Friday, April 4, 2014

Change to Format

I recently got a job over at the Inquisitr. You can find all my articles at this address: http://www.inquisitr.com/author/selina/ .

As a result, however, I have a little less time to spend on the blog. For now, I'll be moving to twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays. Thank you for reading!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Rent (2005)



Number Rolled: 42
Movie Name/Year: Rent (2005)
Genre: Romance
Length: 134 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Chris Columbus
Writer: Stephen Chbosky, Jonathan Larson
Actors: Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, Tracie Thoms, Taye Diggs

Adapted from Broadway, Rent is about a group of bohemian friends living in New York. They deal with drugs, AIDS, love and loss through a creative and original music score.

Obviously “Rent” is not the newest thing on the block. It existed on stage for a long time before the movie came out, and the movie itself came out nearly a decade ago. Still, this is the first time I’ve seen any adaptation of it. Considering I’ve lived in New York for all my life, I should probably be held in stockades for that crime.

I’ve always heard amazing things; mostly about the play. Now I understand why. To be honest, I don’t really feel like the script translated well into the big screen. I can see how it would be amazing on stage, but the director took a lot of liberties with the camera angles and general film quality that I just can’t imagine what his interpretation was supposed to look like. The actors were phenomenal and the music will stick with me for longer than I can probably imagine, but that was only able to take it so far. “Rent” as a film doesn’t really work. Maybe Chris Columbus wasn’t the right director for the job, or maybe it just wasn’t a good choice to change over entertainment genres.

If there’s ever a chance for me to see a revival of the play, however, I’m all over it.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 46%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 83%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 4.9/5
Trust-the-Dice Score3/5


Movie Trailer: 

Monday, March 31, 2014

20 Years After (2008)



Number Rolled: 11
Movie Name/Year: 20 Years After (2008)
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Length: 95 minutes
Rating: R
Director: Jim Torres
Writer: Ron Harris, Jim Torres
Actors: Joshua Leonard, Azura Skye, Diane Salinger, Aaron Hendry, Nathan Baesel, Reg E. Cathey, Charlie Talbert, Malika, Khadijah

Sarah is pregnant with the first child to be born in twenty years. With her husband dead, her fate is left in the hands of her mother and a very strange doctor figure.

These bad movies are killing my morale. Seriously. This movie was TERRIBLE. B-movies are fine, they can even be awesome; this one does not make that seem possible. “20 Years After” is incoherent and difficult to follow.

Why is that guy magic? Why has he never seen a pregnant woman even though he’s clearly older than the apocalypse? Why is everyone TALKING so damn much?! Not only were there way too many monologues, but they didn’t actually SAY anything. In a movie like this, it’s ok for nothing to be said outright – but you should show it; give the audience a chance to figure things out.

I can review this movie in a single word. What word? “No.”

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 11%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.3/5
Trust-the-Dice Score.5/5

Movie Trailer: