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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Scared New World (2006)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Roommates with a View

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Posters at AllPosters.com

A gem. Chris Brown directs this tale of three Oakland housemates with a sure touch for rhythms of life, silences, quiet spaces and the way in which humans cross paths. A failed writer/substitute teacher (Yahn Soon) and a single parent/drug dealer (Lena Zee) sometimes mingle in each other's business, and very often mind their own. A new roomie, voluptuous, oversexed French chick (Fanny Ara-Herms) moves in, but Brown sidesteps the predictable "she changed their lives" baloney and easily folds her into the already ebbing and flowing life pulse. The trio makes and loses friends and significant others, but mostly they just pass the time, arguing, exchanging pleasantries, or simply watching one another. A turntable-fueled score adds just the perfect layer of kooky melancholy.

Note: This film was reviewed as part of Cinequest 2006. The official Scared New World homepage can be found here.

Starring: Lena Zee, Fanny Ara-Herms, Yahn Soon, Harriet Schiffer-Scott, Zachary Schramm, Josh Millican
Written by: Yahn Soon
Directed by: Chris Brown
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 82 minutes
Date: February 17, 2006