dossier Century Hotel is a movie about a hotel room, and seven stories about the people who have stayed in Room 720 over nearly a century. The writers and director made conscious decisions about the cinematic styles for each era, and even though none of the stories was very long by necessity, they brought the moment into the light and gave you enough for you to hang your imagination on. They went for edgy and succeeded in some ways with stories about love, betrayal, beginnings and endings. The stories are told through the characters' actions and dialog, and you're allowed to draw your own conclusions about what went on after.I liked Century Hotel, it was a fine freshman effort that came in under $750,000. The DVD is nicely done, with a commentary track that is a tiny bit pretentious, but overall they do have a few things to say about the film. The short "Moon Palace" was worth the cost of the DVD.

anithyng_gose Anyone who reads the back of the movie sleeve will have some idea of what Century Hotel is about. ONE ROOM, SEVEN STORIES, etc. For the most part, every major event in the film takes place in room 720, as if the room (or a ghost who inhabits the room) is telling us each of these tales. Since all seven stories are being told from the ROOM'S perspective, we can only expect to know what goes on in that room and nothing more. Not all the stories are completely wrapped up in room 720 and we shouldn't expect them to be. Just as we don't see everyone check in, we shouldn't be surprised that we don't see everyone check out. What Century Hotel provides for viewers are glimpses into different people's lives from different time periods. Each of these stories is about a different form of LOVE and it is interesting to see these sides of love, even if each story only occupies about 15 minutes of film.To quote the great Roger Ebert, "I prefer to evaluate a film on the basis of what it intends to do, not on what I think it should have done." On this basis, Century Hotel succeeds for what it is: Seven glimpses into different forms of love, complimented with good acting, great cinematography and beyond.

Raleon The sole reason that this movie isn't anything special is that it doesn't try to be. It's creative in the way it weaves the stories together but they're not tied together enough to be considered "Arty". It doesn't take itself seriously enough to be a real good drama either. If you compare this to something similar, like Le Violon Rouge, which took many stories and successfully combined them into one, you see the flaws. There are too many stories in Century Hotel, and they're chopped up which makes it harder to present. (I agree that this is the only way to present this movie but I think it works better with less stories) There is also very little significance among some of the stories; you could take out one and most likely wouldn't effect the main story. It would be a lot better if there was a connection with the stories told and the main story. It would be even better if there was real significance with that particular room, instead of the actions just happening in that room and not being connected. *******(Definite Spoilers)********* One thing everyone would notice is the sex- after all what else goes on in a hotel room? But it happens in every story except the last, and even then it is just a joke: you think that's what they're doing but the expectation is cut short. This could have worked better if there was either less stories or less of them contained sex. If just the three scenes before the last had sex in them, the joke could have worked. The main story is good too, but why were they going to do it? Why in that particular room? Just by chance? It should have been played out more clearly. ******end of spoilers********* But overall it's just a simple good-viewing flick, which is okay. But with an ensemble of great Canadian actors like there was in this movie you would think it would have been something bigger.

rebel_with_a_cause_ Not a single newspaper had nothing nice to say about this movie, almost each one said thing like "over-ambitious", "could have been good" and "if only". In my opinion it was these critics high-expectations that made them dislike the movie. If they could have just sat back and enjoyed the movie instead of marking down all the spots where something could have been done better, they would have been able to see the movie through eyes of the average "uncultured" person who just want to enjoy it not analyze all the "should haves". If a person does this then the movie they see is a smart, cool Canadian film that is a refreshing change from the movies like Black Knight and Shallow Hal which are also playing. When I went, there were no more than ten people in the theater and my bet is that half of them (myself included) were big Our Lady Peace fans who wanted see Raine Maida's acting debut. He wasn't bad and though he's a way better songwriter I'd like to see him in a movie again, his voice brings a dramatic quality to both his speaking and singing. This may seem weird but I like that the long hair and dark lights hid his good looks because it gave him a chance to get people to appreciate him for his acting, not that the critics really cared. I liked each of the setting for the seven stories except the eighties one which was a little depressing and irrelevant. I really enjoyed the story of the young flapper bride, it was really frightening and real, but still it grabs your attention. I loved the whole movie and I really think that critics should stop worrying about small meaningless points of a movie and focus on the big picture. By the way, for those who have seen the movie, does anyone know the title of the theme song for the movie by Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk and if there's a place I can find it?