Friday, February 14, 2014

Idiots and Angels (2008)


Number Rolled: 70
Movie Name/Year: Idiots and Angels (2008)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 78 minutes
Rating: NR
Director: Bill Plympton
Writer: Bill Plympton

Every once in a while I come across a film that I simply cannot sit through. Sometimes it’s because of a technical error, sometimes it’s a creative issue. Whatever the reason, my mind simply will not allow me to watch it. “Idiots and Angels” falls into this category.

Before I begin, I must state that this movie got amazing reviews from both audience members and critics. It’s said to be surreal, challenging and very profound; but I can’t speak toward those claims. I am wholly unqualified to review this film and the main reason for that is because I couldn’t sit through even the first half hour.

I could have lived with the fact that there was no dialog. I actually like animated films, so that shouldn’t have been the problem either. My issue was the style of animation. I couldn’t get past the style and I couldn’t concentrate on the story at all. It was purely an opinion-related issue.

My suggestion is that you watch the trailer. If the lack of dialog and animation style doesn’t turn you off, give it a shot.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.2/5
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 93%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 74%

Trust-the-Dice ScoreNA/5

Movie Trailer: 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Rules of Attraction (2002)



Number Rolled: 39
Movie Name/Year: The Rules of Attraction (2002)
Genre: Independent
Length: 110 minutes
Rating: R
Director: Roger Avary
Writer: Bret Easton Ellis, Roger Avary
Actors: James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue, Kate Bosworth, Ian Somerhalder, Joel Michaely, Jay Baruchel, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Clifton Collins Jr., Clare Kramer, Eric Stoltz, Fred Savage, Eric Szmanda, Anderson Goncalves, Chasen Hampton, Ron Jeremy

Sean Bateman, Lauren Hynde and Paul Denton’s lives intersect at the End of the World Party. Difficulties, misunderstandings and bonds intertwine until they are destined to be in their certain paths that day. This film follows the three students and their sexual escapades throughout a few weeks at Camden College.

In 2002, if James Van Der Beek was in a movie, it was easy to write it off as a coming of age thing or a romance; especially since he was still filming Dawson’s Creek at the time. I cannot stress this enough, however, this is not a romance or a coming of age story. There are all kind of mature themes in this film: death, violence, sex, rape, and the list goes on. If you’re looking for a light-hearted easy-going gentle-themed movie, you might want to skip over this misleading title.

As dark and dirty as this movie is, I absolutely adored it. The actors are great at their insane or psychotic characters and the plot is relatively in depth. There are spectacular twists in the story and the script is almost like a dark epic poem.

I think “The Rules of Attraction” is a great dark film that hits a lot of the right marks. Some of the scenes run a bit too long and some of the faces are little overacted, but it’s forgivable in my eyes because the rest of it is just that good.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.7/5
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 43%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 71%

Trust-the-Dice Score3.5/5

P.S. The “Sean Bateman” character in this movie is actually the little brother of the character “Patrick Bateman” in the movie “American Psycho.” It’s not said in the movies, but it is a fact from the books.

Movie Trailer: 

Monday, February 10, 2014

Video Game High School (2013 – Second Season)



Number Rolled: 12
Movie Name/Year: Video Game High School (2013 – Second Season)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 209 minutes (in total)
Rating: NR
Director: Matthew Arnold, Brandon Laatsch, Freddie Wong
Writer: Matthew Arnold, Will Campos, Brian Firenzi, Chris Pappavaselio, Elle Schneider, Sarah Tarkoff, Freddie Wong, Jimmy Wong
Actors: Josh Blaylock, Brian Firenzi, Johanna Braddy, Jimmy Wong, Ellary Porterfield, Hallie Ricardo, Anthony Gioe, Chase Williamson, Brennan Murray, Harley Morenstein, Benji Dolly, Joel Kelley Dauten, Riley Rose Critchlow, Clinton Jones, Will Campos, Joanna Sotomura, Rocky Collins, Freddie Wong, Nicole Wyland, Cynthia Watros, Markell Andrew, Chris Hardwick, Stan Lee

Brian is finally settling into Video Game High School. He’s got great friends and is doing well in his classes and FPS Junior Varsity team. In the wake of The Law’s cheating charges, things are starting to get back to normal. But with the Kart clique threatening his friend Ted’s status with the Drift clique, and his growing romance with fellow FPS teammate, Jenny, how long can things possibly stay that way?

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I don’t tend to write about TV shows in this blog. In fact, I never do. I made an exception for “Video Game High School’s” second season for two reasons. First of all, when I did the first season, a while back, Netflix wasn’t showing it as separate episodes – instead it was on instant play as a long single movie. Second, there are only six episodes (which I watched in one sitting) and if you skip the credits in them, they’re only about 30 minutes each, which is still long – but not too far from the length of a movie.

With that explained, I have to say that I LOVED the second season of “VGHS.”  It was all the same gaming cheese that the first one was, but there was a better plot and the characters became more in depth. Also, the actors were spectacular. Brian Firenzi isn’t my cup of tea, but I really love Josh Blaylock and Johanna Braddy. Both of them are believable as their characters and really helped me get into the story. In the long run, I thought it was better than the first, which is interesting because the first one got a near-perfect score.

Each genre of gaming is represented, with the FPS having a football team kind of status. I haven’t seen the RPGers yet, but assume that’ll come out in season 3. I especially loved the way the Mario Kart clique was portrayed (they are only referred to as the Kart players due to copyrighting, but it’s obvious what they’re meant to be). I’m fairly certain I would wind up as one of them.

Like the first one, this is a must-see for gamers with a sense of humor.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 4.9/5
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Trust-the-Dice Score5/5

The Random Rating: PG-13 for moderate action violence

Movie Trailer: