers. Starring Simon Baker as Roderick Blank the film confronts the question of what a person would do if he knew every person he was destined to sleep with. Would this information change the way he lives his life. Others were given the time of their death by the same computer glitch that gave Blank his list.The film is not bad as a whole and Waters has some good lines unfortunately the film veers a little too much into the teen sex comedy arena for my tastes. The acting is a little bland even though it was good to see Wynona Ryder as Death Nell. The movie has the potential to become a cult classic like Waters earlier fil Heathers if it manages to find its audience.The disc I viewed contains a commentary track by Waters thet is well worth a listen. Check it out if your interest lies in this type of film.

2013-05-17 13:43:20

I was entertained

OK, this was a pretty silly movie and the ending was somewhat predictable. But I found the combination of sex, romance and raunchy humor with the more intriguing theme of whether one can escape one's fate as in "Appointment in Samarra" (I am referring to the John O'Hara novel) thoroughly engaging. And it's always a treat to see the exquisite Winona Ryder. So if you are a bit of an intellectual snob and don't suffer silliness, see something heavier -- most others will be pleasantly surprised.

2013-05-17 09:08:06

This was purely trash rating -0

This review is from: Sex and Death 101 (DVD) This was such a por taste film I greatly regret buying it... for shame! It is in poor tase and foul!

marinostattaris 2013-05-16 01:09:45

a really bad film

This film listed Winona Ryder as a main characterand by the middle ofthe movie she yet had to appear. You see I never made it that far tothe movie to see if she really had a role. Thats how bad this film was.It has an absolute silly plot and consequently bad acting anddirection. I am really wonderihg how come it gets a rating of 6 or morehere on IMDb? is one of the worst movies i ever saw. An absolute wasteof money and time. Thank god i ve only spent the money on renting theDVD. i haven't seen it on the cinema. Did i yet finished my 10 lines, icant really write more than that about this stupid film. Well obviouslynot, i still have to write more. I hated this film. Hated this film!Indeed hated this film.

jeremyoboe 2013-05-15 09:34:54

Do we really need another movie like this?

So I was given the opportunity to watch this movie. Judging by thename, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but figuredI'd give it a go. Boy, what a waste of time.The main character is Roderick Blank (Simon Baker), a successfulmetrosexual pretty boy who is getting married in a little over a week.He, fortunately or unfortunately, receives an email from "someone"(more on this later) who tells him all the people he'll ever have sexwith in his life... All 101 of them. The only problem is that he's hadsex with only 29 people and if he's getting married, how is he supposedto have sex with the other 72? Well... he realizes he's really notready to get married and he starts having sex with lots of people...Sound familiar? Good Luck Chuck comes to mind. This seems to be apopular topic for movies today.So, back to the details. That "someone" who sent the email isn't everfully explained. Apparently it's a machine, but no one knows what itreally is, who created it or if it really exists. There apparently arethree men who carry out the machine's will but it isn't really clearwho or what they are either. This was a severe flaw in the plot if youask me. In order to understand the movie I couldn't think about themachine for too long.Anyway, it's funny that Winona Ryder is listed as a main character asfor the majority of the movie she really doesn't have a large role andonly for the last 10 minutes of the movie does she actually engage indialogue that seems to be related with the plot. Wait... what plot?Yes, this movie barely has a plot beyond the fascination of seeing aguy having lots of sex. The ending of the movie attempts to add somedepth to the story line, but unfortunately it fails at such. Thewriter(s) basically failed at every aspect of this movie in creating ameaningful story. I guess that's not the point of the movie anyway.This movie is fluff and isn't even very successful at being such.

2013-05-15 15:47:17

Sex And Death 101

This review is from: Sex and Death 101 [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Interesting story. What would you do if you knew everyone you'd ever sleep with before you died? I have to say this was a real original story and played out quite well. As for the value of this Blu-Ray disc, picture was quite clear and crisp, not reference material but still a real good looking disc. The audio is audio from a comedy, so it's not packing a huge impact on your surround sound. All in all, a quite entertaining movie and a good Blu-Ray disc.

2013-05-15 03:06:11

A little boring, a little repetitive, and a big waste of time

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) So I love the movie Heathers - 20th High School Reunion Edition, which is one of the reasons I was excited to try out this film. The lead character, played by Simon Baker, is accidentally e-mailed a list of every woman he's ever slept with, including the ones he hasn't even met yet. Even though he's married, he goes on a quest to meet all these women and have sex with them, not bothering with relationships but just wham bam on to the next one. Meanwhile, Winona Ryder's character is a kind of black widow who goes after misogynistic men. Wonder of wonders, she's the last one on his list. I didn't like this film. It was tedious, it was boring, and it wasn't funny. I only watched it to complete this review, but I wouldn't even recommend you do that. Rent Heathers. It's funny, entertaining, and you'll enjoy it infinitely more.

lastliberal 2013-05-10 21:17:00

Some dreams are too true to be good.

I am probably not the first to say it, but the choice of Simon Bakerfor this romantic comedy was brilliant. Left in the hands of someonewho is more familiar in rom coms would leave his movie tasting like thetypical breast and fart jokes that so many popular comedies are today.Sure, he is shallow. After having sex with 29 women, he finds that heis to reach 101 before dies. Knowing who number 101 was caused him someconcern, but fortunately he found out when he had 20 to go before her.No sex and he had 20 human shield to keep number 101 away. How is thatworking out? There are some really funny moments (Patton Oswalt is a riot!), sometender moments, some interesting moments (Bambi and Thumper, Granny C),and 100 moments of romantic comedy.Winona Ryder was amazing.You have to see this one.

2013-05-10 05:40:30

Sex or Death? I'll choose "Death."

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) As most reviews have described the plot/premise of this film I won't do it here or frankly waste my time. Daniel Waters assembled what appears to be a promising and very talented cast. He under-utilized them all. The movie's opening scene starts with Mindy Cohen ("Fact of Life") who was so nice to see after such a long absence. Of course, my smile turned to "depression" as I thought, "Oh my... Mindy looks old!" LOL That sums up my reaction to this film. I wanted to smile, immerse myself in the film, but in a flash that feeling would disappear. This disjointed movie trys to be too many things on too many levels. Serious, funny, fantasy, dark, and ironic- it falls short on all topics. All the actors simply appear to meandering their parts. The movie is simply too muted in ambiance to be outstanding in any one aspect. The director should have either decided to rev up Winona's plot and morphed it into a suspense movie or taken the 180 degree turn and created a full-fledged comedy. I believe it would have worked better that way. Even the scenes I thought "This is funny and I should be laughing," I could barely crack a smile. Mr. Waters' direction just didn't give me the energy to. Winona Ryder- always a pleasure to watch- disappointed in this film with her mostly one-dimensional character that took such an unexpected radical twist. The "1+2=3" aspect of that just didn't work for me or give me a complete understanding as to "How did this happen?". When I find myself clock-watching a film within the first half hour, I know it's in trouble. Mr. Waters didn't give me any vested interest in the characters or what their ultimate fates would be. The movie just didn't find an "identity" for me that I could attach to and enjoy it from there. Every once in awhile it would have a brief spark of brillence, but like a straw fire, it was gone in a instant. Even Simon Baker's monologue at the end that tried to "sum up" the movie and give us a "philsophical life lesson" falls flat. I'm actually happy there are reviewers that came to appreciate the film for the actors' sake. Sad to say I cannot be one of them.

2013-05-09 03:39:16

overlong at 2 hours; flippant rather than funny

This review is from: Sex and Death 101 (DVD) At 2 hours long, this film dragged and dragged. I was watching the clock thinking, I can't believe it's less than halfway through ... can't believe there's still 45 minutes to go ... can't believe another 25 minutes left.A man (Simon Baker) is sent a list of all the women he will have sex with in his life, while a woman (Winona Ryder) goes around putting men into comas. In the end, they meet.Along the way, Baker learns "lessons about life." Supposedly. Oh yeah, there's also a MATRIX parody somewhere in there, with a wise, bald black guy, with a deep baritone voice, lecturing to Baker as though he were Neo.HEATHERS writer Daniel Waters reteamed with HEATHERS star Winona Ryder to make this film. Like other reviewers, I loved HEATHERS (and most of Ryder's pre-2001 work). Maybe that's the problem.SEX AND DEATH 101 feels like Waters wanted to recreate his past success by writing (and now, also directing) a supposedly "dark comedy" starring Winona Ryder. Sounds like a "deal memo" film, i.e., some agent listed the "creative elements" in a memo -- Waters, Ryder, sex, black comedy, boffo! -- then gave it to a studio executive. This film must have looked good on paper.In the special features, Waters says he wanted to create "a serious film about sex," but it's formulaic. Worse, it's a mish-mash of conflicting formulas.Problems:* Film is too self-conscious. It's trying too hard to be a "black comedy," because it's aware that HEATHERS was a black comedy. It feels like the characters die in flippant ways, not because it was necessary for the story, but because it worked in HEATHERS. Yet this film is not darkly humorous. It's just flippant and shallow.* Despite its flippancy, this film also tries to be "deep." There's much voice-over by Baker, who informs us of his Deep Thoughts about love and sex and the meaning of life, etc. But his Deep Thoughts are as insightful and unique as the Deep Thoughts on Saturday Night Live. (But not funny. Not even unintentionally funny.)* Thus, SEX AND DEATH 101 doesn't know whether to be flippant and oh-so-hip, or deep and sincere, or funny, or what. It's all over the map -- and what is it with that MATRIX black guy?Ryder has a small role in this film; she's not on screen much. About 20 minutes out of 2 hours. Well, it's Baker's film.Ryder is good, but she hasn't been in a great film in nearly a decade. Not her fault.

2013-05-08 10:19:55

Great Video, Good Audio

This review is from: Sex and Death 101 [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Please describe the audio/video quality of any Blu-Rays you review.The video quality was excellent. Audio was good. Even though the movie was mainly dialog, there were surround sounds when appropraite. It was Dolby Digital 5.1.

2013-05-05 00:32:17

horrible

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I could not even get through this absurd film. Some films today are so bad as to boggle the mind. There are good filmmakers out there with good stories to be told. What is going on people?Also, this film was entirely predictable and could have been any episode of hundreds of TV shows. This plot has been done to death in many forms. Do they think we won't notice, or do they not notice. Either way it's sad.

2013-05-04 10:23:47

A good adult sex comedy...with lots of "perversions"...

Spoilers warning and adult themed review to follow.How can a sex comedy go wrong with such themes as turtle diarrhea, a lesbian power couple named Bambi and Thumper, a religious school bus group devirginization marathon, and/or knowing your sexual future? Or with script writing that includes a "sloppy fusion of genitalia", an "intercourse buffet" and a reference to that "whore-bitch Jane Austen"? If you are not amused or are even offended right now - you might want to skip this movie (and review).Daniel Waters has made a fun, original film about a man who is given the "gift" of knowing his future, specifically his upcoming sexual conquests, whether man or woman, all categorized on a nice list. Waters is oft remembered for his deviant writing with Heathers or Happy Campers, but in this case he gets to indulge a high volume of sexual perversions into one film. The two leads were cast appropriately with a needed "pretty boy" in Simon Baker (I remember him most from his brief role in LA Confidential) and Winona Ryder playing the femme fatale/serial coma-inducer. A great supporting cast in Mindy Cohn, Julie Bowen (who I liked in the Ed TV series), the Janitor from Scrubs, Natasha Malthe, etc. The film has two story lines, one involves the man who has it all that receives this list (origins of which can only be seen in the film to understand) containing all of his past and future sexual escapades. He gets this the week of his wedding - only to find out there are 60+ names listed after his soon to be wife. The other story is Winona's character resolving her past sufferings by inducing comas upon every man she sleeps with. The remaining twists and interlocking plots need to be watched as they can't be explained without spoiling too much. Which leads me to the extras...The DVD docu titled "101 Perversions" is an excellent insight into the minds and motives behind this film - and for the first time on a disc docu - they actually disclaim the piece as containing spoilers and recommend that you watch the film first. Waters' interview gets some nice slams on present day big comedy films "that suck", but includes some nice homages to Benny Hill and Fellini for this film.I think this is what my customers have been looking for in a "good adult comedy" that doesn't involve lowbrow humor or have National Lampoon in the title (the later NLs).

2013-05-03 06:14:16

This was a comedy how?

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I was surprised, while listening to the commentary track, to find out that this movie was intended to be a comedy - with deeper meaning. I actually got the deeper meaning part of it - although, it wasn't all THAT deep - but I don't remember laughing more than once or twice when I watched it. Maybe I was in the wrong mood, or maybe I should have had a couple of drinks before watching it, but it was seriously not funny. It lacked both the low-brow "humour" that's so prevalent these days in most comedies and the intelligent humour of writers like Joss Whedon and Bryan Fuller. That's not to say the movie was a complete waste of time. I did enjoy seeing the story unfold and I liked the interaction of the characters. The ending was actually quite good, and not what I was expecting (which is always a plus, in my book). I'll probably watch it one more time just to make sure I didn't miss anything important, but this is not a movie that I'd put on my regular repeat viewing schedule

bloodymonday 2013-05-02 13:03:24

Review: Sex and Death 101

Do you remember Daniel Waters? He's the guy who wrote Heathers, thegreatest (if extremely unpleasant) teen-oriented movie of all time(Yeah, you can quote me; I'm THAT confident haha+). But then hesquandered his talent and reputation by writing abysmal films likeHudson Hawk, Demolition Man and even Batman Returns (yeah, that onetoo). Now he's back with a new film in six years which he wrote anddirected.Just before he's to marry Fiona, Roderick Blank (Simon Baker) receivesan anonymous e-mail with 101 names on it; Fiona's is the 29th, thefirst 28 are women Rod has slept with. The notion that he will have sexwith 70 more people sends Rod into crisis mode, especially after threeodd men in an aseptic office confirm that a celestial machine has madean error. They suggest destroying the list, but Rod finds that easiersaid than done. Working his way through it consumes him, plus herealizes that death may await him after #101. Meanwhile, a femme fatalnicknamed Death Nell (Winona Ryder) is putting men into a coma. Arethey fated to meet? (Thanks again, IMDb) I'll have to admit, this is quite interesting premise. And the goodthing is, it hasn't gone wasted, since the person behind this film isdefinitely having a right mind to do it right. It is clever film aboutcrisis of men and their quest to search for sexual fulfillment. Becauseonce you hooked (to sex), even there's a hell right in front of you,you might not hesitate to dive into it. It raised a question about whenone woman just wasn't enough, how far could you go? It's also aboutfate, when there's something that doesn't belong to you, it's justdoesn't belong to you. And if you're persistent to have it, then youwill lose it forever.OK, let me stop you right here, before you storm out to buy this DVD.It's just too bad that they did it right doesn't mean that they did itgood. Because Sex and Death 101 is the movie that put too much ambitionfor its own good. In my opinion, Daniel Waters was thinking way toomuch on this project. It supposed to be good dirty and fun little moviethat eventually might create cult following. But what I saw is justsuch a promising project engulfed by director's self-absorbed vision.It's doesn't sync with audience like his Heathers script, which is likea wake up call for all generation-x who consumed by popularity. In themean time, Sex and Death 101 was also talking about important subjectalright, but it can only be able to educate people about sexuality.It's just can't relate to audience (especially target group likegeneration-x who probably got older by now).And when director's vision has gone wrong, everything in this film alsohas the same destiny. Simon Baker's narration didn't really meananything, and then it got worse when the story went on to unexpectedturn. Also, the story about god-like operation room is prettyunnecessary. Come to think about it, I saw a similarity between thisfilm and Danny Boyle's Life Less Ordinary (because it has something todo with an act of god too!). Although LLO is a flawed film, but it isan entertaining movie where you can almost feel filmmaker's burningpassion on the project. But Sex and Death 101 is just cold as iceproject where you could feel a touch of isolation miles away.But it has some redemption moments, especially when the comedy waskicked in. I think I laughed out loud a couple of times (so rare thesedays -,.-'). There were the scene where Roderick ALMOST sleep withSophie Monks, and the scene where he vs. catholic girls on school bus(even it's so absurd, but it's just damn hilarious). And also a fineperformance by Simon Baker, even if he's not particularly A-list star,but he's charming enough to make me bought him as a striking handsomeladies man (he got to sleep with 101 women, alright?). On the otherhands, Winona Ryder is simply dreadful. She supposed to be disturbingfemme fetal, but she act like she's on crack or something. Comes tothink of it, it's almost ten years since her last good role in Girl,Interrupted, I wish she will comeback real soon.Sex and Death 101 may have some sharp idea and hysterical black humormoment, but it tried too hard to be something important (and thenchicken out in one of the most whimsy ending I have ever seen). I kindof admire the director's attempt to reach out for his royal fans andtried to reignite his good old days with familiar subject. But, sorryMr. Waters, this wasn't the one yet.

TheMovieCritique 2013-05-01 22:54:04

Dark RomCom 101. Nailed it!

In a world where good ol' fantasy movie making has just three lettersattached to it (you guessed it: "SFX" - a la everything from majesticLord of the Rings to cheesy Godzilla - jeez, even the romantic ventureslike City of Angels couldn't do away with the bag of tricks), comes adifferent kind of fantasy-based movie. It's different - I'll tell yathat.So what does this movie bring to us? The (blatantly visible) lowbudget. A cast almost riddled with relatively unknown (but promising)actors. A suite of devilishly hot women in stand-in (well, mostly"lie-down") roles. And, needless to say, a premise that is the part ofevery hot blooded human male's wet dreams. Are you with me yet? Ipromise, I'm not talking about the the 70s campy soft porn movie thatyou saw recently.What would happen if a strapping young man (Simon Baker) got a magicale-mail one fine day listing all the women he had slept with and wasgoing to ever sleep with in future? And, what if that lucky SOBactually had 101 names listed on that list? "Sex & Death 101" tries toanswer. And, for most part, gets it right.Someone once said: "Control your fate or somebody else will". And sogoes the story of the young man who allows the piece of printed emailto take control over his actions - which in this case means... well, henotches another one over his already very full belt. Somewhere betweenthe disbelief over the email (despite the reassurances of the geeksquad who manage the wondrous machine that sent out the hoopla causingemail) and disbelief over his good fortune, our hero undergoes thosehuman emotions that we all know very well: Guilt, Angst, Desperation.The intermix of his friends' advice and bickering adds an element ofrealism even in an escapist fantasy like this.Winona Ryder plays the "death knell" sounding temptress who has beenseducing perverted men to coma ridden sleep to, you know, get back atthe evil men who have inflicted untold suffering on women. And you justknow that Poison Ivy's parallel track story has to intersect with thestory of our list-holding loverboy at some point. And it does. Thereinis that taste of "stretching at the thread" that the viewer is leftwith. The setup seems a little bit forced. But hey, it's supposed to beescapist dark funny romcom - so what the hell, right? The movie's premise ain't real, but the events and reactions are. Whichis that unique mix of traits that makes this movie a little more thanthe regular spiel that Hollywood throws at us. It's definitely a goodwatch. And not to miss the allegoric play on the number in the title.It takes 101 women to teach the protagonist the basic meaning of sex -and death. Clever, no?

2013-05-01 03:19:32

Twist on Expectations

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) What if you could know the future? Maybe not everything in your future, but enough so that you know when to, well, stop?Rod Blank is a playboy. He likes the ladies.One day he gets an e-mail. In this e-mail is a list of every lady he has slept with. Sounds frightening, right? His darkest illicit secrets seem to have been revealed.But the e-mail goes on to list every lady he ever will sleep with! Now, this sounds interesting. In fact Rod's belief is that if he avoids the last name, well, he might avoid death!And the movie goes on to to show how he just has to say the word or make the look and ladies tumble into bed with him.Until the snag comes. The last name on the list sleeps with Rod way before her time on the list.What does this all mean? Is it death--or marriage?The movie was somewhat interesting, although sophomoric. The movie found it difficult to be serious (with a message about relationshis) or campy. It tends to lean toward campy. That doesn't make it a bad movie. It's just more of a light-hearted movie for those times you might want a good laugh.

2013-04-28 14:25:22

Boink. Boink. Boink - and there's your plot

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Eleven days before his wedding, Roderick Blank (Simon Baker) receives an improbable e-mail which lists not only the names of the women he'd ever slept with, but also those of his future bed partners. And, with 101 names on the list and his fiancee coming in at number 29, it doesn't look good for the health of the upcoming marriage.Doesn't matter anyway, as the engagement is soon broken off. Intrigued by the possibilities, Rod proceeds to go down the list and thru women after women. Meanwhile, the media has been going on and on about the enigmatic serial killer nicknamed Death Nell, a seductress who beds jerks and then puts them in comas. And what are the odds that she's on Rod's weird list? Hint: odds are pretty good.Witty and thought-provoking, sexy and hilarious. These are words which do not apply to this movie. Going into SEX AND DEATH 101, I was pretty stoked at the premise and anticipating all the good stuff that writer/director Daniel Waters had in store (after all, dude wrote the awesomely subversive film classic Heathers - 20th High School Reunion Edition). But afterwards saw me feeling bummed and so bored and tired and pretty mad. SEX AND DEATH 101 is, I guess, a sex farce which you might, just might enjoy if you're fratting it out with the homies. Otherwise, it just doesn't generate that feeling of "Oboy, am I glad I tuned in to this!" Supposedly a dark comedy, the comedy is dang vapid and can only be considered "dark" by people who insist that CHARLES IN CHARGE was controversial. The characters are sluggish and unengaging (with, strangely enough, Winona Ryder's murderous femme fatale being the most sympathetic). And there's an air of smugness about the whole thing, almost as if Daniel Waters is actually proud of this project.I am a manly dude with some hair on his chest, and this is a movie blessed with stunning women... but it left me cold. Of course, most of the ladies are there simply to be grinded thru the movie plot machine, so that names could start getting crossed off Rod's magic list. Three women do get smidgens of depth: Julie Bowen (of the much lamented television show ED), Leslie Bibb (of the much lamented Popular - The Complete First Season), and Winona Ryder (just much lamented). The rest of the ladies come off as sexy cardboard cutouts. So, yeah, it turns out, even with so many gorgeous women on screen, it's still quite easy to become jaded. It's almost like porno, but without the interesting music.Simon Baker. He's the biggest reason I couldn't get into SOMETHING NEW, a romantic dramedy which stars one of my favorites, Sanaa Lathan. Simon Baker is tall and handsome and self-satisfied; he's your basic non-threatening looking male. He's also bland to the bone, a quality which attracts women with insomnia and women who knit for adventure. Needless to say, I did not like him in SEX AND DEATH 101. Is it too cold to use the word "languid" when describing a guy?A quick segue: Does the mysterious e-mail ever get explained? Well, there's a subplot involving a super computer and three guys gigged out in white. It smacks vaguely of something supernatural.Okay, back to my quibbling.You ever get mad at having wasted your time watching a stinky movie? If I had a dog, I would've kicked it.Trying to be nice, I came up with about four positives about the film. One: Winona Ryder. Two: surprisingly, it has an aw-shucks feel-good ending. Three: for the dudes, ample female nudity. And four: it's nice to see that Mindy Cohn (FACTS OF LIFE) is still among the living. I was wondering.The movie does delve a bit into existential angst, so for people looking for some depth, that was it. Me, I'm still mad, and now I'm eyeing my neighbor's dog.

2013-04-28 06:26:34

Winona Rider at her best!

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is not really her movie, but she made it for me without any apparent effort. Charming and funny, I wish I'd caught it in the theatres: it's big-screen worthy.