16-Love (2012)

Number Rolled: 63

Movie Name/Year: 16-Love (2012)

Genre: Romance

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: PG

Production Companies: Smash It Hard Productions, Uptown 6 Productions

Executive Producer:

Director: Adam Lipsius

Writer: Leigh Dunlap

Actors: Lindsay Shaw, Chandler Massey, Keith Coulouris, Lindsey Black, Alexandra Paul, Susie Abromeit, Mark Elias, Steven Christopher Parker, Josh Blaylock, Sasha Formoso, Kelly Gould, Michelle Page, Lindsay Kirk, Julia Kelleher, Lauryn Moses, Josh Cooke, Sarah Lilly

Ally Mash is looking into becoming a professional tennis player. She’s been playing since she was a child and her ranking is incredibly high. When it’s time to go against another undefeated rival, she falls and hurts her ankle.

This was a very gentle and feel-good film, thankfully. After ABCs of Death 2, I’ve had this feel of grime constantly. A cute, light-hearted movie is exactly what I needed to get that stink off me.

Granted, nothing about 16-Love is particularly original. It’s a mix of the basic sports movie recipe with an even more basic teen movie recipe. Everything you expect to happen, kind of happens. None-the-less, the actors played their roles beautifully and the script delivered the ingredients well.

My biggest complaint, aside from the recipe aspect, is that I wish Josh Blaylock’s part was bigger. What can I say? I’m a rampant Video Game High School fan and Season 3 is still fresh in my mind. Best season yet!

In the end, 16-Love isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s a decent family movie anyway.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 60%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.7/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5

P.S. There’s a small scene near the end of the credits.

Movie Trailer:

ABCs of Death 2 (2014)

Number Rolled: 30

Movie Name/Year: ABCs of Death 2 (2014)

Genre: Horror

Length: 122 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: Drafthouse Films, Magnet Releasing, Okta, Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, Rook Films, Shaiker, Soychiume Co., Tea Shop & Company, Timpson Films

Executive Producer: James Harris, Mark Lane

Director: Assorted

Writer: Assorted

Actors: Assorted

---------!!Mild Spoilers Below This Line!! ---------

Like the first film, this movie is an anthology. Twenty-six directors, or teams of directors, were each given one letter of the English alphabet. The challenge was to create a story for their letter that explored death. None of the short films in this anthology are over ten minutes long. The list of segments is as follows:

          A – Amateur

          B – Badger

          C – Capital Punishment

          D – Deloused

          E – Equilibrium

          F – Falling

          G – Grandad

          H – Head Games

          I – Invincible

          J – Jesus

          K – Knell

          L – Legacy

          M – Masticate

          N – Nexus

          O – Ochlocracy

          P – P-P-P-P SCARY!

          Q – Questionnaire

          R – Roulette

          S – Split

          T – Torture Porn

          U – Utopia

          V – Vacation

          W – Wish

          X – Xylophone

          Y – Youth

          Z – Zygote

I was not looking forward to this movie. Since I’ve added The ABCs of Death 2 to my list, I’ve had dread in the pit of my stomach every time I’ve rolled. The first one was horrifying, and not in the good-horror-movie kind of way. It was horrifying in the: “OH MY GOD I CAN’T UNSEE THIS!” kind of way.

Like the first movie, there were a few segments that were not only acceptable, but kind of good. “Amateur,” “Capital Punishment,” “Falling,” “Split,” “Utopia,” and “Youth” are all segments I will remember as good. The majority of the others I’ll forget completely in the next couple of hours (if I haven’t already). Then there are the few that were so grotesque and/or strange that I will likely remember them all the way to my death bed. “Deloused,” “P-P-P-P SCARY!,” and “Wish” are among them.

Like the first film in the set, I’m left with a feeling of dread and hostility after watching it through. The only reason this film scored as high as it did, was because there were more segments I truly enjoyed and less segments that made me want to bathe in bleach.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 75%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 44%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.2/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 2/5

The Random Rating: R

P.S. There’s a small scene after the credits that seems to be from segment “T”

Movie Trailer: