Chloe (2009, Atom Egoyan)

There are so many things which I don't know; so many things to see and experience. And every day something new is added to the backlog.
I have been told that Atom Egoyan once made important films, but at that time my focus must have been somewhere else. Now his talent is used up and he mainly produces trashy output.
This kind is often labelled as "romantic drama". Wikipedia thinks, it is an erotic thriller.
Well, here it goes: Catherine, a gynecologist, fears that her husband David, a college professor has an affair with a younger student.  What to do? Right, you hire a hooker to see how far he is willing to go. When Catherine learns that David agreed to be kissed, she gives green light to see if he will go any further. At some point Chloe's graphic descriptions are not longer enough and she wants to get the full picture, i.e. have sex with Chloe. Then David and Catherine discuss if they have been cheating on each other. But then they find out that the detailed sexual descriptions were entirely made up by Chloe and then they eventually reconcile, aging couple, they still feel attracted to each other and blabla. So finished? No way.
Chloe goes to Catherine's house and has sex with their son. Then Catherine arrives and interrupts them and now Cjloe is in love with Catherine. Bitch fight and Chloe falls to her death.
There is a lot of  promising material in the plot, but Egoyan realizes none of them. There is no character development (Catherine sees a lot of vaginas, so what is special about Chloe's? That she is sharing that one with her husband?) The web of lies is not developed either. The make-belief facade they build up, thereby losing each other out of sight. Why are they lying? What is in it for Chloe?
Acting is not so great either, as if done with pulled hand brake. Was it really necessary to make this film, just to get Amanda Seyfried out of her gear?
Neither erotic, nor thrilling, just plain: 3/10

Catherine and David have almost forgotten that they are parents to a sn with awakening libido

Same-sex passion in Canada

Chloe goes off with a bang; the movie is still a flop.

Monsieur Lazhar (2010, Philippe Falardeau)

Again a misunderstanding between me and the intellectuals. Almost all critics agreed that thhis was a good movie. It was close to nothing to me.
Monsieur Lazhar is a refugee from Algeria, where he owned a restaurant. When a teacher commits suicide, he gets the idea to replace her. The teacher had the idea to hang herself in her class room, thus traumatizing the children who will have to be in this room for the rest of the school year. Of course refurbishing the room with another color won't take away the bad memory. In a way Monsieur Lazhar and the kids support each other, as Monsieur has lost his family during a terrorist attack. His unconventional approach is somewhat successful, a blend of traditional pedagogy, kindheartedness and  copying other teachers. Of course eventually it is that he isn't a teacher at all. But at least he manages to say 'good-bye' to the kids.
The film could have become engaging, but he is so cautious that it hardly dares to ask any questions, let alone find answers. It is just potentially interesting, but thickly packed in with candyfloss so I lost almost all interest while watching.
3/10

Monsieur Lazhar tries to give orientation, even when he is lost himself

Monsieur Lazhar and his clas

The Cry of the Owl (2009, James Thravers)

I saw this, because it was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. But either it was an uncommon bad novel or an extraordinary sloppy adaptation, in any case: the film is virtually unwatchable.
There are plot holes of the size of mine fields and our gullibility is stretched to inhuman dimensions.
Robert stalks Jenny. When she finds out, she invites him for coffee and then stalks him instead. She also quits the relation with her boyfriend Greg. Greg is not very happy with this and gets into a fight with Robert.Then Greg disappears and Robert becomes a murder suspect. Jenny has come to the idea that Robert is a messenger of death, so she kills herself. Then somebody shoots at Robert. Greg has come back and now he has a liaison with Robert's ex-wife. And so on
The confusing plot is executed in a polished manner, but no matter what, it is very hard to relate to any of these characters
0,5/10

Lost in a messy plot jungle (James Gilbert as Greg)

One of the most uncaptivating thrillers I have seen; suspense-free and 100% confusing